58 2GM Tuesday May 17 2022 | the times
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5
Will Kelleher
Deputy Rugby Correspondent
London Irish’s 19-year-old full back
Henry Arundell is primed to receive his
first senior England call-up today
before the squad’s two-day training
camp next week.
A video clip of Arundell’s 95-metre
solo try against Toulon in the Chal-
lenge Cup a fortnight ago went viral
and Eddie Jones, the England head
coach, paid a visit to see the youngster
win the man-of-the-match award in
the 42-42 draw with Wasps on May 1
in the Gallagher Premiership.
Arundell also qualifies for
Cyprus, Scotland and Wales. The
Times understands the latter
two nations have enquired
about his availability for this
summer, but England are confi-
dent that he will opt for them.
The former Harrow school-
boy came through the London
Irish academy and has played
for England Under-18 and
Under-20.
Jones will gath-
er a squad of
players next
week in
London to prepare
them for a three-Test tour to Aus-
tralia this summer. Alongside Arundell
should be Leicester Tigers’ 21-year-old
scrum half Jack van Poortvliet, who
looks to be the next cab off the rank
after Raffi Quirke, of Sale Sharks, tore
his hamstring last month and was ruled
out of the tour.
Owen Farrell will return to the
England fold for the first time since Jan-
uary. He is available to train now that
Saracens are out of the Challenge Cup,
having lost 25-16 to Toulon on Saturday
in the semi-final.
Farrell was replaced as England
captain first by Tom Curry and
then Courtney Lawes in the Six
Nations as he missed the tour-
nament due to an ankle injury.
Jones has a big decision to make
in picking his leader for the
summer and the build-up to
the World Cup.
It is understood that Jack
Nowell and Jonny Hill, the
Exeter Chiefs pair, should
be fit for the tour after injury.
Nowell, the wing, had surgery
on a broken arm sustained
against France in the Six Nations
and should return next week,
with Hill, the lock, not far behind
after his foot stress fracture.
England have a Barbarians
fixture scheduled for June 19 —
the day after the Premiership
final — so will need players to
fill holes left by those playing
for their clubs in that showpiece
game. The Gloucester flanker
Jordy Reid, born in Australia,
is one player they have en-
Arundell could join the Australia tour quired about this season.
nes, the England head
isit to see the youngster
of-the-matchaward in
w with Wasps on May 1
her Premiership.
also qualifies for
and and Wales. The
stands the latter
have enquired
ailability for this
England are confi-
will opt for them.
r Harrow school-
ough the London
y and has played
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o prepare
ee-Test tour to Aus-
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cester Tigers’ 21-year-old
ack van Poortvliet, who
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Jones has a big
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be fit for the
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and should ret
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England hav
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Wimbledon
warm-ups to
retain points
Players at the Queen’s and Eastbourne
tournaments next month will be
allowed to keep their ranking points
even if Wimbledon is stripped of them
in response to the exclusion of players
from Russia and Belarus.
The ATP Board met yesterday and
decided that ranking points for the two
men’s grass-court tournaments orga-
nised by the LTA in the build-up to
Wimbledon would remain, but a deci-
sion over ranking points for the grand-
slam event itself is yet to be made.
The decision to ban players from
Russia and Belarus because of the inva-
sion of Ukraine has sparked criticism
from a number of players and, accord-
ing to the statement released last night,
is contrary to ATP rules. The WTA has
yet to reach a decision on the LTA
women’s events in Nottingham, Bir-
mingham and Eastbourne.
The ATP’s decision regarding
Queen’s and the Eastbourne men’s
event was made because there are other
tournaments taking place simultane-
ously in Germany that players from
Russia and Belarus could enter instead.
As no other tournaments are on during
the Wimbledon fortnight, there are no
other options for players to earn points.
Any action penalising Wimbledon
will be controversial. Last week,
Andrew Castle, Britain’s former No 1,
warned that tours will suffer “long-
term reputational damage” if they strip
Wimbledon of ranking points.
The four grand-slam events are
worth 2,000 ranking points to the win-
ner of the men’s and women’s singles,
making them twice as important as the
next-biggest category of events.
Tennis
Martyn Ziegler Chief Sports Reporter
B
owing to the
inevitable,
Laura Robson
announced her
retirement from
tennis yesterday, aged 28,
saying that a career
blighted by injuries will
always leave her “feeling
that I could have done
more” (John Westerby
writes).
Robson, the former
British No 1, reached the
fourth round at Wimbledon
and the third round at both
the Australian Open and
US Open in 2013 — peaking
at a world ranking of No 27
— but she suffered a wrist
injury the following year
and has since been troubled
by hip problems, which
have persisted despite
three operations. She has
been unable to compete
since 2019.
“I went through every
possibility of rehab and of
surgery,” Robson told the
BBC. “I went to all the best
specialists and had some
incredible people I was
working with to get me
back on court, and then
the second time I hit [in
practice], I just knew. It
feels weird to say out loud,
but I’m done, I’m retired.”
Born in Melbourne,
Australia, Robson moved to
the UK when she was six
and showed immense early
promise, winning the
Wimbledon girls’ singles
title aged 14 and becoming
the first British player to
triumph in the event since
Annabel Croft in 1984.
At 5ft 11in, the left
hander was blessed with
a powerful serve and a
potent forehand, and at
the age of 18 she reached
a WTA final at the
Guangzhou Open in 2012.
The same year she won a
silver medal at the London
Olympics, partnering Andy
Murray, when the pair were
beaten in the final of the
mixed doubles by Victoria
Azarenka and Max Mirnyi,
of Belarus.
She went on to enjoy
the best year of her career
in 2013, beating Petra
Kvitova on her way to
the third round of the
Australian Open and
reaching the round of 16 at
Wimbledon.
But Robson was already
being troubled by a wrist
injury and she would never
achieve the same heights
again. “I think I’m always
going to have the feeling
that I could have done
more,” she said. “I feel like
if I’d had another year or
two of being healthy, I don’t
know what I could have
achieved.
“But I’m really proud of
the Olympics, of playing [in
the] Fed Cup, Wimbledon
and the US Open the time
that I did well. I will have
those memories for ever.”
Her retirement comes
at a time when Emma
Raducanu, the present
British No 1, is experiencing
a range of injury problems
during her first full-time
season on the WTA Tour.
Raducanu has tried to
explain why she has split
from three coaches since
her victory at the US Open
last year. “It might not work
for anyone else and people
might look at me like I’m
crazy but I trust my own
decision-making and my
own beliefs of what I think
is right for myself,” she told
the Wall Street Journal
magazine.
Injuries force
former teen
star Robson
to retire at 28
DENNIS GROMBKOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES
Rugby union
Alex Lowe Rugby Correspondent
Rassie Erasmus will be barred from
operating as a water carrier under new
World Rugby rules designed to
prevent some of the inci-
dents that scarred the
British & Irish Lions
series. World Rugby
has acted to limit the
number of back-
room staff entering
the field and stop
them from interfer-
ing with play after
ruling that it was
“getting out of hand”
and causing “increased
disruption” to the game.
South Africa exploited a
loophole during the Lions tour by
using Erasmus as a water carrier so he
could deliver direct coaching instruct-
ions to the players, inset above.
The regulations at the time said that
only the head coach was prevented
from entering the field — and Erasmus
is South Africa’s director of rugby.
World Rugby will announce today
that it has expanded the wording to
include both roles — and limited the
number of water breaks to two per half
in an attempt to speed up the game; the
Erasmus’s water carrier
ruse ended by new rule
second Lions Test lasted 115 minutes.
South Africa’s policy of using their
physio to enter the field during play and
shout instructions will also be prohibit-
ed, as will backroom staff catching
kicks to prevent the opposition from
taking a quick lineout. The sanction for
both will be a penalty.
In a response to the
conduct of the England
Under-20 doctor and a
team physio during a
Six Nations game
against Italy this
year, any comments
to match officials on
matters not related
to the treatment of a
player will now result
in a penalty kick.
These regulations will
come into force in a global
trial on July 1 and will be
included in the women’s World Cup
later this year and the 2023 men’s tour-
nament in France.
World Rugby introduced the new
laws after an extensive review of elite
rugby revealed increasing disruption to
play caused by multiple water carriers
entering the field every time there was
a stoppage.
“We’re taking concrete action to im-
prove the flow of rugby matches. This
will be the first time teams on the field
of play could be sanctioned by the
actions of those not directly involved in
the contest,” Mark Harrington, World
Rugby’s chief player welfare and rugby
services officer, said.
“We’ve received feedback from
across the game that the number of
people who aren’t players interrupting
the flow of the game was getting out of
hand.”
Christian Day, head of player affairs
at the Rugby Players Association, said a
“common-sense position” had been
reached which “should not have a
negative impact on player welfare while
hopefully reducing unnecessary
stoppages and potential negative flash-
points during matches.”
Under the new regulations, teams
can nominate two water carriers who
will be permitted by the referee to enter
the field of play twice per half during
natural stoppages, such as for an injury
or after a try. Water will be available to
players throughout in the technical
area and behind the dead-ball line but
play will not stop for them to access it.
Erasmus is banned from all match-
day activities until September, which
includes South Africa’s July Test series
against Wales and the Rugby Champi-
onship, following his video attack on
Nic Berry, the referee from the first
Lions Test. He is expected to be part of
South Africa’s management team for
their November tour, which includes a
game against England at Twickenham.
Arundell’s eye-catching
form earns England call
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