News in Brief
Woodman joins Wasps coaching team
Scrum.com
June 8, 2009
Trevor Woodman holds the Rugby World Cup during the England victory parade, London, Englands, December 8, 2003
New Wasps assistant coach Trevor Woodman was part of the England squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup © Getty Images
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  • London Wasps have announced the appointment of Trevor Woodman as Forwards Coach and John McCloskey as Skills Coach. The duo will work alongside Director of Rugby Tony Hanks and Head Coach Shaun Edwards.

    Woodman, a Rugby World Cup winner with England in 2003, joins from the Australian Rugby Union where he was National Scrum Coach.

    "I am hugely excited by the challenge that lies ahead," said Woodman. "The club is at the beginning of it's next chapter and working alongside great coaches in Tony Hanks and Shaun Edwards you can sense the determination and the desire to make this season a success from the off - something I am delighted to have an opportunity to be a part of."

  • Former Wales and Lions scrum-half Haydn Tanner has died in his sleep at the age of 92.

    Tanner made his international debut as an 18-year-old in Wales' 13-12 victory over New Zealand in 1935 and went on to win 25 caps over a record-breaking 15-year period. At the age of 21, Tanner was selected for the 1938 Lions tour of South Africa and featured in the second Test against the Springboks.

    Bleddyn Williams, who played with Tanner, said: "Among all the scrum-halves I've seen and played with, he would reign supreme."

  • Western Province fly-half Willem de Waal and Free State Cheetahs winger Danwel Demas were called into the Emerging Springboks squad on Tuesday.

    The pair replace Lions fullback/wing Louis Ludik and Blue Bulls flyh-alf Burton Francis who have withdrawn through injury. The Emerging Springboks face the British & Irish Lions at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday, 23 June.

  • Wasps have confirmed the signing of Bristol tight-head prop Jason Hobson on a two-year deal.

    Hobson, who was capped by England on the 2008 summer tour of New Zealand, follows No.8 Dan Ward-Smith and winger David Lemi in swapping relegated Bristol for Wasps.

    Hobson underwent surgery on a disc problem in January but he is now back to full fitness and ready to join Wasps in pre-season training.

  • Former France international Abdelatif Benazzi has warned the current team to take the right mental attitude into two Tests against the All Blacks or risk heavy defeats.

    Benazzi won 78 caps for France in a career that spanned both the amateur and professional eras and he has fond memories of the All Blacks, winning four out of seven encounters.

    "If (coach) Marc Lievremont's team arrive in New Zealand dragging their heels and complaining about fatigue, they will lose by 60 points," Benazzi told the allblacks.com . "These players must be ready to give everything and fear nothing."

    Moroccan-born Benazzi was one of a select few Frenchmen to win a Test series against the All Blacks in their own backyard in 1994 and was a member of the side who famously beat New Zealand 43-31 in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.

    "1994 remains the best victory of them all," he said. "Beating New Zealand on their own patch has never been easy, so to do it twice was simply exceptional. But we were a team ready for this sort of battle."

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