Here are your rugby evening headlines for Monday, 21 February.
Welsh derbies rearranged
The three Welsh derbies that were postponed over the Christmas and New Year period have been rescheduled.
Those URC fixtures involving the four professional sides will take place between April and May.
The Dragons will take part in all three games, starting with a trip to Llanelli to take on the Scarlets on Saturday, 16 April.
They then travel to face Ospreys in Swansea on 8 May before hosting Cardiff five days later.
Dragons' match against Cardiff could be rescheduled if Dai Young's side reach the Challenge Cup semi-finals which are scheduled for that weekend - although there's no indication of when a rescheduled game would be pencilled in.
Saturday, 16 April
Scarlets v Dragons, 19:35 BST, Parc y Scarlets.
Sunday, 8 May
Ospreys v Dragons, 15:00 BST, Swansea.com Stadium.
Friday, 13 May
Dragons v Cardiff, 19:35 BST, Rodney Parade.
Coach slams officials for 'favouritism'
Newcastle Falcons boss Dean Richards has slammed officials after his side lost 15-14 to Exeter thanks to a late Joe Simmonds penalty.
Captain Callum Chick was sent off for a high tackle in the first half, making things difficult for the hosts.
Richards was upset with that particular decision and a number of others as he accused the officials of 'favouritism'.
"We didn't get the rub of the green from the officials. Some of the boys are in the changing rooms saying some of the decisions are questionable, some of them are little bit more vocal than that," he told BT Sport after the match.
"Adam Brocklebank gets penalised at a scrum when their tight-head goes to the floor quite clearly. You just think 'what the hell is going on here?'
"There's obviously a bit of favouritism in some way shape or form or they don't know what they're doing.
"It's really disappointing."
James Lowe added to Irish squad
Leinster winger James Lowe has been added to the Irish squad after a stunning return on the weekend.
Lowe missed the games against Wales and France due to injury, but came off the bench to score a brilliant try for Leinster in their 29-7 URC victory over the Ospreys at the RDS on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Leinster team-mate Jimmy O'Brien has also been rewarded for his recent good performances with a call-up.
The 14 players who were released to play with their provinces over the weekend return to the Ireland squad.
Scotland call up six to Six Nations squad as injuries pile up
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has been forced into a reshuffle of his squad as the injury list grows longer.
After Jamie Ritchie was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury against England, Cam Redpath, Scott Cummings, Rory Sutherland and Jonny Gray have all returned to their clubs to deal with injuries.
Second-rows Gray and Gilchrist have been ruled out of the France match with ankle and knee injuries respectively, while cetnre Redpath also misses out.
All three will continue to be assessed in the coming weeks ahead of the remaining two games against Italy and Ireland.
Sutherland sustained a rib injury in the loss over Wales and is undergoing rehab.
Scarlets prop Javan Sebastian will also stay in west Wales, with Glasgow Warriors tighthead prop Simon Berghan replacing him as one of six call-ups to Townsend ahead of the clash with France.
Prop Oli Kebble, uncapped pair Ollie Smith and Kiran McDonald, second-row Marshall Sykes, centre James Lang and back-row Josh Bayliss are the other players to join up with the squad.
Townsend said: “While it is disappointing to lose players to injury ahead of the France match, this is a great opportunity for the new players to impress and force their way into our match-day squad.
“The attritional nature of the Guinness Six Nations means there are often changes made to the squad throughout the championship and it is a challenge we are much better equipped to deal with given our current squad depth.”
“We wish those that have missed out through injury all the best in their rehabilitation, and we will continue to monitor their progress ahead of the final two games of the championship.”
Italian suffer injury blows ahead of Ireland clash
Italy are facing a growing injury list as they aim to end a seven-year wait for a Six Nations victory.
A clash with Ireland in Dublin hardly seems the likeliest place for that elusive victory to come after 34 consecutive defeats, but matters are made harder with Kieran Crowley suffering more injury blows within his squad.
Benetton wing Ratuva Tavuyara and uncapped Grenoble fullback Ange Capuozzo have not returned to camp this week after picking up injuries while playing for their clubs over the weekend.
While neither has featured in the tournament yet, they leave Crowley’s short of back three options having already lost 19-year-old wing Tommaso Menoncello to injury.
Italy are also without a big group of forwards – Sebastian Negri, Marco Fuser, Jake Polledri, Marco Riccioni, Riccardo Favretto, Simone Ferrari and Johan Meyer just some of the names missing – as well as experienced centre Luca Morisi for the clash with Ireland.
Crowley has invited three uncapped backs – Filippo Di Marco, Alessandro Forcucci, and Ludovico Vaccari – from Italian club side Fiamme Oro Rugby to train with his squad this week.
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