Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, January 9.
Guscott tells Gatland he needs new blood
England legend and pundit Jeremy Guscott says Warren Gatland has to find new blood in his forward pack to give Wales a chance of success.
Guscott questioned whether Alun Wyn Jones can continue to produce the goods by the time the World Cup comes around after his 38th birthday and believes Wales' problem in recent times has been the lack of power among their forwards.
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Writing in his column for The Rugby Paper, he said: "Gatland knows that any team that does not have forward power has got ground to make up and Wales fall into that category. Adam Beard is a big, rugged, workmanlike lock, and Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau should still have a couple of years left at international level.
"One of the big questions is whether Alun Wyn Jones can make it through to the 2023 World Cup. He showed he can still do it against Australia, but at 37 can he do it regularly enough?
"What Wales need urgently is a few young forwards to come through and give the team the momentum which makes space for the backs to utilise. A player like Christ Tshiunza might have the athleticism and size for international rugby, but Gatland has to blood young forwards sooner rather than later."
The likes of Tshiunza and Exeter team-mate Dafydd Jenkins are both firmly in the mix for Gatland's Six Nations squad, while Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan are two who have already broken through and made huge impressions over the past year.
Davies impresses ahead of Six Nations
Scarlets captain Jonathan Davies has been praised for his form and leadership a week before Warren Gatland decides whether to offer him a Six Nations recall. Davies has been largely out in the cold at international level over the past year, but the return of the coach who rated him so highly could yet be a decisive turning point in his bid to play at the World Cup.
Regional coach Dwayne Peel has been impressed with his "excellent" form and revealed he led the way in preparing the team for Saturday's derby win over Cardiff.
Peel said: “We are seeing confidence and momentum on the back of the hard work we have put in. I am pleased for players like Foxy who has played every game bar one and has been excellent for us, particularly in the last couple of weeks. We have now won four of the last five games going back into Europe, the Cheetahs is another massive game for us with us topping the pool.
“We are obviously delighted with the win, it was a big win for us. I think the team talk for this week was done by Ken and Jon on Tuesday when they spoke about backing up last week’s win against the Dragons. We knew the physical exchanges would be huge, especially at the breakdown, we started brightly and when we got on top with the ball we were creating problems."
Under-fire ref responds amid Owen Farrell tackle furore
Referee Karl Dickson has appeared to direct some of the blame on TMO Claire Hodnett for not reviewing Owen Farrell's high tackle on Jack Clement during Friday’s Gloucester v Saracens game, The Telegraph reports.
Play stopped while Farrell received treatment with less than four minutes left ahead of a Saracens lineout. At this point, Hodnett flagged to Dickson that she thought there had been foul play on Farrell's part. Dickson responded by asking if the incident was in “the same phase of play” as the passage which had just concluded, before adding: “If you’re not sure if it’s in the same phase of play, we can’t look at it.”
Hodnett replied that the tackle took place back on the Gloucester 22-metre line - play had stopped with Saracens defending a lineout 10 metres from their own line. Dickson again said that if Hodnett could not tell him if the incident occurred during the same phase of play, the game would have to play on.
Hodnett replied “I can’t tell you definitely” and the game continued. Farrell went on to nail the winning dropgoal with the last kick of the game, which Sarries won 19-16.
Now, Dickson has appeared to lay some of the blame at the TMO's door by liking a tweet from former England fly-half Andy Goode which said: "To be fair I think when Karl Dickson asked is it in the same phase of play he was inferring whether the game had restarted which if it had they couldn’t go back and check. The TMO then said she didn’t know which is where the error lies."
The England star could yet be cited, which would leave him sweating over a possible ban before the start of the Six Nations.
A "phase of play" is effectively between play starting and the next restart, with a limitless number of phases permitted to pass before incidents of foul play can no longer be reviewed.
Carter boost for Dragons and Wales
Lock Ben Carter has given the Dragons and potentially Wales a boost by recovering from an ankle injury earlier than expected. Carter was a major doubt for Wales' Six Nations opener against Ireland on February 4 but could even be ready to play as soon as Friday - days before Gatland names his squad.
"There is a new national coach [Warren Gatland] who I am sure is keen to watch Ben and he wants to get back as quickly as possible," said Dragons coach Flanagan.
Dragons travel to face Pau in France on Friday before hosting Lions in the European Challenge Cup nine days later.
"Ben will be touch and go for Friday, if it's not Pau then [he'll be back] the week after against the Lions," added Flanagan. "He is flying around at the moment, so hopefully it's sooner rather than later. He is important for us because he is a big man."
England suffer Tom Curry worry
Tom Curry faces a race against time to be fit for England's Six Nations opener against Scotland after suffering a hamstring strain in Sale's Gallagher Premiership victory over Harlequins. Curry left the field in the 16th minute after his right leg was hurt during a tackle by prop Wilco Louw and is now a doubt for the Scots' visit to Twickenham on February 4.
"Even if a hamstring injury is the lowest grade, they're generally two to three weeks," Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson said. "I've just spoken to Tom and said get your head on for the Six Nations but don't stop being a leader for us over the next two or three weeks. He'll get a scan. He's walking around and it's stiffened up now. It's not one of those where he limped off the field so fingers crossed he will be available against Scotland."
Sale tightened their grip on second place in the Premiership with a 24-16 bonus-point victory in driving rain.
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