The Monday Bulletin (17th February): Eddie Jordan buys London Irish and Wooden Spoon funds playground upgrade
02/17/2025 06:00 AM
Ntamack suspended for Dublin trip
France stand-off Romain Ntamack will miss his country's Guinness Six Nations match against Italy on Sunday after an independent disciplinary committee decided that he could not use his club's league fixture to serve the second part of a two-game suspension. Ntamack, who was red-carded against Wales, and missed the defeat to England, had hoped that being unavailable for the Top 14 match against Clermont Auvergne would complete his ban. However, the committee decided that his status as a 'protected player' meant that he would not have been released from the international set-up to play in that match. As a result, he is ruled out of the Rome encounter and will be available for the trip to meet Ireland in the penultimate round of the competition.
Arnold Clark Men's Premiership: Ayr steamroller Melrose to underline title credentials
Celtic Challenge: rampant Glasgow shock Edinburgh to claim first win in competition
Wassell resumes training
Scotland lock Emma Wassell has resumed training following surgery to remove a tumour from her chest. The 30-year-old, who plays for Loughborough Lightning, underwent the operation last September. She has posted a video on Instagram which shows her running, and another during a gym session.
Douglas leaves Gray feeling Blue
There was a familiar face in the opposition as Murray Douglas played at lock for Shizuoka BlueRevs in a 33-23 win away to a Toyota Verblitz team featuring Richie Gray in week eight of Japan's League One. The result leaves BlueRevs fourth in the table and Verblitz tenth. Elsewhere, Greig Laidlaw's basement side Urayasu D-Rocks were unable to make it two wins in a row when they lost to fellow strugglers, Black Rams Tokyo.
Jordan buys Irish
Formula 1 team owner, Eddie Jordan, is at the head of a consortium which has bought London Irish. The club was thrown out of the Gallagher Premiership in June 2023 after failing to pay its wage bill and was later placed in administration with debts of around £30 million. Jordan's group plans to offer supporters the opportunity to take a stake in the club and to return it to competitive rugby. It will retain its base in London. There have been suggestions that Jordan wants to join the URC but this would require approval from the RFU, and permission is unlikely to be granted, meaning London Irish would remain in the English system, meaning the focus turning to gaining admission into the second tier Championship.
Wooden Spoon funds playground upgrade
Tables are available for the Wooden Spoon Dinner in Glasgow on Thursday 27 February 2025. The event is a fund raiser for the charity's work to support children who are disadvantaged or living with a disability. Recent projects include a £21,000 donation to Clydemuir Primary School in Clydebank for a playground upgrade. The facility was opened at an event attended by Glasgow Warriors and Scotland winger Kyle Steyn.
To book a table, visit the Wooden Spoon website by clicking HERE.
England set for four autumn tests
Unconfirmed reports suggest that cash-strapped England will play a fourth autumn Test this year after agreeing to meet Australia at Twickenham in a match that is outside the international window. The RFU has already arranged fixtures against New Zealand, Argentina and Fiji. If it does go ahead, the extra game could generate substantial extra revenue for the RFU, which reported a big operating loss for last year.
Generous rating for Swiel leaves Dupont in the shade
The launch of the latest Rugby 25 video game has raised a few eyebrows due to some rather unusual player ratings with, for example, journeyman fly-half Tim Swiel – who managed three appearances for Edinburgh last season as one stop on a peripatetic career which has also taken in spells with Western Province, Sharks, Harlequins, Newcastle, Stormers, Toyota Shokki, Saracens and now Chicago Hounds – being given a 90 rating, one point behind the great Antoine Dupont and above the likes of Damian Penaud,Jordie Barrett and Caleb Clarke.
Loustalot has a lot of luck
There was more than a touch of good fortune about Mont de Marsan scrum-half Christophe Loustalot's conversion as he added the extra points to a try by Florian Dufour in his side's Pro D2 win over Biarritz:
La transformation la plus chanceuse de l'année en faveur de Mont-de-Marsan 🍀@SMR_Rugby 😅 pic.twitter.com/FooZsST93G
— CANAL+ Rugby (@CanalplusRugby) February 12, 2025
The post The Monday Bulletin (17th February): Eddie Jordan buys London Irish and Wooden Spoon funds playground upgrade appeared first on Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line.
