Pontypool have announced the departure of head coach Tom Hancock and senior coach Dale McIntosh after a difficult start to the season. The Super Rygbi Cymru club, who have won just two of their seven league matches this season, confirmed Hancock had left after discussions with owner Peter Jeffreys. McIntosh's exit was confirmed shortly afterwards on Sunday night, before news came that former head coach Leighton Jones is to return.
Pontypool make coaching changes
Jeffreys thanked Hancock for his contribution over the last two years as head coach, noting that he had fully bought into the ethos of Super Rygbi Cymru with a number of players moving onto the next level in their careers. Jeffreys said the club would still be working closely with Hancock in his role at the Dragons academy and that he would always be welcome at the club.
Jeffreys also expressed his enjoyment of working with McIntosh, wishing him all the best for the future and thanking him for his efforts at Pooler. After speaking with Hancock, Jeffreys said there was only really one choice for him, and when he spoke to Jones it took him a matter of seconds to agree his return. Jeffreys said he has always valued Jones's no-nonsense approach and feels that is exactly what is needed now given the current performances. He looks forward to welcoming him back into the camp this week as the boys return from their week off.
Jones said he cannot wait to get back on the pitch with the boys and is fully recharged after two years out of the semi-pro game. He noted there are many familiar faces at the club still alongside plenty of new faces and he is looking forward to getting involved with all of them.
Rees-Zammit backed to reach new heights
Louis Rees-Zammit says he is feeling back to full confidence as Wales defence coach Steve Tandy backed him to become one of the world's best wingers. The Bristol Bears flyer ended an eight-Test tryless run with a score against Japan on Saturday, having put in a mightily impressive individual performance in the 28-21 victory.
Rees-Zammit said he felt really confident out there, which comes from the work put in during the week in camp and the form he has found at Bristol. He said playing back on the wing really helps, allowing him to create chances, help the team get on the front foot, and be in position to finish tries off when opportunities appear.
He admitted he put in some good performances last season, but was playing in a different position, which meant learning on the go. Compared to the sharpness he had when he left, there was an adjustment, but right now he is feeling really confident in his game, playing with a smile on his face and real confidence, always backing himself to beat the first defender. Defensively, he feels very solid too, with the connection across the back three, backfield coverage, and linking up with the outside centres in a really good place.
Tandy backed Rees-Zammit to reach even greater heights, saying there are not many athletes that can come back from a different sport and get back to playing international rugby like he did so quickly. By his own admission, Rees-Zammit wants more, to be one of the best wings in the world, if not the best, and he has all the attributes to do that, and he has kicked on.
The Wales head coach added that the best teams in the world have people that can break the game up, do something out of nothing. He said Rees-Zammit has gone up a level and deserved his man-of-the-match performance.
Despite moments of magic from Rees-Zammit, Wales spluttered to an unconvincing victory over the Brave Blossoms in Cardiff. Rees-Zammit said the team could have done a lot more in the game, creating many opportunities where they could have scored a lot more tries. The main positive is that they banked the five points and got the bonus-point win, and they can look back at it on Monday, review how it went, and build from there.
At half-time, they spoke about being braver with the ball in hand. In the first half, he thought they put in a solid shift, but every time they got into the 22, they coughed the ball up a few times, which stopped them from turning pressure into points. It is always good to get the win, but the real positive is that they know they can be much better, and they will review it on Monday and challenge themselves to take their execution to the next level.
Pollock loves new position
Henry Pollock said he loved playing on the wing after his two-try salvo in the backline during England's rout of Australia on Sunday. The back-row came on at half-time to replace Immanuel Feyi-Waboso after the wing was forced off injured, with Pollock going on to score twice in the second-half.
Afterwards, he admitted he had spent a little bit of time getting ready for the positional switch in the week, with Steve Borthwick having named a 6-2 split on the bench. Pollock told ITV that on a 6-2, you have got to prepare for everything, and this week he did a bit on the wing. He trained it a little bit, and then when they told him at half-time, the boys got round him really well and gave him loads of confidence to go out there and be himself.
He added that you have got to keep talking to your backfield and then be in the backfield, something he had never really done before. He played a little bit in Northampton on the wing, but this is obviously a massive step up. He shouted out George Furbank and Henry Slade for making his job easy, as they were just telling him what to do and he was just doing it.
He loved it, loved being nervous at half-time, thinking it is a new position for him, never done this for England before. He really enjoyed it, and thought that out there it was even more fun, so hopefully again. He said they would not put him there if the coaches did not think he could do anything there, so the biggest thing for him is just going out there and being as comfortable as he can. If he messes up, it is a new position and he is going to make so many learnings from it.
Being able to cover more than one position is big, and today his role was coming on in the second half and being that winger. He trusts the coach and the team, whatever he needs to do for that. It showed in the last 30, 40 minutes, with the bench coming on and doing their thing, which shows where they are at as a squad.
Springboks call in icon
Experienced lock Eben Etzebeth has been called up by South Africa, while uncapped fly-half Yaqeen Ahmed has been released from the squad with a shoulder niggle. The 147-cap second-row is back in Rassie Erasmus' squad for Friday's clash with France, having not been named in their initial touring squad due to injury.
As the most-capped Springbok, his return provides Erasmus with a massive boost. Erasmus said on Sunday that they are very sad for Ahmed after earning his first call-up to the national squad, but they feel it will be best for him to return to South Africa to recover. After being with them for a week, he has a good idea of how they operate and has more insight into their systems, and they are confident that the experience will benefit him immensely as a player going forward.
With enough backline cover in the squad and a number of versatile players among them, they opted to call up Etzebeth, who will not only bring vast experience to the group at this vital stage of the Nations Championship, but also valuable leadership skills, especially with two important matches against France and Ireland in the next two weeks before the Finals Weekend of the tournament.
