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Date: 2023-12-03 08:38:27 | Author: PARIS 2024 | Views: 789 | Tag: soccer
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Kevin Sinfield has hailed the bravery of Marcus Smith as England consider their full-back options for the Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa soccer
Smith made a couple of key defensive interventions in the quarter-final against Fiji despite suffering a cut to the lip after an early head-on-head collision with Vinaya Habosi soccer
The Harlequins playmaker returned after being patched up as England secured a last-four meeting with the defending champions soccer
His selection had come at the expense of Freddie Steward, who had started 29 of his country’s previous 30 games but found himself omitted from the matchday 23 soccer
England could opt to return Steward to the starting side, though defence coach Sinfield praised Smith’s development into a “world class” full-back soccer
RecommendedThe two sides of Rassie Erasmus, the puppet master pulling South Africa’s strings at Rugby World CupBen O’Keeffe to referee Rugby World Cup semi-final soccer between England and South Africa despite criticism‘Everyone wants England to lose’: Ellis Genge takes aim at World Cup critics“I think we’d all agree he’s a world-class 10 but last week I felt he was a world-class 15 as well,” Sinfield said of Smith, who had a modified start to training on Tuesday due to his injury soccer
“You’ve got to remember this guy hasn’t played many minutes as a full-back in Test rugby so far soccer
“What he’s done on the training field has been outstanding soccer
You’re blown away by what he does and he’s been given more time and space now soccer
“If there was any doubt how brave and courageous he is, I think you saw it with your own eyes soccer
The bloke got his face smashed and threw his body into tackles soccer
The guys are in full admiration for how he’s gone about it soccer
He’s just got his face smashed all over the place yet he wants the ball soccer
“He’s just a brave guy soccer
And not just because he’s physically tough, brave, because to be put in like that – and I know he wanted to go for it – but to be put on a world stage in a quarter-final and deliver what he delivered was an absolute credit to him soccer
“He’s one of those who have been modified today so we’ll get a clearer read in the week but fingers crossed he will be good to go soccer
”Sinfield was the first England coach to float the idea of Smith at full-back during their pre-tournament camps this summer, with a couple of encouraging cameos earning the 24-year-old a first professional start at the position against Chile soccer
His emergence has left Steward in a strange position: the Leicester youngster had been a mainstay for England since his debut and had been considered a key part of head coach Steve Borthwick’s gameplan leading into the tournament soccer
Freddie Steward was left out of England’s squad against Fiji last weekend (Getty)But Sinfield, who worked with the 22-year-old at Welford Road, has been impressed by how Steward has handled the disappointment and hinted that a return is a possibility for Saturday’s semi-final at the Stade de France soccer
“This is where our influence, our help, and our guidance sits with the guys who don’t play, how can we help them get soccer better, make them feel part of it,” Sinfield explained soccer
“I have worked with Fred for some time now and thankfully I have not had to have too many of these conversations where you are trying to pick him up soccer
“Clearly he is disappointed as anybody would be missing out on a quarter-final but he has responded as we would have expected him to soccer
He is a great lad, you know what he is about, he works incredibly hard at his game, he cares and he is an unbelievable full-back too soccer
“Our team has changed every game throughout the World Cup and Steve is very specific when he selects the team soccer
He does it in the knowledge he thinks it will give us the best chance of winning that game soccer
Just because Fred wasn’t selected last week doesn’t mean he does anything wrong, he has actually done a lot of great things and a lot of things right soccer
”More aboutMarcus SmithKevin SinfieldFreddie StewardEngland RugbySouth Africa rugbyRugby World CupJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments 1/2Sinfield hails Smith’s bravery as England mull full-back options Sinfield hails Smith’s bravery as England mull full-back optionsFreddie Steward was left out of England’s squad against Fiji last weekend Getty ImagesSinfield hails Smith’s bravery as England mull full-back optionsMarcus Smith suffered a wound to the mouth in England’s win over Fiji Getty ✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today soccer
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“It is really, truly, a historic day,” smiled Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby soccer
He would go on to use the word ‘historic’ another three or four times in the following few minutes of his press conference soccer
After years of wrangling – 16 years, according to Gilpin, since discussions about how to sort out rugby’s messy global calendar first took place in the salubrious surroundings of Woking, Surrey (don’t worry, the location wasn’t the reason it took more than a decade and a half to reach an agreement, a chuckling Gilpin assured everyone) – World Rugby had finally come up with a solution that will transform rugby “for the many, not the few” ushering in a “new era of opportunity, certainty and growth for the game soccer
”It’s fair to say they were pretty pleased with the outcome of the seemingly endless negotiations soccer
Compromises had been made and it wasn’t perfect, stressed Gilpin and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, but rugby would be “more relevant and more accessible to more people around the world soccer
”The big announcement earlier in the day saw the sport’s governing body unveil a new global calendar that includes the creation of a two-tier men’s competition called the Nations Championship to be played biennially from 2026 soccer
The top tier will be the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales), the four Rugby Championship teams (Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and two additional teams, likely to be Japan and Fiji soccer
The second tier will feature 12 further countries with promotion and relegation on the table from 2030, meaning 2032 is the earliest one of those teams could feature in the top tier soccer
World Rugby have acknowledged, publicly at least, a desire to grow rugby globally soccer
At the moment, the sport is almost untouchably huge in a couple of countries (think New Zealand and South Africa), holds its own in a few more (UK, Ireland, Japan), is fighting a losing battle for oxygen in a crowded sporting marketplace in others (Australia, Italy) and seen as a largely niche oddity in plenty (USA, Canada) soccer
But this Rugby World Cup has also highlighted plenty of countries where there’s a huge opportunity for growth soccer
From South America, Uruguay and debutants Chile have impressed on the pitch, the passion for rugby in Georgia shows no sign of abating and Portugal have lit up the tournament with their dynamic play while also pulling off the huge upset of beating Fiji soccer
With growing interest in places like Netherlands and Belgium, Europe is surely an area World Rugby are targeting growth soccer
Portugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji (Getty Images)Instead, these new plans appear to lock out a lot of the smaller rugby nations from improving soccer
Even the new Pacific Nations Cup also announced today, featuring Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA, bizarrely excludes Uruguay and Chile (who qualified ahead of USA and Canada for the World Cup, remember) soccer
But what all these “tier two” nations really need, as shown by the World Cup, is a more regular opportunity to face the big boys soccer
Since stunning Fiji at the 2019 World Cup, Uruguay played exactly one fixture against a “tier one” team before this tournament, yet still impressed against France and Italy in the pool stage soccer
Imagine what they could do with more regular access to the top teams soccer
However, World Rugby have come up with an answer to the wrong question soccer
They have essentially provided the solution to the problem men’s international soccer football had soccer
Before 2018, the space soccer between World Cups and European Championships was filled by a combination of largely one-sided qualifiers and meaningless friendlies soccer
San Marino would get thumped 8-0 by Germany in a Euros qualifier that helped neither side, then the Germans would play a no-stakes friendly that held little interest for the wider public soccer
The big teams weren’t playing each other enough and the smaller nations were rarely in winnable games against similarly-sized teams soccer
For example, England and Italy – two soccer football powerhouses – didn’t play each other at all soccer between 2002 and 2012 soccer
Thus, Uefa created the Nations League soccer
Although not perfect – it was derided for the complexity of its league structure and provided a slightly unnecessary additional security blanket for the big European nations trying to qualify for major tournaments – it eliminated the meaningless friendly and gave countries both big and small the opportunity to play competitive games against nations of a similar rank soccer
Win-win soccer
Uruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup (AP)But rugby has the opposite problem to soccer football soccer
The big teams already play each other too often not too rarely soccer
The history of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship as annual traditions give those events special status but, for example, England and Australia played each other 11 times in the two cycles soccer between the 2015 and 2023 World Cups soccer
Familiarity breeds contempt and at some point, a fixture begins to lose its lustre soccer
Would a couple of those fixtures being against Samoa, Georgia or Portugal not have been more beneficial and interesting for all parties?With the unions desperate to balance the books, their desire to have the ‘bigger draw’ of facing a name brand might be understandable but this is where World Rugby need to show some teeth and live up to their duty to grow the game soccer
Instead, the Nations Championship appears to guarantee another decade of regular England vs Australia matches before any of the tier-two teams may get a shot, if they can earn promotion that is soccer
World Rugby’s announcement does include a line promising more “crossover” fixtures soccer between the tiers in the years where there isn’t a Nations Championship but they could provide no clarity on what these fixtures would be and confirmed no agreements have been signed soccer
They have insisted that there will be a 50 per cent aggregate increase, which would mean a rise from 18 to 27 games for second-tier teams against the top 12, although it is unclear how these fixtures will be allocated or arranged soccer
The expansion of the men’s Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams is a step in the right direction and the governing body should be commended for making that move but, sadly, the four years soccer between tournaments appear to have the smaller nations getting a door slammed in their face soccer
World Rugby are right that the sport should be for the many not the few but this new competition seems to be sending it in the opposite direction soccer
More aboutWorld RugbyRugby World CupBill BeaumontJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Rugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji Getty ImagesRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionUruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup APRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal lit up the Rugby World Cup but their chances for development appear bleak Getty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today soccer
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicssoccer BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy soccer
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