Tonight's rugby news as Wales international left without club and former Lions star dies

These are your evening rugby headlines on Tuesday, November 12.

Wales international left without a club

Former Wales centre Willis Halaholo has been left without a club after not being offered a deal ahead of the new Super Rugby season.

The 34-year-old left Wales this summer, having made over a century of appearances for Cardiff and won 10 international caps since moving to the country in 2016. With no viable deal on the table in the UK, he decided to return home to New Zealand, joining up with Bay of Plenty in July.

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He earned rave reviews during a standout season in the Bunnings National Provincial Championship, playing a crucial role in midfield and helping to lead his side to the final, where they narrowly lost to Wellington.

It looked like that the ex-Hurricanes star's run of form would see him make a return to Super Rugby in February, but following the squad announcements it was revealed that he has not been offered a contract by a team.

In a comment on Instagram, Halaholo wrote "They said I'm old," before dropping a potential retirement hint by adding: "Oh well, better get on the tools".

Ex-Scotland and Lions star dies

Former Scotland and British & Irish Lions flanker Derrick Grant has died at the age of 86.

Grant played 14 times for Scotland between 1965 and 1968, before returning to the national set up nearly two decades later as their coach. He remained in that post between 1985 and 1988, taking them to the quarter-final stage of the inaugural World Cup in 1987 and sharing the 1986 Five Nations title with France.

As a player, he was part of the Scotland sides that beat South Africa for the first time in nearly 60 years in 1965, as well as the team that beat England in the Five Nations the following year.

In 1966, he was picked for the Lions and played twice on tour in Australia and eight times in New Zealand, but didn't appear in a Test.

He continued to offer his time and expertise to Scottish rugby as a national team selector and national under-21 team manager, retiring from selection after the 2003 Six Nations.

Scottish Rugby confirmed the sad news in a statement on Tuesday, two days after Grant's death.

"Grant was part of the “ultimate rugby think-tank”, a quiet and humble man, ahead of his time in his ability to analyse a game and get the best out of his charges," the statement read.

"Scottish Rugby extends its sincere condolences to Derrick’s wife, Elsie, sons David and Steven, daughter in laws Susan and Ann and their families, plus his many friends in Scotland and beyond."

“He was as hard as nails on the pitch,” added former Scotland star Andy Irvine. “But Derrick was always keen to understand why, as a player, you had done certain things. He was a deep, deep thinker on the game and was such a decent fellow.”

Priestland: The shirt will weigh heavy

Former Wales star Rhys Priestland says he is "not convinced" Warren Gatland's squad are enjoying playing for Wales at the moment as he warned the tension will only get worse after extending their torrid losing run.

Gatland's side have now equalled their worst ever run of defeats by losing to Fiji in Cardiff and are now faced with the very real prospect of a winless 2024 with Australia and South Africa up next.

Priestland has been in a similar position before, going through eight defeats in a row with Wales in 2012 and 2013 and he admitted the "shirt will weigh heavy right now" for the current squad.

"It's easy to say forget about the last 10 games and think about next week but when you are on a run like this, the tension increases," the former fly-half told Radio Cymru. "You worry and things will be very difficult for the boys in camp this week. The shirt will weigh heavy right now.

"Playing for Wales should be a special occasion with everyone looking forward to it," he added. "But I'm not convinced all the players feel like that now because of the pressure on them. It will be interesting to see if they can turn it around quickly."

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Wales star says problems 'higher up the chain'

Former Wales Women international Sioned Harries says that the problems with the national side go "much higher up the chain" following the departure of head coach Ioan Cunningham last week.

The Welsh Rugby Union said Cunningham left "by mutual agreement" after three years in charge of Wales women and a turbulent 2024 on and off the pitch. A Six Nations wooden spoon and a poor WXV2 campaign was compounded by a messy contract stand-off during which rugby bosses allegedly threatened to pull the team from the WXV2 and next year's World Cup.

The WRU have been heavily criticised for the way it handled the negotiation process over the new contracts, with executive director of rugby Nigel Walker coming under fire for giving the players a three-hour deadline to sign contracts as well as allegedly threatening to pull the team from the above tournaments.

A report in The Telegraph also claimed Cunningham had repeatedly approached players about signing new deals during this year's Six Nations despite the fact the Women's Rugby Association (WRA) had been appointed to negotiate on their behalf. While there were calls for Walker to lose his job after the WRU admitted there had been serious failings, Cunningham is the one who has paid the price.

Reflecting on the current situation, former back row Harries told S4C's Y Clwb Rygbi: "It’s been a very difficult week and from a personal point of view Ioan is a good man, a good coach.

"I do think that the root of the problem goes much higher up the chain than Ioan and it’s very disappointing that he's gone. He had so much success with the women – took them through these contracts, third in the Six Nations, up to sixth in the world. So I think we have to dig a little deeper than just Ioan Cunningham."