These are your latest rugby headlines on Monday, April 6<\/p>\n
Furious star slams ‘shameful’ display<\/p>\n
Stade Francais fly-half Louis Foursans-Bourdette has torn into his side’s “shameful” performance after they suffered a major upset at the hands of the Dragons <\/a>in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.<\/p>\n Filo Tiatia’s side claimed one of the most famous victories in the region’s history as Wyn Jones’ last-gasp try sealed a sensational 36-31 win for the Men of Gwent in Paris. Although they had previously stunned Stade Francais back in 2014, the Welsh team were given little chance of causing an upset ahead of kick-off, with the hosts third in the Top 14 and Tiatia’s men second from bottom in the URC.<\/p>\n However, having been pegged back by a resurgent Stade side after going 17-0 up, the Dragons dug deep and won the contest all over again with a superb performance seeing them claim a scalp as former Wales prop Jones crashed over late on.<\/p>\n Speaking after the game, Foursans-Bourdette was in disbelief at the result, as he tore into his side’s display and admitted “I can’t believe we lost to the Dragons”.<\/p>\n “Frankly, it’s a huge disappointment,” he told Midi Olympique<\/a>. “I even think what we did is almost shameful. We thought we had a group of 35-40 guys capable of wearing the jersey at events like this. In the end, we didn’t deliver.<\/p>\n “It was a great opportunity to create some healthy competition, to get everyone involved\u2014the reserves, the fringe players\u2014and to give those who play regularly a rest. It creates a dynamic, because everyone plays, everyone wears the jersey. And we missed it.<\/p>\n “It was our responsibility to go as far as possible. Even if it’s only the Challenge Cup<\/a> , a competition that many don’t necessarily respect, a final in Bilbao and a title, that leaves a mark on a team for life.<\/p>\n “Frankly, I can’t believe we lost to the Dragons. No disrespect to them, we could have done much better. I think they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.<\/p>\n “We were playing at home. We arrived at 1.30 pm, maybe a bit sluggish, still digesting\u2026 Frankly, I don’t think we respected the jersey today. Strategic or technical errors, fine. But the intensity we brought right from the start is the problem. Starting a match 17-0 down, that shouldn’t happen.”<\/p>\n Admitting he was angry at what had unfolded, the fly-half added: “Some players, like Pierre Huguet, who was coming back from injury and hadn’t played for a very long time, deserved better.<\/p>\n “We should have given him a victory at Jean-Bouin, in front of his family and friends. It makes me angry. I just hope this won’t be the turning point of our season and that it won’t affect the team’s energy in the Top 14.”<\/p>\n JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n England face new crisis<\/p>\n England are facing a front-row crisis ahead of their summer fixtures, after Sale Sharks duo Luke Cowan-Dickie and Bevan Rodd appeared to suffer season-ending injuries over the weekend.<\/p>\n Both front rowers were forced off during Sale\u2019s 26-17 Champions Cup victory over Harlequins, with loosehead prop Rodd departing in the first half after suffering a dislocated shoulder, which was later popped back into place by medics.<\/p>\n Hooker Cowan-Dickie, meanwhile, was forced off late on with a suspected broken arm, with Sale boss Alex Sanderson admitting after the game that both players are set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve lost a couple of soldiers in Bev and Dickie,\u201d he said after his side progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cDickie has done something to his wrist or forearm, which is not good. It\u2019s a suspected break \u2013 he thinks it is, but I\u2019m not a medical expert. He\u2019s tough and when I asked him [how he was] he was just shaking his head.<\/p>\n \u201cBev has dislocated his shoulder, and that had to be put back in on the field. We\u2019ve not had much of either of them all season, if I\u2019m honest. They are brilliant. One is a Lion, in Luke, and the other I think is of British and Irish Lions quality, in Bev.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he thought the duo’s seasons were over and if it looked unlikely that they would be fit for England’s inaugural Nations Championship campaign which kicks off on July 4, Sanderson added: “I’d say so, yeah.”<\/p>\n Steve Borthwick’s side face the world champion Springboks in their opening game, before taking on Fiji and Argentina as they look to put their worst-ever Six Nations<\/a> campaign behind them with a strong summer run.<\/p>\n Borthwick has found himself under considerable pressure following a campaign in which his side won just one game, with the Rugby Football Union currently conducting a review into their fifth-placed finish, which is expected to conclude by the end of this month.<\/p>\n Now, the loss of Rodd and British & Irish Lions hooker Cowan-Dickie – who appeared in a sling during his post-match interview following the win over Harlequins – has presented the England boss with a new selection headache.<\/p>\n Borthwick already faces the prospect of being without his top tightheads in Will Stuart, who ruptured his achilles in December, and Trevor Davison, who is set to have surgery after suffering a knee injury last week.<\/p>\n Loosehead Fin Baxter, meanwhile, has not played since December due to a foot injury, but it is hoped he will return soon.<\/p>\n Bordeaux thump Leicester<\/p>\n By PA Sport Staff<\/p>\n Salesi Rayasi scored a hat-trick as Bordeaux<\/a> ran in nine tries and thumped Leicester<\/a> 64-14 in the Investec Champions Cup<\/a> at Stade Chaban Delmas.<\/p>\n The first-half rout got under way when Maxime Lucu<\/a> slotted a sixth-minute penalty and they followed it up with the first of five first-half tries in the 20th minute when Cameron Woki<\/a> crashed over from close range to make it 10-0.<\/p>\n The floodgates well and truly opened and Bordeaux ran in four tries in the space of 12 minutes before the break, firstly when Rayasi zoomed over the whitewash before Lucu ran in under the posts and further efforts from Louis Bielle-Biarrey<\/a> and Maxime Lamothe<\/a> to make it 36-0 at the halfway stage.<\/p>\n Tigers got themselves on the board three minutes into the second period when Izaia Perese ran in under the posts following a careless pass but Ben Tameifuna brushed off the challenge of a few defenders to make sure he restored the hosts\u2019 36-point advantage.<\/p>\n Tigers showed great spirit in the second half to grab another try, this time Leicester worked it right and substitute Billy Searle walked in the simplest try of the contest.<\/p>\n That was all the joy Leicester had though, and Bordeaux scored three more tries courtesy of two Rayasi efforts which earned him a hat-trick either side of Arthur Retiere\u2019s try, which wrapped up a convincing 50-point victory to book their place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n Leinster into quarter-finals after win over Edinburgh<\/p>\n By PA Sport Staff<\/p>\n Leinster booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup with an entertaining 49-31 victory over Edinburgh in a 12-try affair.<\/p>\n Leinster scored twice in the first six minutes to give them an early 14-point advantage courtesy of a couple of tries from Tommy O’Brien but Edinburgh replied with two of their own, firstly when Charlie Shiel raced away before Ross Thompson crossed over to cut the deficit back to two points.<\/p>\n Leinster hit straight back with their third try when Jimmy O’Brien stretched out in the corner but Edinburgh were not going away, and they replied with their third try when Thompson went over for his second of the afternoon.<\/p>\n Both sides still had time to get another try in an electric first half. Hugo Keenan re-extended Leinster’s nine-point advantage before Matt Currie cut the lead back to two again in a breathtaking opening half.<\/p>\n Edinburgh hit the front for the first time in the game 11 minutes into the second half through a moment of magic from Darcy Graham, who dinked the ball over the top and had the beating of Jamison Gibson-Park to touch down.<\/p>\n However, the side from Ireland retook the lead through Josh van der Flier and scored twice more in the space of two minutes courtesy of Thomas Clarkson and Rieko Ioane, who sold the dummy on Graham to finish off a chaotic afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These are your latest rugby headlines on Monday, April 6 Furious star slams ‘shameful’ display Stade Francais fly-half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[26923,7166,124241,59,101,7168,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-515661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-dragons","9":"tag-england-rugby-union-team","10":"tag-european-challenge-cup","11":"tag-gb","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-todays-updates","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515661","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=515661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}