Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn strips in Saracens’ big freezer

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn visited Saracens ahead of the showdown against the United States in Paris to test out their cryotherapy chamber. 

The Dane headed up to the club’s training ground the week before travelling to France. He stripped off and was subjected to a temperature of about -100°C. 

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn visited Saracens before Paris showdown

Saracens boss Mark McCall missed out on an opportunity to swap ideas with Bjorn as he was on the pitch supervising training.

Another young player has taken early retirement from the professional game. Two years after winning the Premiership and Champions Cup double with Saracens, Ben Ransom has signed to play for Oxford University in the Varsity Match. The 26-year-old full-back has enrolled for an MBA in Business Administration at Said Business School.

Tigers eye Watson but he’s planning for more Bath time

Leicester are ready to move for Anthony Watson if the full-back does not renew his contract with Bath. 

Clubs are not allowed to approach rival players until January 1 but the Tigers are understood to be keen on the injured Lions star to complete their backline. 

Watson, however, is expected to favour an extended stay with Bath after coach Todd Blackadder signed a new contract. 

He said: ‘I haven’t won anything with Bath in five years so that’s still very much my aim.’

Perhaps Graham Rowntree will send back some Georgian scrummaging tips to his son Jack. Rowntree Jr is currently balancing his A-levels with a position in the Leicester Tigers academy. 

New Georgia coach Graham Rowntree has a family connection with Leicester

New Georgia coach Graham Rowntree has a family connection with Leicester

‘I can’t wait to see his ears mature!’ joked cauliflowereared Rowntree Sr, who played 398 times for Leicester and this week signed to coach Georgia until next year’s World Cup.

Sky bid for Wales games 

Sky Sports are bidding for the TV rights for Wales’ autumn internationals. The BBC deal expires at the end of this year. 

Sky’s rugby union stable was hit heavily when they lost rights for the Premiership and European club competitions to BT last year, but they still have international rugby. 

The WRU have already put out their initial tender and Sky are expected to table the highest bid. Sky pulled in audiences of about 300,000 for England’s summer Tests — compared to 1.4million for the Wales Tests on Channel 4 — so any switch would lead to a fall in viewing figures. 

In comparison, Sunday’s Bodyguard finale pulled in 10.4m viewers… perhaps Eddie Jones should make TV writer Jed Mercurio his next recruit!

Warren Gatland invited a group of journalists for breakfast in Cardiff on Monday as he enters his final year as Wales coach. 

Over coffee and bacon sandwiches, the Kiwi explained how a shift away from ‘drinking and partying’ has been the biggest change during his 12-year tenure. 

‘Maybe we’ll get the Famous Five back in!’ he joked. It turned out that he was referring to the party mob of Shane Williams, Gavin Henson, James Hook, Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips.

  

 

 

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