-Credit:Huw Evans
Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, January 18.
Wales legend honoured
Former Wales, Swansea and Barbarians second-row Geoff Wheel was honoured as his funeral was held on Friday in Swansea.
The 32-cap international passed away in December at the age of 73. Swansea RFC confirmed at the time that Wheel had suffered from motor neurone disease for some years.
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Wheel’s funeral took place at St Thomas Church in Swansea, with a funeral procession travelling from Gelli Street along Danygraig Road and Port Tennant Road to the church. Wheel played 32 internationals for Wales between 1974 and 1982 and formed a formidable second-row partnership with Allan Martin.
Nicknamed ‘Gaffa’, Wheel was an unsung hero of Wales’ successful sides of the 1970s and was famous for his white headband. Between January 1975 and March 1978, Wheel went 15 games unbeaten in a Wales jersey.
Fourteen of Wheel’s wins came in Five Nations matches, the other being a 28-3 triumph over Australia in 1975.
Wales U20s gear up for Six Nations with narrow win
Wales U20s’ preparations for the Six Nations are heating up as they beat the Regional Academies XV 28-24 at Church Bank in Llandovery.
This was the second week in a row the U20s beat the same opponents in a bid to prepare themselves for the formidable challenge of taking on France U20s in a few weeks time. Tries from Osian Roberts, Ioan Emanuel (twice) and Harry Rees-Weldon gave Wales U20s the victory.
Owen Conquer, Lucca Setaro, Isaac Young and Tomoya Adachi scored tries for the Regional Academis XV. “It was exactly the test we wanted,” said Wales U20s head coach Richard Whiffin.
“I thought the academies team were physical. They were dominant in the scrum and it gave them some really good field position.
“The breakdown made it a contest and it was quite a stop-start slow game. To be fair it was a good hit out for us in learning how we can get out of those games and bring our speed elements and pace into the game.
“At the end of the day we found a way to win and it was a nice try at the end from Harry Rees-Weldon to secure it but there’s lots of things we can work on in preparation for the Six Nations.”
Cardiff made to sweat as Challenge Cup future in the balance
Cardiff will be hoping other results go their way over the weekend as they slipped to a 28-19 defeat to Connacht at the Arms Park.
Matt Sherratt’s side failed to pick up a single point meaning their hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Challenge Cup are hanging by a thread. If Perpignan beat Zebre and the Cheetahs pick up two match points against Lyon then Cardiff’s European campaign is over for another season.
“I was disappointed at the end not to get a try which would have given us two points,” said Sherratt. “That could be crucial in this competition.
“I thought Rhys Barrett was excellent and we had some young boys out there. Tom Bowen is 18-years of age and it will bode us well for the future. Hopefully it will be enough to see us through to the last 16.”
Connacht racked up a bonus point win thanks to tries from Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce, Byron Ralston and Matthew Devine while Josh Ioane and JJ Hanrahan kicked eight points between them. All Cardiff could muster were tries from Evan Lloyd, Thomas Young (twice) and four points from Ben Thomas’ boot.
Sherratt believes all the defending Cardiff were forced to do in the first 60 minutes eventually caught up with them. “It’s a step up in performance from the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“It was disappointing to get nothing out of it in the end but I think probably the first-half took our legs away in that last 20 minutes. They are pretty relentless with their phase attack.
“I thought their first three phases were very good. They’ve got some dangerous backs and the last 20 minutes was a reflection of the first-half.
“They made us work really hard and we made a lot of tackles. It’s a slow poison at times against the Irish team.
“It gets you at the end.”
Watson was ‘in so much pain’
By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Anthony Watson says he is content with what he has achieved in rugby after retiring from the sport on medical grounds.
The 30-year-old Leicester wing, who played in five British and Irish Lions Tests, won 56 England caps and was part of three Six Nations title-winning squads, has been unable to overcome a back issue that surfaced in January 2024.
His final game was for Tigers against Gallagher Premiership opponents Sale Sharks on December 1, and Watson said: “As I walked off against Sale I knew there was a chance this might be the last one.
“I was in so much pain, I’d taken a lot of painkillers just to get to that point in the game.
“I was rooming with Polly (Handre Pollard) the night before, and I woke up at 4am because I was in so much pain and I had to take more pain meds to go back to sleep.
“And then I didn’t want to let the team down, so I played the day after – albeit, barely played. I had no influence on the game. After that it was straight back to the surgeon to see what he suggested.
“He tried another injection, and that would bring it to eight or nine injections. I would hate to think how many I’ve had, and it wasn’t as successful as we wanted it to be.
“Beyond that he was ‘I don’t think it’s safe anymore to carry on playing’. It was taken out of my hands and I’m quite grateful it was done that way.
“It’s hard to say I have dealt with it already because I haven’t. What gives me peace of mind is knowing I did everything I could do, and that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
“Everyone’s career comes to an end at some point – you can’t play forever – and mine is just a bit shorter than I would have liked. Some people are lucky enough to play until they are 39 and I’m not one of those.
“I’m not overly upset by the fact it was taken out of my control. I know how these things work and I have been fortunate enough to play for this long.
“I see it the other way around. I have really enjoyed my career, played a long time and I would have taken all the things I have achieved in my career and retired at 30 if you had told me this at 19.”