Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, February 26.
'Wales back-three would thrive alongside Marcus Smith'
Former England captain Dylan Hartley believes Wales' back-three would be thriving if Marcus Smith was their No. 10.
Liam Williams starts his third match of this year's Six Nations at full-back at Twickenham, while Johnny McNicholl and Louis Rees-Zammit accompanied him in the back-three in Dublin in round one. Alex Cuthbert then came in for Scarlets man McNicholl against Scotland, and Josh Adams returns to the wing against England, seeing Rees-Zammit drop out of the matchday 23.
Wales' is the only backline not to have scored a try in this year's tournament so far.
In a joint interview with Wales rugby legend Sam Warburton for The Times, Hartley said: "I knew your [Wales] DNA but with Pivac, seeing what he did at Scarlets, it is not the same with Wales. Every team can play out the back but you need that punch — what Jamie Roberts could provide, what Manu [Tuilagi] would have brought to England before injury ruled him out. You have got to have that.
"Against Scotland, England played some of what I’d call 'captain’s run rugby'. They went through the phases, kept the ball, it looked good but they never really got through or around the Scots and converted that possession into points. If you put Wales’s back three into England’s team now, with the way Marcus Smith is playing, then they’d thrive."
Hamish Watson ruled out of Scotland v France
Scotland flanker Hamish Watson will miss Saturday's Six Nations match against France after returning a positive test for coronavirus.
Edinburgh back-row Nick Haining moves into the starting XV for the Murrayfield clash and will play on the blindside, with Rory Darge switching to openside flanker.
Saracens' Andy Christie comes into the matchday 23 and could make his Scotland debut from the bench.
Two members of the Scotland backroom team have also tested positive for Covid-19, and will isolate as per Scottish Government guidelines, a statement said on Friday night.
Dan Biggar's final pre-England speech
Dan Biggar has given an insight into how he will approach his final words to his team before Wales face England on Saturday.
The fly-half is captaining his country for the first time in this campaign, and is earning plaudits for the way he is dealing with officials in light of his previous tendency to protest a little too much.
What the public are not seeing, though, is how he is operating behind closed doors. Many a team-mate have discussed how the veteran holds everyone around him to lofty standards but he has now shared how he will deal with his final team-talk ahead of this crucial fixture.
“I’m not much for pre-planning what to say,” Biggar told the media. “I judge how the group is and what the feel in the group is.
“Sometimes very little needs to be said. Before the Scotland game there was very little needed to be said because I could just tell we were at a different level emotionally to what we were the previous week against Ireland.
“Sometimes on an emotional level, no matter what myself, Wayne or any of the senior lads say, it very much has to be down to an individual.
“I can’t make Nick Tompkins or Toby [Taulupe Faletau] be at an emotional level. I can talk through the game plan but the biggest thing I have found in this captaincy is that you have to cater for all - everyone is different.
“It will be very much a case of judging it on Saturday. I’d like to think on a pivotal weekend in the Six Nations against England at Twickenham there won’t be too much needed to be said on an emotional level to get us going.”
But Biggar did reveal that the right words at the right time can stay with a player as they head onto the field.
He used an example from Wales’ victory over Scotland, where the words of former prop and now defence coach Gethin Jenkins were ringing in his ears.
“Gethin Jenkins actually spoke really well at half time, and it was something I took onto the field,” said Biggar.
“It was about what sort of feeling we wanted in the dressing room when we came back in. Did we want to be enjoying a beer after really putting everything in and getting a result? “Or did we want to feel like we haven’t given it all and are really quite disappointed in how we have played and have let the country down a bit after the game?”
Wales U20s boss Byron 'can't ask for more'
Wales U20s coach Byron Hayward has praised his team's effort after they fell 43-14 to England on Friday after captain Alex Mann was red carded.
Without their skipper, it became too much of an ask for the visitors, who had started the game in really promising fashion, and they ended up leaking six tries. Read the match report here.
“It’s obviously taken its toll in the end," he said. "The scoreline doesn’t reflect the effort our boys put in. We were certainly very competitive until the red card came.
“I can’t really ask any more of the boys in terms of the effort they put in.
“It was just against England, who are a powerful side, it’s always going to take its toll in the last 10 or 15 minutes and that’s what happened.
“I am proud of the boys’ effort. It’s nothing like the Ireland defeat. The boys have gone right to the very, very end and given everything they’ve got. There are a lot of tired bodies in the changing room there. As a coach, you can’t ask any more than your players giving 100 per cent.”
Stuart Hogg braced for 'incredible' France
Stuart Hogg insists Scotland are ready to deliver a rousing performance in their "must-win" Guinness Six Nations showdown with France at BT Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Scots have won one of their two games so far and will have to topple the French if they are to maintain their hopes of landing a first championship triumph since 1999.
After a disappointing defeat in Wales last time out, captain Hogg is confident his team are ready to deliver in front of a capacity crowd in Edinburgh.
"For us, the only pressure is the pressure we put on ourselves," he said. "It's a must-win game and we want to go out there and express ourselves and show what we're about.
"Against Wales we didn't give a true reflection of ourselves but against France we're hoping to do exactly that. If we give a performance that we're proud of, the crowd will get up on the back of that, and that's exactly what we're after.
"We want to play good rugby and show what it means to represent Scotland. If we do that and get the fans on their feet, they're going to be very vocal about it."
France have won both their matches so far and are widely viewed as the strongest team in the competition.
"They're one of the best teams in world rugby at the moment," said Hogg. "The victories they've had over the last year or so have been incredible, they've got some quality individuals and they seem to be playing incredibly well as a team.
"It's a massive challenge but one we're prepared and ready for. We've played France numerous times before and we're excited about it."
The Scots have won their last two Six Nations matches against France and Les Bleus have not won at BT Murrayfield since 2014.
"The last two times we've beaten France, in one we relied heavily on our defence and the other we relied heavily on the way we attacked," said Hogg. "We'll need to be at our best on both sides of the ball. That's something we know we are capable of."
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