France target Kiwis

Former Waikato team-mates Warren Gatland and John Mitchell are reportedly being targeted by France to become their next head coach after this year’s Rugby World Cup. The futures of the wanted Kiwi coaches beyond the World Cup are undecided and both could be part of international rugby’s expected coaching merry-go-round. Gatland’s 12-year tenure as Wales coach will end at the end of 2019 and Mitchell’s contract as England’s defence coach expires after the tournament in Japan finishes in November. The Times in the UK report that French rugby president Bernard Laporte has a three-man shortlist to replace Jacques Brunel after the World Cup, featuring Gatland, Mitchell and England’s 2003 World Cup-winning coach, Clive Woodward. Top heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev has come in for fierce criticism online after forcibly kissing a female reporter during a post-fight interview in the US on Saturday night (Sunday NZT). The Bulgarian had just defeated Bogdan Dinu via seventh-round KO in the main event of a Top Rank fight card in Costa Mesa, California and was being quizzed on his future plans by experienced boxing journalist Jenny Sushe. When Sushe asked him whether he should be next in line to face lineal champion Tyson Fury should the Brit defeat Tom Schwarz on June 15, Pulev muttered "yes" before grabbing Sushe by the face and kissing her on the mouth. The unsavoury incident brought the interview to an abrupt conclusion, with a shocked Sushe trying to laugh it off, saying "Jesus Christ" as Pulev walked off. Pulev’s behaviour was roundly criticised on social media, with fans accusing the married fighter of ‘‘sexual assault’’ and ‘‘harassment’’.