Here are the latest rugby headlines on Tuesday, April 4.
Wales v England sold out
Wales' Women's Six Nations clash with England on April 15 has officially sold out.
Ioan Cunningham's Wales side host the Red Roses at Cardiff Arms Park in round three following two emphatic wins over Ireland and Scotland.
Their toughest task yet awaits against reigning champions England, though, who remain head and shoulders above their Six Nations opponents having turned pro back in 2019. Wales, meanwhile, are 15 months into professionalism, and have emerged this year as a much fitter, stronger and skilful side.
After two games, the Red Roses match Wales' maximum 10-point tally, but lead the table with a major points difference having followed up a 58-7 victory against Scotland with an equally emphatic 68-5 hammering of Italy.
Wales played out their round-one 31-5 win over Ireland in front of a new record crowd of 4,962, a record - for a standalone women's rugby international in Wales - which is now set to be surpassed by a few thousand.
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said: "To see the supporters turn up and set a new crowd record against Ireland in the opening game of the tournament showed how the Welsh rugby public appreciate the journey this team is on. To break that record for our second home game for England demonstrates how this team has caught the public's imagination and inspired the nation.
"We know England will be a huge challenge for us, they have been the benchmark team and dominated this tournament for so long, and we are under no illusions of the task ahead of us. But knowing we have the backing of the Welsh supporters and that they appreciate how hard we have worked to be two from two shows we are heading in the right direction. This is your Wales team and your support has been part of our journey and has been appreciated by all the players, coaches and staff involved."
Scarlets relishing European knockouts
Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel says his side are relishing the challenge of facing Clermont in this Friday's Challenge Cup quarter-final. The west Walians saw off Brive last Friday to book their place in the last eight, with a semi-final now in reach for the in-form Parc y Scarlets side.
"It'll be a big occasion," said Peel. "A quality side with massive history in European rugby. It'll be a real challenge for us. They've got some real quality in their team, some star names.
"It'll be a big night and that's what it's all about. It's exciting. It's a big team coming here. It's a big challenge and it's one we look forward to."
Ospreys boss says they've earned respect
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth feels his side have departed the Champions Cup with heads held high after bowing out via a 35-20 defeat at Saracens in the last-16.
Tries for Mike Collins and Kieran Williams saw the Welsh side take a surprise 14-3 lead during the first half, but the three-time champions fought back with four tries of their own.
Booth, who guided Ospreys to three Pool B wins from four matches to reach the knockout stage, said of the campaign: “I think we’ve given a decent account of ourselves and earned some respect on this whole journey. When you play against Saracens, it has to be an 80-minute performance and there were elements where, in key moments in the second half, we relinquished pressure or didn’t exit well enough.
“Those are the little things that they pride themselves in. That’s how they apply pressure. If you’re not resilient to that, which we were for a considerable part of the game, they exploit those little cracks and those cracks get bigger.”
Scrum-half Rhys Webb thought that individual errors and penalties gave Saracens a foothold in the match.
“Playing against a team like that, you need to be on the money for 80 minutes,” he said. “Individual errors, exits, discipline and just back-to-back penalties – you can’t let a team like Saracens into a game like that and they capitalised well. I think it would have been a different game if we didn’t concede that try just coming into half-time.”
Townsend's Scotland future to be decided
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will only be offered a new contract to remain in post if the Scottish Rugby Union believe he can take the team to another level, says chief executive Mark Dodson.
The duo are set to hold talks this week, with Townsend's contract expiring later this year.
Townsend, who won 82 caps during his playing career, took charge in 2017 and his six-year tenure already makes him Scotland's longest-serving head coach of the professional era. Scotland finished third in the Six Nations, and have risen to their highest place of fifth in the world rankings.
"This is a crucial decision for the union," Dodson told the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast.
"We've had a process this time - which Gregor has been aware of - looking at what is the right voice to take us forward from 2023 onwards. It's been less about Gregor's track record in what he's done in tournaments up until the Six Nations and about what's right for this group of players, who are going to be in transition from '23 to '27. What's the right voice?
"We've spoken to coaches all over the globe about how they see Scotland and, if they were able to do the job, how would they undertake the task. We've finished that due diligence process.
"I was clear with Gregor right from the get-go that this is what we were going to do. He was also free to talk to people about his own future, and things have come out about conversations that have happened in France and potentially elsewhere. This is entirely expected. It's not his first rodeo and it's not mine, we understand this is the way the world works."
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