Martin Johnson’s first act as the new supremo of England’s rugby squad has been to drop three of the men he played with in the 2003 World Cup-winning squad.
Center Mike Tindall and forwards Ben Kay and Joe Worsley failed to make it into the first 32-man elite squad named by Johnson since he took up the role of national team manager in the wake of last month’s troubled tour of New Zealand.
The squad will provide the bulk of the players who will represent England in November Tests against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and next year’s Six Nations campaign.
Under a new agreement between the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership clubs, England will be able to insist on players in the elite squad being released for international duty on specified dates, starting with a five-day training camp next month.
Tindall, Kay and Worsley have been relegated to the second string Saxons while no fewer than 13 members of the squad that lost both of last month’s Tests against the All Blacks miss out on Johnson’s first senior selection.
Flyhalf Charlie Hodgson, who endured a torrid time in New Zealand, did not even make it into the Saxons squad.
Johnson admitted the tame performances in New Zealand had influenced his thinking.
“I don’t think there is a tougher task than going to play New Zealand away,” he said.
“What did we find out? Some of the players stood up and competed well and I think we found out something about everyone who went on that tour, and that is factored in to the squad we have named today,” Johnson said. “We were beaten in those two matches by a very good New Zealand team. We have to compete with them and become a better rugby team.”
The New Zealand tour was overshadowed by allegations of a serious sexual assault involving four England players and Johnson said members of the new squad would be reminded of their responsibilities in terms of conduct.
“A lot has been spoken about that after New Zealand. When we get together in August it will be one of the first things we discuss and the players will be under no illusions as to where responsibilities lie,” he said.
Johnson said discipline was right at the top of his agenda.
“If all players in English, British rugby haven’t learned a lesson from what’s gone on they will never learn a lesson,” he said.
“We will address the issues. The behavior things we are talking about — the late nights and females in hotels — are important,” Johnson said.
“There are certain things that will be non-negotiable, but there are other things you want the players to agree with and want themselves. You can write down a code of conduct on a piece of paper, but the guys need to have a set of behaviors they adhere to within a team,” he said.
There are four uncapped players in Johnson’s group, including New Zealand Maori international Riki Flutey, who will be eligible to play for England from September having satisfied residency requirements.
The other newcomers are Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley, London Irish lock Nick Kennedy and Leicester back-row forward Jordan Crane.
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the