England hooker Mark Regan has been confirmed as the captain of the Barbarians team to play South Africa in a non-cap international at Twickenham even though his club, Bristol, could fine him for playing in tomorrow's fixture with the world champions.
Premier Rugby, which runs England's Premiership, has threated to fine member clubs whose players appear for the invitational Barbarians side in this fixture because it does not take place on an agreed international weekend.
The umbrella body only recently signed an agreement with England's Rugby Football Union regarding the vexed issue of player release for full Tests following a series of "club versus country" rows.
However, the 35-year-old Regan, a member of the England team beaten 15-6 by South Africa in last month's World Cup final in Paris, said after Wednesday's team announcement: "I was asked to captain the Barbarians and I consider it a massive honor to do that. I'll be leading out the side at Twickenham."
Regan would otherwise be having a weekend off after being told he wasn't needed for Bristol's "dead" Anglo-Welsh Cup match with Leeds on Sunday.
His England front-row colleague Andrew Sheridan withdrew from the Barbarians squad earlier on Wednesday because of club commitments with Premiership side Sale.
Sheridan's place was taken by prop JD Moller, one of three players from South Afica's Stormers Super 14 side on the bench (the other two are Schalk Brits and Peter Grant) who could now find themselves playing against their own country.
The Barbarians' starting line-up features five All Blacks, including ace wing Joe Rokocoko, with Australia's Matt Giteau at outside-half.
Jason Robinson was named by Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan, in charge of the Barbarians for this fixture, at fullback for what is set to be the England international's final senior rugby match before retirement.
However, the fitness of the former Great Britain rugby league international remains uncertain after his second-half substitution in the World Cup final with a shoulder injury.
"Jason has made a miraculous recovery," O'Sullivan said. "He had a run out yesterday [on Tuesday] and was fine, but we are assessing him closely."
Last weekend South Africa beat Wales 34-12 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS