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<\/p>\nThe latest rugby news from Wales and around the world<\/p>\n
Tandy has ruled out overhauling his Wales team<\/p>\n
These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, February 8.<\/p>\n
Welsh rugby club issue statement after tragedy<\/p>\n
A Welsh rugby club has paid tribute to a “vibrant and talented” player who died after being found with stab wounds in a quiet village.<\/p>\n
Tristan Shae Kerr, 17, was found in a house in Abertridwr in Caerphilly<\/a> borough on Thursday evening and pronounced dead at the scene, with police subsequently launching a murder investigation. Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder, while two women have been questioned on suspicion of assisting an offender.<\/p>\n Tributes have poured in for the teenager, with a balloon ceremony set to be held next to the YMCA in the former coal mining village on Monday evening.<\/p>\n JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement, Tristan’s rugby club Senghenydd RFC said he would be “sorely missed” as they paid tribute to the “cheeky chap” and passionate player.<\/p>\n “On the eve of our next round of fixtures, it\u2019s with great sadness that we come together to pay our respects to a former Young Saint,” read the statement issued on the club’s minis and juniors Facebook<\/a> page.<\/p>\n “Tristan, will be fondly remembered by all those who had the pleasure of watching him shine on that pitch; as a vibrant & talented young athlete, whose passion for the game and playing with his friends, shone through. A cheeky chap around the club, with an infectious smile & personality to boot!<\/p>\n “Tristan will be sorely missed by us all and I\u2019d like to take this opportunity, on behalf of our Mini & Junior section, the club and I\u2019m sure the entire valley, to send our love, thoughts & offers of support to Tristan\u2019s family & friends. Rest easy buddy. Forever a Young Saint.”<\/p>\n A spokesman for Gwent Police<\/a> said on Saturday evening: “Officers attended a property in Lower Francis Street at around 5.45pm on Thursday, February 5, after reports that a teenage boy had sustained a serious injury. A 17-year-old from Abertridwr was pronounced dead at the scene. His family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.<\/p>\n “Three men, a 26-year-old from London, a 24-year-old from Abertridwr, and an 18-year-old from Cardiff<\/a>, were all arrested on suspicion of murder. Two women, a 28-year-old from Hereford and 24-year-old from Senghenydd, were both arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. All five remain in police custody as inquiries continue.”<\/p>\n Tandy reveals next step<\/p>\n By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent<\/p>\n Steve Tandy has ruled out overhauling his Wales team in response to Saturday\u2019s Guinness Six Nations<\/a> rout by England with Louis Rees-Zammit set to continue at full-back.<\/p>\n Wales\u2019s tryline was breached seven times in a 48-7 mauling at Allianz Stadium that extends their losing run in the tournament to 12 matches amid a sequence of 22 defeats in 24 Tests.<\/p>\n A woeful first half \u2013 they entered the break 29-0 behind \u2013 was arguably their lowest point yet, but Tandy will not be taking drastic action ahead of France\u2019s trip to Cardiff<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s going to be nothing knee-jerk around it and ultimately I knew this when we took the job,\u201d said Tandy, who took over as head coach in September. \u201cWe\u2019re playing one of the best teams in the world and it\u2019s not going to click overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of experiencing these moments and using them as learning experiences, making sure we adapt for the coming games. We\u2019ll always look at ourselves in the mirror. We know where we\u2019re at in our journey.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we believe we can accelerate our development and what was most frustrating is that we didn\u2019t do so. They\u2019re a great group to work with. They adapt and are putting everything in their power to be where they want to be.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are really disappointed with ourselves. Even though we\u2019re 11th in the world, we expect more of ourselves. It\u2019s part of our journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Rees-Zammit\u2019s first Six Nations appearance since returning from his attempt to break into the NFL was also transitioning from wing to full-back.<\/p>\n Targeted with a series of kicks from England fly-half George Ford, he stood up well enough given his lack of experience at 15 and in the second half he surged through the home defence in a carry that demands he sees more of the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cLouis did really well in his first start at 15 in a while for us. In Test match rugby there\u2019s not much space anywhere but he adapted well to full-back with the aerial battles,\u201d Tandy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a big man. He did light the game up in moments. It\u2019s about looking how we can get those moments a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n Galthie shakes up France squad<\/p>\n France head coach Fabien Galthie has shaken up his squad ahead of their Six Nations clash with Wales on Saturday, with a trio of stars returning for their trip to Cardiff.<\/p>\n Nine uncapped players have been included in Galthie’s 42-man squad after Les Bleus opened their campaign with a 36-14 statement win over Ireland on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Thibaud Flament, Emilien Gailleton and Paul Boudehent all missed the curtain-raiser in Paris through either injury or unavailability but have been brought back into contention to face Wales.<\/p>\n Gailleton comes in for Kalvin Gourgues, with fellow centre Yoram Moefana also included in the squad despite emerging as an injury doubt following the Ireland game.<\/p>\n Pau fly-half Axel Desperes has earned his first ever senior call-up, but there is no room for the axed trio of Gregory Alldritt, Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud, who now look set to be left out by Galthie for the rest of the Six Nations.<\/p>\n While it was hoped that fly-half Romain Ntamack would be fit to return to face Wales after suffering a kidney injury at the end of December, his comeback has been pushed back due to a muscle complaint.<\/p>\n France have not lost to Wales in Cardiff since 2018, with Steve Tandy’s side still looking for their first Six Nations win in nearly three years after being torn apart by England in a 48-7 opening weekend mauling.<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world Tandy has ruled out overhauling his Wales team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,153641,43326,11537,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":{"0":"post-415238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-senghenydd-rfc","13":"tag-six-nations","14":"tag-steve-tandy","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-wales-rugby-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}