Here are the rugby morning headlines on Wednesday, February 2.
Wales say no to dressing room TV request
Wales and England have declined requests for TV cameras to be stationed inside their dressing rooms for this weekend's Six Nations matches, according to the Telegraph.
Six Nations bosses are said to want the innovation to broaden the appeal of the sport and take viewers right inside the inner sanctum for this year's tournament.
The plan would give a never-before-seen look at what happens with the Wales players before, after and at half-time of matches.
However, the paper reports that "Eddie Jones’s side and defending Six Nations champions Wales are the only two sides to have declined the option".
It appears we will see footage from inside the Ireland dressing room for Saturday's opener with Wayne Pivac's Wales.
Similarly, the Telegraph say Scotland have opened their dressing room doors for the Calcutta Cup clash with England which follows immediately after the Wales game.
The France versus Italy match on Sunday afternoon is also likely to have TV cameras stationed inside the two dressing rooms, providing a close-up of exactly what Antoine Dupont and his team are getting up to.
"It is a good innovation,” Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel is reported as saying in the Telegraph. "Giving greater viewing experience is definitely at the centre of what we want to do."
It is understood TV companies have been lobbying for two decades to get access into the dressing room. The footage will be controlled as part of a world feed laid down by the Six Nations.
A broadcast source is quoted as saying in the paper: "You want the shot of a coach kicking something because that will cut through 100 times more than the players just stood there in a huddle, not doing very much."
Read more: Ireland and Wales can't change kit despite World Rugby's colour-blind stance
Double blow for injury-hit England
England's troubled build-up to the Six Nations has deteriorated further after forwards Courtney Lawes and Jonny Hill were ruled out of Saturday's opener against Scotland.
Lawes has failed to pass the return-to-play protocols for concussion in time for the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield, while Hill is still struggling with a stress fracture to his lower leg.
Losing Lawes is a bitter blow for England as the Northampton flanker was set to deputise as captain for Owen Farrell, who will miss the entire Championship because of ankle surgery.
The 32-year-old Lawes had produced the best rugby of his career over the previous six months and was viewed as a popular replacement for Farrell as skipper during a successful autumn. A youthful team which is in transition can hardly afford to lose his 93 caps of experience for a tricky fixture in Edinburgh.
In the absence of Lawes and Farrell, boss Eddie Jones will need to find a new skipper for the tournament kick-off.
A stress fracture has prevented Hill from playing since Exeter faced Harlequins on January 8 but England were insistent as recently as Tuesday afternoon that he and Lawes were still in contention - despite their failure to train since first arriving into camp eight days earlier.
Jones has retained 16 forwards in a squad of 29 and he names his team on Thursday morning
Joe Marler, who tested positive for Covid a week ago, is in contention to play and took part in Tuesday's full training session.
Josh Adams full of praise for 'raw' talent Louis Rees-Zammit
Josh Adams has lavished praise on fellow Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit as the Gloucester try machine revs up for his second Six Nations campaign.
Rees-Zammit, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Wednesday, announced an impressive Six Nations arrival with four tries during last season's title-winning campaign.
Only Scotland wing Duhan Van Der Merwe scored more, and Rees-Zammit linked back up with Wales this week after posting a spectacular 80-metre solo touchdown during Gloucester's Gallagher Premiership victory over Newcastle last Saturday. It was his 19th try in just 32 Gloucester appearances, while he has six from 12 games on the international stage.
"Wow, that was a hell of a finish on the weekend, fair play, and that just sums him up," Adams said.
"One absolute moment of magic and he can carve you up like that.
"His raw credentials of speed, power and finishing ability, I have not seen anybody as good. He has been terrific ever since he has come in.
"It was a learning curve in his first campaign, but he has worked hard and that is very noticeable now with the way he plays. He is very good both sides of the ball, and he is a massive weapon for us."
Duchess of Cambridge takes over from Prince Harry as patron of RFU
The Duchess of Cambridge has taken over the Duke of Sussex's former roles as patron of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Rugby Football League (RFL).
Kate was given the royal patronages by The Queen, and Kensington Palace said the high-profile sporting appointments "closely align with Her Royal Highness' long-standing passion for sport and the lifelong benefits it can provide".
It makes the duchess the first member of the royal family to officially receive one of the Sussexes' past patronages.
The confirmation comes ahead of the start of the Guinness Six Nations tournament this weekend and will see Kate's new affiliations put her in direct competition with the Duke of Cambridge, who is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said: "We know the support of the duchess will be greatly valued from our grassroots clubs and fast-growing women and girls' game, right up to our elite men's and women's England teams."
Chief executive of the RFL Ralph Rimmer said: "We look forward to working with the duchess in the years to come and I know all levels of our sport will welcome her to the rugby league family."
Ireland back-rower in 'better place' after concussion as he warns against complacency
Ireland star Caelan Doris feels in a "way better place" than last year when concussion symptoms caused him to sit out the entire 2021 Guinness Six Nations.
The Leinster back-rower has undergone specialist cognitive testing after suffering problems with his concentration, speech and short-term memory.
Having made his club comeback in mid-April, he returned to Ireland duty last summer before being named his country's player of the autumn, which included a man-of-the-match display in the gripping win over New Zealand.
Doris - who is almost certain to start Saturday's Six Nations opener against Wales - is eager to make up for lost time as he continues to manage the issue.
"I'm in a way better place than this time last year, much more comfortable with it all," he said.
"I've had a pretty clean season so far this year and hopefully it will continue, touch wood.
"The testing definitely helps with that, gives me peace of mind. It's still sometimes there but it's much less than it was last year. From having missed the Six Nations last year, I'm pretty excited to hopefully be a part of it this year and get stuck in this weekend."
Doris' Test career began in concerning fashion when he sustained a concussion just four minutes into his debut - the 2020 Six Nations opener against Scotland. He was tipped to shine in last year's championship before standing down due to suffering further symptoms in an Ireland training match against Ulster.
Following a welcome return to the international set-up for wins over Japan and the United States last July, the 23-year-old underlined his growing importance to head coach Andy Farrell with a trio of standout performances in November.
Reigning Six Nations champions Wales travel to Dublin with a string of injury issues and Doris is optimistic of helping his country extend their eight-match winning run.
"We're happy with how November went and with how we're evolving," he said.
"So far this week has been very much on ourselves, on getting our own stuff in order obviously having been back with our clubs for the last couple of months.
"All being on the same page for the last few days has been important, so we're confident, we've trained well the last few days, but of course we can't let any complacency slip in and we know that Wales are a very good team.
"They had a pretty successful November as well and have been dangerous over the last few years.
"It's incredibly competitive - (the) Six Nations always is - but you can say arguably this year even more so.
"We know that there is still a lot more in us. Looking back at some of the games, we played well, but there are so many opportunities to get better and so many areas for growth."
Scotland ready to down England again
Jamie Ritchie has called on Scotland to kick off their Six Nations campaign in perfect fashion by defeating England at Murrayfield.
The Scots have high hopes of making a real impact at this year's tournament but the Edinburgh back-rower knows any thoughts of picking up silverware at the end of it will count for little if they fall flat in this weekend's eagerly-awaited Calcutta Cup showdown.
"Primarily, we need a fast start," Ritchie said. "We can't look any further than that first game against England, and I know that's a cliché, but it really is the truth. That puts us on the front foot for the whole tournament if we get a good result on Saturday, so for us it's about starting well."
Ritchie played in last year's 11-6 victory over England at Twickenham but he acknowledges much has changed since that match.
"I'm really excited," he said. "It's always a good game to get off the mark with. Looking back, last year was a massive result for us but we want to back it up this year.
"I think it can help with our mindset knowing that we beat them last year but they're probably a little bit different and we're a little bit different.
"For a Scottish player, there is no bigger stage than a full Murrayfield against England. It's a dream come true and we want to do that credit. For us, it's about putting our best game out there."
The Scots go into the tournament buoyed by victories over world heavyweights England, France and Australia within the past year.
"We've got a lot of belief in ourselves," Ritchie added. "We know how hard we work, we know what we do during the week, we know how good the players are in our group so, yeah, there is a lot of belief there."
Scotland follow the England clash with a trip to Cardiff to take on Wayne Pivac's Wales in round two of the Six Nations.
Hayward shocked by Wales dismissal
Byron Hayward has revealed he went through some pretty dark times after losing his job as Wales defence coach.
Hayward was removed from his role in November 2020 after five Wales defeats on the trot and says he couldn't watch last year’s Six Nations title triumph.
Some 14 months on, a lot of water has flown under the bridge and Hayward is back working for the WRU as Wales U20s men's head coach and is preparing for Friday night’s Six Nations opener against Ireland at Musgrave Park.
“It was a dark time for me, if I am honest,” Hayward said when reflecting upon being told he wasn't wanted any more by Pivac.
“It obviously happened very quickly out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it.
“You lose your job and all of a sudden you are in a lockdown as well and that certainly made things a whole lot worse.
“This time 12 months ago, I was just basically sat in my house looking at the walls every day.
“I didn’t watch any of the Six Nations. I didn’t want to have an opinion good or bad about how the Welsh team were doing."
Read the Hayward interview in full here.
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