Crusaders coach says it feels like Ive been here six months rather

Former Alabama?cornerback Maurice Smiths transfer saga is over. Hell be allowed to transfer to Georgia, the SEC announced Friday.The SEC granted a conditional waiver for Smith to transfer to Georgia for the 2016 season after a battle with his former team that lasted nearly two months.SEC bylaws typically require that a graduate transfer have two years of eligibility to transfer to an SEC school and also require a player transferring from one SEC school to another to sit out a year.?Neither will be the case for Smith, who has one year of eligibility remaining and will be allowed to join the Bulldogs immediately.SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Smith earned the exceptions by graduating from Alabama in three years.The standard for granting waivers has been clear and compelling evidence that there is reason for allowing an exception to SEC rules, Sankey said in a statement. I found, among other contributing factors, that a student-athlete who graduates in three years and exhibits a strong commitment to his or her academic future provides compelling motivation to help them achieve their goals on and off the field.Sankey also said Smith has clearly and passionately stated his desire for a graduate degree in Public Health.Smith had asked Alabama in June for permission to contact other schools with intentions to transfer.Smith wanted to follow new Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, his former defensive coordinator at Alabama. When Smith originally met with Alabama coach Nick Saban in June regarding the matter, Saban told Smith that he would not release him to an SEC school, according to a letter Smith wrote to the Alabama appeals committee and obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Smith later claimed that his locker was cleared out, all his personal belongings were thrown in the trash and he wasnt allowed to enter the Tides football facilities.Saban said on Aug. 4 that we support the SEC rule of not granting guys releases to go to other SEC schools. It has been our policy here not to do that unless there was a special circumstance.On Wednesday, however, Saban changed that stance and granted Smith a full, unconditional release -- leaving the decision in the hands of the SEC.Smart thanked the SEC for granting the waiver, which will allow Maurice Smith to pursue his dreams at the University of Georgia as a graduate transfer.This has been a difficult situation to navigate, and we are grateful to all who have been involved in bringing it to a resolution, Smart said in a statement released by Georgia on Friday night. Now that it is behind us, we are all anxious to move forward.Smith recorded 15 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble and had one fumble recovery in 15 games as the nickelback for the Crimson Tide. He ended spring football in Alabamas starting secondary rotation.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Frank Mason Jersey .S. 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Concerns surrounding the salary cap, a global calendar and the theft of Italian fast food will be forgotten momentarily on Friday when Gloucester run out at Kingsholm to kick off the new Aviva Premiership season against Leicester Tigers.It is just over three months since Alex Goodes try put the seal on Saracens second successive championship win, but an influx of talent has ensured the new campaign is keenly anticipated.Leicester could line up in the west country with Rugby World Cup winner, JP Pietersen, on their right wing and are awaiting the arrival of Australia playmaker Matt Toomua.Others preparing to make their Premiership bows this term include Kurtley Beale, Taulupe Faletau, Louis Picamoles and Ben Teo, as clubs this side of the English channel attempt to keep pace with those in the Top 14.But on the domestic front, it is the champions -- bolstered by the headline acquisition of Schalk Burger -- who remain the team to beat.Its hard to look beyond Sarries, Wasps director of rugby Dai Young admitted. What theyve built over the last couple of seasons is phenomenal. Were on a journey and theyre a good blueprint for us to follow.Wasps have taken advantage of the continued softening of rules governing how much a club can spend on their squad to bolster their back line. Beale, Danny Cipriani, Kyle Eastmond and Willie Le Roux -- when he arrives from Japan -- will add spice to a side not exactly lacking try-scoring expertise already.If the Coventry club have reached for the cheque book in a bid to slug it out with Saracens, then it has been another summer of studied recruitment from their opponents this Sunday, Exeter. Last seasons beaten Premiership finalists have added quality rather than quantity, with four acquisitions compared to Wasps 13.Chiefs boss Rob Baxter is not the type to waste money, and this summers arrivals -- Dave Dennis, Ollie Devoto, Greg Holmes and Lachie Turner -- will be expected to buy into the clubs ethos and ensure a side that has improved steadily since winning promotion in 2010, does so again.The important thing for us is not to over focus on the loss to Saracens, Baxter said. If you look at what theyve done over the last few seasons, theyve gotten to some finals or knockout games and lost but theyve built on it and gotten stronger.He added: Weve recruited well, theyre a great group of players but we need to keep the core group of players last year too and drive them through another good year. Hopefully we can achieve the same level of consistency we did last season.Finding the right characters for us is the same challenge it was six or seven years ago. We spend a lot of time on it, personally I think its the most important part of my job. Theres no magic answer to it but we spend a lot of time analysing players on the rugby fielld because you can pick up their characteristics doing that.ddddddddddddExeters transformation from provincial pretender to continental contender was rubber-stamped last season as they made the Champions Cup quarterfinals as well as the Premiership final. Wasps ended the Chiefs European run in the last eight, but as Baxter plots his clubs path this campaign, he is keen to prove that success can be achieved in a sustainable manner.Rugby shouldnt be a business that is boom or bust. I would say we dont want to create a situation where clubs are going bankrupt left, right and centre because that would be bad for the game and would portray the game in a bad light, he said.However we decide to do these things, if its raising or lowering the salary cap year on year or abolishing it all together, the one fundamental thing that should remain is that we want to be competitive in Europe and that we want all Premiership clubs to be sustainable, competitive and quality businesses.It is not just on the pitch where incoming names and faces are set to excite, with Bath and Harlequins preparing for the new season under the guidance of new directors of rugby.Both clubs are keen to improve on disappointing seasons last time out, and while Quins took the decision to promote John Kingston from within, Bath looked slightly further afield, to New Zealand and Todd Blackadder.And when the former Crusaders coach says it feels like Ive been here six months rather than a few weeks, it is because he has been made to feel at home, not due to the size of the task at hand.What really hooked me to Bath was the vision of the club, he said. Theyve got a great history and legacy, really good training pitches but they really want to build on their culture. I think thats really important because the rugby is a by-product of that. The timing feels really right.Blackadder admits he is looking forward to mixing it with some of Baths more heated rivals and in that sense, he could not have timed his arrival any better.Bristol are back in the big time following seven years in the wilderness, and will be led by Andy Robinson, a former Bath boss himself, who last coached in the Premiership 16 years ago.Both Robinson and his men are now ready to make their mark in the top flight -- starting with a date against Quins at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.Weve been desperate to get back into the Premiership and now its about putting a stamp there, the former England and Scotland coach said.The key to us is the belief that we can be successful. You have to love what you do, theres pressure in the games but you have to thrive on it or you might as well be back in the Championship. ' ' '