Cameron Hill

Connacht yesterday announced that veteran prop Dennis Buckley will leave the province at the end of the season.

The Roscommon man joined the Connacht Academy in 2009, earning his senior debut two years later.

He would go on to make 275 appearances in green, putting him behind only John Muldoon on the province's all-time appearances list.

He played a pivotal role when Connacht famously claimed the Pro 12 title in 2016 under Pat Lamb.

On the international front, the Crags player earned three caps for the Ireland under-20s and earned a call-up to the Barbarians' selection, coached by Lamb for a game against England in 2018.

Now, Connacht have wasted no time in announcing their replacement loose head.

Leinster's Gerry Kerr is Dexcom Stadium-bound this summer, capping off what's been a pretty remarkable start to his professional career.

Starting the season with Energy All-Ireland League outfit Lansdowne, he was drafted in as short-term injury cover by Leinster in September.

Since then, he's made 14 senior appearances for Leo Cullen's side, including four caps in the Investec Champions Cup, a graduate of Cistercian College Ross Gray.

Kerr has also played for Old Belvedere and Dublin University, while also lining out for the Connacht Under-19s at one point.

And finally today, the RFU have given their backing to Steve Borthwick as England head coach through to next year's World Cup.

The union has conducted a review of their most recent men's Six Nations campaign, which saw Borthwick's team record just one win from five.

That includes heavy defeats to Scotland and Ireland and losing to Italy for the first time in their history.

In a statement, the RFU confirmed that they are all behind Borthwick and his coaching team, adding that he is in charge of a young England team that is still growing and developing.

But RFU CEO Bill Sweeney had previously described their Six Nations performance as an unusual outcome, rather euphemistic on his part.

The review concluded that despite coming off a 12-game winning run, England's underperformance across the Six Nations was not the result of a singular failure or issue, the RFU said.

The review highlighted a number of interconnected performance areas such as discipline, execution of opportunities and making the most of key moments where improvement is required if England are to consistently perform at the level expected.

England begin their Nations Championship campaign away to World Champions South Africa at Ellis Park on the 4th of July.

That's about all for today's Rugby Daily.

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