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Wounded Wales release eight Six Nations players back to the regions
By Liam Heagney
Warren Gatland has reacted to Saturday’s latest Guinness Six Nations defeat by releasing eight Wales squad players back to their regions ahead of next weekend’s URC action. The Welsh went down 10-20 to England at Principality Stadium, their third straight February loss and their worst start to the championship since 2007.
Wales now face a must-win March 11 Six Nations match away to Italy and preparations for that wooden spoon showdown have begun with a number of players getting released to get some URC game time under their belt.
The list includes Bradley Roberts, Rhys Carre and Dillon Lewis, the three front-rowers who appeared off the Wales bench in the second half of the loss to the English.
A WRU statement read: “The following players have been released to their regions this week and are available for selection:
- Cardiff Rugby: Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Teddy Williams;
- Dragons: Leon Brown, Bradley Roberts, Aaron Wainwright;
- Ospreys: Rhys Davies, Keiran Williams.
“They will rejoin Wales camp after the weekend’s United Rugby Championship matches to continue preparations for the fourth round Guinness Six Nations match against Italy on Saturday, March 11.”
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Latest Comments
You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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