The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond
Lee Radord has replaced Steve Tandy with Scotland (Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Here are your rugby evening headlines for Tuesday, October 7.
‘Perfect’ replacement for Tandy found
By Anthony Brown, PA
Gregor Townsend believes he has found the perfect replacement for Steve Tandy after former rugby league player Lee Radford was appointed Scotland’s new defence coach.
The Englishman will take on the role vacated by Tandy, who spent more than five years on Townsend’s backroom staff before leaving in July to become Wales’ head coach. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Radford will combine his new position with Scotland with his role as Northampton’s defence coach until the end of this season before going full-time with the national team on a contract until the end of the 2027-28 campaign.
Head coach Townsend told Scottish Rugby: “We placed huge importance on bringing in a high-quality replacement for Steve Tandy as our defence coach and Lee fits the bill perfectly.
“Lee brings a wealth of experience from rugby league and union on the defensive area of the game and will be able to build on the good work that has been done in that area over the last few years.
“He will fit into our environment really well and I believe our players will respond positively to Lee’s beliefs and ideas around the defensive side of the game, and the mindset required to win at the highest level.
“We are looking forward to working with him as a coaching group and learning from his substantial knowledge and experiences.”
Radford, who played for Hull FC and Bradford Bulls, has previously coached Castleford Tigers, Samoa and Hull in rugby league.
The 46-year-old joins a Scotland coaching team that also includes forwards coach, John Dalziel, skills and contact coach Pete Horne and scrum coach Pieter de Villiers.
“I’ve always aspired to coach on the international stage within rugby union and to get that opportunity with a nation like Scotland is an incredibly proud moment,” Radford said.
“I’ve visited the Scotland camp a couple of times in the last few years and have come away with a great feeling about the place. The management are well connected and it’s a tight playing group. There’s a brilliant chemistry and that’s so important.
“Scotland have been very sound defensively over the last few years and there are similarities to how they defend, compared to Northampton. My job will be to continue that cohesion as well as adding some of my own touches.”
Radford will be involved with Scotland for the first time for their autumn Tests against the United States, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga next month.
Wales fly-half retires
Wales fly-half Robyn Wilkins has retired from playing to take up a new coaching role.
The 30-year-old Sale Sharks playmaker has called time on her career with immediate effect to take on a full-time job with the Welsh Rugby Union’s player development centre in Colwyn Bay.
The 72-cap international made her debut as a teenager in 2014, going on to play at three World Cups. Her final Test appearance came in South Africa last year.
Wilkins had been working with the player development centre as a volunteer while playing, but will go move into a full-time role.
“Rugby has been a big part of my life and I knew this day would come, but having the opportunity to stay in the game is something I could not turn down,” said Wilkins. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
“My Wales career has seen the game go from being amateur and playing in front of hardly anyone to being fully professional and playing in front of record crowds.
“There have been highs and lows through my Test career… representing Wales has been an incredible privilege and one I look back on with pride.”
Wilkins, whose father Gwilym was also caped as a fly-half for Wales, also played for the Ospreys, Cardiff and Exeter.
“Her experience on the international stage and the insights she has into the professional game will be of huge benefit as we continue to develop talent in north Wales,” said WRU women’s pathway manager Siwan Lillicrap.
No link between rugby and MND, says expert
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Playing rugby has no causal link to motor neurone disease, according to an expert in the incurable muscle-wasting condition.
The game is reeling from the news that 47-year-old former England captain Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with MND, which caused the death of fellow players Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Joost van der Westhuizen.
Leicester and Gloucester second row Ed Slater was also given the same diagnosis in 2022.
Dr Nick Cole, head of research at MND Association, says that research indicates a combination of factors are responsible for the progressive disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord.
“There is no concrete, definitive link between rugby and MND,” Cole told the PA news agency.
“Considerable work has gone into trying to find any commonalities or causes with sport and exercise.
“There have been studies that show there is an increased risk in people who play professional sport but they were small studies, so it was a small increase in a small number of people.
“It’s more a case of perception because you have got these high-profile people kindly sharing their stories, but six people will be diagnosed with MND every day.
“So it is not the rugby per se, it could be a genetic predisposition to developing MND for people who are built to be active and take part in sport.
“We know that MND is caused by a mixture of environment, lifestyle and genetics.
“Sport could be one of the contributing factors, but there are many other subjects within the biology of MND that we are investigating to find the effective treatments we need.”
There have been significant recent breakthroughs in treatment after an effective therapy was developed for one genetic form of MND, although this is not yet available on the National Health Service. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Funding from the MND Association has underpinned many of the discoveries and it is hoped that more medications will follow, but neurodegenerative diseases are complex and a cure could be found “tomorrow or in several years’ time”.
“We now know that MND is not untreatable, it is just underfunded and we need to raise more funds to do more research to get us closer to effective therapies,” Cole said.
“It’s an absolutely devastating diagnosis. It’s extremely difficult for people and their families to take on board because it comes out of the blue and can affect anybody.”
Moody’s friends and former Leicester team-mates Geordan Murphy and Leon Lloyd have set up a GoFundMe page for a British and Irish Lion who captained England 12 times.
“The disease can in some people be so rapid. A third of people die within two years of diagnosis,” Cole said.
“Every case will require housing adaptation, which can be a slow process through statutory service so by the time you have got the funding you need, you may have moved on to another stage of disability.
“The care that you need can be expensive, in addition to the inability to work.”
Saracens star banned for four matches
By PA
Saracens flanker Nathan Michelow has been given a four-match ban after he was sent off for a tip tackle against Newcastle on the opening weekend of the season.
Michelow was shown the first 20-minute red card in Gallagher Prem history for his dangerous challenge on George McGuigan, with Saracens going on to win 39-17 despite being a man down for a quarter of the Kingston Park clash.
The 21-year-old denied the charge of lifting and/or dropping/driving an opponent, but it was upheld by an independent panel.
He was already stood down for last Saturday’s 50-17 dismantling of Bristol and will miss additional fixtures against Harlequins, Sale and Northampton.