These are your rugby headlines on Tuesday, December 20.
Biggar making waves already
Dan Biggar says he is settling into life in France well and he has enjoyed his first few weeks with Toulon.
The Wales captain played his second game for his new club at the weekend, a resounding 29-7 win over Bath in the Challenge Cup which saw him set up two tries and kick nine points.
A flying start for the fly-half, and once his language skills improve, he says things will become that much easier again.
"I feel good," he said. "These two matches were good for me. I try to communicate in French and give instructions in simple words for now. The more I train, the more I play and with the French lessons, it will be even easier.
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"I'm really enjoying these first few weeks here."
The win over Bath was Biggar's first appearance at Stade Mayol and the No.10 was grateful for the support of the home fans.
"It was my first here, there was a great atmosphere in the stadium, the supporters are incredible.," he added. "It's a real honor to be able to play in this arena and with this jersey. There was a lot of sun too, that's very good. I'm Welsh, I'm used to the rain!"
Borthwick: Focus is on 6N, not World Cup
New England coach Steve Borthwick has put talk of the World Cup to one side and insisted his full focus is on the upcoming Six Nations.
Borthwick was unveiled as Eddie Jones' successor on Monday after he left Gallagher Premiership champions Leicester to sign a five-year deal with the Rugby Football Union.
The 43-year-old has little time to settle into his new role with 47 days until their Six Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham but will not use that tournament to experiment ahead of the World Cup in September.
While Jones placed heavy focus on the World Cup and felt the ire of supporters over England's faltering displays in the 2022 Six Nations and Autumn Nations Series, his replacement was adamant every game matters in music to the ears of his new employers.
He said: "Every single game you play for England matters. The one that's in my mind is at the start of that Six Nations. We will be using every minute we have to prepare this team as well as we can for the first game of that Six Nations in 47 days' time.
"Then when we've played that game, we'll focus on the next one, then the one after that and the one after that. We want to just keep getting better.
"We know the World Cup is not far away, but the focus is on the start of the Six Nations."
A terrible autumn - after a poor Six Nations - saw Jones sacked following England's worst year since 2008, with only five victories masterminded during the past 12 months by the Australian.
Borthwick admitted to knowing his new crop of players are hurting but is confident they can get back on track with significance placed on improving their set-piece.
"To win Tier One Tests, you've got to have a quality set-piece and that's certainly on the priority list," he said. "If you look at the Autumn Series, I don't think England are ranked in the top three in any one particular facet of the game, so there are plenty of things to work on and get right.
"When I was a player, when the team was coached by Clive Woodward, in every single meeting there were posters on the wall - I was 20 to 21 - and the poster that I always referred to was one that said 'brilliant basics'. You have to be brilliant at the basics."
Coach told to pinch Wales star
Meanwhile, Borthwick has revealed he's already getting selection tips - from his own son.
Borthwick appeared on the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast shortly after being confirmed as Eddie Jones' successor. They say everyone in Wales is a selector when it comes to the national team and the same seems to exist across the Bridge; Borthwick is going to be getting advice from his nearest and dearest too.
Young Hunter has told his dad to pinch Tommy Reffell for England.
"They certainly have their favourite players," Borthwick said with a smile. "I spoke to them and sat them down and said 'boys, I might be making a change. I might be moving from coaching Leicester Tigers to coaching England. I said how would you feel about that?'
"I sat with them and they looked at me, and Hunter said to me: 'Daddy, that's OK. But you have to pick a lot of Leicester Tiger players'. I said 'OK, who would be the first one?' 'Can you get Tommy Reffell from Wales?'"
A beaming Borthwick added: "I told Tommy that as well. But it's a reminder... I'm privileged to be England head coach. Privilege to coach the team as assistant coach, privilege to captain the team, play for the team. You have conversations like that and it reminds you just how much people in this country love this team."
Wales teen's wonder try
Scarlets teenager Luca Giannini put down a marker with a memorable try for a Wales U20s development XV in Saturday’s encounter with their Scottish counterparts in Cardiff.
The back rower is only 18, yet has already played for the Scarlets senior team in the United Rugby Championship.
He caught the eye over the weekend with a solo try that saw him jink through the Scottish defence from around 40 metres out. One of those who witnessed the touchdown said Giannini had “moved like a winger” as he split the cover, adding: “It was a stunning score.”
The try helped take Wales nine points clear with 10 minutes to play.
They finished 26-22 winners with head coach Byron Hayward a contented man after seeing his players hit back from 17-5 down at half-time with Bath centre Louie Hennessey and the Scarlets’ Isaac Young adding tries to the one scored by Scarlets hooker Lewis Morgan.
“It was an excellent exercise for us,” said Hayward. “A lot of players put their hands up and surprised a lot of us. There were some really good performances, especially in the second half.
“We’ve only had three days training together so it’s understandable if there were a few mistakes. But we’ll focus on the positives – we scored a couple of nice tries."
Wales open their U20 Six Nations campaign with a home game against Ireland on February 3.
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