The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
Wales were thumped by England in their Six Nations opener(Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)
These are your evening rugby headlines on Monday, February 9.
Ashton: Wales should play in second tier
Former England international Chris Ashton says Wales would be better off playing in the second tier of international rugby following their disastrous Six Nations opener at Twickenham.
Steve Tandy’s side were totally overpowered by the hosts on Saturday, with Steve Borthwick’s men running in seven tries on the way to a convincing 48-7 victory. In what was a mismatch from the first whistle, England barely needed to try as Wales were continually undone by their own ill discipline, receiving four yellow cards including two in the opening 17 minutes.
With defending champions France up this weekend, it looks almost certain Wales’ wait for a Six Nations win – which now stretches back to March 2023 – will go on, and Ashton has questioned if continuing to play the top teams in the world is benefitting Tandy’s men.
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Speaking on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, the 44-cap wing suggested that a stint in a Tier 2 tournament, playing against the likes of Georgia, Tonga and Samoa, would help build confidence and experience within the Welsh squad.
“If we had a two-tier system right now, top tier nations and second tier nations, Wales would be way better off if they spent a year playing in a second tier tournament,” said Ashton.
“They can get all the experience and get everything out of the way, all the things they shouldn’t be doing, and come back in a year better prepped and a better team. At the minute, they’re just not competing whatsoever, you’re not building on anything.
“If they could play Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, Georgia right now and beat them all, beat them well, they would be like ‘OK, now we’re in a place where we can go back and compete’.”
Asked by host Ugo Monye if playing second-tier teams would equip Wales to be competitive against other Six Nations sides again, Ashton replied: “It’s got to do them better, surely, than what they’re going through right now. It’s not going to change anytime soon.”
Tandy told to bring in duo
Steve Tandy has been urged to bring two “big, strong, rough” players into his team to face France in Cardiff this weekend, with former Wales international Emyr Lewis saying some of the current squad are not good enough for Test rugby.
The former back-rower has called for change after being left wholly unimpressed by Wales’ performance against England in their Six Nations opener, claiming that the balance of the visitors’ midfield and back row was all wrong.
With France expected to bring another huge physical threat to the Principality Stadium on Saturday, Lewis has urged Tandy to bring in the big men, naming centre Owen Watkin and back-rower Ollie Cracknell as two players he wants to see involved against Les Bleus.
“We have to change some players because some of those players have had plenty of chances, and they’re simply not good enough on the international level,” the 41-cap international told BBC Radio Cymru’s Dros Frecwast.
“I don’t like to name individuals but, without a doubt, the balance in midfield isn’t right, so I would definitely bring bigger players in like Owen Watkin. We know how good he is defensively and we have to have a strong defence against France.
“The back row, again no balance there, we have to bring in bigger players especially against such a huge French pack,” Lewis added.
“I’d definitely bring in Ollie Cracknell. We have to look at bringing in big, strong, rough players who will give the French pack a challenge.”
Brown: We can bounce back against England
By Anthony Brown, Press Association
Gregor Brown believes a Calcutta Cup showdown with England is the perfect way for Scotland to try to banish their Italy frustration.
The Scots made a dire start to their Guinness Six Nations campaign as they went down 18-15 to the Azzurri in Rome on Saturday.
The defeat all but ended their hopes of contending for the championship and piled renewed pressure on embattled head coach Gregor Townsend, who vowed to soldier on afterwards.
Versatile Glasgow forward Brown, who came on as a second-half substitute, offered his apologies to the travelling support and he hopes they can go some way to making amends for a result that “really hurt” by bouncing back with a victory over the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield this Saturday.
“I think after a result like that and the frustration, England at Murrayfield is the perfect occasion to try and bounce back,” said the 24-year-old. “This next game is the biggest of the championship for us.
“A home game at Murrayfield is one of the best things as a Scottish player. To have that occasion off the back of a loss is something we need to get excited about. We’ll review Italy and really attack the week.”
Scotland have now lost their last seven matches against sides ranked in the top 10 – Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Fiji, France, Ireland and England.
Brown, who won his 13th cap on Saturday, admitted the run of poor results has become increasingly exasperating as he does not believe it is an accurate reflection of their collective ability.
“It’s tough,” he said. “We don’t want to be a team that just talks about improvements and not getting the results.
“We play an exciting brand of rugby and I think that’s what makes it even more frustrating when we don’t get the results.
“There is still so much confidence. We really believe in what we’re doing and the players we’ve got, but we’re sick of talking about it as much as the fans are sick of hearing us talk about it.”