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These are your morning headlines on Saturday, November 9
Lake: Owens insight ‘massive’
Wales will have former referee Nigel Owens in the coaching box this autumn and Dewi Lake believes this could be very beneficial.
On Thursday it was announced Owens will be joining the Wales coaching team in an advisory role on matchdays and the Wales captain thinks the official will be “huge” for them.
“It is massively important for us, especially with the new laws coming in this autumn,” he said. “Last weekend we saw a couple of penalties we were a bit shocked by. His insight will be massive for us on how and when to communicate to the referee. When is the right time to speak to the referee, and when doesn’t he want to hear you? He’s huge for us.
“It comes down to control – controlling emotions when they can be massively high. It’s about knowing when to calmly walk up to a referee to ask a question that might just put that subtle doubt in his mind for the next decision.”
Gatland added: “Just bringing him in. He does work for the union.
“He’ll bring that experience. We’ve got a young referee on Sunday. He’ll give us some insight, probably as much the psychological aspects of referees. Having his experience will hopefully help us in terms of giving us some feedback into a number a things about the game and potentially some of the decisions as well.”
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Farrell says mood sombre after defeat
By Ed Elliot, PA, Dublin
Head coach Andy Farrell rued an error-strewn performance after below-par Ireland slipped to a deflating 23-13 defeat to New Zealand in Dublin.
The Six Nations champions went into their autumn opener as favourites before crashing to a first home loss in 20 matches dating back more than three years.
Will Jordan’s 37th try in 39 Tests sealed a deserved success for the All Blacks at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, adding to six Damian McKenzie penalties.
Ireland, who were beaten by the Kiwis in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup in France, conceded 13 penalties across the course of a stop-start affair and were unable to build on a 13-9 lead following Josh van der Flier’s score early in the second half.
Farrell said: “(I’m) disappointed. It’s easily summed up with the mood of the dressing room, really: it’s pretty sombre.
“The lads are gutted, we’re all gutted together. I thought we prepped well, trained well, I thought we were excited about the game and we were.
“We didn’t manage to put our game out on the field. Obviously the opposition have a big say in that but I thought we compounded too many errors and almost suppressed ourselves a little bit at times.
“The accuracy wasn’t what was needed to win a big Test match like that.”
Ioane reignites feud
All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane, who led the haka, reignited his feud with Ireland’s Johnny Sexton with a social media post after the match.
The two exchanged views during Sexton’s final game in professional rugby in the World Cup last year, something Sexton detailed in his book.
“I couldn’t bring myself to watch the quarter-final back,” he wrote in Obsession. “I don’t think I ever will. I don’t need to. I’ve mentally replayed every second, over and over.
“It finishes the same way every time. Rónan Kelleher still ploughs into Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock. Whitelock goes in for the poach, clearly without releasing, but somehow Wayne Barnes awards him the penalty, even though it has all happened under his nose — and it’s all over.
“And as I stand there, hands on hips, staring in disbelief at (Wayne) Barnes, Rieko Ioane still comes up to me and tells me, ‘Get back ten metres.’
“‘Huh?’
“‘Penalty,’ he says. ‘Back ten.’ And then, after Barnes blows the final whistle, he says, ‘Don’t miss your flight tomorrow. Enjoy your retirement, you c***.’
Ioane added fuel to the flames with his Instagram post on Friday night; the centre posted shots of him in action during the game, along with a picture of Heath Ledger’s Joker with the caption “Put that in the book”.
England branded ‘absolutely disgraceful’ over anthems
Former Ireland international Donncha O’Callaghan has labelled England “absolutely disgraceful” for their handling of opposition teams’ anthems before matches.
Before England clashed with the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium last weekend, a recorded version of ‘God Defend New Zealand’ was played with no singer in a perceived lack of respect for different cultures.
It came on the back of the Joe Marler furore which saw the former England international criticise the haka and saying it should be “binned” before later apologising for his comments.
But O’Callaghan believes England showed a lack of respect for other countries and their cultures.
“Instead of poking fun at something that’s cultural and really important, [they need] to tidy up their own stuff,” O’Callaghan said on The Offload podcast.
“I think England’s playing of the opposition’s anthems is absolutely disgraceful. They just play it really poorly, and they always have. Don’t turn the speakers up and just do poor renditions of it.
“You want to take the home advantage, but at least show [the visiting team] the decency of playing their anthem properly. I thought it was disgraceful on Saturday.”
Etzebeth to captain South Africa
By Anthony Brown, PA
Eben Etzebeth will captain South Africa in their opening Autumn Test against Scotland on Sunday, with regular skipper Siya Kolisi starting on the bench.
Locks Franco Mostert and RG Snyman return for the world champions after long spells on the sidelines due to injury, while former Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen starts.
Rassie Erasmus has gone for a 7-1 split on the bench in a squad featuring 12 of the 23 from the group that faced Scotland at the World Cup in Marseille 14 months ago.
“This is a seasoned and quality team and adding to that 21 of the 23 players have won a Rugby World Cup title, with some having won two, so they know what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.
“Many of these combinations have also played together this season either during the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Rugby Championship, or both, which will be valuable against a quality team such as Scotland.
“We are expecting an extremely physical match, so we opted for a seven-one split of forwards on the bench and this was aided by the fact that we have such versatile players in the backline, who can cover different positions if necessary.”
Number eight Kwagga Smith will make his 50th appearance for the Springboks. “Kwagga is a vastly talented player and a fantastic team member, and I’m delighted to see him reach this big career milestone,” Erasmus added.
“It takes a special player who performs consistently well over a few years to reach this achievement and Kwagga has certainly done so while maintaining the same high standards at training and on the field. We are very proud of him.”
Sunday’s Scottish Gas Murrayfield clash is the first of three Tests in the UK for South Africa this month, with matches against England and Wales to follow.
