Rugby Union Today: Loose Pass and semi-final build-up
Australia Rugby Head Coach Michael Cheika (left) and Michael Hooper walk off the pitch at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup Quarter Final match at Oita Stadium, Oita, Japan.
Another busy day in the rugby union game as we continue to look ahead to the upcoming World Cup semi-finals, while Loose Pass returns to Planet Rugby.
What’s on the site
Loose Pass returned to Planet Rugby to discuss Michael Cheika’s departure as Australia’s head coach. It also delves into Tendai Mtawarira’s tackle, which saw the prop escape a red card, and statistics in rugby.
Meanwhile, analyst Sam Larner is back from a stint in Japan to delve into scrum defence. Both New Zealand and South Africa exploited weaknesses in the Irish and Japanese rearguards to create tries in their quarter-final victories.
Wales will hope they aren’t on the receiving end of a dominant Springboks set-piece and 94-times capped centre Jamie Roberts believes that they will have to vary their game plan against the two-time champions.
What’s in the news
England coach John Mitchell believes that spying on the opposition would be a pointless exercise. The issue has come into focus this week with Eddie Jones hinting that someone from New Zealand was watching a recent training session, but Mitchell insists that there is no advantage for doing so.
Away from the World Cup, former Springbok flanker Heinrich Brussow has announced his retirement from the game with immediate effect due to injury. Brussow was a key part of the South African team that defeated the British and Irish Lions in 2009 and won 23 caps overall.
What’s on social media
This is how to adapt to the weather conditions…
Over 10 years ago… time flies. Would you like to see me try and recreate this shot?😅 pic.twitter.com/4T261s2luT
— Dan Carter (@DanCarter) October 23, 2019
What’s on TV
The Rugby World Cup continues where the games will be exclusively live on ITV. It has reached the semi-final stage and there will be a couple of thrilling matches as England take on New Zealand and Wales face South Africa.
Away from the global tournament, the Premiership has reached Round Two and BT Sport will continue their coverage with Friday night’s game between Bath and Exeter Chiefs.
Elsewhere, the PRO14 returns after a week’s break with Edinburgh’s encounter against the Scarlets the standout match on Premier Sports.