Here are the latest rugby evening headlines on Monday, March 28.
World Cup qualification probe launched
Next year's Rugby World Cup has been rocked by potential scandal after World Rugby launched a probe into claims Spain could have fielded an ineligible player during the qualification process.
Spain qualified for next year's World Cup for the first time in 24 years earlier this month, beating Portugal along the way to seal their spot. The Spaniards actually missed out on a play-off spot for the last World Cup after being sanctioned and deducted 40 points for fielding an ineligible player. They are due to be in Scotland's group this time.
A statement from the global governing body said: "World Rugby will convene an independent judicial committee to examine a potential breach of World Rugby Regulation 8 (eligibility to play for national representative teams) by the Spanish Rugby Union (FER) during the Rugby Europe Championship 2021 and 2022, which doubled as the European qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2023.
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"World Rugby was made aware of a potential breach concerning one member of the Spanish national men’s senior team. Having concluded initial enquiries, the international federation believes a formal independent review is warranted as provided for by the World Rugby Regulations. The Spanish Rugby Union has been fully cooperative throughout the initial enquiries.
"World Rugby’s independent Judicial Panel Chairman Christopher Quinlan QC has been asked to form the judicial committee to achieve certainty as soon as possible given any potential impact on Rugby World Cup 2023. Quinlan has appointed Nigel Hampton QC (chair), Pamela Woodman and Frank Hadden to the committee.
"With the process now live, World Rugby will not be making further comment until its conclusion."
Brian Moore claims England Women should play men's U20s
Brian Moore has suggested England Women should play the men's Under-20s to really test themselves ahead of this autumn's Rugby World Cup if standards of conventional opponents do not improve.
Simon Middleton's England team cruised to a nine-try 57-5 win over Scotland in round one of the Women's Six Nations at the weekend o take their winning streak to 19 games.
Moore has called on other Unions to up their investment and commitment to women's rugby to even up the competition, the title of which is only seriously challenged for by the Red Roses or semi-professional France. Wales have introduced contracts this year, but the remaining three sides remain amateur.
"Which team is going to put them under the sort of pressure they need to force them into good habits and test them in the way they want, and need, before they try to go one better than their runners-up place in the last Rugby World Cup?" Moore wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
"The only real solution is for their competitors to make the necessary improvements that even up the levels of competition. If the England Women’s team cannot find the sort of physical and technical challenge that they need in ordinary fixtures against conventional opponents, they should look to see if it is possible to have structured training sessions and games against the England Under-18 or Under-20 male teams. Purists might baulk at this sort of crossover and in an ideal world, where every Tier 1 union valued and invested in women’s rugby, this would not be necessary. Until then, they might have to be creative."
He was forced to further explain his points on social media after receiving a number of negative comments and criticism pointing out safety issues., He: "I said this might be an option worth exploring in structured training or games, if they cannot get the other unions to match their current levels of performance."
Wales told to champion off-the-ball work
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham wants his side to champion work off the ball as they chase more Six Nations success after a dramatic win over Ireland in round one.
Wales, with professionals and semi-professionals in their ranks for the first time, next face Scotland at Cardiff Arms Park this Saturday (4.45pm kick-off) where they will be bidding to make it two wins from two, and Cunningham has been elaborating on the type of rugby he wants his side to play.
"We want to challenge teams with ball in hand but also having a strong platform," he said. "I think in any game you’ve got to be able to provide ball, front-foot ball. Just having that physical edge but being able to move the ball into space when we identify it."
As for what he wants fans to take away from watching Wales, he said: "I’d want them to see the girls working extremely hard, being first to everything, but with a high skill set and enjoying each other’s company, and enjoying working hard. That’s the biggest thing that we put a lot of emphasis on. Maybe champion the things that people don’t see so much, stuff off the ball which ultimately leads to success on the ball."
Wales headed into this standalone tournament as something of an unknown, with nobody really sure of what to expect after a new professional set-up kicked in in January. As for what other teams are expecting, the Wales boss added: "There’s two schools of thought there. One will look at us and go ‘right, Wales think they’re improving, let’s go after them and see what they’ve got’.
"I’m sure there’ll be others looking at maybe from a point of view of ‘that’s where we need to be’, if they’re not in the same position as us currently. If we keep progressing and things move forward, I’m sure teams will be looking ‘Wales have done this, we need to mirror them’. But I think the bar is going up everywhere. You look at the Black Ferns have contracted 30 players, England are where England are. Globally, the women’s game is exciting but the bar gets raised all the time."
'Fiji should have beaten Wales in the autumn'
Fiji head coach Vern Cotter believes his team should have beaten Wales last autumn.
Wayne Pivac's Wales won 38-23 in November in Cardiff after winger Eroni Sau was sent off for a swinging arm which connected with Wales centre Johnny Williams in the 25th minute when Fiji had been leading 13-7. Cotter, who was unable to be at the match due to travel restrictions, also saw his men pick up two yellow cards.
Fiji will face Tonga and Samoa this July before autumn Tests against Ireland, Scotland and the French Barbarians and Cotter is hoping all of those experiences will aid his team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where Fiji face Wales, Australia, Georgia and one other in the pool stages.
"We’re not wasting time and we have to get better in every game", Cotter said, via RugbyPass. "Come the World Cup we’ve got to be stronger, tough and mentally tougher. We (Flying Fijians) should have beaten Wales but we gave it away in those last few minutes. We should work on how to manage our game right to the final whistle. It makes a big difference to win by three points or to lose by three."
