Here are the rugby evening headlines on Wednesday, January 19.
North return schedule revealed
George North could be back in action for the Ospreys some time next month, raising the possibility of the Wales utility back being fit to face England in the Six Nations on February 26.
The 105-cap player has been sidelined since damaging knee ligaments playing for his region against Cardiff last year.
But the Ospreys say he is in the final stages of his recovery and are hoping he’ll be back sooner rather than later.
“George North is showing some good progress, which is great,” reported the Llandarcy-based region’s head coach Toby Booth.
“We’re hoping to get him back in February at some point.”
Whether North will be ready to face Eddie Jones’ side at Twickenham will depend on the big man successfully navigating the coming weeks of his recovery and how he reacts after returning to playing action.
Further good news for the Ospreys and potentially for Wales is that Dan Lydiate has completed a week of training amid hopes that he could be available for selection next week.
But the outlook is less upbeat on Justin Tipuric.
He’s already been ruled out of the Six Nations because of a shattered scapula and there is no clear indication as to when he’ll play again, with the Ospreys expecting the Wales and Lions flanker to be out for ‘months rather than weeks’.
“We’ve had some second-opinion scans recently and I can confirm that he’s not going to be involved from a Six Nations point of view,” said Booth.
“The injury isn’t where we hoped it would be, so it’s going to take a long time to get that right.
“So he’s probably going to miss out on that and he’s back when he’s back and how he responds.
“Without doubt it’s going to be months rather than weeks now. It’s very sad for him.
“The same support we put around our fit players we need to put around our injured players, because the mental element of that [the injury and time out] is very disappointing.”
Asked if he felt the openside would feature at all this season, the coach said: “We need to get through the next couple of months before I can make an accurate decision on that.
“At the moment it’s just coming to the reality of what we do next.
“As an organisation we’ll get him involved in stuff where he can contribute as soon as possible.
"The disappointing thing for him is that he saw the goalposts were right in front of him. We’d got him back to doing some training, then, under pressure there were a few warning signs. Under further investigation, we found the injury is not fixed as it needs to be.
“And in the sport we play you can’t carry that because you’ll end up doing some serious damage.”
Dan Biggar reveals stick from team-mates
New Wales captain Dan Biggar has revealed that a bit of banter came his way after he was named as the leader of Wayne Pivac's side for the 2022 Six Nations.
He also insisted that the new role will not change his approach to matches.
The vastly-experienced 95-cap fly-half was handed the role by Pivac with Alun Wyn Jones currently sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Ellis Jenkins and Jonathan Davies both captained Wales in the autumn but Biggar has been selected as skipper this time around as he is more assured of his place in the starting XV.
"With the amount of injuries and the great man Alun Wyn [Jones] missing, it opened up an opportunity for someone to take the reins," said the fly-half.
“I was really pleased that Wayne called me Sunday evening and offered it to me. I’m really proud but I’ve tried not to think about it too much in that sense.
“The first thing I said to Wayne when I accepted was I didn’t want it to change who I am as a player and Wayne was in full agreement of that as well.
“I didn’t want it to become all about me, or change me as a person with the lads or anything like that. So I’m just really excited [about the captaincy] and excited to get going.
“I’ve had a few messages from the lads sort of taking the mick a bit yesterday and a fair bit of stick but I’m sure they’ll get over that within the next couple of days.”
Gregor Townsend names Scotland Six Nations squad
Gregor Townsend has named five uncapped players in Scotland's 39-man squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.
Saracens back-rower Andy Christie and London Irish scrum-half Ben White are two of the new faces in the pool.
Rory Darge, Ben Vellacott and Kyle Rowe are also rewarded with call-ups ahead of Scotland's first game of the championship against England at Murrayfield on Saturday February 5.
Bath centre Cameron Redpath, who enjoyed a memorable debut against England last year, has recovered from injury and will once again be in contention ahead of the Six Nations opener.
Ewan Ashman, Jamie Hodgson, Josh Bayliss, Javan Sebastian, Pierre Schoeman, Rufus McLean and Sione Tuipulotu, who all received their first Scotland caps in the recent autumn Tests, are included once again.
Elsewhere there are call-ups for Edinburgh back-row Magnus Bradbury and prop WP Nel, who missed out on selection for the Autumn Nations, as well as Exeter lock Jonny Gray, who also returns.
Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson is included having not featured for Scotland in 2021.
Captain Stuart Hogg is joined by fellow British and Irish Lions Finn Russell, Ali Price, Zander Fagerson, Chris Harris, Rory Sutherland, Duhan Van Der Merwe and Hamish Watson.
Fraser Brown, Adam Hastings, Sean Maitland and George Horne are among the most notable omissions.
The squad will meet up at Oriam on Monday 24 January for a training camp before reconvening the following week ahead of the Calcutta Cup clash.
Wasps suffer European setback Umaga hit with ban
Wasps have suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup knockout phase after Jacob Umaga was banned for four weeks following his sending-off against Toulouse on Saturday.
Umaga, who plays at fly-half and full-back, received his second red card in as many matches for a dangerous tackle on scrum-half Martin Page Relo in the first half of a defiant victory at the CBS Arena.
An independent disciplinary hearing decided that contact had been made with Relo's head and issued the sanction that rules Umaga out of the next four games, starting with Sunday's pivotal trip to Munster.
London Irish hooker Agustin Creevy has been suspended for three weeks for striking with the head in Saturday's Challenge Cup victory over Edinburgh.
Connacht centre Bundee Aki received a citing commissioner warning for an act of dissent towards referee Mathieu Raynal and Newcastle full-back Mike Brown had a citing for a dangerous tackle dismissed.
Mike Brown names best England winger he's played with
Mike Brown insists a resurgent Jack Nowell must be restored to England's backline after acclaiming him as the greatest winger he has played alongside.
Nowell is in contention to win his first cap since the 2019 World Cup in the Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 5 after overcoming a dire run of injuries.
Impressed by his renewed impact for Exeter, Eddie Jones recalled the 28-year-old to his 36-strong training squad that will begin preparations for the Championship in Brighton next week.
Nowell, who owns a pub in his home town of Newlyn, has benefited from giving up alcohol and losing a stone and a half in weight and England's most capped full-back Brown believes he still has the x-factor to make a difference.
"If I had to choose one winger to play alongside me it would definitely be him," Land Rover ambassador Brown told the PA news agency.
"He's the best wing I've played alongside and I've played alongside a lot of unbelievable wingers. He's such a talent, he does things that other wingers can't do.
"He has the fundamentals at the highest level locked down - he's great under the high ball, has great kicking skills and positionally he's brilliant.
"But he also has that stardust, he's unbelievable at beating players and he always beats the first defender.
"He's strong on his feet and he's quick, but I also love that he does the pick and goes and the hard stuff like getting over the ball.
"He's involvements are top class and are all over the field - he gets his hands on the ball around the ruck, off nine, out wide, constantly out of the back of shape."
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