These are your rugby headlines on Thursday, December 19.

Wales international lands coaching role

Wales international Rory Thornton has been appointed as Cardiff RFC's new lineout coach for the remainder of the season.

The 29-year-old Cardiff star is a level two coach having previously worked with Bonymaen and Cardiff University and will begin his new role with the Rags side with immediate effect.

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Thornton - who has made 87 appearances for Matt Sherratt's side - will succeed former Cardiff skipper Josh Turnbull as lineout coach.

Turnbull, who retired from playing in April, has stepped down from his role with the Rags to focus on his primary role with the club's academy and U18s set-up, as well as his coaching position with Wales U18s.

“I’m very grateful and excited about the opportunity to gain some valuable coaching experience with Cardiff RFC, while passing on the experience I have," said Thornton, who won his one Wales cap against Samoa in 2017. “It gives me the chance to start and complete my level three coaching qualifications, which is something I’m hoping to start in January.”

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Cardiff's academy manager Gruff Rees, added: “We have really appreciated Josh’s input over the past few months. The alignment of coaching and his insight and detail, has supported our internal model brilliantly.

“However, we are also mindful of the amount of hours that Josh is spending on the field and understand how important his pathway work is. With his Wales age-grade commitments growing in the New Year it was apparent that we needed to look at different options and we are delighted to give Rory this opportunity.

“He is developing his coaching craft with a recent stint at Cardiff University and has a real, thorough understanding of the lineout," Rees continued. "He will bring an enormous amount of expertise and experience in this area and we are looking forward to supporting him in this next opportunity.”

URC side put up for sale

United Rugby Championship side Zebre has been put up for sale by the Italian Rugby Federation, following reports that the club was on the verge of being disbanded.

The Italian side currently sit second-from-bottom in the URC between the Dragons and the Ospreys and it was reported earlier this week that it could fold by next summer and be replaced by a new franchise. Now, the FIR wants to sell its 100 per cent stake in the club in a bid to improve competitiveness of Italian sides in the league.

A statement from the union reads: “The Federal Council of the FIR, meeting in Rome on Tuesday 17 December, announced its willingness to sell its share of the share capital – equal to 100 per cent – of the company Zebre Rugby Ltd, participant in the BKT United Rugby Championship and in the competitions organised by the European Professional Rugby Club.

“Expressions of interest from interested parties must reach the Italian Rugby Federation by 12 noon on 15 January 2025 , with the possibility for FIR to reserve the right to continue directly managing the franchise.

“Any transfer of the franchise may take place under terms and conditions suitable to allow the new ownership to manage participation in the events scheduled starting from the 2025/26 season, continuing to guarantee the presence of two Italian sports entities in international European club competitions."

It continued: "Among the mandatory requirements identified by the Federation for the presentation of expressions of interest are the express prohibition of transferring the activity outside the national territory, the availability of a stadium with a minimum capacity of five thousand seats, an annual economic and financial budget not less than the FIR contribution expected for the 2025/26 season and the commitment to share with the Federation the sporting choices consistent with the objectives of participation in URC and EPCR.

“FIR will retain full ownership of the participation rights, guaranteeing any new ownership – for the entire duration of its involvement in the URC and EPCR events and in any case for a period of no less than six sporting seasons – an economic contribution functional to the pursuit of the primary objective of participation in the BKT United Rugby Championship and the EPCR competitions, i.e. the constant increase in the sporting competitiveness and commercial attractiveness of its Franchises and, consequently, of the men’s national team."

A statement from the URC added: “United Rugby Championship welcomes the initiative of the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) to incentivise greater investment in the Zebre Parma franchise and the ambition to increase the competitiveness of Italian teams within the championship.

“The URC will provide maximum support throughout this process to both Zebre Parma and other interested parties, ensuring that the high standards required by the FIR for the franchise are in line with the requirements of the championship. This development is seen as a positive step for both the championship and Italian rugby.”

Welsh coach braced for 'battle' with ex-teammate

Dwayne Peel is expecting a big reaction from the Ospreys in this Saturday's west Wales derby against the Scarlets after they parted ways with head coach Toby Booth.

The 54-year-old was due to leave at the end of the season but has left the club with immediate effect following last weekend's 59-15 defeat at Montpellier. Booth has been replaced by Peel's former Scarlets teammate Mark Jones who steps up from defence coach.

Even though the Scarlets are in better form Peel is expecting the Ospreys to come out fighting at the Swansea.com Stadium.

"Derbies bring a different type of intensity and emotion," said Peel. "The news with Toby at the start of the week can work both ways. As you have seen many times when this happens you can have a bit of a bounce or reaction from some sort.

"If you look at the players they have in their squad of competitive international players they will be up for this. So I am expecting it to be a tight battle.

"Mark has been there for a couple of seasons. What he will bring is energy and enthusiasm and will get them emotionally ready for this game," he added. "Knowing him as well as I have over the last 20 years he will definitely bring those elements to their team and I wish him all the best in the role. He is a rugby man through and through and I am sure he will do a good job there."

The Scarlets have improved significantly on last season but have not won in Swansea for seven years.

"We have talked about that this week," admitted Peel. "We have been trying to understand why that is the case and working out what we are going to do differently to get over the line this week.

"There is always an emotion to these games and a lot riding on it in terms of local bragging rights. There have been some tight games and others where we would not have been as good as we would have liked in Swansea. This year we are determined to go there and do well."

Dombrandt signs new contract

England back row Alex Dombrandt has joined Marcus Smith in signing a new deal with Harlequins.

The former Cardiff Met star has made 144 appearances for the Premiership side since joining in 2018, scoring 76 tries. He was named as captain ahead of this season, taking over from Stephen Lewies, and scored a hat-trick against the Stormers in the Champions Cup at the weekend.

"This is a club that I love and I think we're going places with the players we have in the squad and group of coaching staff," the 27-year-old said after signing the new contract.

"It's an honour to be captain of a club I hold so close to my heart. That being said, we have a number of leaders in the group who support me and I can lean on as we work towards our goal of winning more trophies."

It comes after Dombrandt's England team-mate Smith also agreed a new deal with Quins, keeping him at the club until 2028.