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<\/p>\nThe latest rugby stories making headlines from around the world<\/p>\n
The Springboks’ clash with New Zealand in Baltimore was hit by technical problems (Image: Richard Nichols\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Here are today’s morning rugby headlines on Tuesday, September 15.<\/p>\n
Hansen blasts ‘ridiculous’ Springboks v All Blacks spectacle<\/p>\n
Former All Blacks and Wales head coach Steve Hansen has blasted the technology failure which caused a lengthy delay during the fourth Test against South Africa, claiming rugby made itself look \u201cridiculous\u201d in front of a new American audience.<\/p>\n
The Springboks defeated New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore on Saturday to win the Greatest Rivalry Series 3-1, but the match was interrupted midway through the first half when the officials\u2019 communications equipment failed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The issue led to more than 10 minutes of confusion before the two teams agreed the referee could continue without communications with his assistants.<\/p>\n Hansen believes there should have been a simple protocol in place and questioned why it took so long to resolve.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t we have protocols?\u201d questioned Hansen on the Rugby Unity podcast this week.<\/p>\n \u201cLike, did we think we\u2019d never have a breakdown in communication? So this is the first time this has ever happened that we don\u2019t hear each other, and why does it take so long to come to an understanding?<\/p>\n JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt should just be automatic, right? We\u2019ve got no comms, so we just play on, and guess what? I\u2019ll ref. And if I make a mistake, well, that\u2019ll be it. I make a mistake. If you see some foul play, stick your flag out. I mean, how ludicrous are we?\u201d<\/p>\n The former New Zealand boss was particularly critical of the confusion as officials discussed how to restart the game, while organisers tried to find a solution.<\/p>\n \u201cThat \u2018oh, I\u2019ll ring down, and then someone will run off over to the sideline and tell the touch judge, and then we\u2019re going to go back for like this\u2019. Going to take five minutes. Yeah, we look stupid. We really do. We look ridiculous,\u201d Hansen blasted.<\/p>\n He also argued that the stoppage undermined what was supposed to be a major showcase for rugby in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played the game for 100 years the other way, and now we suddenly can\u2019t do it,” he added. “We\u2019ve got to stand around for 10 minutes while nothing goes on; it ruined the big moment.\u201d<\/p>\n WRU hits back at ’embarrassing’ claims<\/p>\n The Welsh Rugby Union has hit back at claims its investment in the women\u2019s game is contributing to the potential loss of one of Wales\u2019 four professional men\u2019s regions.<\/p>\n WRU women\u2019s rugby director Nadine Griffiths described comments she had seen on social media suggesting a region could be cut because of spending on women\u2019s rugby as \u201cembarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n The future of Welsh professional rugby has become a major talking point after plans emerged to reduce the number of men\u2019s regions from four to three, with either the Scarlets<\/a> or Ospreys<\/a> understood to be most at risk.<\/p>\n But Griffiths insisted the women\u2019s programme was not taking money away from the men\u2019s game and said it had actually generated \u00a31.7m for the WRU last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really disappointed and slightly embarrassed by some of the comments I read online about the women\u2019s game taking money from the men\u2019s game,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t. There are five different budget lines, including the men, women, [Principality] stadium and community game.\u201d<\/p>\n Wales have had a professional women\u2019s programme since the start of 2022, with more than 40 players now contracted to the WRU.<\/p>\n Griffiths believes the women\u2019s game also offers significant opportunities for future commercial growth, arguing that the men\u2019s game is approaching a ceiling in several areas.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we look at the men\u2019s game we are hitting ceilings in terms of where our commercial growth opportunities are, there\u2019s only so much more we can charge for tickets, there\u2019s only so many people we can get into the ground,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur women\u2019s game is a growth area and provides us an opportunity to really bring in some serious cash into Welsh rugby as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s bringing people who don\u2019t traditionally watch rugby and again it leads into that commercial growth where we\u2019re selling more jerseys and watching more games.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it actually lends into growing Welsh rugby as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n Ronan O’Gara signs new contract<\/p>\n Ronan O\u2019Gara has committed his future to La Rochelle until 2031 after signing a contract extension with the French giants.<\/p>\n The former Ireland international joined the Top 14 club in 2019 following coaching spells with Racing 92 and New Zealand side Crusaders.<\/p>\n O\u2019Gara initially extended his contract after La Rochelle suffered defeat in the 2021 European Champions Cup final, before leading the club to back-to-back European triumphs in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n Those victories delivered La Rochelle\u2019s first major silverware and cemented O\u2019Gara\u2019s status as one of the leading coaches in European rugby.<\/p>\n \u201cMy family and I are very happy and proud to continue this adventure with Stade Rochelais,\u201d O\u2019Gara told the club website.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have lived through exceptional times and gone through more difficult times together. In each of them, I felt the confidence of the club and the support of our supporters.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe deeply in this club, in its players, in its staff and in its ambition. We have already built a lot of things, but I am convinced that the best is still ahead of us.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to continue to grow this team and win with Stade Rochelais.\u201d<\/p>\n La Rochelle have made a perfect start to the new Top 14 campaign, beating Toulouse before edging Toulon 21-20 on Saturday.<\/p>\n They face Racing 92 next weekend.<\/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 stories making headlines from around the world The Springboks’ clash with New Zealand in Baltimore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,7168,56,54,55,9051],"class_list":["post-771358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-todays-updates","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-welsh-rugby-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771358","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=771358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}