Monday Round-Up
- 2040
Monday Round-Up
SBW not ready for 7's
New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens believes Sonny Bill Williams is not ready to play 7's just yet.
Despite losing several players to injury at the Dubai Sevens, Tietjens has resisted the temptation to call up the Rugby World Cup winner to his squad for the this weekend's Cape Town Sevens.
Williams, who is a contracted member of the New Zealand Sevens squad, was in Dubai as a spectator at the weekend and was keen to play when his team's injuries were mounting but Tietjens opted not to risk him.
“No, he’s never played Sevens,” Tietjens told Sport 360.
“I jokingly said to him that he might get to play earlier than we first thought. He said ‘can I do that?’. We’ve got a tournament in South Africa in five days’ time and the bodies have taken a hammering.
“We’ve got a plan for him and we’ll stick to that. He’ll come in really conditioned to play sevens and train with us and then, when it’s time to get him out, we will.
“That applies to so many others too. Wellington or Sydney they’ll come in because we’ll need them.”
Ospreys boss Tandy praises 'unplayable' Tipuric
Head coach Steve Tandy praised "unplayable" Justin Tipuric after Ospreys' five-try win over Zebre.
The Wales flanker scored a try in each half as Ospreys ran out 39-22 winners to claim their third successive Pro12 win.
Tipuric, who was captain for the day, also had a hand in two more tries in a fine all-round display.
"Justin is a class act. When he plays like that he can be pretty much unplayable," said Tandy.
"He leads from the front and the way in which he plays the game - he doesn't say a lot when he does speak everyone listens."
After winning once in their opening six Pro12 games this season, the Swansea-based region have now won three consecutive league matches.
