These are your evening rugby headlines on Monday, February 23.
Gatland spotted as future takes twist
Former Wales head coach Warren Gatland has been spotted in the stands at an international match after reportedly turning down a return to English rugby.
Last week, the New Zealander emerged as a shock contender to take over as the new director of rugby at Gallagher PREM side Harlequins, in what would have been his first move back into club rugby since leaving the Chiefs in 2022 to become Wales boss for the second time.
However, while reportedly admitting he had been approached by the English side, RugbyPass reports that Gatland and Quins were unable to reach an agreement, with the former Wasps boss said to not be keen on taking on the bulk of the coaching work.
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But while it looks as though he won’t be returning to club rugby just yet, the 62-year-old has fuelled speculation that he might be set to come back to the international game after being spotted watching Portugal and Romania do battle in the Rugby Europe Championship on Sunday evening.
Gatland was in attendance at the Estadio Nacional Jamor as Portugal powered to a 44-7 win, setting tongues wagging that he could be eyeing a role with the Lobos – or perhaps even the struggling Romanians – ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
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The official reason for the veteran coach’s presence at the game has not been confirmed, but he has openly admitted since leaving his position with Wales last February that he is “not done with coaching” and would be interested in working with a World Cup team.
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During a live Q&A with the Telegraph shortly after his departure from the Welsh head coach job, Gatland said: “No, I am not done with coaching and not sure what my next step will be.
“I don’t know what will be next but I have never had a plan in looking too far forward. What will be will be and something will come along. I have already been contacted by a number of people about possible options so I will maybe look at something after the summer.
“One thing that would potentially interest me is working with a team going into the next World Cup,” he added. “I have been proud of what we have done in Wales and I think the experience I have had could be valuable to a team even if in a consultancy role.”
After leaving Wales, Gatland took up an advisory role with Uruguayan club side Penarol and has lately seen his name linked with vacant international jobs including head coach positions with Georgia and the All Blacks.
Ireland star doubt for Wales clash
Irish wing James Lowe is a big doubt for his side’s Six Nations clash against Wales next month after sustaining a groin injury during their win over England on Saturday.
The 33-year-old was forced off in the first-half of Ireland’s 42-21 thumping of Steve Borthwick’s side at Twickenham, with the IRFU issuing an injury update on Monday afternoon.
In a statement, the union said Lowe will “continue to be monitored by the medical team” before his side take on Wales on March 6.
However, there are doubts that he will return in time to face Steve Tandy’s men, with reports in Ireland suggesting his Six Nations is likely over.
The injury update added that back rower Jack Conan will return to training this week after missing out on the win over England through illness, while eleven players have been released from Andy Farrell’s squad to play for their provinces in the URC this weekend.
Nathan Doak, Cormac Izuchukwu, Jude Postlethwaite, Tom Stewart and Bryn Ward have returned to Ulster as they face Ospreys, while Harry Byrne and Cian Prendergast have joined back up with their Leinster teammates ahead of their trip to Cardiff on Friday night.
Darragh Murray has also returned to Connacht as they prepare to host Glasgow Warriors, while Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell and Michael Milne have all been made available for Munster’s clash with Zebre on Saturday.
The rest of the Ireland squad will reconvene on Wednesday for a two-day camp and train against the Irish U20s side at an opening training session at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday morning.
England won’t pull punches in Six Nations investigation
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent
George Ford insisted England would not pull any punches when they investigated why their Guinness Six Nations title hunt was over after just three rounds.
Ireland stormed to a record 42-21 victory at Allianz Stadium a week after the Calcutta Cup was seized by Scotland in another crushing defeat against opponents positioned lower in the world rankings.
A staggering 24 turnovers was the headline statistic underscoring England’s across-the-board malfunction on Saturday and Ford admitted they must get to the bottom of what happened before the final phase of the tournament against Italy and France.
“You’ve got two options – you either beat around the bush a little bit and avoid things or you get to be properly honest and pick it to pieces,” the Sale fly-half said.
“We’re going to be part of some uncomfortable meetings and some uncomfortable reviews, which will be a positive in the end because we actually want to address things and get to the root of some of the problems and come up with some solutions.
“So when you have a couple of results like this, we will take it head on and make sure that we actually get to some proper solutions that we can grow from.”
Few players emerged from the wreckage at Twickenham with their reputations intact and Ford was not among them after two penalties failed to find touch early in the match when England were still in contention.
Within half-an-hour, Ireland were 22-0 ahead and the rudderless hosts looked broken, making crucial errors. Ford then drew sarcastic cheers from fans when he did eventually boot the ball into the stands.
“There were a couple to touch, the first one I tried to be aggressive and go for it and I got that one wrong,” Ford said. “I actually thought for the second one that I punched it into the five-metre line and obviously they thought it went the other side of the flag.
“Look, it happens. It’s not good, it’s not acceptable to do that, but stuff like that happens in sport, in games and it’s not for a lack of intent or endeavour.”
On successive weekends England have been blown away in the first half, placing an urgency on finding out why they are starting so slowly.
“We’ve got to get to the bottom of it. It’s clearly not good enough. In the first 15-20 minutes in a Test match you want to at least give yourselves a foothold in the game,” Ford said. “Usually the emotions settle down after that period of time, but when we have conceded it has been seven, 14, 17 and then 22. It’s too much for us to get back.
“It’s obviously not good enough – the last two results and performances – and we’re going to front that up. What we’re going to do going forward isn’t going to be due to a lack of endeavour to get better and fix it. Hopefully propel ourselves on again.”
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