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☆ Welsh players given standard contracts after strike threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 18 (Reuters) - Players from Welsh rugby's four professional clubs have been presented with standard contracts that will make existing and new offers legally binding, the country's Professional Rugby Board (PRB) and its rugby body (WRU) said on Saturday. Welsh players threatened to go on strike last month over contract issues with the PRB which put their Six Nations game against England at risk before an agreement was reached to allow the fixture to go ahead. The strike threat came after a freeze on new contracts imposed by the PRB. There are around 70 players at regional clubs who are out of contract at the end of the 2022-23 season. The WRU said its Rugby Management Board (RMB) and PRB members completed a "significant amount of work" on the contract and rights licence, receiving formal acceptance from the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA) and players' agents on Friday.

☆ Alcaraz signs up for relaunched Hopman Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - World number two Carlos Alcaraz will headline the Hopman Cup as the relaunched mixed-gender team event returns to the tennis calendar after a four-year absence in June. The 19-year-old Alcaraz will be part of the Spain team, one of three confirmed by the International Tennis Federation on Tuesday, alongside Paula Badosa. "Alongside the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup, the Hopman Cup is another ITF event that gives players the opportunity to represent their countries, and compete for something bigger than themselves," ITF President David Haggerty said at a news conference. The last edition of the competition, which began in 1989 and was named after Australian great Harry Hopman, saw Roger Federer lead Switzerland to the title against Germany. The Hopman Cup has a rival in the United Cup mixed-gender team event, featuring 18 nations playing matches across three Australian cities, taking place before this year's Australian Open.

☆ Wales coach Gatland confident England game will go ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Wales have delayed naming their team for the Six Nations fixture against England in Cardiff on Saturday, but coach Warren Gatland is confident he will have players to take to the field amid the threat of strike action this week. I just wanted clarity for the boys with tomorrow then we come back (to train) on Thursday," Gatland told reporters. Welsh players have been involved in a bitter feud with the PRB and want a review of a proposal that would see 80% of their wages guaranteed, with 20% via bonuses, and representation from the Welsh Rugby Players' Association on the PRB. "In fairness to the players, they've trained well amongst it all. There's been things going on but in training they've applied themselves well," he said.

☆ Netflix exec reveals sports ambitions and what's next for live sports as golf series 'Full Swing' debuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Formula 1 racing saw a boost in TV viewership and fandom since Netflix began streaming docuseries "Drive to Survive." Amid a boom in sports docs, the streamer has tennis series "Break Point" and golf-centered "Full Swing." Netflix unscripted TV head Brandon Riegg spoke to Insider about the streamer's ambitions in live sports. "I wouldn't be surprised," Netflix VP of unscripted and docuseries Brandon Riegg told Insider ahead of the "Break Point" premiere. Also in the works are series on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the Six Nations rugby tournament.

☆ Emotional Townsend savours Calcutta Cup hat-trick
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Mitch Phillips | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I don't know if it's this fixture. I didn’t get close to winning as a player, it was always the same result down here. Two years ago (when Scotland won at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years) there was no crowd here so this was emotional. Townsend said it reminded him of the computer game version of the late former All Black Jonah Lomu "when he ran faster than everyone else. It was one that sends the Scotland supports crazy and silences everyone else as you don’t see tries like that very often," he said.

But a new survey suggests a “disturbing” lack of awareness about the Holocaust in the Netherlands, where she and her family hid for years before being discovered and deported to a Nazi concentration camp. Equally disturbing is the trend toward Holocaust denial and distortion,” Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor said in a press release accompanying the survey. Some of them, a small part, do not even know about the Holocaust,” Dutch Holocaust survivor Max Arpels Lezer, 86, told NBC News by video call from his home in Amsterdam. A memorial at the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands, where Dutch Jews were kept before being sent to concentration camps. In 1961, Lezer married Sofia, now 86, who as a child had been hidden by a Dutch family during the war.

☆ Netflix reality TV head on how doc series 'Break Point' can become a 'Drive to Survive' for pro tennis — and whether the streamer's sports doc success will lead it into live sports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Formula 1 racing saw a boost in TV viewership and fandom since Netflix began streaming docuseries "Drive to Survive." Amid a boom in sports docs, the streamer is looking for another hit in tennis series "Break Point." Netflix unscripted TV head Brandon Riegg spoke to Insider about the streamer's ambitions in live sports. Netflix execs and tennis fans are hoping that "Break Point," the streamer's new docuseries centered on the 2022 Grand Slam season, can be the racket sport's "Drive to Survive." "I wouldn't be surprised," Netflix VP of unscripted and docuseries Brandon Riegg told Insider the day before "Break Point" premiered.

☆ Rugby Union-Hatred of England is a powerful tool, says defence coach Sinfield
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Mitch Phillips | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sinfield built a strong bond with former Scotland lock Doddie Weir, who died in November from Motor Neurone Disease. "I understand that and I understand that that's quite common across the other nations as well," he told reporters. Asked if he thought that "hatred" could lift England's defence to a new level of intensity, he said: "I don't just think it's powerful defensively, I think it’s powerful right the way across. "I've been here (Twickenham) a number of times to watch Six Nations games as well. That 2003 team (England's Grand Slam and World Cup winners), there are some real heroes of mine in that team.

☆ Borthwick calls on England players to channel pain into Six Nations campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Newly appointed England head coach Steve Borthwick said the team's players are "hurting" after their recent run of poor results, adding that he hopes to harness their frustration and turn it into fuel for a successful Six Nations campaign. "The thing that strikes me is how much the players are hurting," Borthwick told reporters on Monday. "We can all see that... and I have been in touch with players that I have known for a long, long time and I know how much they are hurting because they really, really care, want to do well. Borthwick accepted that the timing of his appointment was not ideal with the 2023 World Cup in France on the horizon. "That was certainly a consideration of the timing, I don't think anyone thinks the timing is ideal.

☆ Eddie Jones: England head coach sacked just nine months before 2023 Rugby World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But the latest two-week review into England's performance has led to his downfall. Eddie Jones has been sacked as England head coach after seven years in charge, just nine months out from the 2023 Rugby World Cup. "It is important to recognise the huge contribution Eddie has made to English rugby, winning three Six Nations Championships, one Grand Slam and taking us to a Rugby World Cup final," said Sweeney. Aside from their run to the World Cup final in 2019, though, they have never reached such heights under the Australian again. Were it not for the last World Cup, it is highly likely Jones would have exited long ago.

☆ "Extreme blackmail" forced federations to drop armbands-German FA
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Karolos Grohmann | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DOHA, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Soccer federations who had planned to wear "OneLove" armbands to protest against discrimination during the World Cup in Qatar were faced with "extreme blackmail" that led to them dropping the gesture, the German Football Association (DFB) said on Tuesday. "We were in an extreme situation, in an extreme blackmail and we thought we had to take that decision without wanting to do so." "I want to be able to be happy playing in a World Cup even if it is held here. We want to play a good tournament and win tomorrow and it is not our fault where the World Cup is held." "We have a lot of respect for what the Iran team did yesterday.

☆ Wales flyhalf Biggar leaves Northampton to join Toulon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar has left Northampton Saints with immediate effect and joined French side Toulon, the English Premiership club said on Friday. Biggar joined Saints from Ospreys in 2018, making 69 appearances for the club and guiding them to two fourth-placed finishes. "I move on with a heavy heart and I am grateful to the Club for their understanding throughout the process. Biggar has 103 caps for Wales, winning the Six Nations title in 2013 and 2021. Saints' chief executive Mark Darbon said Biggar left with the club's "very best wishes," adding that the Welshman's move was brought forward because Toulon's offer was contingent on him moving immediately.

☆ Inside TikTok's push to win over the global sports community, from setting up concerts for the NHL to sponsoring a women's rugby championship
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Colin Salao | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The company has leaned in, setting up sponsorship deals with teams and leagues. Tune into a professional rugby match in one of Europe's Six Nations leagues and it's impossible to miss TikTok's branding plastered all over the field. Twelve of the top 25 fastest growing brands on TikTok between March 2021 and March 2022 were sports teams or leagues. The company has even tested streaming live games that are shot vertically to match TikTok's video format. Enya Breen of Ireland kicks a late try conversion during a TikTok Women's Six Nations match on April 30, 2022.

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