Rugby Digest

A roundup of today's other rugby news in brief

All Blacks file official complaint

NEW ZEALAND have filed an official complaint with the International Rugby Board after prop Tony Woodcock suffered abrasions around his eyes during Saturday’s 39-12 win over France in Marseille.

All Blacks’ assistant coach Steve Hansen told the New Zealand Press Association the team had asked the citing commissioner to investigate an incident late in the match.

“There’s no doubt Tony got a facial, that’s how he described it,” Hansen said.

De Villiers concerned over workload

PETER DE VILLIERS is concerned by the growing workload of South African players and will hold talks with his bosses to try plotting the way forward in the face of a tough 2010 season ahead of the 2011 World Cup. The Springboks suffered another disappointing loss during their year-end tour to Europe on Saturday when they went down 15-10 to Ireland at Croke Park.

It ended a busy six months for the world champions, which saw them beat the Lions, win the Tri-Nations and end their Northern Hemisphere trip with a solitary victory over Italy.

De Villiers said: “A number of players have played over 2,000 minutes of rugby this year, encompassing the Vodacom Super 14, Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series, Vodacom Tri-Nations and Absa Currie Cup. We need a unified approach to address this and a host of other matters relevant to the welfare of our top players.”

Rees faces three-month lay-off

SCARLETS HOOKER Matthew Rees faces a race against time to be fit for Wales’ February 6th Six Nations start against England at Twickenham.

He will be out for at least three months after suffering a groin tear in Saturday’s 33-12 loss to Australia.

Wales and the Scarlets say the extent of Rees’ injury is unknown. Scarlets senior medical officer Mark Ridgewell said: “I would not expect him to be available for at least the next 12 weeks.”

The Ospreys fear Shane Williams will miss their final four Heineken Cup pool fixtures after suffering a hamstring tear also in the defeat to Australia. The Lions wing limped off in the fifth minute and scans have revealed a hamstring tear and a six-week lay-off.

Williams joins Wales team-mates Mike Phillips and Lee Byrne on the Ospreys injury list for their European games. But captain Ryan Jones is to expected to recover from a back injury to face Viadana.

Matfield praises Smal’s influence 

THE SOUTH African players and management and in particular their lineout totem Victor Matfield paid tribute to the impact that their former – and Ireland’s current – forwards’ coach Gert Smal had on that area of the game at Croke Park last Saturday.

Springboks’ coach Peter de Villiers and captain Smit predicted in the build-up to the contest that Smal would give the Irish pack a crash course in the Afrikaans language to try and crack the South African lineout code, much of which the latter had instigated during his time with the ’Boks.

Matfield admitted: “After the first two lineouts, I realised Gert must have taught the Irish guys some Afrikaans. They were counting with us before the ball was thrown in. He knows our calls so well. We changed things at half-time and while it improved a bit in the second half, it wasn’t a good day for us.

“In fact, it’s the worst lineout display I’ve ever experienced. We contested well enough, but our own ball was a shocker.”

Connacht complete the signing of Naoupu

CONNACHT HAVE completed the signing of backrow player George Naoupu from the Highlanders in New Zealand, writes John O’Sullivan.

Naoupu (24), who can also play in the secondrow, has signed until the end of the season. A product of Canterbury’s academy system, he has played for Hawke’s Bay in the Air New Zealand Cup.

A former New Zealand Sevens player, Naoupu played Super 14 for the Highlanders this season and will link up with former team-mate Niva Ta’auso at the Sportsground. He was a member of the New Zealand team that beat Ireland in the Under-21 World Cup final in Glasgow (2004).

He will be available for the Challenge Cup and Connacht’s back-to-back games against the Worcester Warriors. Team manager Tim Allnutt confirmed: “He is a big, bustling player who will give us a lot of options. He will be available for the Worcester matches. We had one contract left to fill and were looking for a player of his quality.”

He won’t be available for this weekend’s Magners League game against Cardiff.