By Paul Jones
Cardiff flanker James Botham has been added to Wales’ training squad ahead of Saturday’s clash with South Africa at Twickenham.
Botham, who has 10 caps, provides cover across the back row and lifts the number of players in Warren Gatland’s squad to 38.
This will be reduced to 34 after the Springboks showdown, with those remaining then embarking on a two-Test tour of Australia that includes a fixture with the Queensland Reds.
Botham, the grandson of England cricket great Sir Ian Botham, has endured an injury hit 2023-24 season but now has a late opportunity to secure a place on the tour.
Wales finished bottom of this year’s Six Nations after losing 24-21 to Italy in their final game.
Meanwhile, French star and pin-up for this summer’s Paris Olympics, Antoine Dupont has called for an end to the “macho” cliches linked to the game and to “stop homophobia in our sport”.
🚨 Gatland yn galw Botham i'r garfan 🏴@Cardiff_Rugby's James Botham been called up to the Wales senior men’s training squad for the 2024 summer fixtures, taking the total number of players to 38. He provides cover for all three positions across the back row.
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) June 17, 2024
The 27-year-old, who was World Rugby men’s 15-a-side Player of the Year in 2021, made the remark in an interview in the French LGBTQ magazine Tetu, to be published on Wednesday.
Only one professional rugby player in France, Jeremy Clamy-Edroux, who was a player at then second-tier Rouen, has publicly declared his homosexuality but Dupont said there were certainly more.
“I very much doubt that there is only one gay on the pitch!” the Toulouse and France scrum-half said.
“The goal is for all players to feel good about their sexuality and to be accepted by others.
“Even if rugby can be seen as macho, we are very open-minded, and today I think we are all capable of accepting each other’s sexual orientations.
“We really need to repeat it, communicate about it, so that everyone definitely feels comfortable with it.
“Little jokes, if there is a gay person in our team and they hear them, it won’t help them to speak and come out,” he added.
Dupont captained France in last year’s Rugby World Cup and is poised to line up for the sevens team at this summer’s Games.
«Arrêter l’homophobie» dans le rugby : Antoine Dupont s’engage en Une de «Têtu». Comme Antoine Griezmann en 2019, le demi de mêlée star du XV de France fait la couverture du magazine dédié aux questions LGBTQ
Lire : https://t.co/wE8F2Jt1CQ pic.twitter.com/PDr53wCNOC
— Libération (@libe) June 17, 2024