Rugby evening headlines as Sam Warburton says URC 'makes no sense' and England suffer early Australia tour blow

Here are the latest rugby evening headlines for Monday, June 6.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton has doubled down on his criticism of the United Rugby Championship and South African teams' involvement in it.

The two-time Lions skipper accused the then-PRO14 of "shamelessly" chasing the money in April 2021, as it was becoming ever more apparent the former Celtic league was expanding further into South Africa. “I’m not going to lie, I think the whole PRO14/Rainbow Cup has turned into a mish-mash competition,” he said at the time.

Now that the first URC season which included the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers is nearing completion, it is plain to see that they have faired emphatically better than the Welsh teams, with two of the aforementioned franchises making the semi-finals.

In light of that, Warburton was challenged by outspoken South African pundit Mark Keohane, who sent him a tweet saying: "So @samwarburton_ you asked what value the SA teams add to @URCOfficial @URCOfficial_RSA after 1st month… but you have gone AWOL since. Perhaps @simonrug you can get an answer from Sam".

Warburton was not going to shy away, replying: "Hi Mark. I’ll give you an answer no problem. There’s no doubting their ability. Fantastic rugby nation. League just doesn’t make sense and looks a random mix and match of clubs."

Springbok veteran Frans Steyn is set to miss the first Test against Wales this summer as he battles a thigh injury, with reports in South Africa claiming he could sit out the entire series.

The versatile Steyn is said to be rehabilitating a thigh injury. Meanwhile, another versatile back in Damian Willemse is also reportedly recovering from an arm issue.

It gives head coach Jacques Nienaber a bit of a headache as