refuses

Saracens are set to receive a series of fines from Prem Rugby due to director of rugby Brendan Venter’s failure to fulfil media commitments.

It is understood the club have already been handed a £5,000 sanction after Venter was not present at the Prem’s pre-season launch day.

The South African also did not speak to the media before, during or after the opening-weekend victory at Leicester.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier on Tuesday, external that Venter “resigned” as director of rugby last month and took up a new role of “head of rugby culture and wine consultant”, with head coach Joe Shaw assuming responsibility for media commitments.

The report also claims Saracens asked permission in July for Shaw to front the club’s media commitments.

However, none of this has been confirmed by the club nor Prem Rugby.

It is also thought a change of job title would not preclude Venter from his contractual responsibilities.

Saracens announced in January that Venter would be returning to the club as director of rugby and have yet to confirm any change to his day-to-day responsibilities.

He succeeded Mark McCall, who stepped down at the end of last season after 15 trophy-laden years in the job.

Venter’s first spell as Sarries’ director of rugby, which began in 2009, also included clashes with authorities over media commitments.

In September 2010, the club apologised to European Rugby Cup (ERC) officials for then-captain Steve Borthwick’s failure to attend the Heineken Cup launch at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Borthwick, now England head coach, was the only missing representative from the coaches and captains of 12 English, Welsh and Scottish clubs attending the event.

He had been told by Saracens to instead attend a team bonding session at a beer festival in Munich.

In December 2010, Venter himself was warned by European Rugby Cup officials for a post-match interview after his side’s 24-21 Heineken Cup loss to Racing Metro, in which he repeatedly gave short answers, agreeing with whatever was being asked.

He later said it was inspired by a scene in the football mockumentary film, Mike Bassett: England Manager.

Venter left his full-time role at Saracens halfway through the 2010–11 season, to be replaced by McCall.

EXCLUSIVE: on his latest TV travelogue Michael Palin is in the Phillippines, but he draws the line at one recycled food type in a poverty stricken area and spoke to the Mirror about his experiences.

Michael Palin says he had to turn down a food dish in the Phillippines as it was a “bridge too far” for him. The former Monty Python star, 83, normally tries lots of the local cuisine on his travelogues.

But in new Channel 5 series Michael Palin In The Philippines he was surprised by one thing on the menu known as Pagpag. Michael was told that it was recycled chicken which they took after people ate it.

He explains in the programme: “I’ve never seen anything that illustrates poverty quite as clearly as half-eaten fried chicken, which has been taken from the bins of fast food restaurants and then re-cooked. So this is ultimate food recycling. Food that’s already been on someone’s plate has been left behind, and this nice lady goes and collects it. Seeing this, I’m starting to understand why so many people are angry about the inequalities here.”

Speaking to the Mirror about his experiences in the Philippines, Michael admitted he was intrigued by the snack, but not enough to try it.

He said: “It was a bridge too far for me, certainly. Yeah. But it was interesting. The lady who was selling it again, she wasn’t conning anybody. She wasn’t a gangster or something like that showing off. She was a middle-aged woman. She was obviously a pillar of the community. People trusted her, and she’d been recycling these food for years and years, and no one seems to have died.

“I’ve eaten everything on my journeys, but I couldn’t eat recycled food. I’m afraid at that time of the day.”

The food was for sale in an area of poverty called Tondo and on the morning he was there Michael learned that the seller and friends had gone to fast food outlets the night before.

He added: “Any meat that had been thrown away, they brought it back, scraped it off the bone, cleaned it all up, and reboiled it, so everything was sort of officially hygienic, and then sold it the next the next day as little sort of delicacies.”

Elsewhere on his trip Michael gets up to all sorts of other adventures, including travelling through underground rivers and swimming with thousands of sardines in Moalboal.

Under military escort, Michael explores the extraordinary and haunting remains of the destroyed city of Marawi, and on the island of Jolo he meets a member of the terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf.

He said the trip, filmed last year when he was still 82, made him feel young at heart and told the Mirror: “When I actually did the Philippines show. There’s no special sort of conditions because of my age or something like that. I just did it like I used to travel, and it’s extraordinary how your body or your mind can help your body to carry on. And physically, I didn’t feel the strain of the Philippines journey until I came home, and it was a long flight, 16 and a half hours to get to Manila from London, and that’s what really wears you out. It’s the airports and the long flights.

“Time in the Philippines was rejuvenating. I felt great, you know. And I thought to myself, I’ll check on my passport that I really am 82.”

* Michael Palin in the Philippines – starts Monday, September 28 at 9pm, Watch|stream on 5.

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JOJO Siwa has addressed whether she’d date women again – as she lifted the lid on her relationship with Chris Hughes.

The US singer and dancer, 23, struck up a romance with Love Island alum Chris, 33, on last year’s edition of Celebrity Big Brother.

Prior to entering the House, JoJo had been in a relationship with Kath Ebbs and identified as a lesbian.

Although during her time on the show, the star later said she wanted to identify as queer.

Speaking more recently on the Wildmen podcast, JoJo refused to rule out dating women again.

She told hosts Dylan Sprouse and Brendan Columbus about her relationship with Chris: “I thought it was just another friend adding to the thing, right?

together again

JoJo Siwa strips to bikini for loved-up reunion with boyfriend Chris Hughes

HUGHE JOB

Chris Hughes lined up for huge new Big Brother job – and JoJo could join him

“Once realised I wasn’t grossed out by the thought of him being a boy, I was like “whoa.”

JoJo continued: “It was definitely… it was weird, because I’d never thought that before.”

The star explained while she had attractive male friends, she never thought of them romantically – joking her bridal party would be “all dudes.”

JoJo went on: “With Chris… it actually was fascinating because I physically thought I would never be with a dude, ever. I just never thought it was possible.

“And people always go, “What if something happened with Chris, who would you date? – boys or would you go for girls?

“At this point, I have no right to say. You can find interviews on me where I’ve sworn how gross dudes are and I’ll never be with one.

“And now I’m head over heels in love with one.

“People always ask that and it’s always just like, “I have no right to say”, but I really do think that Chris is very much so a special dude.”