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Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe says it would be ‘amazing’ if South Africa joined the Six Nations. 

Since South Africa departed Super Rugby, the Six Nations expansion to include the Springboks has long been debated. 

The four South African franchises, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, featured in the maiden United Rugby Championship (URC) tournament last season.

It be would be amazing

Speaking to the Telegraph Rugby Podcast, Kolbe endorsed the prospect of South Africa joining the Six Nations. 

“I think if it does happen, it would be massive and change the whole scenario regarding the Six Nations,” he said. 

“For the Springboks, it would be amazing to be part of the Six Nations. You get to play against top countries each and week when you’re part of that competition. It would be amazing if it comes off one day, but who knows.”

Kolbe follows fellow Rugby World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth in voicing his support for South Africa joining the Six Nations.

“I think it would be great being a part of that (the Six Nations),” Etzebeth told the Times back in December last year. 

“It would mean the schedules will be a bit more aligned. I never want to move away from playing the All Blacks, Wallabies and Argentina, so as long as there’s still space to also play those matches.

“So if we can keep those rivalries aligned it would be great for us, for rugby, and it would align the schedule for the best interests of the players. I don’t know where the game will go in the future, or where we will play in the future, but being part of the European schedule and the Champions Cup just makes sense.”

Rassie Erasmus

Kolbe made his Test debut for South Africa back in 2018 under then-head coach Rassie Erasmus. 

The Springbok flyer described Erasmus as an ‘incredible human’ when defending his the Springboks’ director of rugby character when asked about Erasmus’ suspension for posting videos on Twitter about Wayne Barnes’ decisions.

“It just shows you how much he cares about the Springboks and about South Africa,” Kolbe said of Erasmus. 

“He just wants the boys and the team to be treated fairly, and he would go out of his way to make sure that is the case. He’s very passionate about his rugby, and I am sure each and every person will know that by now. That’s just who Coach Rassie is.

“He’s just an incredible human on and off the field. I’ve gotten to know Coach Rassie since I started playing [for the Springboks] in 2018, but just his sense of the game, his thinking, is out of this world. I haven’t been part of a team where the coaching has so much detail, and that much thought goes into preparation and the way you see and analyse other teams. I take my hat off to coach Rassie for coming in at such a difficult time and turning a lot around in quite a short period of time leading into the World Cup in 2019.

“He’s a fantastic coach to play under and just a phenomenal human off the field, too. He cares a lot about the players, their health, their families and just wanting the best for them. Everyone knows that the ban he got was for the players, for the Springboks at the time. He’s a good guy to have on your side.” 

READ MORE: Tendai Mtawarira: ‘We don’t have to fear Ireland and Scotland at World Cup’ says Bok legend

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SFR Sport reported tonight that talks have been ongoing for several weeks between Real Madrid, Chelsea and Brazilian international defender David Luiz over a possible transfer.

Luiz has in recent months seen his relationship with manager Antonio Conte break down, and this now appears likely to see him heading towards the exit door in the January transfer window.

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England star Ollie Lawrence admits the financial turmoil at Worcester Warriors inspired a fresh start and a return to the Red Rose jersey.

Lawrence was outstanding in the first centre channel for England on Saturday, providing an attractive solution to the team’s concerns at 12.

In a magnificent performance, the 23-year-old made 83 metres and beat eight defenders – the most by an English centre in a Six Nations game.

Needed a change

The robust carrier was forced to move to Bath after Worcester went into administration and has shone under Johann van Graan in that set-up after a year of injuries ruined his 2021-2022 campaign.

Lawrence was taken aback by what happened with Worcester but admitted that change did him good.

“My injuries have probably one of the biggest things. Re-injuring is obviously frustrating,” Lawrence said.

“But finding out what had happened to Worcester, knowing that we were going into administration, was pretty tough to take.

“I had been there since I was 15 so it’s always been a part of my life and my family’s. That was hard to take, to lose out on a lot of different friendships and stuff. We’ve all had to go in our different directions.

“Off the back of it, I can’t say that it wasn’t the best thing for me because I think I needed the change. It took me leaving Worcester to realise that.

“But I’ve grown up a lot. I’ve had to mature. It’s been a whirlwind over the last six months but I have no regrets so far. Sometimes these things need to happen for you to go into a different position.”

Lawrence ran away with the man-of-the-match award against Italy after head coach Steve Borthwick told him to “kick the front door down.”

“Kick the front door down”

“Steve put my role against Italy as, ‘you’ve got to kick the front door down’. You can understand what he means by that!” Lawrence said.

“My job is to be physical both sides of the ball and support the other players around me and that is what I tried to do – get us over the gainline and get quick ball.

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“Owen Farrell has been really good for me over the last two weeks in making sure that I know what I’m doing and he gave me the right balls, so just fed off him.

“Henry outside me is an experienced player – both of them are – so I am happy to be stuck in the middle of them.

“I wanted to get back to playing like how I used to and enjoying it again. I lost the enjoyment a bit because of the injury. When I enjoy my rugby, I usually play well off the back of it.”

England’s next clash is on February 25 against Wales, who are reportedly considering striking for the game amid struggles within the Welsh Rugby Union.

Premier League club Crystal Palace have lodged an €18m bid for Lille’s defensive player Ibrahim Amadou, as reported by RMC and Sky Sports.

Lille have put this offer on hold, as they currently want €20m. Mark McKay has been mandated by Les Dogues to find an offer from the Premier League that reaches that amount.

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More undoubtedly to follow in the coming days.

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika has made two alterations to his starting line-up for their Rugby Championship Test against South Africa in Durban on Saturday.

Despite suffering a 36-20 defeat in the corresponding fixture in Buenos Aires last weekend, Cheika has resist the urge to make mass changes with backline duo Juan Imhoff and Matias Moroni the new faces in the run-on side for the final round encounter.

Imhoff comes in for Lucio Cinti on the left wing while Moroni replaces Matias Orlando at outside centre respectively.

Joining Imhoff in the back three isJuan Cruz Mallia (full-back) and Emiliano Boffelli (right wing), while Moroni will form a midfield partnership with Jeronimo de la Fuente, who starts at inside centre.

Despite an underwhelming performance in Buenos Aires, Cheika has given Gonzalo Bertranou another chance at scrum-half and he is joined in the halfbacks by Santiago Carreras.

No changes to the forwards

In the forwards, Pablo Matera continues at number eight alongside Marcos Kremer and Juan Martin Gonzalez, who start on the flanks, while Tomas Lavanini and Matias Alemanno pack down in the engine room again.

Up front, captain and hooker Julian Montoya is joined by Eduardo Bello and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, who are the starting props.

There are also some changes on the replacements bench with Bautista Delguy coming in to join Tomas Cubelli and Benjamin Urdapilleta as the backline replacements while Mayco Vivas takes over from Thomas Gallo as front-row back-up. Meanwhile, the uncapped Pedro Rubiolo is preferred to Rodrigo Bruni as back-row cover.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Augustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Bautista Delguy

Date: Saturday, September 24
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Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 17:05 local (16:05 BST, 15:05 GMT)
Referee: Damon Murphy (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland) & Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Chris Hart (New Zealand)

Ligue 1 side AS Monaco are interested in signing Genoa striker 16-year-old Pietro Pellegri, according to Gianluca di Marzio.

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Juventus are in pole position to land the teenage Italian, and have already begun negotiating a deal worth €20m including bonuses.

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Wales head coach Warren Gatland backs Andy Farrell to take over the reins as the British and Irish Lions head coach in 2025.

Having led the Lions during the 2013, 2017 and 2021 tours to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, Gatland may have been in the running for a fourth tour after returning as Wales’ head coach. 

However, he instead backed his defence coach in 2013 and 2017, Andy Farrell, to do the job in 2025.

“Only one person for the job”

Farrell‘s record as Ireland’s head coach speaks for itself, having guided the team back to the top of the World Rugby rankings after claiming a historic 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand. They added the scalps of Australia and South Africa in November as they went unbeaten during the Autumn Nations Series. 

Those results leads Gatland to believe that Farrell is the only person for the job.

“If you are picking a Lions coach at the moment, there is only one person that I think is in contention,” Gatland said during a Principality Stadium press conference on Tuesday.

“And he is across the water and living in Dublin at the minute. If you are successful, those opportunities come along.

Gatland’s focus is on Wales

“I hadn’t even thought about that (Lions tour). I am just thinking about the next 10 months,” Gatland added.

“I am well aware of how important the Six Nations and World Cup are next year.

“I don’t plan my pathway. I am a believer of if you are in the right place at the right time, then opportunities come along. What will be, will be.”

Robin McBryde poured cold water over speculation that he would join Wales’ coaching staff earlier this week, and Gatland confirmed that he had not had any discussions with the current coaching support staff so far.

While Wayne Pivac parted ways with the Welsh Rugby Union, his support staff are still on the Union’s payroll. The likes of Stephen Jones, Jonathan Humphreys and Gethin Jenkins all worked alongside Pivac and could continue their roles with Gatland.

“I haven’t spoken to any of the coaches,” he added. 

“There was a review process conducted by the union, and I am going through that process at the moment.

“I’ve got to make sure that I do the right thing and make the best decision for Wales and the team. That’s ongoing at the moment.”

Tough first task

Wales host Ireland in their opening Six Nations match of the new year on February 4, and Gatland sees the positives in facing strong opposition first up.

“It’s probably good, as they are the best team in the world, and rightly so.

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“Getting them first up at home is not the worst thing. It’s a tournament of momentum. You win your first game, and you’ve got a good chance of doing well.

“To get them first up, it’s probably the one game you want at home – playing against the best team where there is probably a bit more pressure on them.

“I think we will be pretty excited about getting ready for the game.

“My upbringing in New Zealand, we always believed if you work hard, you get results.

“That has always been my attitude, never ever afraid to take something on and believe if you do something, you can do something special.

“I wouldn’t be here doing the job unless I thought we were capable of winning things.”

French international central defender Presnel Kimpembe has rejected an approach from Manchester City, according to our colleagues at Paris United.

Guardiola is looking to sign a centre-back this month, but it won’t be the young PSG man, with City’s focus now on Athletic Club’s Aymeric Laporte, with this particular young man’s €65m release clause set to be activated in the coming days by the Citizens.

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Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie says his side need to be better this week against the Springboks if they are to win again after handing the world champions several opportunities last time out at the Adelaide Oval.

Rennie’s side claimed a positive 25-17 win over the Springboks last weekend, partially due to the South Africans being unable to capitalise on their territory during the second quarter of the game.

Crucial win in Adelaide

The triumph was vital after Australia had been blown out of the water by a rampant Argentina side 48-17 only a fortnight before.

The 58-year-old revealed that immediately after his side’s win in Adelaide he was already thinking of how they could go back-to-back against the Springboks.

“The interesting thing is when you win people think it’s relief, and really my thoughts five minutes after the game are how do we win next week,” Rennie said.

“And so the preparation and thinking is going into what our week looks like, how do we make sure that we create edge after a win rather than being satisfied with that.

“We’ve had a really good week of preparation, nice to be working with the same group of guys, and as a group of coaches, we’ve made sure that we’ve bought edge and the leaders have done a great job around driving expectations.

“We know we’re going to need to be better because we gave away a lot of penalties last week, and the Springboks weren’t able to hurt us, especially in our second 20 (minutes).

“They are too good a side for us to give them as many opportunities again.”

The Springboks have made eight changes to their starting line-up, many of which are injury-enforced, with key players Handre Pollard and Lukhanyo Am out for the remainder of the Rugby Championship.

Springbok depth

However, Rennie is under no illusions about the depth of the South African side and insists his team need to be better to claim the win in Sydney this weekend.

“The depth in the Springboks is phenomenal,” he said.

“They’ve made changes, I’d imagine some based on form and some based on injury, we’ve been through that as well and you just focus on who you’ve got and you get on with it.

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“What we know is that it’s still a quality Springboks side, there’s a little bit of youth and energy included, so we’re well aware of the threat they pose.”

 

L’Équipe report today that Lille had given Ibrahim Amadou the ok to join Crystal Palace on a loan with obligation to buy deal worth over €15m, thus the Ligue 1 side’s captain travelled to London last night.

There he underwent a medical with Crystal Palace, with the aim of finding an agreement before midnight. But Lille remained inflexible vis-à-vis a departure, with manager Christophe Galtier demanding that no players be sold so that he can focus all their resources on remaining in Ligue 1.

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