Former England captain brands Louis Lynagh Italy call 'brave'
Former England captain Dylan Hartley has described Louis Lynagh’s decision to declare for Italy as a ‘brave and proud’.
RugbyPass exclusively reveald that Lynagh was making the switch earlier this month and he could yet feature this weekend against France in Round 3 of the Six Nations.
Lynagh, the Treviso-born son of Australia great Michael who also played for the Italian club in the 1990s, quit Harlequins to join Italian club Benetton earlier this moth with the aim of representing the Azzurri.
The 23-year-old was called up by England under Eddie Jones but failed to win a cap and has been overlooked completely by Steve Borthwick since he took over in December 2022.
While Hartley didn’t go as far as saying it was a missed opportunity for England, he backed the Lynagh for making the decision. Hartley, who left New Zealand at 16, followed a not dissimilar path to his international career.
“It’s tough to say [Whether it’s a loss for England],” said Hartley. “Those who’ve seen him play week in, week out for Quins will be better qualified to say because I don’t watch Premiership rugby every single week, but I did see him score an absolute wonder try not so long ago. He does some great things.
“Here’s a kid with an opportunity to go and play international rugby. Does he wait (for an England or Australia call) or go for it? He’s absolutely going for it. Wing is a pretty difficult position. There’s not many guys that sit in a wing position internationally for years. It’s a highly competitive position and, these guys are so finely tuned, so the slightest sort of injury or form can have a massive impact on your international career.
“I think it’s a pretty bold decision by Louis and a proud decision as well. He’s proud to be half Italian. Good on him. Go for it. He is exactly what Italian rugby needs. If you look at the rest of the rugby world – your Bundee Aki’s or Duhan van der Merwe – it’s pretty common in international rugby.
“I think it’s good for the international rugby community. He takes his Premiership experience to the Italian side, which is only going to benefit the game. He’ll add to that environment and I’m sure he’ll learn a lot there too. I think it’s a great moment for him.”
Hartley’s full conversation with Gambling Zone can be found here.
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Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
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5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
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1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
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5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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