Tonight's rugby news as player of the season signs deal and Wales face potential Lions wipeout

These are your evening rugby headlines on Tuesday, June 25

Craig signs new deal

Scarlets' player of the season Alex Craig has signed a new contract with the west Wales region.

Twenty-seven-year-old Craig, capped twice by Scotland, enjoyed a superb campaign at Parc y Scarlets, winning the players’ vote at the end-of-season awards. He was also awarded player of the match in the Judgement Day finale against the Dragons.

His form has seen him included in Gregor Townsend's squad for the summer tour of the Americas.

Craig said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my first year in Llanelli, the players, staff and supporters made me feel really welcome and it was great to get out there and play a lot of rugby after a couple of frustrating seasons with injury.

“We didn’t get the results we wanted, but there’s a great bunch of boys at the club working hard to turn things around. We have a young, exciting squad with some new faces coming aboard and I’m looking forward to linking up with the boys again after the summer tour ready to go again next season.”

Head coach Dwayne Peel added: “Alex had a big first year for us and being named player of the season by his fellow players was a deserved reward. I have spoken of him being an old-school lock, a player who gets round the field, carries aggressively and has high ruck numbers - his contribution has been invaluable this season.

“His recall to the Scotland squad is an indication of how well he has performed in a Scarlets jersey and we wish him well for the upcoming summer tour.”

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Wales face potential Lions wipeout

Next year's British & Irish Lions tour to Australia could feature no Welsh players, according to reports.

Telegraph Sport report that Lions coach Andy Farrell has been given freedom to select any player he wants for the tour and will not be constrained by any pressure to ensure representation from all four nations. This is believed to be the first time such freedom has been afforded to a coach, with Warren Gatland ensuring that all four nations were represented in some way in his squad and coaching staff.

If Farrell were to pick on current form, a lack of obligation to pick from all four nations may mean that Welsh players struggle to get a look in. The likes of Dewi Lake, Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell and Dafydd Jenkins would fancy their chances but injury risks among other factors means that their places are by no means guaranteed.

“It will be absolutely merit-based, this is about being the ‘best of the best’ and we have to fiercely protect that,” Lions chief executive Ben Calveley told Telegraph Sport. “Things like quotas would not be in line with that mentality.

“Squad selection is entirely down to Andy and his assistant coaches. He has a completely free hand to select the players that he thinks will give us the best chance of being successful down in Australia. There are no restrictions at all. It is right down to Andy. If he thinks a player will make a difference, he can bring them in.”

Hanekom misses Springbok cut

South African sensation Cameron Hanekom has missed the cut for the Springboks' summer Test series against Ireland, having sustaining an injury against Glasgow in the URC final.

The 21-year-old Bulls star - who is eligible to play for Wales through his grandmother - has enjoyed a breakout season, being named in the URC team of the season and delivering a phenomenal performance against Leinster in the semi-final.

His participation in the final against Glasgow meant he missed the opportunity to make his Springbok debut against Wales at Twickenham at the weekend, but the uncapped star had been widely expected to be named in Rassie Erasmus' squad to face Ireland and Portugal this summer.

However, after suffering an injury in the second half of the final, he has missed the cut for the squad with the wait for him to win his first cap set to go on until later this year.

It is a blow for both Hanekom and the Springboks, with fellow loose forward Jasper Wiese also ruled out of the two Irish Tests through suspension, having been sent off for a reckless tackle in his final appearance for Leicester Tigers on the last day of the Premiership season.

Ashton Gate to host World Cup semis

By PA Staff

Ashton Gate will host both semi-finals at next year’s Women’s World Cup, with England guaranteed to play at the Bristol venue should they progress to the knockout phase.

The 27,000-capacity ground will also share the quarter-finals with Exeter’s Sandy Park on the weekend of September 13-14, tournament organisers revealed on Tuesday at an announcement over ticketing plans for the event.

England will open their bid to become world champions for the third time at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on August 22 before playing further group games in Northampton and Brighton.

Over 400,000 tickets will be available for the competition with pre-sale for the first match and the final opening on September 24.

The cost of the tickets will range from £5 to £95 with the highest price reserved for some seats at the Twickenham final, which will be preceded by the bronze final as part of a double header.

At £95 the most expensive ticket compares unfavourably with recent major women’s football tournaments, Euro 2022 and the 2023 World Cup, but World Rugby’s director of ticketing Paul Lemon insists it reflects the health of the sport.

“We can take pride in that and we should take pride in that,” Lemon said. “The women’s game is growing and it’s hugely exciting.

“We’re confident in the prices. When you compare them with other sports, it’s easy to compare the price without looking at the sales volumes.

“The Euros final is a great example - they could probably have sold that final four times over. Those events were two or three years ago and this event is in another year’s time.

“The timing is different, the moment is different and we’re really excited about this opportunity.

“We’ve got a huge range of prices and the slightly more expensive ticket also enables us to be able to have accessible pricing and engage families across the board.”

Group matches will also be hosted in Exeter, Manchester and York and the ambition is to register an 82,000 sell-out for the final at Twickenham.