The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyondElliot Dee during training(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)

Here are your rugby evening headlines for Tuesday 25 November.

Wales star a doubt for Six Nations after surgery

Dragons and Wales hooker Elliot Dee is a doubt for the start of the Six Nations after it was confirmed he will have surgery on a shoulder injury.

The 31-year-old is set to be out for months as he has an operation on a long-standing issue. That could see him miss the start of the Six Nations.

Dee managed just 16 minutes of the Dragons’ clash with Ulster back in September before injuring his shoulder. He was not included in Wales’ autumn squad, but did train with the squad.

“He was in with the Welsh medical team in collaboration with our medical team just to give him a chance to get his shoulder right,” said Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia.

“He got injured in the first game against Ulster and has since worked really hard and been really determined to get back for us, and also a potential opportunity with Wales.

“But he just fell short so now he’s moved to option B [surgery] to hopefully tighten the shoulder up so that he’s right to go.”

Dee played just six times for the Dragons last season, but did play in all five of Wales’ Six Nations matches earlier this year.

He also toured Japan in the summer, but Dewi Lake and Liam Belcher featured ahead of him across the two Tests.

The Dragons host Leinster this Friday, with hooker Brodie Coghlan still on Wales duty after winning his first cap last Saturday.

With Dee and James Benjamin sidelined, Oli Burrows looks likely to start against the Irish province.

Springbok clash ‘purely financial’

Former South Africa international Schalk Brits says this weekend’s match between Wales and the Springboks is down to ‘purely financial implications’.

Steve Tandy’s side will end their autumn campaign against the back-to-back world champions this weekend without 13 of their original squad.

With the match outside the Test window, all of Wales’ players based elsewhere have had to return to their clubs – meaning a much-changed team will take on South Africa on Saturday.

“For me, the Welsh nation itself is a very proud rugby nation,” Brits told CoinPoker.com. “I know many Welsh players, and I think they have been going through a very tough patch for a long time.

“I do not understand playing outside of the window. I guess there are financial implications that play a part in making it make sense.

“But for me, international rugby should mostly be your top 30 against the other top 30 in the world. If you don’t have a lot of those players to pick from, the product isn’t good enough. And it is no good if the product isn’t good enough.

“It just doesn’t make sense. I guess there are purely financial implications involved in this decision.”

The former Saracens hooker also added that he believed the match will be rarely close to begin with. However, the Springboks’ power will tell in the end.

“If I’m being conservative, I think it will be a tight match until 50 or 60 minutes,” he said.

“Nowadays, you can fight until 50 or 60. But if the opposition scores two quick tries, it feels like you’re chasing the rabbit around. Then you are trying to play from deeper, you try to chase the game, and you make another error. Before you know it, you’re 20 or 30 points down.

“Your strategy changes as soon as you are two tries – or 14 points – behind. You can’t play conservatively then. You stop thinking about keeping the game tight; you want to go and win it.

“We call it ‘compounded pressure’. With any team, when you are more than one score behind against Tier One nations, you have to try harder and take more risks, which often leads to further punishment.”

RFU report small loss after generating second-highest revenue in its history

By PA

The Rugby Football Union has reported a small net loss of £1.9million for the 2024-25 financial year after generating the second-highest revenue in its history.

The figure represents a significant improvement on the £42m loss returned for 2023-24, a World Cup year that impacts on the RFU’s capacity to generate funds through the autumn internationals at Allianz Stadium.

The total revenue of £228m is up from £175m in 2023-24 and is second only to the amount generated in 2015-16, which encompassed the home World Cup in 2015.

Investment in rugby for 2024-25 stands at £93.9m and the underlying profit is £8m.

“This year marks an improvement in financial performance and we remain on track to significantly reduce losses across this cycle compared with the last,” RFU chief financial officer Francesca Pierce said.

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