Here are the latest rugby headlines on Tuesday, March 28.
Rowlands' Dragons career could be over
Wales international Will Rowlands has suffered a setback in his bid to return from injury amid news his Dragons career could now be over.
It had been hoped Rowlands would make his long-awaited return from a shoulder injury in the upcoming European fixture with Glasgow, but it has emerged that he is not ready. He is not now expected to be fit until after the Judgement Day clash against the Scarlets on April 22, meaning he could have played his last game of Welsh regional rugby before moving to Racing 92.
"Will had some strength testing last week and it was weaker than we thought it would be and that is a setback for Will and for us," said coach Dai Flanagan.
“He has been training, he is on the field, but it is a clear marker that he is not ready to play at the moment. We knew the strength testing was coming last week and we were hoping for a better outcome, but unfortunately that didn’t come. We won't be seeing him for a little while, we would probably have to qualify for the semi-final and final.”
The Dragons will also be without back row forwards Ollie Griffiths and Harrison Keddie after both were injured in the 37-18 defeat at the Ospreys last weekend. Griffiths has a recurrence of a pectoral muscle injury, while Keddie has been ruled out with concussion.
Wales lock out of Six Nations
Wales second-row Gwen Crabb has been ruled out of the remainder of the Women's Six Nations due to a knee injury sustained in her side's opening victory over Ireland.
The 23-year-old lock was forced off early on during Saturday's 31-5 win, and will now play no further part in the championship. The Gloucester-Hartpury forward had just made her rugby return following a fractured fibula in December.
Her exit from the field prompted a pack reshuffle for Ioan Cunningham's Wales side, with No. 6 Georgia Evans shifting to the second-row to cover for Crabb, No. 8 Bethan Lewis moving to flanker and Sioned Harries coming off the bench earlier than expected to fill the berth at the back of the scrum. However, Wales will be boosted by the imminent return of lock Natalia John.
Wales next face Scotland in Edinburgh this Saturday in their second match of the campaign. Like Ireland, Scotland have recently turned professional, while Wales have been so for the past 14 months.
Wales stars return for Scarlets
Scarlets host Top 14 outfit Brive in the Challenge Cup round of 16 in Llanelli on Friday night, and they will have a number of Wales stars back in contention.
Wales squad members Ken Owens, Leigh Halfpenny, Wyn Jones and Rhys Patchell are all back in the selection mix after missing last weekend's superb win over the Sharks.
Head coach Dwayne Peel says the team is excited for another big test after a huge win over a Springbok-laden Sharks side in the United Rugby Championship.
"Big occasion," Peel said. "Obviously the URC last week was a big win, with the Sharks and the calibre of team that they brought. We recognise that knockout rugby is great and from our perspective we want to be part of the knockout stages of Europe.
"It's a good opportunity, Brive will come hard and make it very difficult I'm sure, physicality-wise, their lineout offense is one of the best in the league in France and it's going to be a big challenge for us. We've got to be excited about games like this, games at home, knockout games at home, it's exciting.
"So we've prepped. Monday was a bit of a slower day with the game being late on Saturday and the boys have trained hard today so it will be a good occasion I'm sure.
"Over the years we've had some good [European] occasions here, some big games here, and we'll keep building on that. It's not something we've spoken about [adding to the club's European history] but the history is there, definitely. We haven't touched too much on the emotion side of it, just what we need to do in preparation for the week."
Kick off for the game is 8pm at Parc y Scarlets.
Leicester make signings
Leicester have strengthened their back-three resources for next season by signing Ollie Hassell-Collins from London Irish and agreeing an extended contract with Mike Brown.
Hassell-Collins made his England debut during the recent Six Nations and the Exiles academy product has to date accumulated 43 tries in 101 appearances for the London club.
"Leicester are the biggest club in England and hard to say no to when they want to come and chat with you. It excites me a lot," said the 24-year-old, who has won two caps.
The Gallagher Premiership champions have also opted to keep Brown into 2023-24 after England's most capped full-back initially joined on a short-term contract. Brown has run in two tries in five appearances for the Tigers as the 37-year-old prolongs a professional career that began with Harlequins in 2005.
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