Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, February 4, the day the 2023 Guinness Six Nations kicks off.
Coaches convinced Gatland to tweak Wales team
Warren Gatland has revealed he made a number of changes to his Wales matchday 23 due to differences in opinion with his coaches.
Attack coach Alex King and defence boss Mike Forshaw have come on board as Gatland's assistants, with forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys and kicking guru Neil Jenkins retaining their positions from the previous set-up. The coaching team assembled on Monday night to pick the team to face Ireland in Saturday's Six Nations opener.
"The five of us sat down and I asked each of them to pick their 23," Gatland told The Telegraph. "Then I put my 23 up and we had a really good debate and I probably changed two or three players because of differences in opinion.
"Sometimes I would have a bit more influence, but I think it was important, particularly given that this is the first game together that the coaches feel that their opinions from what they see are important. Even though it is portrayed as 'Gatland's team', I promise you that they get a big say too. Obviously, I get the final say but I have always taken a consultative approach."
Jamie backs Wales to win by one
Jamie Roberts is backing Wales to get one over on Ireland in the tournament opener, believing they have enough quality to get the job done in Cardiff.
The former Wales and Lions centre told Six Nations Sin Bin: "I'm going to back the lads, I think they've got quality to catch Ireland cold in that first game, I really, really do. I think Warren will install that belief. Wales by one."
England and Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care wasn't so optimistic for the Welsh, saying: "It's going to be tight. I just think Ireland might nick it by a couple of points. I'm going 23-20."
Former Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy told the BBC show: "It would be remiss not to back Ireland. The one caveat I would put with this is I believe Wales will be much more competitive than people are really giving them credit for. I think there's probably nine to 12 points in it in favour of Ireland."
North urges Wales to go 'toe to toe' with Ireland
George North says Wales must go "toe to toe" with Ireland in their quest for victory over the world's top team on Saturday. An intriguing Guinness Six Nations opener sees Wales, with Warren Gatland back as head coach, targeting an immediate statement against the tournament favourites.
Gatland will send out a team containing more than 900 caps, including three Test centurions in North, Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones, for what could be a Principality Stadium blockbuster. Ireland have lost their last four Six Nations games in Cardiff, but they arrive as the men's world-ranked number one side following sustained success during the past 12 months. Their results in 2022 featured two away victories over New Zealand, plus home wins against South Africa and Australia.
Wales, in contrast, lost at home to Italy and Georgia, which underpinned Wayne Pivac's departure and saw Gatland reappointed three years after a lengthy first stint at the helm that delivered four Six Nations titles, three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-final appearances.
"The cliché is obvious, but they (Ireland) are a team on form, they are playing with confidence," North said. "It shows the confidence they have with selection, the players they have gone with. I think our main thing is we have to match them toe to toe. If you allow Ireland any momentum or front-foot ball, it is a long day in the office, really."
Gatland handed North his Test debut as an 18-year-old in 2010, and the Wales centre has relished being reunited with a coach whose quality is unquestioned.
"I think we all know 'Gats' well enough now that he will be pretty straight with what he wants and how he goes about it," North added. "Again, his big thing is just preparing mentally and physically for a Test match. We know what the task is on Saturday. They (training sessions) are brutal. Essentially, they are just like mini games every day.
"'Gats' never apologises for working us hard - never has, never will. The more we can have the exposure to that Test-match level, day in, day out, for the weeks leading into the Test match, that puts us in the best position for a number of reasons. You see the speed of ball, you see, obviously, the physicality, and it puts the skills on both sides of the ball - be it attack or defence - under pressure. Obviously, it was a fair few moons ago that I first met 'Gats', but for myself and the rest of the squad it has been a real step forward in terms of positivity, regarding last week's preparation, and this week as well."
Saturday's game, meanwhile, takes place against a backdrop of the Welsh Rugby Union being rocked by allegations of sexism and misogyny within the organisation. WRU chair Ieuan Evans and acting chief executive Nigel Walker appeared before the Senedd's Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee on Thursday, while an external taskforce has been asked to carry out an independent review.
North said: "Obviously, some really important issues have been raised. There has been enough said, but obviously we will have to leave that to Ieuan and Nigel and the taskforce to deal with and address so that we don't have anything else like this happen again in the Welsh Rugby Union. There is a lot going on, and the points and issues raised are really important to us as players and as a union. From the players' point of view, now we can only go out and really focus on Saturday. Number one team in the world coming to our backyard, and we have got to be ready for it."
Andy Farrell happy with 'top-drawer' Ireland prep
Andy Farrell says Ireland's preparation for a shot at Guinness Six Nations glory is the best he has ever seen as his side bid to begin the championship with a bang. The Irish launch their campaign against Wales on Saturday afternoon sitting atop the world rankings and with the pressure of being marginal title favourites ahead of Grand Slam holders France.
With plenty of expectation on his players and a World Cup on the horizon, head coach Farrell believes solid foundations have been laid. Yet the Englishman insists he is not looking beyond Warren Gatland's men and a tricky Cardiff opener at the start of a monumental year.
"We judge ourselves on our preparation and our preparation has been top-drawer," he said. "It's been as good as I've seen it in regards to getting ready for any type of competition. Hopefully that continues and it can translate into a performance. It doesn't really get any tougher than Wales first up."
Asked what message he had given his players going into 2023, he replied: "Honestly? Just Wales. Just Wales. It's a tough old game, you know? We'd love to start this tournament off with a bang but we know how difficult that is. We've full concentration on this game."
Ireland won nine of 11 fixtures in 2022, including clinching a Triple Crown, registering a historic series success in New Zealand and toppling world champions South Africa. Farrell's maiden team selection this year contained few surprises, with the injury absence of star prop Tadhg Furlong the main headline and resulting in a rare start for Finlay Bealham.
Borthwick wants England fans to get behind team
Steve Borthwick has urged England fans to throw their weight behind his quest to transform the team's fortunes as he targets a successful start to the Guinness Six Nations. Just two months after England were booed off the pitch at Twickenham in reaction to their collapse before South Africa, Borthwick will take charge for the first time in Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland.
The discontent so clearly in the air at the conclusion of Eddie Jones' last match in charge contributed to the Australian's sacking, but the Six Nations offers a fresh start that Borthwick is determined to grab.
"The message I give to the supporters will be a pretty simple one in the sense that, in every single study I ever read, the impact of home support is worth more than any one player," Borthwick said. "So I ask them to be behind this team. This is the first step of the team. It's the first step right now, in this next chapter of the England team. This is a group of players that care so much about the England rugby team. I know I do, so I ask them to get behind this team and lift this team, as they always do.
"There will be mistakes on Saturday but I want the players fighting, the players getting to the next battle, the players bringing all the strengths they have into the England shirt. And I think that the players will show that fight and that determination. We want to make the supporters proud and want the players to be proud of the team. And we want that to start on Saturday."
Scotland have taken a stranglehold on the Calcutta Cup since 2017, winning three of the five meetings and drawing another.
"I know there's a lot of England supporters who will be disappointed by that. I can't rewrite history, neither can the players. All we can do is influence what is going to happen in the future," Borthwick said. "We know Scotland are a top-quality side but there are real good quality players in our team as well.
"I'm sure Scotland are going to come to Twickenham confident. Previously they have kicked the ball and tried to play a very specific type of game plan against England. What will they bring this weekend? I don't know. I'm going to concentrate on what we're going to bring. We have good players ready to go this weekend."
Jamie Ritchie targets Scotland consistency to challenge in Six Nations
Jamie Ritchie insists Scotland are searching for the elusive consistency that has prevented them from challenging for the Guinness Six Nations title in recent seasons. Gregor Townsend's men opened the 2021 and 2022 tournaments with important wins against England, sparking a wave of optimism over their chances of lifting the crown for the first time since 1999.
Two years ago they also toppled France in Paris, proving their finest moments were not saved for the Auld Enemy alone, but they have been repeatedly thwarted when attempting to string big wins together. It is a shortcoming that stalks their entry into the 2023 Six Nations and Ritchie, who leads the side in the Championship for the first time against England on Saturday, knows what is required.
"A good Six Nations for us would look like five strong performances," the Edinburgh blindside flanker said. "If we get that right then there's no reason why we can't beat any team in this competition. It's about doing it week after week, and game after game. It's about concentrating on England first and whatever comes out of that, it will be Wales the following week where we'll be looking to have another strong performance."
Calcutta Cup clashes have generally fallen in Scotland's favour since 2017 and two years ago they finally ended a staggering winless run at Twickenham that dated back to 1983. Ritchie offers a simple explanation for their supremacy in the fixture as he prepares to face an England team now under the guidance of Steve Borthwick after Eddie Jones was sacked in December.
"Good performances. In the game last year we played really well, defended really well," he said. "The year before as well. We were really comfortable and we negated what they were trying to do. We're confident that we can have a strong performance this time round. We don't really know what to expect from England, which is quite nice because it's allowed us to focus on ourselves. England are a physical team and I'm sure it will be a good game."
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