Fiji-born rugby player NATHAN HUGHES has admitted that the "financial benefits of representing England played an important factor in the decision to pledge allegiance to his adopted nation." Hughes, who qualifies for England via the three-year residency rule, is "set to make his first start for EDDIE JONES’ side against his homeland on Saturday." Hughes said, "I would love for Fiji to have more resources, but it is the way it is. They just have to deal with it and live on whatever they have got" (REUTERS, 11/15). ... Self-confessed "ball tamperer" FAF DU PLESSIS "once again stands accused of cheating" in a Test match, after "damning new footage emerged of the South African captain in Hobart." Fox Sports revealed images that "appear to show du Plessis using a mint or lolly to shine the ball to make it swing during the second Test" (NEWS CORP. AUSTRALIA, 11/16). ... Swansea City appointed PAUL WILLIAMS as its assistant manager. Williams, 45, was in "temporary charge" of Nottingham Forest at the end of the '15-16 season and left in May. He played in the Premier League as a defender and midfielder for Coventry City and Southampton. He signed a two-and-a-half year contract at the Liberty Stadium (BBC, 11/16).
CLOSE UP: JAMIE VARDY’s “starring role for England came as the Oscar-winning producers behind his movie watched him live for the first time.” GARETH ELLIS UNWIN and SIMON EGAN, who claimed a best film Academy Award for the King’s Speech, attended the game against Spain at Wembley to "witness Vardy at close quarters.” The first draft of the script for the biopic that combines his “rags-to-riches tale” with Leicester City’s Premier League-winning season has been “completed and the shooting will start next year.” Finding a director is the next step, “with ambitious plans for DANNY BOYLE or PAUL GREENGRASS” (London DAILY MAIL, 11/16).
