Here are the latest rugby headlines on Tuesday, March 14.
Robinson backs Wales amid Rees-Zammit/Adams conundrum
Former Wales international and Cardiff outside-half Nicky Robinson believes Warren Gatland's side have a chance to beat France in their Super Saturday finale this weekend due to the sheer emotion from Les Bleus' win at Twickenham.
The men in blue stunned Steve Borthwick's English hosts with a ruthless display to win 53-10, keeping their Six Nations title defence well and truly alive. The result also left France head coach Fabien Galthie in tears during his post-match TV interview, having overseen France's first Six Nations win at Twickenham for 18 years. As a player himself, Galthie beat England seven times but lost all three of his matches at Twickenham.
It means Wales, who are spending the week in Nice to prepare for this Saturday's fixture in Paris, have a daunting task on their hands, having just won their first game of the tournament against Italy in round four.
But former Wales outside-half Robinson believes Wales have a chance.
"Wales have got a chance on the fact France were so good last weekend, I'm not sure they can play as well again," he told the Scrum V podcast. "It's been that high, and when your coach is as emotional as he was, can they do that again? That's where I think Wales could. We do have a chance. I've got a sneaky feeling there's going to be an upset this weekend."
As for Wales changes he would go for, Robinson pondered starting Christ Tshiunza in the second row and bringing Louis Rees-Zammit in for Josh Adams, but ultimately stuck with the team which won in Rome.
"I would keep the same pack. I do want Christ Tshiunza to play a bit more so I'd put him on the bench or maybe start him at second-row. I thought Adam Beard was better, a lot more like we've seen before, stole some lineouts and was good in mauls as well, and I like Dafydd Jenkins.
"I'd keep the same half-backs and centres. I'd probably bring in Louis Rees-Zammit instead of Josh Adams maybe. I think Josh is struggling a little bit with confidence. I thought he should have finished that try, but defensively he's so good for Wales. With Zammit's issues at defence that I think he needs to improve on, okay, you get a bit more in attack from him, but actually he wasted a good opportunity at the weekend when he came on, he should have passed the ball wide to Liam Williams when he made his break. I'd keep the same team that beat Italy..."
Law firm claims legal proceedings issued over player brain injuries
Law firm Rylands say legal proceedings have been issued on behalf of 55 grassroots rugby union players who claim the game's authorities failed to sufficiently protect them from brain injury, Press Association reports.
According to Rylands, all the claimants are suffering from neurological impairments and contend that World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union have been negligent, in that they failed to protect them from concussive and sub-concussive impacts during their careers.
In a joint statement, World Rugby, the RFU and WRU said they had not been served with any court proceedings in relation to the case.
In its announcement, Rylands welcomed an initiative from World Rugby announced on Monday which recommends, subject to approval from its ruling Council, that national unions consult at community level to introduce trials lowering the tackle height. But Rylands described the move as "too little, too late" to assist its clients or thousands of others who have played the sport.
World Rugby has recommended its unions trial "belly tackles" at the non-elite level - where the tackler engages with the ball-carrier below the sternum in a bid to reduce concussions caused by head-on-head contact.
Rylands says it is now representing more than 350 players in actions, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s, across the two rugby codes.
"The players we represent love the game," a statement from the firm read. "We aim to challenge the current perceptions of the governing bodies, to reach a point where they accept the connection between repetitive blows to the head and permanent neurological injury and to take steps to protect players and support those who are injured."
In a joint statement, World Rugby, the RFU and WRU said: "World Rugby, the RFU and WRU care deeply about all members of the rugby family and we are saddened to hear of any player, from whatever level of our sport, who is struggling. Whilst legal action prevents us from engaging with these players directly, it is important that players from all parts of our game know that welfare remains our number one priority.
"Rugby is a sport that supports lifelong health and wellbeing benefits for participants at every level. It is loved by millions of current and former players around the globe.
"Acting on the latest science, evidence and independent expert guidance, we constantly strive to safeguard and support all our players - future, current, and former. Rugby is a leader in the prevention, management and identification of head impacts.
"We proactively fund transformational research, embrace innovation and leave no stone unturned to ensure that our sport is accessible, inclusive and as safe as possible for all participants. This includes our recent announcements in relation to tackle height in the community game to continue to gather an evidence-based approach. We will never stand still when it comes to player welfare.
"We still do not have full details of the case being made against us by any former elite or amateur player and have not been served with any court proceedings in relation to the amateur players. As such it is not possible for us to comment on the legal cases at this time."
Lions to face Pacific Islands XV on Australia tour
The British and Irish Lions are set to face a Pacific Islands XV on their tour to Australia in 2025, according to The Times.
They report that the fixture schedule under discussion would see the best of the home nations play three of Australia's Super Rugby franchises — NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies — and an Anzac XV, which could include Australia and New Zealand internationals.
The Lions will play three Tests against Eddie Jones’s Wallabies, in Melbourne and Sydney plus one of Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide.
Hogg and Russell withdraw from Scotland squad for Italy
Scotland duo Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell have withdrawn from the squad ahead of Saturday's final Guinness Six Nations match against Italy. The influential pair went off in the closing stages of Sunday's defeat by Ireland with ankle and knee injuries respectively and are returning to their clubs for treatment.
Edinburgh fly-half Charlie Savala has been called in to the squad, while Josh Bayliss has returned to the group after being released to play for Bath at the weekend.
It remains to be seen if Richie Gray will be fit for this weekend's match at BT Murrayfield. The 33-year-old lock was forced off after just six minutes on Sunday with suspected rib damage. He has remained with the squad for the time being, raising hopes that he might be available to face Italy.
A statement on Monday from Scottish Rugby read: "Stuart Hogg sustained an ankle injury and will be unavailable for this weekend's match against Italy. He will return to his club in due course for further management of this injury. Finn Russell suffered an injury to one of his knee ligaments. He will return to Racing 92 to continue his rehabilitation. Richie Gray sustained an injury during the Ireland match and will remain with the squad to be continued to be assessed by medics."
Ex-Springbok coach rips England apart on TV
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett was scathing in his assessment of England's credentials in the wake of their 53-10 defeat to France in the Six Nations at the weekend.
Appearing on South African TV's Super Sport panel show, Mallett tore into England’s lacklustre display, poor defence and questioned their tactics, taking particular aim at Steve Borthwick's pack.
“England are really battling,” said Mallett, who coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000. “They haven’t got ball carriers, they haven’t got a really physical front row that can take on the opposition.
“Their locks are like our flankers, their flankers are like opensiders, they’re not ball carriers either. So they don’t have anyone to get across the advantage line. When you looked at France playing, it looked like men against boys. The three French loose forwards just dominated that game. [Jonathan] Danty took it up, made three turnovers as a centre. It just looked like men against club players.
“They are in a spot of trouble, England. If they go in there with Smith, it goes against the whole ethos of what Borthwick was doing at the beginning, which was to go back to basics and concentrate on the scrum, concentrate on the lineout, territory and defence.
“If you’re a coach, you’ve got to have a clear idea of where you want to go with the team at your disposal. So, say for example you’re picking up a team that hasn’t been doing well, you want to make sure they don’t take big hidings.
“Start off with small steps and I thought Borthwick did that quite well, intelligently to begin with. But by bringing Marcus Smith in, it really did change the dynamic. Suddenly it looked like he said ‘let’s play fast and loose against the French.’ Now that’s the one thing you never do against the French, and they just profited from so many English errors.
“There were no good ball carriers, there were no decent set pieces, their kicking game wasn’t good, the physicality of the French – and the Irish – is a step above anything English rugby is producing at the moment.
“In this team, you’re casting your net out wide and you can’t find a decent tighthead prop in England, you can’t find a good ball-carrying lock. So I think they’re in a bit of a spot and I think Ireland are going to clean up on Saturday.”
Ben White admits Scotland need to become more clinical to defeat top teams
Ben White admits Scotland "fell short" when it mattered as he rued their lack of ruthlessness in the key moments of their Six Nations campaign. After kicking off with back-to-back wins over England and Wales, Scotland's hopes of silverware were dashed by subsequent defeats against the world's top two sides as they lost 32-21 away to France a fortnight ago and then 22-7 at home to Ireland on Sunday.
Gregor Townsend's men competed well for large chunks of both of those matches but scrum-half White admits they need to become more clinical if they are to have a chance of defeating the elite nations.
"It's tough to take any positives right now because we back ourselves to win and we fell short," he said. "Ireland were very good, they were accurate when they needed to be. Against the top sides, you'll get three or four chances and you have to take them all if you want to win.
"Against Ireland we created three or four chances and we took one, and ultimately that cost us in the end. They took their chances and we didn't. Our accuracy in the final third wasn't good enough and that's something we're going to have to work on going into the Italy game. We were in that game until about 55-60 minutes and then they turned the screw on us, which is disappointing."
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