Here are the latest rugby headlines on Sunday, October 2.
Dragons chairman unable to comment on Dean Ryan
Dragons chairman David Buttress says he is unable to comment on Dean Ryan's situation despite what he says is the club's culture of being transparent with supporters.
Director of rugby Dean Ryan has been absent from training, media and match duties since his post-match comments after the opening-round defeat by Edinburgh when he questioned the talent in his squad. Reports have claimed he has left the Rodney Parade outfit but the hierarchy have so far not clarified the situation.
Speaking to S4C, Mr Buttress said: "I think as a club our culture and our values is to be transparent, and consistently we always communicate regularly with our supporters directly. At this time, it's not possible for me to comment which is not an ideal situation for anyone but as soon as we can we will of course comment, but at this moment in time we're not able to comment on the situation."
Asked what had changed post-Edinburgh from last season, he added: "It's not about post-Edinburgh or post any game. We've always taken and we do take a very long-term view of how to build the club and it's always in the lens of that long-term view that we make decisions so people should never think of it that way because I don't think that's how we operate and that's not how we think internally."
Will Reed out of hospital
Young Dragons fly-half Will Reed has been discharged from hospital after being stretchered from the field in the 20-19 defeat by Sharks on Saturday.
Reed, 20, suffered what threatened to be a serious injury in the build-up to the South African side's try in the second half, and was stretched off amid concerning scenes.
Dai Flanagan said post-match: "Unfortunately Will took a nasty knock when making a tackle for us and putting his body on the line. I think he was out before he landed.
"He's communicating fine. He's gone to hospital just to make sure. He had a bit of pins and needles in his arm and stuff. It's precautionary on his neck now. He's around talking and we need to make sure the neck's fine."
The Dragons have since confirmed Reed has been discharged, saying on Sunday morning: "Fly-half Will Reed was taken to hospital as a precaution following yesterday's game. We are pleased to report that Will was given the all-clear and discharged later last night. Dragons RFC and Will would like to thank supporters for their well wishes."
The Sharks had overturned a 13-point deficit in the second half to beat Dragons 20-19, with tries from Grant Williams and Thaakir Abrahams along with 13 points from the boot of Boeta Chamberlain getting the visitors over the line to make it two wins from two this season.
Elliot Dee scored the Dragons' only try with young outside-half Reed kicking 14 points. The Dragons were leading with four minutes to go until a try from Abrahams along with Chamberlain's conversion meant the hosts had to make do with a losing bonus point.
"What's really pleasing for me is how much more we've got," Flanagan added. "These are good players and we need to believe there's plenty more in the tank for us."
Winger Ashton Hewitt also picked up a knock just weeks after returning from a long-term knee injury. Flanagan said: "He's picked up an ankle knock so he'll get scanned in the week and we'll know more from there. It's not his knee as far as I'm aware."
Scarlets fightback in vain
A second-half Scarlets fightback fell short as the Welsh region suffered a 34-23 defeat by Benetton in Italy.
Dwayne Peel's men trailed 26-9 heading into the final quarter but rallied with tries from Sione Kalamafoni and Johnny Williams, while the returning Leigh Halfpenny contributed nine points and Rhys Patchell four to the Scarlets' cause.
However, fly-half Tomas Albornoz had laid a strong foundation for the home side, scoring their first 19 points, including a try on the half-hour mark. Edoardo Padovani and Tommaso Menoncello also went over after the break. Read the full report here.
Keelan Giles stars as Ospreys see off Glasgow
Keelan Giles scored a pair of tries as the Ospreys registered a 32-17 bonus-point victory over Glasgow in Swansea - their first win of the season.
The speedy winger had another ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on but still took his try tally this season to four to give Wales head coach Wayne Pivac a nudge ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.
Both sides were forced into making changes to their back rows in the opening 12 minutes as the Ospreys lost Ethan Roots to a head knock and the Warriors saw their own number eight, Jack Dempsey, leave with a rib problem. Read the full report here.
Munster up and running with win over Zebre Parma
Munster's superior maul delivered their opening win of the season as they overcame Zebre Parma 21-5 in a drab United Rugby Championship encounter at Musgrave Park.
Ben Healy converted tries from Niall Scannell (two) and Keynan Knox to give Graham Rowntree's side a 21-0 half-time lead. Zebre suffered a couple of injury blows and had lock Gabriele Venditti sin-binned.
Replacement Lorenzo Pani's opportunist 44th-minute effort got the Italians off the mark, but a sloppy closing half an hour saw Munster miss out on the bonus point.
There was some doubt about the grounding of hooker Scannell's eighth-minute opener, but a lengthy TMO review went Munster's way and Healy added the conversion.
Eddie Jones warns players to commit to tackling or forget England call-up
Eddie Jones has reacted to the new Gallagher Premiership season being launched with a glut of tries by warning his England players they will be dropped if they are vulnerable in defence.
The opening three rounds of the competition have seen the whitewash breached 141 times, but Jones sees danger in this attacking success as he plans for an autumn campaign that includes Tests against New Zealand and South Africa.
Backs in particular have been told that they neglect a critical element of the game in pursuit of tries at their peril.
"The commitment to make a tackle is important in rugby and the players that we select will have to be committed to make them. Players that don't won't get picked," Jones said.
"You saw how important it was in the Rugby Championship and on the summer tours, especially now that the ball is spread more than two passes only 30 per cent of the time.
"The ability to make an effective tackle not only stops the opposition going forward, but also creates a transition opportunity or a turnover opportunity, so backs who can take the legs away from the opposition are so important.
"We will be looking for players that are productive with the ball and without the ball."
