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The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is reportedly on the verge of naming Dave Reddin as their new director of professional rugby.
This crucial appointment comes after a difficult time for Welsh rugby which is currently without a permanent head coach and grappling with a significant losing streak including consecutive wooden spoons in the Six Nations.
Reddin renowned for his role as England’s fitness coach during their 2003 World Cup victory has a strong background in high-performance strategy across various sports.
He also held senior positions at RFU, Team GB overseeing preparations for the London 2012 Olympics and Football Association.
Despite this, his experience working with elite athletes and managing high performance programs including a stint as fitness coach for the 2005 British &Irish Lions tour positions him well.
While he lacks direct coaching experience in rugby, the WRU believes his diverse experience in modernizing and professionalizing elite sports environments will be beneficial.
From 1998-2003 he was a member of Sir Clive Woodward team that led to transformational change in the preparation of England's rugby players.
In 2020, he established Pitch32, a full service agency which works with investors in football to transform on and off pitch performance .
His appointment is seen as vital for stabilizing and revitalizing the professional game in Wales, The WRU is also actively searching for a permanent replacement for Warren Gatkand who resigned in February.
Potential candidates include Pat Lam, Franco Smith, Michael Cheika and Simon Easterby who would work closely with Reddin.
He is seen as credible figure to guide the Welsh rugby amidst current challenges, his experience can bring much needed structure and long term thinking to the national setup.
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Bears receive new stadium pitch from Chicago mayor
It might be too little, too late, but the Chicago Bears received a new pitch from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about building the new stadium project in the city. The Bears are moving full steam ahead with the site in Arlington Heights. Mayor Brandon Johnson wants the Chicago Bears in Chicago During an appearance on 670 The Score, Johnson argued that the Bears “belong” to Chicago and wants to keep them in the city for the next 100 years. “Look, the Bears belong in the city of Chicago,” Johnson said on the “Rahimi Harris Show." “And I believe that people know that. There’s a tremendous momentum. As you know, Joe Mansueto with the Fire, we’re talking about hundreds of million dollars to build a new stadium. The 1901 Project on the west side of Chicago, you’re talking about millions of dollars of investments… “We’re on a nice little hot winning streak here. So, my door’s going to remain open. And the hope is that Chicago Bears fans will rally around this moment to challenge all of us to come together to figure out a path to make sure the 100-year history doesn’t end in this moment and we can set ourselves up for the next 100 years.” Johnson points to low crime rates in Chicago Johnson touted declining crime rates as a reason for the Bears to stay in the city. “Homicides are down 32%, shooting victims are down almost 40%,” Johnson said. “We’re seeing unprecedented levels of investment. So, my door still remains open. And perhaps because I am a Cubs fan, I just remain optimistic, no matter what the circumstances are. But they really do belong in the city of Chicago.” Johnson hasn’t had conversations with the Bears in the last two weeks. For now, CEO Kevin Warren and the organization are trying to get enough government support to start building in Arlington Heights as soon as possible. If Warren doesn’t get the help he needs, the Bears could again try to angle for lakefront property in Chicago.
Kevin Love reportedly has preferred buyout destination
Kevin Love is eyeing a return to his roots. The five-time NBA All-Star big man Love has a preferred destination on the buyout market, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Tuesday. Love would like to end up in Los Angeles. Now 36 years old, Love spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Miami Heat. He averaged just 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over 10.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 but still managed to shoot 35.8 percent from three on the year. Earlier this summer however, the Heat traded Love to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team blockbuster deal. Now Love, a 17-year NBA veteran, is pursuing a contract buyout from the rebuilding Jazz. Though he is a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Love played his college ball in Los Angeles at UCLA. He also has ties to both L.A. teams — he won an NBA championship with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and was also coached on that team by Tyronn Lue, who is now head coach of the L.A. Clippers. Both the Lakers and Clippers are currently sitting at 14 guaranteed contracts each. While they still have spots for two-way and Exhibit 10 players, that means the Lakers and Clippers are both down to their final open roster spot. The ex-rebounding leader Love still has some value, though probably more so as a jokester than as a contributing rotation piece. While Love clearly wants a homecoming to Los Angeles, he may have some convincing to do for either the Lakers or the Clippers to give him that final open roster spot.
One NBA team emerging as favorite to sign Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons may be headed back to the Atlantic Division. The New York Knicks appear to be the favorites to sign the former NBA All-Star forward Simmons in free agency, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported Tuesday. Siegel adds that it is expected to be a veteran’s minimum contract for Simmons if he does end up in New York. Along with the Knicks, the Boston Celtics have also been at the forefront of the Simmons sweepstakes, Siegel adds. However, the Celtics signed fellow veteran frontcourt piece Chris Boucher on Tuesday, seemingly taking them out of the running for Simmons. Simmons, 29, is still unsigned over a month into the free agent period. He finished out last season with the L.A. Clippers, averaging 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists over 16.4 minutes per game in 18 appearances off the bench. He also previously played in the Knicks’ division, beginning his career with the Philadelphia 76ers and then getting traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2022. The Knicks could foreseeably use another big body off the bench. However, a Simmons signing would likely be more of a flier than anything after they signed a former Sixth Man of the Year winner to carry their second unit and also added a versatile bench forward who is capable of playing and defending multiple positions. Simmons is clearly little more than minimum-contract fodder at this point of his NBA career. But as a three-time All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive selection with some playmaking juice still left in him as well, Simmons appears to be closing in on another chance in the league.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on August 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
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