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John Jones

Six Nations evening headlines as Wales coach hits out over Maro Itoje shove in catastrophic lineout

Here are the latest rugby headlines for Saturday, February 26.

Pivac hits out over lineout incident

Wales coach Wayne Pivac has claimed Adam Beard was unfairly shoved in the calamitous lineout that led to England's opening try at Twickenham.

Having trailed 12-0 at half-time, things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the opening minutes of the second half, as a lineout lineout just metres from their own try line went horribly wrong.

Hooker Ryan Elias' throw completely missed its target, and fell straight into the hands of Alex Dombrandt, who powered over the line to extend England's lead.

As the hosts celebrated, Wales were furious with referee Mike Adamson, who they believed missed a shove on Beard at the lineout by his opposing lock Maro Itoje.

When asked after the game whether he thought Beard was shoved, Pivac simply said: "Yes, he was."

The Wales coach added: "We’re disappointed with the try. Had we had an opportunity to review what happened at the lineout, I don’t think it would have been given."

"[Beard] was chased down the lineout and bumped, which you can't do but it wasn't picked up and the try stands.

"It's just unfortunate that it wasn't picked up. But looking at the replay we've seen, there was an offence there."

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Rees-Zammit in action for Gloucester after Wales omission

Wales absentee Louis Rees-Zammit was also in action this afternoon, as he played 50 minutes for club side Gloucester in their Premiership clash with Leicester at Welford Road.

The 21-year-old came off the bench after half an hour as a replacement for Mark Atkinson, who went off injured after a clash of heads.

However, the young winger's introduction was not enough to stop his side from falling to a 35-23 defeat, with the rampant Tigers now ____ points clear at the top of the Premiership Table.

Rees-Zammit missed out on selection for Wales' clash with England in a selection bombshell from Wayne Pivac, with Josh Adams replacing him in the starting line-up and Alex Cuthbert on the other wing.

Following the team announcement, Pivac admitted it was a "tough call" to drop Rees-Zammit, but pointed to Adams' and Cuthbert's work-rate off the ball as a deciding factor.

"Everybody wants to be selected and are working pretty hard," he said. "For us, with this particular match, looking at the opposition and the way we think the game will be played, I think the experience of the other two, work-rate off the ball and those sorts of things, are really going to come into play.

"It's a tough call on Louis but one that we think is the right call. He's no different to any other player. He's disappointed, obviously.

"He'll be frustrated but I think if you look back to the first Six Nations, he didn't get any game time, he went away, listened to what the coaches had passed on, worked hard and then had a very successful Six Nations last year. We expect him to go and work hard on his game and come back stronger than he is."

Exceptional France head to Cardiff with Grand Slam in sight

France continued their sensational Six Nations campaign in style as they cruised to a bonus-point victory in a thrilling game against Scotland at Murrayfield.

Fabien Galthie’s side will travel to Cardiff in a fortnight with their dreams of a first Grand Slam since 2010 very much alive, after adding to their wins over Italy and Ireland in the opening two rounds.

A magnificent start for France saw them score two tries in the opening 15 minutes, with Paul Willemse and Yoram Moefana both crossing for the visitors.

While Scotland hit back with a touchdown from Rory Darge, who impressed on his first start for his country, four more French tries took the game beyond all doubt before Duhan van der Merwe grabbed a late consolation score for the hosts.

Les Bleus , who take on Wales at the Principality Stadium on March 11, are now four points clear at the top of the Championship table.

'Bitterly disappointed' Hogg left ruing missed chances

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg said he was "bitterly disappointed" after his side were made to pay for missed opportunities in their 17-36 defeat to France.

While a hugely impressive French side put Scotland to the sword for most of the game, the hosts did not help themselves at times, and had a golden opportunity to take the lead moments before half time, as Duhan van der Merwe broke away to create a four on one overlap.

But as they bore down on the French try-line, Hogg was unable to hold on to a long, looping pass from Chris Harris, spilling it forward to the despair of his teammates and the Murrayfield crowd.

To rub salt in the wound, France then struck either side of half-time, with centres Gaël Fickou and Jonathan Danty both crossing, before Damian Penaud claimed a brace.

The Scottish fly half cut a dejected figure at full-time, as he told BBC One: "At times we played decent rugby, but we let ourselves down at vital times.

"Credit to France, they took their opportunities but did they have to work hard for the first three tries? Probably not, and we are bitterly disappointed with that.

"Myself, I let one go and we could have changed the momentum of the game and that is something I am devastated about.

"You have to be on the money for 80 minutes in Test match rugby. It is absolutely horrible for us."

Warburton: South Africa in Six Nations 'makes no sense'

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton has voiced his opposition to South Africa's rumoured inclusion in the Six Nations, saying the suggested move "makes no sense whatsoever".

Speaking on the BBC's coverage of Scotland v France, Warburton said the the Springboks did not belong in the competition, with fellow pundits Martin Johnson and John Barclay agreeing.

Earlier this month, tournament organisers were forced to deny reports they were preparing to welcome South Africa to the fold with suggestions made that the defending world champions would replace perennial strugglers Italy.

The proposed move has received widespread criticism across the rugby world, and Warburton led calls against the 'Boks inclusion, suggesting that the tournament has a responsibility to developing other European nations.

"I love South Africa and I loved playing against them but absolutely not [when it comes to] the Six Nations," he said. "I understand there is talk about aligning rugby teams on time zones as opposed to hemispheres, and I can understand that because South Africa is out on its own a little bit. It's in the same time zone as us and it's miles away from counterparts in Australia and New Zealand.

"But the Six Nations, for me, has a responsibility to develop European rugby. It's Europe, who is the best in Europe? It's the European championship. Adding South Africa into that makes no sense whatsoever.

"For me, we need to develop Europe," Warburton added. "That's bringing in promotion and relegation and it would take someone much smarter than me to figure out how it works.

"But whoever comes bottom of the Six Nations, we should never just drop them straight down because the standard coming up might not be good enough. There should be a play-off in the next available international window.

"Let's just say it was Italy and Georgia, if Georgia play Italy in Italy and win, then you know the standard coming up is better. We need to remove the glass ceiling and develop European rugby as a whole. That has got to be a priority."

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