Rugby Union Today: Short side and Brad Shields injury
England's Brad Shields during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London.
Another busy day in the rugby union game as we look at the main talking points for the upcoming action in the second round of the Rugby Championship.
What’s on the site
It is second weekend of the Rugby Championship on Saturday and the main issues going into the matches are discussed in the weekly feature ‘the short side.’
Elsewhere, check out our Video of the Week which looks back at the New Zealand v South Africa encounter from last year where the Springboks stunned Steve Hansen’s men in Wellington.
What’s in the news
Brad Shields has been forced to withdraw from the England squad due to injury. Although the extent of the foot problem is not known, Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt has been called up as a replacement.
In the Rugby Championship, the teams were announced for the two encounters this weekend with Richie Mo’unga being named at fly-half for New Zealand and Christian Lealiifano returning to the Australian side the headline selections.
Finally, Ulster have named their new captain with Rory Best set to retire, announcing that lock Iain Henderson will take over the leadership role.
What’s on social media
Wales’ pre-World Cup training camps are notoriously brutal and this one seems no different.
Wales have just finished a gruelling two weeks in the Swiss Alps 💪
Here's a flavour of what they got up to… pic.twitter.com/lHvOdAtvmc
— WalesOnline Rugby (@WalesRugby) July 25, 2019
What’s on TV
The Rugby Championship continues this weekend with New Zealand taking on South Africa and Australia hosting Argentina. Both games will be on Sky Sports, while they will also show two Currie Cup encounters.