Here are the latest rugby headlines after a busy Six Nations opening day, on Saturday, February 5.
Pundits concerned for Wales
An array of former rugby internationals have expressed their concerns for Wales' Six Nations hopes after being brushed away by Ireland in Dublin.
Wayne Pivac's reigning champions went down 29-7 to the physical men in green and almost went the whole match without scoring a single point before their blushes were somewhat spared by a Taine Basham consolation try.
The defeat came less than 24 hours after Wales U20s were humiliated 53-5 by Ireland.
Jonathan 'Jiffy' Davies said he was "looking desperately for positive points but struggling. No go forward, no confidence to beat a man and cupboard looking bare with players coming through. Huge game next week."
Former Wales forward Ian Gough told BBC Radio Wales: "The physicality wasn't there for Wales, but Ireland's players ran such good lines and asked so many questions of Wales' back line - the Josh Adams experiment at centre didn't work today."
Ex-Wales centre Tom Shanklin admitted that Adams had had a tough day at centre, but there will be few new options next weekend against Scotland.
"Jonathan Davies and Willis Halaholo could come in, and Josh Adams has had a tough time at centre today, but there's not much else they can do because of all the injuries," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.
As for Wales' general performance, he added: "Wales were very disappointing. They looked sloppy in attack, never got going and were blown away in the first 20 minutes. They couldn't recover from that. Tactically, they got it wrong too. It played into Ireland's hands, they should have tried to play the ball wider but they couldn't get enough of the ball to do it."
Former Ireland winger Tommy Bowe told the same radio station: "We spoke before the game about Ireland being under pressure but it took less than three minutes for them to make their mark. It's hard to find a positive from Wales' point of view. They got a try, at least!"
Echoing his point, Wales international Richie Rees told BBC Radio Wales: "There will be a lot of self-reflection over the next couple of days but then you have to park it. There's not much they can take from that game. Everyone appreciates how many players they are missing but this is the team we've got, and they've got to make something from it."
Ex-Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton told BBC One's Six Nations coverage: "Last year Wales had the experienced players to rely on to steer them through the tricky times you get in Test matches, but those guys are not there this time because of injury and various things.
"I was always fearing. Wales haven't won in Dublin since 2012, it's a very tough place to go. Ireland have just put in a brilliant performance against New Zealand. I always thought Wales were going to struggle out there. They're a resilient bunch and they're always going to give themselves a chance but I think Ireland are showing their class and have started off this campaign brilliantly."
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Scotland stun England in thrilling opener
Scotland pulled off a thrillingly tight 20-17 win over England in their Six Nations opener in Edinburgh.
Consecutive Calcutta Cup wins for Gregor Townsend's men mean it is their first back-to-back victory in the fixture since 1983/84.
Debutant Ben White crossed for Scotland and Marcus Smith went over for Eddie Jones' men and also slotted four penalties.
A huge moment in the game came after 66 minutes to level the two sides at 17-17, when the hosts were awarded a penalty try after Luke Cowan-Dickie batted the ball out of play when beating Darcy Graham to a high ball. The Englishman was yellow carded for the incident.
Minutes later, Finn Russell's angled penalty squeezed through to give his team a three-point lead.
Biggar: 'We are better than that'
New Wales captain Dan Biggar is expecting a tough review process after his team's defeat to Ireland, and admitted they "didn't get much right".
"The big thing we wanted to focus on this week was physicality and we didn't get that right," he said. "Ireland dominated that and we couldn't get on the front foot. They played the conditions well and strangled us physically.
"Obviously missing the big players is an issue but we were missing the physicality and discipline. It's been a disappointing afternoon and we haven't got long to get it right.
"It was one of those from a tactical and player point of view, it was hard work. We are better than that today, really. We know we are better than that, and we have got to make sure we get a bit more edge to us in training this week. Not overthink things, because there is not a huge amount to fix. Physicality is a huge one, and discipline. I am really proud to lead the team out, but a disappointing afternoon, there is no doubt about that."
Pivac told a post-match press conference: "Collectively we talked about the start we wanted, we wanted to match them physically. You have to do that when you come to Dublin and our discipline needed to back that up. We weren't able to do that, it was evident with the penalty count in the first 20 minutes.
"When you are defending for long periods like that, there were 100 odd tackles made in the first half it makes it very difficult when we do get our hands on the ball. It was certainly a game we will go away and improve on very quickly."
Wales next face Scotland next Saturday at the Principality Stadium.
"It's a must-win next week if we have any hope of keeping hold of our title," Biggar added.
"Ireland had a big home advantage today but we can't wait to get back to Cardiff next week."
Stormers go top of URC table with win over Sharks
The Stormers climbed to the top of the United Rugby Championship's South African Shield with a 20-10 victory over the Sharks in Cape Town.
Sean Everitt's visitors held a two-point lead at the summit following last weekend's 22-22 draw between these sides in Durban, but it is the Stormers who now set the pace by the same margin.
Both sides struggled to take their chances in the first half, but Seabelo Senatla produced a piece of individual quality as half-time approached to send the Stormers in with a 7-3 lead at the interval.
Adre Smith powered over after the break, with Manie Libbok kicking 10 points for the hosts in total.
The below-par Sharks were restricted to three points from the boot of Tito Bonilla until Grant Williams touched down shortly after the hour and Boeta Chamberlain added the conversion.
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