The latest rugby stories making headlines on the evening of Tuesday, September 30.
Here are your rugby evening headlines for Tuesday, September 30.
French club considering strike after coach’s suspension
Grenoble players are reportedly threatening to go on strike for this weekend’s Pro D2 clash with Provence after refusing to train.
The French club, who have Wales international Sam Davies on their books, have suspended coach Nicolas Nadau after he allegedly made critical comments about the clubs’ medics and team manager Aubin Hueber that were caught on a TV broadcast.
That came after prop Johannes Jonker was unable to return to the field after it took longer than 15 minutes for his eyebrow to be stitched up, meaning he was classes as a permanent change rather than a blood bin replacement. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Nadau’s comments have seen him suspended, but the decision is understood to have not gone down well with players – who have penned a letter to the club president in protest of the decision.
Grenoble president Patrick Goffi told rugbyrama.fr: “Whether there is a player strike or not will not change anything. The club’s position is clear: our coach’s comments during the match in Brive are unacceptable.
“I have seen the LNR doctor’s report, it is very clear and precise on the terms that implicate our coach. It mentions unacceptable remarks towards our club doctor.
“This constitutes misconduct, and the club has decided to suspend him as a precautionary measure. Mr Nadau has been summoned and will be interviewed on Friday. He will then be able to explain himself.”
Goffi added that he spoke to the players on Tuesday about the disciplinary action taken against the coach. “I saw them this morning, I explained the situation to them. And I repeat: Them going on strike will not change anything.
“It is even counterproductive; it goes against the interests they want to defend. Everyone assumes their responsibilities, and it is not the players who decide this kind of thing. Let’s be very clear.”
With Davies currently recovering from injury, it’s understood he was not present when the players met with the club president.
Williams ready for return after eight months
Wales full-back Liam Williams will make his Newcastle Red Bulls debut this weekend in the club’s Gallagher Prem trip to Exeter Chiefs.
Newcastle’s director of rugby Steve Diamond confirmed that the 34-year-old will make his first appearance in eight months when they head to Sandy Park this weekend.
His last outing came for Wales against France in the opening fixture of the Six Nations back in January.
Williams signed for the club last week – too late to feature in the club’s opening game of the season against his former side Saracens – having spent pre-season training with another of his old clubs, Cardiff.
“Liam Williams brings a plethora of experience that will rub off on our younger players. We will look after players like him and Mafi. The lads who have been there, seen it, and done it,” said Diamond.
“I’ll be wheeling them out when I feel it’s the right time, and going to Exeter is the right time. We need as much experience and knowledge in the team as we can to help George and the other senior players clue it together.”
Rees-Zammit ready to step straight back in – Cuthbert
Former Wales international Alex Cuthbert believes that wing Louis Rees-Zammit is ready to step straight back into Wales the squad this autumn.
Rees-Zammit marked his return to the Gallagher Prem with a try in his first league match since December 2023, having briefly left rugby union to pursue a career in American Football.
The 24-year-old put on an impressive performance for Bristol, scoring their fifth and final try in a 42-24 victory over Leicester at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Ex-Wales wing Shane Williams has suggested that Rees-Zammit should be given time to readjust to rugby.
However, Cuthbert believes Rees-Zammit should be brought straight back into the fold by new head coach Steve Tandy.
“He is looking sharp and is bigger and stronger,” Cuthbert told the Scrum V podcast.
“He is only going to benefit from coming back into rugby. He has been in a high performance environment and knows exactly what it takes to play at this level.
“He has played rugby his whole life and has only been away 18 months, the game has not changed an awful lot. He has probably come back more experienced and professional. He was pretty laid back, but now he seems way more dedicated.
“It has probably opened his mind to a different way of seeing the game.”
Former Wales fly-half James Hook says Rees-Zammit has something his Welsh rivals don’t.
“He has that X-factor, that point of difference,” said Hook. “You see some of the tries he scored before he left and since he has came back.
“To be fair, Wales’ back three have not done too bad with the likes of Tom Rogers, Blair Murray and Ellis Mee, but Zammit is just something a little bit different, with that little bit of class. He also puts people in stadiums and bums on seats.”
Welsh rugby fans present alternative survey findings
In addition to the Scarlets‘ ‘Open Book’, a group of Welsh rugby supporters have presented their own findings after running an alternative survey alongside the WRU’s official questionnaire.
The WRU’s public survey into the radical plans to reduce the number of professional team from four to two closed on Friday, with more than 7,000 people completing it.
The governing body claim that it is among the largest to exist in Wales. The Welsh Government consultation on the proposed 20mph speed limit in 202, for example, got around 6,100 responses.
Gwlad Rugby, a long-standing social media platform for Welsh rugby supporters, developed its own survey in response to the WRU’s – with the survey garnering nearly 1,300 responses.
Among the alternative survey’s key findings were “over three-quarters expressed dissatisfaction with the consultation process itself, with comments highlighting a perceived lack of care, a skewed brief, and a focus on cost-cutting rather than success”.
The majority of respondents opposed WRU control in the clubs, as well as preferring to choose the option ‘None of these’ over any of the WRU’s proposed outcomes.
The vast majority also dislike the URC and would prefer Welsh teams to be playing in the Gallagher Prem, while 92 per cent believe that the WRU are “doing a bad job”.
A statement accompanying the completed survey said: “Gwlad Rugby believes its survey is more rigorous, valid, and reliable than the WRU’s and should be given greater weight in decision-making. The WRU is urged to present this report to its full board and is urged to present this report to its full board.”
