Fifa u 20 womens world cup france 2018

Hierro stepped up to become interim coach after Julen Lopetegui was sensationally sacked on the eve of the World Cup following the announcement he was to take charge at Real Madrid at the end of the tournament.

Spain subsequently qualified from the group stage but went out to hosts Russia at the last-16 stage following a penalty shoot-out in Moscow.

Hierro was not expected to continue as coach after the World Cup but the RFEF has announced he will not stay with the organisation in any role.

“The last Spanish coach declined to return to his previous position as sports director of the RFEF to seek new horizons and undertake new professional challenges,” the RFEF said.

“The RFEF wants to thank Fernando Hierro for his commitment and sense of responsibility when he took over the national team in extraordinary circumstances as well as in the performance of all his duties.

“The Federation wants to highlight the professional and human values ​​of an extraordinary athlete.”

OFICIAL | Fernando Hierro y la RFEF comunican que, pese a tener contrato en vigor como Director Deportivo, declina seguir en el cargo. https://t.co/Gm7PwfhqSO pic.twitter.com/Pkpi8Bgpwu

— RFEF (@rfef) July 8, 2018

Roberto Martinez, who has led Belgium to the semi-finals of the World Cup, is among the coaches to have been linked with taking the Spain role.

Martinez played down the links ahead of a quarter-final defeat of tournament favourites Brazil, with former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique also reported to be on the RFEF shortlist along with Michel and Quique Sanchez Flores.

Source: OPTA

It was meant to be the return of the prodigal son, who would kick-start Australian rugby to unexpected World Cup glory. But Eddie Jones’ second Wallabies spell has instead turned into a fiasco.

Some 18 years after he last departed the Australia post, Jones – a coach with a superb World Cup record – was back in his homeland a month after being given the sack by England.

A terrible run of form, dreadful media relationship, shunning of experienced players, apparent secret Japan job interview, unfortunate luck with some injuries and history-making World Cup failure have followed in the eight months – or four months of Tests – since.

• Under-pressure Eddie Jones apologises to Australia | No plans to leave role
• Wales hammer dismal Australia to book World Cup quarter-final spot
• Ireland hold on to beat South Africa in gripping World Cup contest

Below, we look at where it’s gone so wrong for one of rugby’s biggest and most controversial characters…

An inability to pick up victories and dreadful media relationship

Having began his second Wallabies post officially in January 2023, Jones wouldn’t oversee his first game until July’s Rugby Championship, due to the nature of the southern hemisphere rugby season. Once he got going, though, surely even his most ardent critic could not have foreseen the run of results to follow.

Jones had come in to replace former Glasgow Warriors boss Dave Rennie, and though Australia had never been consistent under the Kiwi, they had picked up victories against South Africa, Argentina, Wales, England and Scotland – as well as a Test against the All Blacks they definitely should have won – in the last five months of his employment.

Jones’ opening game saw the Wallabies destroyed 43-12 by South Africa in Pretoria, and followed that up with a 34-31 home defeat by Argentina in Sydney – only the third occasion such a result has occurred in 44 years of the fixture.

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Highlights of the Rugby Championship clash between South Africa and Australia in Pretoria

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Highlights of the Rugby Championship clash between Australia and Argentina

Australia’s third and final Rugby Championship game in the condensed 2023 format then saw them battered 38-7 by New Zealand on home soil in Melbourne.

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Highlights of the Rugby Championship clash between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG in Melbourne

Perhaps their best performance under Jones came in his fourth game, when only an 80th-minute Richie Mo’unga penalty saw New Zealand to a 23-20 win in Dunedin – a result which kept Australia’s losing run going, and would have done a wealth of damage to spirit.

Two weeks from the kick off of the Rugby World Cup in France, they were then well beaten 41-17 by France in Paris, driving further negativity and seeing Jones’ second tenure begin with an appalling 0-5 record.

Australia’s one victory under him so far came when they beat Georgia 35-15 in their World Cup opener, in an unconvincing performance against a Tier 2 side, while a stunning first defeat to Fiji in 69 years followed in Saint-Etienne.

Knowing they then had to beat Wales to realistically stand a chance of progression to the World Cup quarters, the Wallabies put in their worst RWC display in history over the weekend as they were trounced 40-6 by Wales in Lyon – a result which means they are almost certain to exit at the pool stage for the first time ever.

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Highlights from Sunday’s Rugby World Cup action as Wales hammered Australia

All the while, Jones’ relationship and battle with Australian media has gone from uncomfortable to messy, to an unhealthy circus, representing something pretty much untenable.

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Jones bizarrely hit out at journalists at a pre-tournament press conference in Australia

The banishing of experienced players

A stat alluded to by victorious Wales head coach Warren Gatland after Sunday’s match was the sheer difference in Test caps between the sides in Lyon.

Wales named a starting XV containing 855 Test caps, and a wider squad of 23 containing 1025 Test caps. By stark contrast, Australia’s starting XV contained just 455 Test caps – 132 of which belonged to one player in prop James Slipper – and their 23-player squad had 588 Test caps.

It’s a startling fact, but also one which Jones himself has heavily contributed to.

The 63-year-old left out some of Australia’s most experienced and talented performers ahead of the World Cup, whether as a result of potential personality clashes or to make a statement as the main man in charge.

The two most high profile omissions were former captain and legend of Wallabies rugby Michael Hooper (125 Test caps), and mercurial fly-half Quade Cooper (79 Test caps). In retrospect, the leadership and quality the two players would have added to the Australia squad mark their axing as big mistakes.

Utility back Reece Hodge, outside-back Tom Wright and back-row forwards Jed Holloway and Pete Samu were also left off the Australia plane, as Jones made a conscious decision to clear decks in favour of youth.

Of the players who travelled to France, 16 were aged under-25, and some 25 of the 33-player squad appeared at a World Cup for the very first time.

The squad’s average age of 25 years and 10 months is the youngest at the tournament, and the squad has visibly lacked belief.

The fact Jones has, ridiculously, named six different captains in his seven Tests in charge so far adds to the argument it has been a squad and management utterly without clarity or direction.

Secret Japan job interview on eve of World Cup?

And what about this to throw into the mix? Last week, in the lead up to the crunch clash vs Wales, the Sydney Morning Herald produced an explosive exclusive that Jones had undertaken a Zoom interview to become the next Japan head coach after the World Cup, days before the start of Australia’s campaign.

Neither the Japan Rugby Union nor their Australian counterparts have denied the story, and seemingly all within rugby have accepted as an open secret that talks did in fact take place.

The controversy for this – notwithstanding the fact it was on the cusp of the sport’s major tournament beginning – is that Jones signed a five-year contract with Rugby Australia when he joined in January, to cover this World Cup, the 2025 Lions Tour and the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Why, then, is he making potential plans to depart already?

It is almost certainly this move, more than any, that led to a chorus of loud boos from Wallabies supporters every time Jones was shown on the big screens at Parc Olympique Lyonnais. They’ve clearly read his actions as a non-commitment, and want him out.

The fact Jones has placed Australia in a position of a rebuild, with so many young players, would be a further blow to the union should he just up and leave.

“I know Eddie has come out and made his comments around it, and I take people for their word and Eddie’s said there’s nothing in it, and so we move forward,” Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said this weekend.

“It’s surprising but, as I said, you take people for their word and you trust they’re telling you the truth.”

Current Wallabies assistant coach Jason Ryles added: “I see his vision beyond the World Cup and it’s one of those things where he hasn’t said anything to us, obviously.

“Basically, watch this space. To walk away from that would be a bit of a surprise because there is a lot of green shoots for the future. I’m not too sure what he’ll do to be honest with you. It’s good to have options by the sounds of it.”

Reading between the lines, it seems Jones may well be back with the Brave Blossoms come November…

Unfortunate luck with injuries?

If there is one possible defence Jones could point to, it would perhaps be some of the untimely injuries his squad has picked up in and around this World Cup.

Tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa, who has 66 Test Wallabies caps, was named one of Jones’ captains before the tournament, but suffered a ruptured Achilles just prior.

Second row Will Skelton, one of the premier forwards in the world club game with La Rochelle as a double European champion over the last two seasons, missed the pool games against Fiji and Wales due to a calf injury picked up in training, after being named as Wallabies skipper.

And finally, Taniela Tupou had marked himself out as one of the most exciting, powerful and dynamic props in the sport, but a hamstring injury saw him fail to take to the pitch vs Fiji and Wales also.

While the absences of Skelton and Tupou in particular were big blows, every side at the World Cup deals with injuries, and the fact Australia avoided the tougher side of the draw containing the world’s top four sides in Ireland, South Africa, France and New Zealand, means there is ultimately no real excuse for their performances.

We look ahead to another key week of Rugby World Cup action, as Italy face the first of two tough chances to reach the knockout stage, Fiji look to clinch a first quarter-final since 2007 and South Africa seek a response…

Pool A: Italy’s first of two tough quarter chances

At present, Italy sit second in Pool A below hosts France and above three-time winners New Zealand, courtesy of their bonus-point victories over Uruguay and Namibia, as well as the All Blacks’ opening night loss to Les Bleus.

With Italy’s two toughest pool games scheduled for the next two weeks, it gives them a couple of shots at landing a victory which would give them an unlikely quarter-final place.

To do so, however, they will either have to win against the All Blacks on Friday in Lyon (8pm kick off BST) – an opposition they have never beaten – or hosts France on Friday October 6 (8pm kick off BST), also in Lyon – an opposition they last defeated a decade ago.

There are long odds on Italy winning either game, but if they can, then a first Rugby World Cup quarter-final place will be theirs.

France have a rest week, and so will spend it mainly hoping talismanic skipper Antoine Dupont can take strides in his recovery from a cheekbone fracture.

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France captain Antoine Dupont has undergone surgery on his fractured cheekbone

Pool B: South Africa seek response to edge towards quarters | Scotland target big win

South Africa’s defeat to Ireland at the Stade de France in Saturday’s blockbuster leaves the Irish in pole position to top Pool B and avoid hosts France in the quarters.

Ireland are on a bye week, while the Springboks will look for a response vs Tonga in Marseille on Sunday (8pm kick off BST) – a Tonga side who have really disappointed vs Ireland and Scotland so far in the pool, and who will have one of their best players suspended in No 8 Vaea Fifita due to his high tackle yellow card being upgraded to red vs the Scots.

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James Cole reflects on Ireland’s 13-8 win over South Africa in Pool B at the Stade de France

South Africa will target a bonus-point win in their final pool stage game to move above Ireland and sit atop the pool by a point, with Ireland next facing Scotland on Saturday October 7 (8pm kick off BST) at the Stade de France, in a clash which will decide most things in Pool B.

Speaking of Scotland, they did the job in registering a bonus-point win vs Tonga last weekend, and will look for another confidence-boosting success against minnows Romania on Saturday in Lille (8pm kick off BST).

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Sunday’s action saw Scotland kept World Cup quarter-final hopes alive with a bonus-point win over Tonga

Pool C: All eyes on Fiji vs Georgia in Bordeaux

Australia’s feeble defeat to Wales on Sunday may have put slightly less pressure on Fiji in terms of needing results from their final two pool games, but Simon Raiwalui’s Flying Fijians know if they get five points from their final two games they will be in a first Rugby World Cup quarter-final since 2007.

Fiji face Georgia on Saturday in Bordeaux (4.45pm kick off BST), and a bonus-point win will see great celebrations. Even a straight victory of any kind will potentially leave Fiji just needing a losing bonus-point from their final pool game vs Portugal on Sunday October 8 in Toulouse to progress alongside Wales.

The above is providing the Wallabies pick up an expected bonus-point success vs Portugal on Sunday in Saint-Étienne (4.45pm kick off BST) in their final pool game. Anything less from Australia in that game, and Fiji just need to beat Georgia, due to the next tiebreaker after teams are level on points being their head-to-head record.

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Sky Sports News’ Eleanor Roper looks at Eddie Jones’ future, following reports of a possible exit after Australia’s 40-6 defeat to Wales

Fiji’s stunning success over Australia earlier in the pools, and their performance vs Wales when they should have won, have been the talk of much of the tournament. Finishing second in this pool will likely see Fiji face England in the quarter-finals…

Wales are on a bye week ahead of facing Georgia in their final pool game on Saturday October 7 (2pm kick off BST).

Pool D: Samoa or Japan to move into contention | Pumas target bonus-point victory

England are on a bye week and firmly in control of Pool D ahead of their final group game vs Samoa on Saturday October 7 (4.45pm kick off BST).

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Former England international Luther Burrell hails the ability of Marcus Smith and says he is the key to expansive rugby

By that point, Samoa may be as good as out, as they face Japan on Thursday (8pm kick off BST) in a clash which is highly likely to render the loser out of contention, due to the fact Argentina are facing Chile on Saturday in Nantes (2pm kick off BST), and odds on to pick up a big bonus-point victory.

Should the Pumas do that, they will reach nine points in the pool – something Japan or Samoa can also reach with victory. The latter two sides can reach 10 points if one wins with a bonus-point.

The final round of pool games will then see Argentina face a must-win match vs Japan to progress, and Samoa facing England in a game in which the Pacific Islanders’ quarter-final hopes will either be existent or absent. We will know after this week.

There is hardly any excitement of watching a sporting clash without historic context. There is a reason why India-Pakistan clash creates the kind of buzz it does or why the Australia-England rivalry is as celebrated as it is. For all the talk that matches are not won or lost with the statistics or what has happened in the past, it does play a role in build up to the game and it does play a part as some victories taste sweeter than others.

If India were to overcome their disappointment of their Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 where they came so close yet remained so far, stumbling at the final hurdle, it would just be the most perfect redemption story but the fact that they have the same opponents against them who were there that historic evening at the Melbourne Cricket Ground- Australia- would make it all the more meaningful for the Women in Blue.

However, it would also mean that the Asian would need to have their best day in the competition to beat Australia in the semifinal. Make no mistake, India beating Australia would be no less than an upset. The Aussies have clinched 22 of the 30 T20I matches that they have played against India with India clinching just six wins. It is also pertinent to note in this regard that the Aussies have won 54 of 63 T20Is which they have played since the beginning of 2018, making them a runaway favourite in this match.

To make matters worse, India’s Harmanpreet Kaur remains doubtful but whosoever takes the field for India would go out there to give their best. If they can play their best, they will have a chance to beat but if they fumble, like this team has in the past in the crunch games, then this Aussie side is too good a team to let any opportunity go.

Fasten your seat belts and get set for an exciting game of cricket.

THERE are not many sports as physical as rugby – and this is the reason why we have seen a number of red cards at the 2023 World Cup.

Referees have had their work cut out at the France tournament and they are trying their best to keep all 30 players on the field during a match.

However, there have been several reckless challenges at the World Cup which have resulted in a red card.

How many red cards have there been at the 2023 Rugby World Cup?

There have been SEVEN red cards at the 2023 Rugby World Cup so far.

England back-row Tom Curry kick-started the drama when he received a red card for a head-on-head high tackle with Argentinian Juan Cruz.

Namibia have seen both Desiderius Sethie and Johan Deysel sent off during their time at the World Cup.

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But Samoa’s Ben Lam has been the most recent player to go for an early bath due to a head-on-high challenge against Japan .

• Tom Curry – ENGLAND vs Argentina
• Ethan de Groot – NEW ZEALAND vs Namibia
• Vincent Pinto – Wales vs PORTUGAL
• Johan Deysel – France vs NAMIBIA
• Vaea Fifita – Scotland vs TONGA
• Desiderius Sethie – Uruguay vs NAMIBIA
• Ben lam – Japan vs SAMOA

What are the red card rules in rugby?

These are most commonly shown for foul or dangerous play with the player unable to continue and the team not being able to replace them, like in most sports.

With tackling a large part of rugby, referees often need to keep an eye to make sure that players’ health and safety are not being threatened excessively.

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These could include by tackling players targeting the head or producing tackles in the air – in particular spear tackles that see players tip their opposite number head first towards the ground.

Other acts of foul play include biting, eye gouging and stamping.

But unlike other sports, sending offs in the Rugby World Cup do not bring an automatic punishment of missing a set number of games.

Instead, the red carded player must stand before a panel who decide firstly if the dismissal was correct, before deciding their punishment.

The severity of the foul play could lead to players missing several months of rugby, in particular eye gouging, with former England star Dylan Hartley previously suspended for 26 weeks.