Today’s rugby news as star plays through tragedy and Ireland international retires for ‘mental wellbeing’

Former Osprey Cracknell, who was totemic in the smash-and-grab win over Exeter, was embraced by new head coach Michael Cheika when he left the pitch at Sandy Park.

“Respect to him and his family from everyone at Tigers. We are feeling for him,” Cheika told TNT Sports after the game.

“I left him all week and he called me up and said his family wanted him to play, that that’s what his dad would have wanted.

“That type of performance, under that strain is fantastic. He played 80 minutes, was physical, went hard at it.

“It feels good,” Cheika said. “Even if we didn’t get the try to win it, I was pleased with how hard we were willing to work and stay in it there under a fair bit of difficulty.

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“We talked about playing the long game early in the week, being prepared to defend for long periods of time if necessary and we did that.“

He added: “It was Ollie Chessum’s first game. He didn’t have any time in pre-season. Jack (van Poortvliet), Ben (Youngs) – our drivers haven’t had a lot of time so as I said it was about digging in and playing the long game and we did that.

“Credit to the opposition, they held the ball well and put us under pressure at times but sometimes defence can help you not lose a game, as much as win a game.

“The momentum, the crowd had a lot of energy there late in the game but we never panicked and gave ourselves an opportunity at the end.”

Lewis-Hughes: We showed what we are made of

New Dragons signing Shane Lewis-Hughes has hailed his side’s fight following their last-gasp win over the Ospreys on the opening weekend of the URC season.

Luke Yendle’s try – and Lloyd Evans’ nerveless conversion – gave the Rodney Parade side a 23-21 win over their Welsh rivals to start their campaign off on the right foot.

Lewis-Hughes, who made the switch east from Cardiff this summer, said the hard work of pre-season really paid off in the final throes of the match.

“What a win,” Lewis-Hughes told the Argus. “I don’t think I could have written a better way to win, you can blow teams away sometimes but to dig in like that at the end was incredible.

“There was 80 minutes on the clock and we were in their 22 and the boys didn’t give up when a lot of teams would have.

“We kept on fighting and that just goes to show the hard work that we have put in throughout pre-season.”

He added: “We had a yellow card, a few penalties and things not going our way but it’s in those times that it really says a lot about you as an individual and a team, if you are going to crumble or fight for it. We showed everyone what we are made of.

“That was the big one that we had been targeting all pre-season. It was all built towards that and it wasn’t perfect but we had a lot of mongrel and fight.”

Ireland international retires on health grounds

Ireland international Marty Moore has retired from rugby “to prioritise his mental wellbeing”.

The 33-year-old Ulster prop was capped by his country 10 times, helping Joe Schmidt’s team to Six Nations titles in 2014 and 2015.

He featured 94 times for the Irish club side, while he also played for Leinster and Wasps. The decision comes after he took medical advice.

“On behalf of everyone at Ulster Rugby, past and present, I would like to say thank-you to Marty for all that he has given to the club over the past six years, which has seen him rewarded with 94 caps for the province,” Bryn Cunningham, head of rugby operations and recruitment at Ulster Rugby said.

“I think we can safely say that Ulster saw the best of Marty through a distinguished career where he became a cornerstone of the team. That’s testament to not only his application but also the trust built up over the years with all the senior professional staff who worked tirelessly to support his performance.

“With many stand-out moments in an Ulster jersey, we know that our supporters will take the time to join us in celebrating an outstanding career.

“We wish Marty, and his family, the best for his future and we will continue to support him in every way possible. He can hold his head high as one of the Ulster men who made the province his home and made a huge contribution on the pitch.”