Irish prop John Andress is to leave the Exeter Chiefs at the end of the season the club can confirm today.
Andress, who was re-signed by Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter last summer from Aviva Premiership rivals Harlequins, is to join fellow top flight rivals Worcester Warriors on a two-year deal.
During his first spell in Devon, the Irish A international notched up 44 appearances in two seasons before departing to play in the Premiership with Harlequins.
He spent two years with the capital club, accruing 43 outings, before being persuaded to return to Sandy Park at the beginning of this season, where he has to date played 12 times.
Commenting on his departure, Andress said: “Leaving Exeter has been a really tough decision for me. I’ve had to speak to a lot of people close to me, including my wife, members of my family and other advisors within the rugby world about the best way forward.
“Since returning to the Chiefs I’ve had a fantastic time. The club is great and it’s a great bunch of lads down here and they have fantastic coaches. At the same time, there are two very good tight-heads already here and if I want to get more game time, I feel I have to move on.
“As I said, I have nothing but good things to say about Exeter. Rob has been great with me – both times I’ve been with the club – and he has helped develop my game massively. I knew when I spoke to him last year that the club would progress and that his vision for the game and the long term outlook of the club would stand him in good stead.”
Remarking on the departure of the talented forward, Baxter said: “It is disappointing to see John leave us because as far as we were concerned we wanted him to stay. We offered him a contract but after looking around the market place he’s decided to take up an offer at Worcester.
“There’s a lot of time left in the season and we expect him to be focused on making sure we have a good end to the season. We are only just past the halfway point of the season, we’ve still got some business to do in Europe and there’s a long way to go in the Premiership.
“Tight-head is a position where you need plenty of bodies, not just for playing but for training, and John can play a full part in the rest of an important season for us. He can worry about next season once this season is over and he will go with our best wishes.”
‘Best round’ of the 2011 Series returns to unique, team based Series Colchester will welcome the return of The Halfords Tour Series for the second successive Summer in 2012,
when the unique, team based cycle race series comes to town on Thursday 7th June.
Britain’s top professional cyclists will once again tackle the testing 1.6 kilometre town centre circuit during Round Eight of the 2012 Halfords Tour Series. A whole afternoon of cycling festival activities are again planned for Castle Park to complement the elite race, building on the success of 2011 when Colchester wasnamed the winner of The Halfords Tour Series Pride Awards, by series sponsors Halfords.
Cllr Anne Turrell, Leader of Colchester Borough Council, said: “We are happy to welcome back The Halfords
Tour Series to Colchester for the second time. Last year’s exciting race and community events proved very
popular, drawing people into the town. An estimated 15,000 people came to Colchester to watch the evening
race, and Colchester was showcased on ITV4 with coverage reaching an estimated 400,000 people and the
town experiencing a range of benefits from hosting a world-class event.
“It is great in this Olympic year that Colchester will host the cycle race. Based upon last year’s award winning programme of community events a sports festival will again be held in Castle Park before this year’s evening race; free to attend for all ages and abilities. This is a real opportunity for us to celebrate Colchester as a place where people want to live, work and visit.”
The Halfords Tour Series is all about team performance, with Britain’s ten leading professional cycling teams battling it out over ten rounds of action packed competition for the right to be crowned champions and the best team in Britain.
Colchester will be the home round for Essex professional cyclist Jason White, of the new Metaltek Scott
team, who finished the 2011 season ranked the leading elite male cyclist in Britain.
“I can’t wait to get back to Colchester for The Halfords Tour Series in 2012,” said White on the news. “After crashing out last year when in really good form, I feel I’ve unfinished business in what is my local round when a lot of my family get to see me race. The public come out in droves and the vibe around the circuit is amazing.”
Colchester has twice hosted rounds of Britain’s leading televised cycle race series, in 2009 and 2011, while 2010 saw the town welcome The Tour of Britain to its heart for the finish of the penultimate stage. Last year’s Halfords Tour Series round saw Rapha Condor Sharp’s Dean Downing lead his team to victory, on
their way to overall success in the Series.
“Colchester is now closely associated with Britain’s biggest cycling events, and we are proud to once again have the opportunity to bring The Halfords Tour Series to the town,” said Series Director Mick Bennett.
“Bringing professional cycle racing to Colchester is a pleasure, as we are always sure of a warm welcome
and large crowds, making for a very special atmosphere around the circuit.”
The identities of the remaining venues making up the 2012 Halfords Tour Series will be revealed over the
coming weeks.
Isoa Damudamu has a new opponent to tackle once England have concluded their title challenge for this weekend’s USA Sevens.
The Fijian-born centre took part in last weekend’s Hertz Sevens in Wellington seven days after the birth of his son Sela.
He’ll return to help his wife Pasimaca raise their three children after the Las Vegas tournament, in which England face Brazil, Scotland and Kenya in the pool stages on February 10 and 11.
“There were mixed emotions about leaving the family as we’ve got two young ones already under five but we’ve been in touch a lot on the phone and Skype,” said Damudamu
“In a way I can’t wait to get back and I know I’m going to be busy!”
Damu’s switch from forward to centre – where his creative skills and 6ft 5in frame can do maximum damage – has been one eye-catching part of England’s success in a season which has seen them take the Dubai title then reach semi finals in Port Elizabeth and Wellington.
Their last outing in the HSBC Sevens World Series saw them beat Samoa 21-12 in the third-place play-off following an agonising 17-12 semi final exit in sudden-death extra time at the hands of hosts New Zealand.
England are now third in the series rankings, nine points behind New Zealand, who they could meet again at the quarter final or semi final stage this weekend.
The made-for-TV format of the USA tournament sees the sides play two games per day on February 10, 11 and 12. England take on 2016 Olympic hosts Brazil (Friday 00.50 GMT) and Scotland (03.46) on day one, Kenya (Friday 20.28) and a potential quarter final (Saturday 00.52 or 01.26) on day two, before the final knock-out stages.
“We missed some opportunities and it didn’t go according to plan in sudden death but we played really well last week and I hope we can carry it forward this weekend,” said Damudamu.
“It’s my first time here and I’d heard a lot about Vegas, the bright lights and the casinos. We’re staying in Planet Hollywood which is right in the middle and is quite a busy place. It’s totally different to what I’m used to but I don’t want it to take away my focus for the weekend.
He added: “Brazil we’ve never played before, so how they’ll be you never know but if we play to our strengths it should be okay.
“Kenya are dark horses – last week they played pretty well [beating Australia and Scotland], many of their best guys are back and there’s pace throughout their team. Scotland are tough every time we play them, there’s a big rivalry and they seem to save their best for us.”
As well as those increased family commitments, Damudamu will return to work as a lance-corporal in the British Army, serving in the Port and Maritime Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps in Southampton.
England head coach Ben Ryan said: “We’ve got a close relationship with the British Army and it’s great that in the professional international game a team like England can still have military personnel involved – he’s a great ambassador for them and us.
“Damu’s been central to a lot of things we do in attack and defence, we’ve been working hard to make sure he’s fit and long may that continue. The move to centre and all the effort in the gym is paying off.”
Tickets are now available for the London Sevens weekend on 12th & 13th May 2012, with weekend passes starting from £30, single day tickets from £18 and kids tickets at £5 each day. Visit Ticketmaster.co.uk or call 0844 847 2492. (Tickets are subject to availability and booking fees apply).
ENGLAND today named an unchanged 22 to play Italy in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match at Stadio Olimpico.
Seven players were capped for the first time in the Calcutta Cup win over Scotland and the same starting XV and bench will travel to Rome.
Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We have had a good week in spite of the weather and reflected on the game, reviewed and learnt from it and will look to improve the quality of our performance this week.
“We have decided to leave the starting team the same to allow them more time to gel together and we are expecting our bench to come on and make an impact as they did last week. Italy will be a very difficult challenge with nearly 700 caps in their starting line-up and it promises to be an outstanding occasion at the sold-out Stadio Olimpico.”
England
15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 Brad Barritt (Saracens)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens)
11 David Strettle (Saracens)
10 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt)
8 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Replacements
16 Rob Webber (London Wasps)*
17 Matt Stevens (Saracens)
18 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
19 Ben Morgan (Scarlets)
20 Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
21 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
22 Mike Brown (Harlequins)
*Uncapped
Joe Simpson (London Wasps) and Joe Marler (Harlequins) will travel as reserves.
Durham Dynamos have added the explosive South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs to their Friends Life t20 line up for the 2012 season.
Gibbs, who has been playing in The Big Bash for Perth Scorchers alongside Durham’s Paul Collingwood, has 361 international caps to his name and he has played 123 domestic t20 matches, scoring over 3050 runs.
On signing for Durham CCC Herschelle Gibbs said, “Durham is really committed to their on the field development and have real ambitions to progress in t20, which is what attracted me to the club. There is some massive talent in the dressing room and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve. I’ve been performing pretty well in the t20 format and I think I can offer some real variation to the side. I’m looking forward to my experience contributing to plenty of Durham wins! ”
Head Coach Geoff Cook said, “It is a real coup for us to be able to bring a player of Herschelle’s calibre to our set up for the t20 competition. It just goes to show that Durham’s reputation as a progressive and successful club can attract quality players who want to help us win trophies. I’m excited by the prospect of having Herschelle in our team and I’m confident that he will add an extra dimension to our batting line up and some real personality out there in the middle.”
Show your support!
Give Herschelle a warm North East welcome on his first game for Durham by securing your seat for our opening Friends Life t20 match of the 2012 season on Sunday 17 June when the Dynamos face Notts Outlaws at Emirates Durham ICG. Individual match tickets are priced at £15 for adults and £5 for juniors when purchased in advance (£20 for adults on the day).
Friends Life Season Tickets offer the best value way of showing your support, with admission to all five home games in June and July for just £50 for adults and £15 for juniors. (Members Season Tickets are priced at £30 for adults and £10 for juniors).
Offers are available for groups of more than 10 people.
Worcestershire CCC is pleased to announce the signing of Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, for the duration of the 2012 Friends Life t20 campaign.
Director of Cricket, Steve Rhodes, commented “Saeed showed last summer what a quality bowler he is. His recent performances against England only go to back this up and we are delighted that he has agreed to return to New Road for a second time.”
Ajmal is currently ranked as the second best t20 bowler in the Reliance ICC world rankings. In the recent England versus Pakistan Test Series, Ajmal was the linchpin of the Pakistan bowling attack. He collected a series winning 24 wickets in just three matches including his career best Test bowling figures of 7-55.
Ajmal’s previous spell for the County saw him take 16 Friends Life t20 wickets at an average of just over 11, with an economy rate of less than 6 runs per over.
Ajmal commented “I really enjoyed my time at New Road in 2011 and look forward to returning this summer to help inspire the Club to Friends Life t20 success.”
With Italy being the only side to score a try against England’s Women in the RBS 6 Nations last season, Sarah Hunter, who will lead her country against the Azzurri this Sunday, says her side must step-up another level.
England may have inflicted a nine-try, 47-0 defeat on Scotland in the Six Nations opener last weekend but the Lichfield No. 8 says there is no room for England to rest on their laurels against a passionate Italian outfit.
“It was great to get a nine try win over Scotland under our belts,” said Hunter, who last captained England against France in November. “It was a good performance, but for us there were still a lot of areas to work on, from drop passes to knock ons and generaly just improving our execution.
“We must step up as Italy were the only side to cross our line in the Six Nations last season. We are definitely taking them seriously. Each game we go into we want to see how good we can be, it is not just about winning but being the best we can be. We will go to Milan with confidence but we are under no illusions because we definitely won’t be in for an easy ride in Milan.”
Sunday will be Hunter’s fourth game in charge of England with resident captain Katy McLean ready and waiting on the bench. The 26-year-old will lead a side brimming with experience but also youth, with the likes of Laura Keates, Isabelle Noel-Smith, Hannah Gallagher, Emily Braund and Ceri Large sharing only a handful of caps between them.
“It’s very exciting to take on the captaincy role again,” Hunter added. “I am very proud and honoured to have the opportunity to do this again. It is a fantastic moment when you have the opportunity to lead out your country.
“Both Katy and myself are very lucky that there are so many natural leaders in this squad who can step in at any given moment. And at the same time there are a lot of younger players in this 22, but we have the comfort of knowing they have already proved their international credentials. Whoever is selected for each game you know they are going to stand up and be counted and also challenge to keep that England jersey. No one in this squad can rest on their laurels when it comes to keeping their starting place and that is so important as we build towards the next World Cup in 2014.”
England
15 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)
14 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
13 Rachael Burford (VC)(Richmond)
12 Kimberley Oliver (Bristol)
11 Kay Wilson (Bristol)
10 Ceri Large (Worcester)
9 La Toya Mason (Wasps)
1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester)
2 Amy Turner (Richmond)
3 Laura Keates (Worcester)
4 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond)
5 Tamara Taylor(Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
6 Isabelle Noel-Smith (Bristol)
7 MarliePacker (Bristol)
8 SarahHunter (C) (Lichfield)
Replacements:
16 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield)
17 Claire Purdy (Wasps)
18 Emily Braund (Lichfield)
19 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens)
20 Georgina Rozario (Lichfield)
21 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
22 Katherine Merchant (Worcester)
England’s Six Nations Fixtures:
February 5th 2012, Scotland v England, Lasswade, Edinburgh, WON 47-0
February 12th 2012, Italy v England, Parabiago, Nr Milan, KO 2pm GMT
February 25th, 2012, England v Wales, Twickenham Stadium, KO 615pm
Live on the BBC Red Button and on www.bbc.co.uk/sport. Free entry to the stadium after the men’s Six Nations match.
March 11th, 2012, France v England, Stade Charlety, Paris, KO 1245pm GMT
Live on Sky Sport HD2 Red Button.
March 17th 2012 England v Ireland, Esher RFC, KO 2pm.
Live on www.rfu.com/englandwomenlive.com. Tickets can be purchased on game day on the gate or online at http://www.esherrugby.com/ticket_sales.html, priced £10 for adults, £5 for Under 16s.
Scotland have made two changes to their starting line-up and a further three on the bench for Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship match against Wales in Cardiff.
The alterations in the starting team following last weekend’s Calcutta Cup defeat see a first start for Edinburgh Rugby captain Greig Laidlaw in the number ten shirt, replacing Dan Parks, while his club mate Geoff Cross comes in at tight-head prop for the unavailable Euan Murray.
On the bench, three uncapped players have been called-up, all rewarded for recent form in the colours of both Glasgow Warriors and Scotland A – prop Ed Kalman, 20-year-old stand-off Duncan Weir and 19-year-old full-back Stuart Hogg. Weir and Hogg both scored fine individual tries in Scotland A’s 35-0 win against their English counterparts last week.
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson said: “Congratulations to Greig on his first start. He is a gifted footballer who is acclimatising very well to the differing demands of the stand-off position from having spent most of his career at scrum-half.
“Having lost last weekend, I believe the time is right to move on and look to develop our emerging talent at stand-off.
“I’ve always stressed the importance of the A team and the part that both Duncan Weir and Stuart Hogg played in the game at Netherdale last week is another reason for my continued excitement and belief in Scottish rugby.”
Laidlaw, 26, nephew of another of Jed-Forest’s favourite sons, the former Scotland and Lions scrum-half, Roy Laidlaw, has also graduated from the ranks of Scotland A and Scotland 7s.
In the pack, Geoff Cross, who made his debut against Wales three years ago, is promoted from the bench and given the opportunity to display the form that has been such a part of Edinburgh’s run to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.
Scotland team (sponsor RBS) to play Wales in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Sunday 12 February, kick-off 3pm
15 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) 27 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
14 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby) 1 cap
13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby) 30 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 61 caps, 8 tries, 40 points
11 Max Evans (Castres) 25 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
10 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps
9 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 56 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby) 61 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) 54 caps, 2 tries, 10 points CAPTAIN
3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) 9 caps
4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 17 caps
5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 35 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester) 24 caps, 1 try, 5 points
7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) 12 caps
8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps
Substitutes
16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 30 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
17 Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) 37 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby) 76 caps, 7 tries, 35 points
21 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
22 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
Referee: Romain Poite (France). Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon and Simon McDowell (both Ireland). TMO: Giulio de Santis (Italy)
At a disciplinary hearing in London today, Bradley Davies, Wales lock forward, was suspended for 7 weeks having been cited by the independent Six Nations citing commissioner Achille Reali (Italy), for an incident of foul play in the RBS 6 Nations match between Ireland and Wales in Dublin on Sunday.
The independent Six Nations Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Antony Davies (England) along with John Doubleday (England) and Jean-Noel Couraud (France), having considered the citing report and the television footage and having listened to the player’s explanation, found that the incident, in which the player lifted his opponent beyond a horizontal position but did not bring him to the ground safely contrary to Law 10.4(j) and the IRB’s particular emphasis on this aspect of the game, merited a top end entry to the IRB’s table of sanctions.
The Committee applied an additional two weeks to the entry point of 10 weeks to reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of foul play but, in mitigation, took account of various factors in the player’s favour including his admission of guilt, his previous good disciplinary record and his conduct at the hearing in allowing the maximum possible reduction of five weeks.
Bradley Davies can resume playing on 26 March 2012, and has the right of appeal.
Wales Women have made three changes for this Sunday’s Six Nations clash against Scotland at Pandy Park (Kick-off 1pm).All the changes involve the backline with Amy Day coming in at scrum half while Caryl James gets the nod on the wing. With James’s selection, Rosie Fletcher moves from the wing to full back with Mared Evans and Laura Prosser both dropping down to the bench.
The pack have been given a vote of confidence by head coach Rhys Edwards who was impressed by his eight in last week’s abandoned encounter against Ireland.
“I was pleased with the way the front five went to be honest. The forwards went really well as did the scrum,” said Edwards.
“Going into the match there were some question marks surrounding that area but Jenny Davies showed her verstality in the unfamiliar role of tighthead so that should give her plenty of confidence which is pleasing.
“Our second row pairing of Vicky Owens and Shona Powell-Hughes also stood out and had plenty of carries while captain Rachel Taylor led from the front.
“On the flip side of the coin there were a couple of areas which were disappointing which we will have to eradicate if we are going to get a win against Scotland.
“With last week’s game against Ireland being abandoned at halftime because of the freezing conditions we were basically gifted 40 minutes to have a look at positional permutations and that’s why we’ve decided to freshen things up for Scotland.”
Wales Women v Scotland Women, Pandy Park, Sunday 12 March (KO 1pm)
15 Rosie Fletcher
14 Charlie Murray
13 Adi Taviner
12 Philippa Tuttiett
11 Caryl James
10 Naomi Thomas
9 Amy Day
1 Caryl Thomas
2 Rhian Bowden
3 Jenny Davies
4 Vicky Owens
5 Shona Powell-Hughes
6 Sioned Harries
8 Jamie Kift
7 Rachel Taylor (Capt)
Replacements:
16 Lowri Harries
17 Megan York
18 Sian Williams
19 Clare Flowers
20 Laura Prosser
21 Rebecca De Filippo
22 Mared Evans