The Daily Telegraph - 22.08.2019

Scotland hopefuls in last-chance saloon

By Richard Bath

Gregor Townsend has reacted to

Scotland’s crushing 32-3 defeat by

France by making 14 changes for

the return World Cup warm-up fix-

ture at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Full-back Stuart Hogg is the only

player who retains his place in the

XV as Scotland’s head coach has

drafted in a hard core of experi-

ence.

Half-backs Greig Laidlaw and

Finn Russell both return, as do expe-

rienced wings Tommy Seymour and

Sean Maitland, and centre Peter

Horne. Up front, props Gordon Reid

and WP Nel add firepower, while

back-row veterans Hamish Watson

and Ryan Wilson bring a willingness

to confront a French back row which

ran riot in Nice.

However, there are two conspic-

uous exceptions to the emphasis on

“It could be the last game for

some players because we only have

one game left,” Townsend said. “We

are not going to Georgia with the

aim of seeing who can still play

their way in. We will look at what

they have done against France and

what they have done before in a

Scotland jersey and in training.”

Townsend conceded that some

players have had their last chance

to press their claim for Japan. He

did, however, exclude the injured

Fraser Brown, Sam Johnson, Mag-

nus Bradbury and Jonny Gray, who

will all play against Georgia if fit.

Scotland (v France, at Murrayfield, Saturday 1.10pm):

S Hogg (Exeter); T Seymour (Glasgow), C Harris

(Gloucester), P Horne (Glasgow), S Maitland (Saracens);

F Russell (Racing 92), G Laidlaw (Clermont, capt); G Reid

(Ayrshire Bulls), G Turner (Glasgow), WP Nel (Edinburgh),

S Cummings (Glasgow), S Skinner (Exeter), R Wilson

(Glasgow), H Watson (Edinburgh), B Thomson (Scarlets).

Replacements G Stewart (Glasgow), A Dell (London

Irish), S Berghan (Edinburgh), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J

Barclay (Edinburgh), G Horne (Glasgow), R Hutchinson

(Northampton), B Kinghorn (Edinburgh).

By Kate Rowan

World Rugby has become the first

major sporting federation to adopt

gender-neutral naming for tourna-

ments, as it was announced that the

Women’s Rugby World Cup would

be rebranded as the Rugby World

Cup, claiming it as the “ultimate

statement in equality”.

Brett Gosper, World Rugby’s

chief executive, hailed the change

as a “landmark moment and a state-

ment that we are treating the men’s

and women’s games evenly and the

potential in each is as powerful as

the other”.

The footballing equivalent is

known as the Fifa Women’s World

Cup and, speaking to The Daily Tel-

egraph, Gosper said: “We have got

there quicker than some of the

other federations and that is a nice

bit of leadership. We weren’t set-

ting out to be the first, but were set-

ting out to do what is right.”

The women’s designation will be

dropped in New Zealand in 2021,

when the event will simply be

Rugby World Cup 2021 – the first

tournament to fall under the gen-

der neutral naming regulations.

The same will apply to the Rugby

World Cup Sevens tournament, in

which the men’s and women’s

events are held simultaneously in

the same host city.

Sir Bill Beaumont, the World

Rugby chairman, said: “This

announcement demonstrates our

ongoing and unwavering commit-

ment to advancing women in rugby

both on and off the field.

“Unintentional gender bias in

sport is an ongoing issue. As a global

sporting federation we need to be

leading from the front. By adopting

gender balance in the naming of

men’s and women’s Rugby World

Cup competitions, we are setting

new standards in equality in rugby.”

After World Rugby made the

announcement yesterday morning,

there was some debate on social

media over possible confusion

between two Rugby World Cups.

Gosper explained that the govern-

ing body had weighed up whether

to opt for rebranding to the men’s

and women’s tournaments.

“We felt the best way to us was to

take the gender qualifier out

because they are all World Cups

and all the pinnacle of the game for

each gender,” he said. Another fac-

tor was to create more uniform

branding across the tournaments,

which World Rugby believes will

lead to a greater sense of gender

equality. Gosper, however, was

keen to point out the decision had

not been made for commercial rea-

sons, but “to put the men and

women on an equal footing”.

The decision has been welcomed

by the Rugby Football Union. Sue

Day, a former England interna-

tional and chief financial officer for

the RFU, said: “Adopting a consist-

ent approach to the naming of these

events and tournaments is a real

positive. Using equal language

reflects their equal status as the

pinnacle of, respectively, the men’s

and women’s games.”

Serge Simon, the chair of World

Rugby’s women’s advisory commit-

tee, said: “This is much more than

an initiative – it is the ultimate state-

ment of equality and a first for

sport.”

World Rugby has implemented a

number of changes in governance to

create more gender balance, includ-

ing taking its council from having

no female members to 17 by offering

extra seats to unions on the condi-

tion they are filled by women.

The gender-neutral naming for

World Cups also comes in the wake

of World Rugby unveiling its

“Women in Rugby” brand identity

and the #TryAndStopUs campaign,

which was launched in May in part-

nership with unions to drive greater

growth and investment in the

women’s game.

Fleet of foot:

England’s Manu

Tuilagi breaks

through as Wales

lock Jake Ball

struggles to

keep up with him

at Twickenham

this month

World Cup naming

now gender neutral

experience. Second row Scott Cum-

mings is selected for his first Mur-

rayfield start after impressing in his

debut off the bench in Nice, while

former Highlander Blade Thomson

makes his debut at No 8. Outside

centre Chris Harris, hooker George

Turner and second row Sam Skin-

ner complete a quintet of less expe-

rienced Test players who start.

Townsend has made it clear to

his players that this is their last

chance to play their way into the

31-man World Cup squad, which is

announced in 10 days, shortly after

next week’s game in Georgia.

Ruthless: Gregor

Townsend has

selected a more

experienced XV

after a heavy loss

North’s decisive try for Wales

brings immediate law change

By Charlie Morgan

In the wake of George North’s con-

troversial try against England,

World Rugby has made an immedi-

ate law amendment to stipulate that

a match will not be able to restart

until a player leaving the field for a

blood injury or a head injury assess-

ment has been replaced.

North scored in Wales’s 13-6 win

on Saturday after Dan Biggar took a

penalty as England were waiting to

replace Willi Heinz. Referee Pascal

Gauzere, who had just sent England

wing Anthony Watson to the sin-

bin, allowed Biggar to strike a

cross-field kick to Josh Adams while

Heinz was making his way to the

changing room and Ben Youngs

was waiting on the touchline. That

left England with just 13 players.

On the following phase, Biggar

struck another cross-field kick to

North, who collected to score his

40th Test try in the 34th minute.

Biggar converted and the seven

points eventually proved decisive

in securing a win that sent Wales to

the top of the world rankings.

Eddie Jones, the England head

coach, admitted that he had thought

the match would be stopped until

Youngs had joined the fray. In fact,

the timing of the restart was down

to Gauzere’s judgment.

A statement from World Rugby

yesterday read: “The amendment

codifies an area that was previously

at the discretion of the referee.

“It has the dual intention of pro-

moting player welfare best prac-

tice, while also ensuring that teams

are not disadvantaged by playing

with fewer players.”

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