These are your rugby headlines on the evening of Thursday, March 23.
Warburton picks Lions XV
Hot on the heels of Warren Gatland naming his Lions squad minus any Wales players in his national newspaper column yesterday, former Wales skipper Sam Warburton has picked his own XV.
Gatland raised eyebrows with his selections, failing to name a single Welshman in his 23 which is sure to have grabbed the attentions of his Welsh players after a disappointing Six Nations campaign and just six months out from a World Cup.
Call it mind games, calling it lighting a fire - whatever - but it is sure to prompt a reaction from his charges.
READ MORE: Lone Wales fan belts out anthem at Stade de France and French fans absolutely love it
Warburton has gone down the same route as his former coach and opted to exclude any of his fellow countrymen from his fantasy squad. He picked his team of the Six Nations for the BBC earlier this week, which included four Frenchmen (Damien Penaud, Gael Fickou, Antoine Dupont and Thibaud Flament) and one Italian (Sebastian Negri).
For his Lions team he would replace those names with England's Ollie Chessum and Courtney Lawes and Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose.
And as coach, Warburton plumped for Andy Farrell. “He has had the natural progression to it," Warburton said. "He has been an England assistant, an Irish assistant, an Irish head, a Lions assistant – the natural progression for him would be a Lions head.
“For me, that would make sense and given his track record recently, he has been on two Lions tours, knows what Lions tours are about, has worked in two home nations, is a part of a Grand Slam and potentially a team that is almost certainly going to be at least a World Cup semi-finalist and potential winners, he has ticked all the boxes so far for me.”
Sam Warburton’s Lions XV:
15. Hugo Keenan (Ireland), 14. Mack Hansen (Ireland), 13. Garry Ringrose (Ireland), 12. Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), 11. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 10. Johnny Sexton (Ireland), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland), 1. Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), 2. Dan Sheehan (Ireland), 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 4. James Ryan (Ireland), 5. Ollie Chessum (England), 6. Courtney Lawes (England), 7. Josh van der Flier (Ireland), 8. Caelan Doris (Ireland)
Keenan: I felt for Steward
Hugo Keenan said he felt sympathy for England's Freddie Steward for being sent off for a dangerous tackle on him last weekend.
Steward was given his marching orders after a shuddering collision between the pair was deemed worthy of a red card by referee Jaco Peyper and his officials at the Aviva Stadium.
The decision was this week downgraded to a yellow card, with a panel adjudging there were mitigating circumstances in Steward's defence.
Now the man who was on the receiving end has given his take following the news the red was changed to yellow.
“It’s probably fair enough, isn’t it?” began Keenan. “It’s up to the citing commissioners and the refs to make those decisions, but it was a bit of an accident, wasn’t it? He was very apologetic nearly straight away after and then after on the pitch as well.
“As a fellow full-back, I feel for him in those positions. It was just one of those sorts of rugby incidents, it’s not like it was a reckless high challenge or anything like that. It was a weird incident. You never really see it. They are just trying to eradicate any contact with the head, and it is obviously an important issue to get right but it’s probably more so for the high tackles or dangerous clear-outs.
“It’s a tough one to know, so you just have to trust the higher powers and refs and citing commissioners to do their job the best they can and make the best call they can.”
Basham wants his Wales place back
Dragons and Wales star Taine Basham says his outlook on life and rugby have completely changed since becoming a father - adding that he hopes to muscle his way back into Warren Gatland's World Cup plans.
Basham's partner Giovanna gave birth to Tomas fourth months ago, putting matters into perspective for him, especially after a difficult 12 months which saw him sidelined with a dislocated elbow for a spell.
He's now hoping to force his way back into the Wales reckoning - as long as he gets his sleep patterns in order.
“It’s a whirlwind at the start. You go from having the two of you to coming home from the hospital with the three of you,” he said.
“I was going through my rehab from injury as well, so that was an interesting time, but I’ve kind of adapted to family life now and to less sleep!
“We have an agreement, me and my partner. On training days, I won’t get up as much in the night as she will. Then when I have time off, I am a bit more hands on.
“Giovanna has been good as gold. She has been the best mother to Tomas, so I am lucky there.”
The 23-year-old Basham continued: “Your outlook on life and your outlook on rugby as well completely changes.
“When you are in your early 20s and playing for Wales, you really focus on yourself and your preparation. It’s all about you. When you’ve got a baby, you are focusing on how you are providing for your family.
“I am a young man and I’ve got to provide for my partner and my baby boy. So it’s a completely different outlook on life and the game really. It’s completely changed.”
In terms of getting that Wales jersey back, Basham says he's prepared to play anywhere for his country.
“Hopefully I can get back to my top form that I was in before and put my hand up to get into the World Cup squad,” he said.
“It all depends what Warren Gatland thinks is his best back row in his eyes. I have just got to put my head down, get back physically and get my hands on the ball.” He has started in all three back row positions during his 11-cap Test career, offering a real versatility.
“No 7 is probably where I see myself. Obviously there is a lot of competition there, but that can only make you better,” he says.
“The last few people who have played in the No 7 jersey for Wales have all got different qualities to offer.
“I am happy to play anywhere in the back row just to get back in that shirt. I am happy with 6, 7 or 8 if I am on the pitch. In terms of my attributes, I don’t think it changes for me.
“I like to get my hands on the ball, get my team-mates on the front foot and then in defence make some good reads and be dominant in that area.”
The fans' Wales Six Nations verdict: Have your say
England restriction on overseas-based players to remain
England's restriction on selecting players based abroad will remain in place for the next agreement overseeing the domestic game, according to Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor.
He insists there is no desire among Premiership sides nor the Rugby Football Union to relax a rule designed to keep the country's top stars at home as well as giving England's head coach greater control over his players.
An 'exceptional circumstances' clause saw Toulouse's Jack Willis picked during the Six Nations, but he is the lone example of its use since 2011 with dispensation only granted because of Wasps' financial collapse in October.
Steve Borthwick wants the overseas policy eased in order to pick the "best players available" for his England team amid a recent spate of signings for Top 14 sides, including Luke Cowan-Dickie, David Ribbans and Joe Marchant. But that prospect has been ruled out as talks continue over the new Professional Game Agreement that comes into effect from July 2024.
"Having our English players playing within the Premiership is important for England and for the Premiership," Massie-Taylor told the PA news agency.
"From the RFU's, ours and even the players' perspective we see the importance of England internationals playing domestically. "Provisions exist for exceptional circumstances that will probably still carry on going forward, but we agree England international players should be playing in the Premiership.
"There will always be an international market for players and players have that choice to go abroad and not play for England."
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