These are your rugby headlines on the morning of Wednesday, March 16.
Pivac denies 'cavalier' selection
Wayne Pivac has denied that the seven changes he has made to face Italy this weekend could be considered a "cavalier" selection.
The Italians haven't won a game in the Six Nations since 2015 and few would give them a chance of changing that run of defeats in Cardiff this weekend. However, with just one win under their belts in the tournament and a third-place finish - and the prize money that comes with it - to play for, some might question whether Pivac has made too many changes for the visit of Kieran Crowley's side. That's something Pivac disputes, though.
Read next: Win free tickets for Wales v Italy
"I don’t think it’s cavalier," he said after naming his team. You can read all about the selection here.
"I think it’s believing in your squad. We’re working with these boys every day of the week and some of the players who are coming in are exciting players. There have been some close calls in selection over the last couple of weeks. It’s about showing belief and faith in our squad and in a couple of cases, there have been injuries to deal with. We believe we can get a result and that’s certainly what we’re going to try to achieve on the weekend with the squad we’ve named.
"If you look at the bench, there is a lot of experience to come into the game. Italy’s record says one thing, but they’re in a transition phase with Kieran Crowley and I see signs of some good rugby players there who are improving. They had some very good spells against Scotland last weekend so we certainly won’t be going into the game thinking it’s going to be one-way traffic at all. We’ll respect Italy and go out there and focus on what we need to do well and make sure we’re disciplined to do it over the 80 minutes."
When asked if this was his best team, Pivac said: "It’s the team we want to select for this game and we’ve shown faith in the squad. It’s a show of faith in the squad we’ve selected."
Baldwin's blunt Alun Wyn take
Scott Baldwin says the fact Wales have won just once in this year's Six Nations is justification enough to bring Alun Wyn Jones back into the starting XV this weekend.
Pivac has named his team to face Italy on Saturday, with Jones performing yet another Lazarus-like recovery from serious injury. The head coach revealed last weekend that his skipper would join the Wales camp this week and since then debate has raged over whether the 36-year-old should be included from the off against the Italians.
Will Rowlands is the man who makes way, and although Baldwin admits the decision might seem unfair given the Dragons man's form, he laid out the reasoning with a blunt statement.
"It's never going to lessen your team when you bring Alun Wyn in," he said on BBC's Scrum V podcast. "I think Will Rowlands has had an outstanding Six Nations. But I think it's fitting for Al to get his 150th Welsh cap at home. I didn't even know he was fully fit! But Alun Wyn is made of titanium, I think."
Pressed over whether he thought it was fair, Baldwin added: "If you are looking at how well they've gone, then I suppose no, but ultimately we've only won one game. So performances no, outcomes yes. I spoke previously about how influential Alun Wyn can be, and I know Italy are a lesser team and it's probably one of those where probably people think you'd blood a youngster or keep giving Will the opportunity. But it's one of those, six of one and half a dozen of another."
Red card forces England to change
England have been practising their chop tackling to avoid any red cards in Paris this weekend.
Charlie Ewels was sent off after 82 seconds against Ireland on Saturday for a dangerous, upright tackle on James Ryan. The resulting red card has meant Eddie Jones' men have been focusing on their tackling technique in training this week to avoid the same fate.
“It is probably something that everyone needs to work on anyway, the height in tackle,” said No. 8 Sam Simmonds. “Against a huge French pack you don’t want to be going too high against them anyway. It is something we talked about this week. Our chop tackles need to be good and our second man needs to be good to wrap the ball up as well because they love to offload the ball, they are very good in unstructured play. That is probably where they get most of their momentum, offloads and unstructured and they are very good at that. That is something we have talked about this week, our tackle height and just chopping the big fellas down, making them get up and hopefully they tire towards the end of the game.”
Fagerson: We have a lot to deliver
Matt Fagerson vowed he and his Scotland team-mates would rally together and bid to deliver their potential in their final match of the Guinness Six Nations in Dublin.
Ireland are looking to pip France to the title when they host Scotland on Saturday but Gregor Townsend's men have a point to prove after struggling to build on the high of their opening victory over England.
Defeats against Wales and France were followed by a 33-22 win in Rome but Italy's late surge was a warning for Scotland ahead of their trip to the Aviva Stadium.
Fagerson said: "We are focusing on ourselves this week. We know it's going to be a huge challenge. They are playing for the championship and being at home, they will want to put their best foot forward. But focusing on ourselves, what we do well, really coming together tight as a group, will be pretty crucial for us. There is a feeling around the group that we still have a lot to deliver, so I think everyone coming together and being tight as a group will be crucial."
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