Dean Ryan has admitted he will have mixed feelings if Wales come calling again for his Dragons back row pair of Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty. The dynamic duo were at the heart of the Dragons’ impressive 31-20 victory over the Ospreys in Bridgend that has dented the losers’ Heineken Champions Cup prospects and given Ryan’s men an outside sniff of qualification. It was the Dragons’ first win of 2021 and Wainwright – released for some game time by Wales coach Wayne Pivac – weighed in with a try to add to doubles from Jonah Holmes and Ashton Hewitt to give the visitors a bonus point victory.

The Ospreys could take a giant step towards Heineken Champions Cup rugby next season if they can complete the double over regional rivals the Dragons at the Brewery Field tonight. The top three teams in the two Guinness PRO14 Conferences qualify automatically for the top tournament in Europe and Toby Booth’s much-improved side are currently on 31 points with three games to play – the Dragons at home and then Leinster and Glasgow Warriors away. If they can beat the Dragons with a bonus point to reach 36 points then they will be guaranteed third place. If not, they will need to pull some points out of the bag on their final two away trips.

Imagine having to wear Alun Wyn Jones’ jersey when he’s not around. That’s a big shirt to fill. But the young player making a pretty decent fist of it at the Ospreys at present is Rhys Davies. The former Wales U20 player is set wear No.5 against the Dragons on Saturday night and tells Graham Thomas how it feels for size. Rhys Davies is already being tipped as a successor to Alun Wyn Jones for the Ospreys and Wales but has revealed it was only a few years ago he struggled to get into his school XV. Admittedly, it was Millfield – one of the most famous sporting schools in the UK – but the young Ospreys second row had high hopes of following the likes of Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams and Chris Robshaw when he moved to Somerset on a scholarship at the age 16.

Kieran Hardy’s loss to Wales is an unfortunate blow, attack coach Stephen Jones has admitted. The young scrum-half has played his final part in the Six Nations after suffering a hamstring injury in the second half against England. Hardy, who made his debut against Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup, went over for a try in last weekend’s 40-24 victory after a quick tap caught the English napping, before his injury caused him to leave the field.

Wales Pivac has a Triple Crown on the shelf in his room at the Wales team hotel, credit in the bank along with win bonuses, and the prospect of joining Mike Ruddock and Warren Gatland as a Grand Slam winning coach if his side can manage victories over Italy and France. Fraser Watson believes the essence of this turnaround is there in the calendar. In January 1990, Manchester United supporters rolled out the infamous banner at the Stretford End. “Three years of excuses” was the accusation, a certain Alex Ferguson the target.

Dwayne Peel will have to break his contract with Cardiff Blues and could face his prospective employers in court, unless a compensation deal can be agreed that allows him to work at the Scarlets. The former Wales scrum-half is at the centre of a messy battle between the two Welsh regions after signing a deal with one, but wanting to now join the other. Currently still coaching at Ulster, Peel’s future has been thrown into uncertainty with the Scarlets interested in bringing their former star back to Llanelli and plucking him from the clutches of the Blues.

Stephen Varney will be the Welshman aiming to run Wayne Pivac’s Grand Slam bandwagon off the road in Rome next week. Varney has already beaten Wales at U18 and Under 20 level and now the Welsh-speaking teenager is hoping to make it a hat-trick by helping Italy halt the Welsh march to a potential 13th Grand Slam. The Carmarthen-born scrum half – who learned his rugby at Crymych RFC – has already won five senior caps for the Azzurri and made his first start for the senior Italian side against Wales at Parc Y Scarlets in the Autumn Nations Cup.

Welsh coach Leigh Jones is heading back to the UK to take up a newly-created role of general manager of rugby at Leicester Tigers. The former Ebbw Vale, Dragons and Wales forwards coach, who is currently general manager of rugby performance with the Hong Kong Rugby Union, will take-up his new post at the English Premiership club on May 1. He led the Wales A programme under Graham Henry and went on to become a senior member of the Japanese support team at the 2015 Rugby World Cup alongside the now England head coach Eddie Jones and Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick.

Wales Wheelchair Rugby League head coach Stephen Jones has announced a 17 player train-on squad, which includes six potential debutants, for camps in both March and April to prepare for the upcoming Celtic Cup. Jones will later narrow the squad down to a maximum of 13 for the Celtic Cup, which is being held at The University of Edinburgh’s Sport & Exercise Pleasance facility on Saturday 12th June, the tournament having been postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Mike Phillips has heaped praise on Wayne Pivac and told England they need to wise up with referees. The former Wakes scrum-half has pointed to Pivac’s selection policy in the autumn as sewing the seeds for the Triple Crown success, with the willingness of the Wales coach to give youngsters game time to earn valuable experience. But Phillips also believes Wales are way ahead of England – who were beaten 40-24 in Cardiff last weekend – in their recognition of how to communicate with officials, without getting on the wrong side of them.

Cardiff Blues will be confined to the history books next season when the Welsh region rebrands itself as Cardiff Rugby. After 18 years as the Blues, the professional rugby team in the Welsh capital will change its name and image in a bid to get closer to its famous past and heritage created by Cardiff RFC. It means the Arms Park will now host two teams with almost identical names – Cardiff Rugby, who will play in the Guinness Pro14, and Cardiff Rugby Football Club, who play in the Welsh Premiership.

Callum Sheedy says Wales knew England’s discipline would crack “if we could choke them enough” after he put the boot into Eddie Jones’ team. England conceded a damaging 14 penalties in their 40-24 Six Nations defeat at the Principality Stadium. They imploded during the final quarter when substitute Sheedy kicked three penalties in nine minutes during a 16-point unanswered burst by Wales that meant Triple Crown glory and left them two wins away from a second Grand Slam in three seasons.

Wales have something England don’t possess, according to injured playmaker Rhys Patchell – it’s the Alun Wyn Jones stare. It has been highlighted by former England World Cup winner, now pundit, Matt Dawson in his BBC online column in which he compared the leadership the Wales captain provides to that which England have under their skipper Owen Farrell. Dawson said: “Because there are no fans, you can hear everything now. I hear the England players and it is all cajoling and tapping people on the bum telling them it is OK when they have just given away their 13th penalty.

Wayne Pivac has admitted French referee Pascal Gauzere got it badly wrong at the Principality Stadium – he should definitely have yellow carded Maro Itoje. Whilst all the focus may have been on Gauzere’s controversial decisions to allow tries for Josh Adams and Liam Williams to stand in Wales’ 40-24 Triple Crown-clinching victory, the Wales coach pointed to another decision by the official. Itoje conceded five penalties on his own as England’s discipline fell apart in the later stages of the match and Pivac admitted he expected the England second row to be sent to the sin bin.

The joy of George North’s 100th cap landmark for Wales will be lined with sadness at his boyhood club. The Wales centre will lead his team out against England today, hoping his celebrations for a century of appearances can inspire the delivery of a Six Nations Triple Crown. But his record-breaking milestone has been put into perspective by the death of a member of his first rugby club.

The first crowd-less Wales v England Six Nations match will take place this afternoon – an eerie prospect, even a year on from the disappearance of fans from most of our sporting fixtures. No roars, no shouts and certainly no singing. Rhodri Jeremiah details the power of song at matches between the old rivals. Let’s be honest here,  we all love a sing song. Whether it’s in the shower, the pub or even at a rugby international.

Wayne Pivac has praised George North’s attitude and appetite as he prepares to win his 100th Wales cap and become a rugby union record-breaker. North will reach a century in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against England at the Principality Stadium. And at 28 years and 320 days, he will eclipse Australia captain Michael Hooper by four weeks as the youngest player to clock up 100 appearances for their country.

Eddie Jones has told England to pick up their own arousal levels when they face Wales this weekend. But it’s not a case of thinking Welsh fires can melt the mighty iceberg, says Harri Morgan. It’s more about Wales being coldly, clinical themselves. Expect Eddie’s England to arrive in Cardiff brimming with whoop and holler. Each milestone in the game will be celebrated to the hilt. Every high pitched rejoice or northern grunt, designed to nudge up the level on their “arousal-ometer”.

By Paul Jones Shane Williams has backed George North to chase down his international try-scoring record after rediscovering his love of rugby and earning his 100th Wales cap. North, 28, will bring up his century of appearances when Wales face England in Cardiff on Saturday, having missed the win over Scotland last time out due […]

Welsh coal mining once used to produce prop forwards for Wales, but these days few jobs sit beside being a professional rugby player. Except, it seems, if you’re a farmer from west Wales as Wyn Jones is proving is this Six Nations and as he tells Graham Thomas. Wyn Jones has revealed a return to shearing sheep during lockdown got him in the mood to strong-arm opponents in this season’s Six Nations. The Wales prop has been one of the big success stories of the tournament so far – collecting the man-of-the-match award in taking the clippers to Ireland and then giving the Scots a haircut with another forceful display in the win at Murrayfield.