Wales insist they have not dropped George North even though the 120-cap centre has been left out of the team to play France despite being fit. Both North and Nick Tompkins have been replaced for Sunday’s Six Nations clash in Cardiff, with head coach Warren Gatland opting to pick Joe Roberts and Owen Watkin instead. North and Tompkins have 155 caps between them but assistant coach Mike Forshaw claimed the decision was made in order to assess Roberts and Watkin. “I don’t think they have been dropped,” said Forshaw.

Tributes have been paid to Lewis Jones, Welsh rugby’s first post-war ‘Golden Boy’ and one of the greatest dual-code internationals produced in Wales, who has died a month short of his 93rd birthday. A double Grand Slammer and British & Irish Lions Test player before his 21st birthday, Jones is regarded as one of the biggest losses from Wales to the 13-man code.

With three rounds of the Six Nations gone and two games remaining, Wales are where they finished last season’s tournament – in fifth place. Yet, despite losing their opening three matches, they could have beaten Scotland and England, they had an excellent spell of pressure against the Irish for 20 minutes.

Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt has described the Irish teams as “slow poison” after another weekend when the Welsh regions were all left feeling sick. All four of them lost in the United Rugby Championship – with the Scarlets, the Dragons and Cardiff all being beaten by opponents from Ireland. The Scarlets lost 26-10 to Connacht, the Dragons went down 49-26 against Ulster, and Cardiff were beaten 33-20 at home to Leinster.

Josh Turnbull intends to turn to coaching as his main rugby activity at the end of this season. The Cardiff forward has confirmed he will retire at the end of the campaign, but not before he passes a few more remaining milestones.

JPR Williams’ life as a rugby “revolutionary” and family man was remembered at a memorial service for the former Wales and British Lions full-back. Williams died in January at the age of 74 and former team-mates from Welsh rugby’s golden 1970s era were among those who gathered at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff to celebrate his life on St David’s Day.

Wales rugby legend Sioned Harries has announced her decision to retire from professional and international rugby after more than a decade in the Test arena. Harries’ 14-year Test career saw her become one of the most respected and recognisable figures in Welsh and world rugby.

Warren Gatland has stood firm on his critique of Welsh regional rugby – but insisted he has no issue with the coaches. The Wales coach has attempted to steer a fine line between repeating his call for changes, whilst at the same time trying to stay onside with those on the sharp receiving end of huge cuts in finances.

So, is Welsh regional rugby a sinking ship or still afloat despite all the storms that have been raging against it? Warren Gatland claimed the holes had not been plugged, but Ospreys coach Toby Booth reckons there’s no need to abandon the vessel just yet.

France centre Jonathan Danty will miss the clash against Wales and the remainder of this season’s Six Nations Championship after receiving a five-week suspension on Tuesday, following his red card in their draw with Italy.

Toby Booth believes the Ospreys can do what no Welsh region has done for six years – make the United Rugby Championship play-offs. Booth’s young team are currently on target to achieve that goal of a top-eight finish.

France will come to Wales next week, having been rescued by a referee’s call for two successive Six Nations matches. They are a team relying on officialdom after Italy were left heartbroken last Sunday – denied a famous win, just like Scotland before them.

Wales forward Adam Beard has claimed Ireland were “flattered” by the 31-7 scoreline after their four-tries-to-one victoryat the weekend. Beard was reflecting on Wales’ third successive Six Nations defeat, which followed their narrow losses to Scotland and England.

Warren Gatland left Dublin banging the same drum he had struck after defeat to England – that this Wales team will have its day. The question for Wales supporters is how long in coming will that be? Gatland is convinced Wales are on course to become “an excellent team” despite a third successive defeat in another gloomy Guinness Six Nations campaign.

It has already been dubbed “Mission Impossible” but Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins insists he would not bother getting on the plane if he thought he could not be a winner in Ireland this weekend. The statistics alone make intimidating reading for Wales as they journey to Dublin for the third round of the Six Nations on Saturday.

Nick Tompkins insists Wales are not afraid of double Grand Slam-seeking Ireland. In fact, the Saracens centre is convinced Wales can go to the Aviva Stadium and “take a scalp” to get their Six Nations campaign back on track. After two agonising defeats to Scotland, by a point, and England, by two points at Twickenham, Tompkins believes the youngsters around him can step up to the plate and cause an upset.

Wales will relish the challenge of facing an Ireland side they haven’t beaten in Dublin in the Six Nations since 2012, according to Gareth Thomas. The Wales prop is preparing to go head-to head with Tadhg Furlong in a critical front row battle at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday against hosts who have won their last 10 Championship matches.

Wales skipper Dafydd Jenkins has already notched one win over an Irish side with Exeter Chiefs against Munster in the Champions Cup this season. Now he is eyeing up an even bigger upset than toppling the URC champions with his young Welsh side in Dublin in this weekend’s third round of the Six Nations.

Warren Gatland fears Welsh rugby is going to duck the essential changes he insists are needed to close the gulf between Wales and Ireland. The Wales coach says he is “not 100 per cent convinced” that regional rugby will undergo the proper reset he feels it requires. Gatland admitted “it has probably felt sometimes like you are in a sinking ship and you are trying to plug the holes a little bit”.

The size of the task facing Wales this weekend is illustrated by the statistics provided by the Guinness Six Nations official partners OPTA. When it comes to the tournament, Ireland have posted more wins than any other nation over the 26 years, have the highest win percentage and the second biggest points and try scorers.