George North and Nick Tompkins have both been recalled to the Wales team for Saturday’s Six Nations wooden-spoon decider against Italy. The pair – who were controversially dropped for the record 45-24 home thrashing by France in the previous round – replace Joe Roberts and Owen Watkin. Head coach Warren Gatland had said he wanted to provide an opportunity to Roberts, but with Wales in danger of finshing bottom of the tournament table for the first time in 21 years, it apears the short period of experimentation is already over.

It’s safe to say Neath RFC are putting up one heck of a fight – and not for the first time in the club’s proud history. When they were denied a place in the WRU’s new Elite Domestic Competition (EDC), they made their feelings known in no uncertain terms, calling the decision “grossly unfair” and “reprehensible” after they were the only one of 10 applicants to be turned down.

Gareth Anscombe has been labelled as “one of the best fly-halves in the northern hemisphere” after his move to Gloucester for next season was confirmed by the English club. Anscombe, 32, is understood to have signed a two-year deal and will link up with the Kingsholm club this summer.

Louis Rees-Zammit says it was “horrible” to leave rugby behind but is in confident mood ahead of the first hurdle in his attempt to find an NFL team — a trial in front of team scouts on March 20. The Wales and British Lions star stunned the rugby world when he announced in January that he was quitting the game to join the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program.

Joe Roberts believes Wales will avoid the embarrassment of a Six Nations whitewash this weekend by winning at the final attempt. The centre, who was controversially picked ahead of George North to face France last weekend, is confident Warren Gatland’s misfiring team can beat Italy in Cardiff in the final round of the tournament.

Italy captain Michele Lamaro has insisted his team did not play that well when they beat Wales two years ago – and vowed they will be better this weekend. The Italians take on Wales in confident mood after their stunning victory over Scotland at the weekend.

Soft tries, a retreating scrum and poor game management were all to blame for Wales’ latest Six Nations loss to France on Sunday as coach Warren Gatland conceded next weekend’s home clash with Italy is “massive” as they aim to avoid the wooden spoon. Wales were in the game for an hour but lost 45-24 as the visitors turned the screw in the final quarter with their massive pack and forced Wales into errors, which they converted into points.

Warren Gatland has admitted Wales are desperate for a win to put some meat on the bones of their claims they are a young team who are progressing. Gatland has underlined Wales’ desire to end their losing Six Nations run this season and claim what would be a statement victory over France on Sunday.

Will Rowlands insists he is already a better rugby player for having spread his wings and moved to play in Paris after last year’s World Cup. The second row forward – who left the Dragons to join Racing 92 – believes his all-round game has improved and intends to show it against some of his clubmates and regular opponents when Wales host France on Sunday.

Wales slipped to a third successive defeat in the U20 Six Nations as they succumbed to the power of the France pack in a 45-12 defeat at Cardiff Arms Park. There were two home tries for the crowd to savour, but it wasn’t enough to derail the reigning World Rugby U20 global champions.

Sam Underhill is savouring his England revival having feared his international career might already be over. The former Ospreys star is poised to win his 34th cap in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Ireland at Twickenham after returning to favour under Steve Borthwick – a comeback he views as a personal triumph.

Hannah Jones has retained the Wales captaincy within a squad that contains seven uncapped players for the upcoming Women’s Six Nations. The bulk of the squad includes players who played in last season’s campaign and achieved Wales’ highest world ranking of sixth to qualify for the new WXV1 global tournament for the six best sides in the world.

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.