The News Review:
- Heineken no great loss – Turner
- Taione banned for 18 weeks
- Horgan credits Azzuri for Ireland struggle
Heineken no great loss – Turner
BBC News – Jun 2, 2006
They finished fourth from bottom of the Celtic League this season and have lost leading players Jason Forster and Hal Luscombe who is joining Harlequins next season. Club captain Forster left for Doncaster with a dire warning on the future of the Dragons whose lack of a financial backer dilapidated Rodney Parade home and poor facilities leave them in danger of becoming a development side. But Turner says he is not so pessimistic and that the failure to secure Heineken Cup rugby will not affect his summer recruitment plans. “We’ll be announcing five or six signings next week and are looking around for more” said Turner. “We’re in a development cycle and at the moment are clearly not good enough to go into the Heineken. “It’s been a hugely disappointing season and with our small squad it’s gone on a month too long. “There was a lot of sticking plaster around for the Parma game.
Taione banned for 18 weeks
Ireland nline – Jun 2, 2006
substring (2 11); document. Taione was cited after Sale?s Heineken Cup defeat to Munster on January 21 and appeared before an independent disciplinary committee in London today. The panel heard submissions from both Heineken Cup organisers European Rugby Cup and Taione before ruling the appropriate entry-point for sanctions was a six-month ban. After considering ?various compelling mitigating factors? Taione was slapped with an 18-week suspension. He will miss the rest of this season and will not be free to play again until Monday June 12… Taione was cited after Sale?s Heineken Cup defeat to Munster on January 21 and appeared before an independent disciplinary committee in London today. The panel heard submissions from both Heineken Cup organisers European Rugby Cup and Taione before ruling the appropriate entry-point for sanctions was a six-month ban. After considering ?various compelling mitigating factors? Taione was slapped with an 18-week suspension. He will miss the rest of this season and will not be free to play again until Monday June 12.
Horgan credits Azzuri for Ireland struggle
Ireland nline – Jun 2, 2006
The ferocity of their tackling and desire to move the ball wide caused Eddie ?Sullivan?s side plenty of problems ? while up front they were typically robust. Ireland were never able to seize control of the forward battle and openside David Wallace ? making only his second appearance in nearly two years ? knows there must be a big improvement against France. He said: ?The intensity of that match was a step up from the Heineken Cup. I have to get used to that. It was a tough and uncompromising game. ?Italy closed down the space very well in the backs and made it hard for us to get good go-forward ball. But you have to play around that.