Today's rugby news as Welsh star reveals rat-related Dragons initiation and South Africa issue statement on X-rated Erasmus 'hack'

Here are your rugby headlines for Monday, June 6.

Former Dragons and Cardiff fly-half Jason Tovey has lifted the lid on some of the raucous drinking games he endured during his time with the Rodney Parade outfit.

It was revealed just last week that the 33-year-old has joined Ynysddu, who finished top of the Division Two East last season, winning all eight of their matches, and are looking to go one better next season by bolstering the ranks with superstar signing Tovey.

In an interview looking back at his professional playing days, which spanned two stints with Cardiff, three with the Dragons and a spell up in Scotland with Edinburgh, Tovey opened up on his early days in Newport.

“When I first started at the Dragons I had people like Rhys Thomas, Adam Black, Steve “Jabba” Jones, and Luke Charteris as teammates,” he told RugbyPass. “The Dragons was a fun place to be. I loved going into training and being around these guys.

“We had some mental social events back then. I’ll never forget my initiation into the first team. Have you ever played the old drinking game where they’d throw something like a golf ball or a coin into your pint and you’d have to down it if it landed in your drink?

“Well, that’s what I did only they used a dead rat from a pet shop instead. That was Rhys Thomas’ idea who was one of rugby’s great characters. I remember thinking 'f*** me this is professional rugby and I’m downing a pint with a dead rat in it!' That definitely wouldn’t happen today but back then some of the old amateur traditions were still present in the professional game, and it was a lot more enjoyable.

“We did loads of crazy things. We did bush tucker trials with worms, and it was all good fun, but now it’s just so boring. Most of the