Former Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints fly-half Joel Hodgson has inked a multi-year deal with Major League Rugby side Utah Warriors.

Hodgson, who has scored 467 points during his career and played 110 games in the Premiership, moved to Glasgow Warriors on a short-term deal in 2022.

But the 30-year-old playmaker has now made the switch to the USA and sees the decision as a “no-brainer” as he looks for a fresh start in his rugby career.

USA move for fly-half

“Prior to speaking to Brandon [Sparks] I had always heard that Zion Bank Stadium was the standout grounds of the MLR,” Hodgson told the Utah website.

“Once I got to know Brandon and learned what the Utah Warriors were about as an organisation, the work they did in the community and their mission to grow rugby in the US, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to be a part of the journey.”

Warriors’ general manager Brandon Sparks said: “Joel has a tremendous amount of experience at one of the highest levels of rugby, playing Premiership Rugby in England.

“Having someone like him in our locker room and helping to lead the boys on the field will be a big boost for us this coming season.”

The Newcastle-born fly-half is looking to call on his experiences playing at the top level to help his new side in the upcoming Major League Rugby season.

Click Here: collingwood magpies 2019 training guernsey

“Having over 150 appearances for the Newcastle Falcons in both Premiership and European competitions, I have experienced both the highs and lows of professional rugby,” he added.

Excited to learn

“I hope from my experiences I am able to help my teammates perform under different pressures throughout the season.

“I also hope to share any insight into how things are done in rugby in Europe to try and help Utah and the MLR grow.

“I’m excited to learn more about the MLR and to experience new techniques and approaches to the game from my coaches and teammates as well.”

Ligue 1 side AS Monaco have made contact with Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini about a possible summer transfer window move, when his current contract with Manchester United expires, according to La Dernière Heure.

Initial discussions have been held with the 30-year-old, who will take his time to decide his next move.

Click Here: Trent Alexander-Arnold Jersey Sale

England hooker Tom Dunn will captain Bath for the first time in their Premiership clash against Wasps at the Rec.

The front-rower has been an ever-present so far this season and lines up alongside props Lewis Boyce and Will Stuart – the latter will be making his 50th outing in Blue, Black and White.

Second-rows Dave Attwood and Josh McNally pair up for the third game running while Richard de Carpentier earns a first start of the season from number eight, replacing Jaco Coetzee who will be out of action for 10 weeks due to an ankle injury picked up against Sale Sharks.

Miles Reid comes in for his maiden appearance of 2022/23 and Chris Cloete, returning from a minor injury sustained in Round 1, completes the back-row.

At scrum-half, Louis Schreuder makes his full Bath debut with Ben Spencer sidelined with concussion. Homegrown duo Orlando Bailey and Max Ojomoh are outside him at fly-half and inside centre respectively.

Try scorers last time out Joe Cokanasiga and Tom de Glanville continue in the back three with Will Muir. Jonathan Joseph continues at 13.

On the bench, Quinn Roux is in line for his Bath Rugby debut while Max Green could make his first appearance of the season.

Jacob Umaga returns for Wasps

Meanwhile, much of the minds of the Midlanders have been focused on their off-field struggles but they get back to on-field action on Friday.

Jacob Umaga makes his much anticipated return from injury as he joins the Wasps starting line-up at full-back.

Following an impressive display on Tuesday night vs Newcastle Falcons, Francois Hougaard starts at 14, with Josh Bassett at 11.

Sam Spink and Burger Odendaal form the centre partnership, with Charlie Atkinson and Will Porter linking up at half-backs.

Dan Frost makes his first start of the season and will line up alongside Tom West and Biyi Alo in the front row.

Captain Joe Launchbury links up with Kiran McDonald in the second row, with Nizaam Carr, Jack Willis and Tom Willis in the back row to complete the pack.

Amongst the replacements, Gabriel Oghre features in the squad for the first time this season. Tim Cardall is also set to make his 50th Wasps appearance should he feature in Friday’s game.

Form: Bath Rugby have lost their last three Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since their 27-24 victory at home to London Irish in May. That was Bath’s first victory at the Recreation Ground since they beat Bristol Bears there in March. Wasps are without a victory in Premiership Rugby since beating Worcester at Coventry Building Society Arena at the end of April, although they did draw 42-all at London Irish on 1 May. Wasps have won just once away from home in Gallagher Premiership Rugby since February: 27-21 at Gloucester on 2 April. Wasps have won their last six fixtures against Bath in Premiership Rugby, their best sequence against the south-westerners, since Bath’s 29-17 win at the Rec in May 2019. Wasps have won on their last three visits to the Rec.

The teams:

Click Here: Cheap Adidas Stan Smith

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Richard de Carpentier, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Josh Bayliss

Wasps: 15 Jacob Umaga, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Will Porter, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Jack Willis, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Zach Kibirige

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Luke Pearce

L’Équipe report that Marseille are set to offer right-sided player Bouna Sarr a new contract at the end of this campaign, with his current deal expiring in 2020.

Sarr’s recent performances have attracted interest from Torino, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, according to the French sports newspaper.

Click Here: custom injection moulding

Bulls boss Jake White admits their 28-14 win over Connacht at Loftus Versfeld on Friday came at a cost with injury concerns over three of his players.

Newly-capped Springbok Canan Moodie left the field with a hamstring injury. At the same time, Sbu Nkosi suffered a concussion, and Johan Grobbelaar damaged his ankle in the United Rugby Championship Round Three clash.

Nkosi to return first

It is a waiting game for White to see how long he will be missing the trio, with Nkosi set to be the first of the players to return after adhering to the 10-day stand-down period as part of the return-to-play protocol for head knocks.

“It’s a tough game, hey. Everyone gets injuries, so we’re just going to have to find out. They are going to have scans – I don’t know if they can have them tonight (Friday)… probably tomorrow (Saturday) – and then we’ll do an assessment,” White said after the clash.

“At least it’s not all long-term injuries. Sometimes it’s cruciate ligaments or Achilles injuries, and you’re out for eight or nine months.

“One’s a head knock (Nkosi), one’s a sort of tight hamstring and the other one is an ankle injury. So, hopefully we will get some good news tomorrow.

“I will only know tomorrow (if they are out of the tour). Concussion is a minimum of 10 days, so thank God we played on Friday. So, he (Nkosi) might be available for the second game. Canan, I’m not sure about his hamstring, how long that will take to heal.

“And then the ankle one, I will get the prognosis from the scan tomorrow, and I will know whether or not Grobbies will be good enough to either be part of the tour or wait for us to come back.”

Frustration with water breaks

White thought his side had a solid game defensively and expressed his frustration over the water breaks taken during URC games.

“It’s a tough comp, so to get four tries… We had a couple disallowed. I thought at times, we played really well,” the Bulls coach said.

“Defensively, I thought we were outstanding. When you consider we played 30 minutes with 14 guys, and then probably eight of those with 13 guys… Defensively, I thought we were much better than we were last week.

“One area that I do think we need to look at is these water breaks. I’m not quite sure whether these water breaks – at different times of the game, decided by the match officials – are working.

Click Here: roscommon gaa jerseys

“I don’t know how other teams feel, but I generally think it’s not helping us, because you never know when the water break’s coming. It could come at a really important time of the game. It could come when you are building pressure.

“So, I think we’ve got to relook at these water breaks. Either it must be 20-minute slots, where you know you’ve got 20 minutes and then it’s a water break, or we must just can them. I don’t think the game is getting the shape that it could have.”

Ligue 1 side AS Monaco have a particular eye on SL Benfica’s 20-year-old central defender Ruben Dias, according to our colleagues at Foot 365.

Click Here: Ireland Rugby Shop

After a disappointing campaign defensively, Monaco are set to bolster their back four considerably, and Dias’ name is hot on Monaco board members’ lips.

The Portuguese youth international was watched most recently by Monaco scouts last night in a game against Sporting Lisbon.

Wallabies veteran Michael Hooper has returned to the squad after taking some time away from the game for ‘personal reasons.’

Hooper withdrew from the Australia squad just before the Rugby Championship began and has been away from the sport ever since.

Front-row James Slipper took on the captaincy in the absence of Hooper, who is the Wallabies’ most capped captain, and retains the role despite the return of the flank.

A star returns

Head coach Dave Rennie was delighted to have his star man returning to the squad and looks to provide support to Hooper wherever possible.

“To have Michael back in the group is massive for our team on and off the field and we’ll continue to make sure that he has the support around him he needs,” said Rennie.

Rennie has selected five uncapped players, including Sam Talakai, Ben Donaldson and Mark Nawaqanitawase, as Marika Koroibete and some other stars were unavailable due to club commitments.

The coach is looking forward to the challenge ahead and is looking to make the country proud in the northern hemisphere.

“We’ve got a massive opportunity over the next five matches to test ourselves against some of the best teams in the world and string together some performances that our supporters are proud of back home in Australia,” said Rennie.

The Wallabies play four Tests at the end of the year starting with a clash against Scotland on October 29, then a blockbuster Tests against France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.

Australia squad for end-of-year tour

Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a, Matt Gibbon, Nick Frost, Langi Gleeson, Ned Hanigan, Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper, Lachlan Lonergan, Fraser McReight, Cadeyrn Neville, Matt Philip, David Porecki, Tom Robertson, Pete Samu, Will Skelton, James Slipper (c), Sam Talakai, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini

Click Here: factory direct sale

Backs: Tom Banks, Jock Campbell, Ben Donaldson, Lalakai Foketi, Bernard Foley, Jake Gordon, Reece Hodge, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway, Noah Lolesio, Tate McDermott, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Hunter Paisami, Jordan Petaia, Nic White, Tom Wright

Toulouse’s teenage wonder-kid goalkeeper Alban Lafont is the subject of ongoing discussions from Crystal Palace, who currently lead the race to sign the French youth international, according to L’Équipe.

Click Here: papua new guinea rugby shirts

The 19-year-old has 98 Ligue 1 appearances to his name, and asked Toulouse for a meeting in February to lay out his intentions to leave the club.

PSV in the Netherlands are the only other current club to have manifested a concrete interest in buying the player this summer.

President Sadran of Toulouse, a notoriously difficult negotiator, intends to be particularly obstinate with regards to Lafont’s future, and any deal this summer will be exceptionally difficult to pull off.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was full of praise for his team’s defence after they ground out a 10-0 triumph over Connacht in their Irish derby at the Sportsground on Friday.

The match was played in atrocious weather conditions which meant it was a scrappy affair and there were several former Leinster players with a point to prove after moving to Connacht in the off-season.

Happy with Leinster effort

Amongst them was flanker Josh Murphy, who Cullen singled out for special praise, but the Leinster boss was also delighted with his charges’ performance, especially how they fronted up on defence after being involved in a high-scoring encounter against the Sharks last weekend.

“We were pleased with how we dug in defensively,” he told RTE Sport after the match. “We had to defend a couple of different sets at different stages where we were five metres from our try-line. That’s the pleasing part.

“It’s one of those games where you take the four points, get back on the bus and go again. It’s a short turnaround. We had a very physical game last week, another physical game today. In many ways we’re just managing bodies at the moment.

“We talk about our old Leinster guys. Josh Murphy was wearing the scars of battle. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He came through the academy. He’s a doctor, believe it or not. I’m dreading the day I turn up and he’s there at the operating table! Just a brilliant character. It was great to see him going well down here.”

Click Here: parramatta eels shirt

Connacht head coach Andy Friend was impressed by his side’s physicality but bemoaned their inaccuracy inside Leinster’s 22.

“It was an even contest with the physicality, I was really proud of our blokes,” he said. “They were immense out there with their intent and their desire, to get bodies in front and do damage.

“What we didn’t win was the clinical battle and that’s where quality sides like Leinster hurt you. As much as you front up physically, if you don’t take your chances, they’ll take theirs. That’s what they did tonight.”

A missed penalty from Ciaran Frawley meant Connacht failed to secure a losing bonus point but Friend said there were several other wasted point-scoring opportunities which also proved costly in the end.

“We don’t want to be the footy team that loses 10-0 and are proud of that because it’s Leinster,” he added.

Proud but not pleased

“We’re proud of the effort but we’re not pleased with the result. We left so many chances out there.

“I do think and know that our performances are getting better with every game, but that’s another loss for us.

“We’re one [win] from five at the minute. We’ve got two big games to finish this block and it’s important we get wins there.”

Leinster’s win means they are firmly entrenched at the top of the United Rugby Championship table and they are the only team with five victories from five games played so far, while Connacht are currently languishing in 14th place after the same number of matches.

Ligue 1 side Rennes have submitted an offer for Paris FC’s 26-year-old left-back Thomas Delaine, according to RMC.

The offer made is worth €1m, but Paris FC want both. Ipswich Town, Montpellier and Reims are all also interested in the defender.

Click Here: canberra raiders jerseys