Here are this morning's rugby headlines following Wales' narrow 23-19 defeat to England
Wales explain Francis decision
Wales have explained the decision to allow Tomas Francis and Owen Watkin to return to the field at Twickenham after a severe head collision in the first half.
Watkin was left bloodied and dazed, while Francis appeared to wobble on his feet, leaning against the posts after the incident. Both players left the field soon after, but returned having passed HIAs.
It surprised many, particularly with Francis having looked to be so troubled in the immediate aftermath.
Asked about what happened, Wayne Pivac said: “They go through some testing behind the scenes. They both passed the testing so they’re allowed to play on. They’ll go through more testing after and if they clear that, they’ll be allowed to train.”
Progressive Rugby, a new lobby group formed to ask for more to be done to protect the well-being of players, are among those to express surprise on social media at Francis' return.
Alix Popham, the Wales international suffering with early onset dementia as a result of rugby head injuries, has also expressed his concern.
Progressive Rugby is led by former Canadian international Jamie Cudmore, ex-England back-rower James Haskell, former Wales flanker Popham and senior medical figures from the game.
World Rugby rules state a player who shows signs of struggling to keep their balance after a head injury should be removed from the pitch immediately and not allowed to return. Francis initially stayed on the field before going for the HIA and then returning 10 minutes later.
Mike Brown says Cuthbert would get in England team
Former England international Mike Brown admits he has to "eat a bit of humble pie" after he claimed not one Wales player would get into the England team.
Brown's comment caused a stir ahead of the game at Twickenham, and there were a number of Welsh players who shone in a valiant comeback attempt.
Brown admitted he might have to have a bit of a rethink after being blown away by Alex Cuthbert and Taulupe Faletau in particular.
He wrote in his MailOnline column: "After my comments last week that no Welsh player would get in a combined England and Wales side, I must admit I was feeling pretty smug when Alex Dombrandt’s try made it 17-0.
"Then, as Wales mounted a late comeback, I got pretty nervous. I was panicking a bit at the end! I thought it was going to be a rerun of the 2015 World Cup game all over again!
"I got plenty of stick from Welsh fans on social media for what they saw as an attack on their players, but I’ve got to give credit where it’s due to some of their squad now.
"Taulupe Faletau put in an unbelievable shift. For him to play like that after so long out injured was remarkable. He played like the Faletau I remember facing when he was at his peak.
"Alex Cuthbert also looked back to his best. He’s had a lot of flak from Welsh fans and spent a long time away from Test rugby, but his performance at Twickenham was superb.
"For him to make 176 metres from 14 carries is unbelievable. I also thought Tomos Williams – who I’m a big fan of – came into the game late on with the speed of his play.
"Cuthbert would definitely make my combined team from the sides which played yesterday and the other two would come close. I’m happy to eat humble pie on that!"
Genge claims England on top
England prop Ellis Genge believes the English scrum wasn't troubled by Wales in Saturday's 23-19 win.
The first half was dominated by a series of messy scrum resets, with both front rows exchanging verbals and blaming the other for the issues.
Wales were actually awarded a number of free-kicks as England complained about Tomas Francis, but Genge felt comfortable.
"I didn't say much, to be honest," he said.
"I think it was on the other side. Sincks and Wyn Jones obviously know each other quite well, so I think they were talking a little bit.
"Dickie and Elias were talking about the brake foot and Wales stepping off a little bit, and that's why we were going through the marker and giving free kicks away, but I was just trying to focus on getting my stuff right.
"I don't think they troubled us too much.
"The scrums that stayed up, we got penalties, we went forward.
"The ones that went flat, it's 50/50 and they got the decisions."
Biggar disappointed
Wales skipper Dan Biggar was left deflated with Wales' first-half performance against England.
The fly-half was proud of the way Wales fought back in the second half but insists they have to start matches better after finding themselves 17-0 down.
He said: “As proud as I am of the boys and as happy as I am with the finish, we are pretty disappointed with going 17-0 down,” said the fly-half.
“The breakdown was a killer for us. We gave away a lot of penalties. There were some soft decisions from us. We just couldn’t retain the ball
“Alex Cuthbert, in particular, was excellent in terms of making some breaks and metres, but we just couldn’t back that up with phase on phase and it allowed pressure to release on England and for them to have territory.
“When we kept hold of the ball, we caused England a lot of problems, but we didn’t do that for the first 25 minutes unfortunately.”
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