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Wales Online
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Katie Sands

Today's rugby headlines as England star publicly apologises amid laughing accusation and Scotland suffer blow for Wales match

Here are the latest rugby headlines on Sunday, February 6.

Luke Cowan-Dickie publicly apologises and explains laughing

England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has issued a public apology after he conceded a vital penalty try and yellow card to help Scotland claim a 20-17 Six Nations victory.

England's most prolific carrier in the second Six Nations match of round one, he deliberately knocked the ball into touch, preventing Scotland winger Darcy Graham from getting on the end of a 66th-minute Finn Russell cross-kick near the try line as he looked certain to score.

England's 17-10 lead was wiped out and, a man down, fly-half Russell kicked a game-winning penalty for Scotland to retain the Calcutta Cup, although England had a succession of attacking scrums in overtime which they could not convert into points.

"Just want to apologise to all you supporters," the Exeter front-rower wrote on Saturday night. "I let myself and you guys down.

"Every time I play for my country I want nothing more than to make you guys proud. Thanks for all the support. Looking forward to bouncing back next week!"

When questioned by a Twitter user about why he was laughing as he exited the field, Cowan-Dickie responded: "Laughing at the ball boy giving me abuse. Didn’t want to say anything as my head was gone. Wasn’t laughing at what I did".

Former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney dubbed Cowan-Dickie's actions "absolutely crazy", telling Virgin Media Sport: "He’d done all the hard work, he got himself into the right position. He timed his jump into the air really well, got his two hands up in the air, and then just decided to bat it into touch. It was absolutely crazy stuff. We always loathe to put the blame on one person, but he has cost his team this game."

England head coach Eddie Jones did not share that opinion, telling the BBC: "We don't apportion any blame to Luke. He was contesting a ball in a different area [to where he usually finds himself] and the referee adjudicated it was a yellow card so we accept that and get on with it. Luke is disappointed, that happens in the moment. He played exceptionally well and he is very disappointed, but all the boys are supporting him."

Read more: France v Italy Six Nations kick-off time, TV channel and team news

Sam Warburton: 'I bet Scotland can't wait to get to Cardiff'

Former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton believes Scotland will be itching to get to Cardiff next weekend to face Wales as they try to maintain momentum after beating England.

A battered Wales side, who lost to Ireland 29-7 on Saturday, will host Gregor Townsend's men on Saturday in their first home game of their title defence, and Warburton believes the Scots will be counting down the days.

"I bet they can't wait to get down to Cardiff because if they go to Cardiff and they win down there, then they've sent a proper message to everybody in Europe," he told BBC's Six Nations coverage.

"The quality of the opposition in this year's Six Nations is really high across a lot of teams so it is literally one game at a time. If Scotland come down to Wales, that's a massive statement if they win."

Ominously, former Scotland flanker John Barclay added: "Scotland can be much better."

Scotland suffer injury blow for Wales match

Scotland boss Gregor Townsend does not expect Jamie Ritchie to be available to face Wales after the flanker went off injured against England.

The 25-year-old Edinburgh back-rower was seen on crutches at the end of the game.

"It’s not looking great for Jamie just now," Townsend said.

"When you’re on crutches and struggling to walk, it’s not great.

"It seemed to be the hamstring and groin area. From what I could tell, the motion he made attempting to compete for the ball, he sort of did the splits.

"So, yeah, he’s in a bit of pain. So I wouldn’t expect him to be available next week. But from what I hear, everyone else seems to be OK."

Townsend insisted that Scotland "have to back it up next week" against Wales following their thrilling win over England.

"It was far from perfect," Townsend said.

"We had to absorb a lot of phase attack from England, and through our errors, we weren't able to build our own phase attack. We were proud of how we played in the final quarter.

"It's a game we not only get up for, but we know we deliver close to our best rugby. Today wasn't our best rugby, but our standards are higher than they were a few years ago.

"We have set really good standards in defence over the last couple of years. We know how much this means to our supporters and the whole nation - we have to back it up next week."

Eddie Jones: 'Wait for the video'

Eddie Jones managed to find some room for humour after England's defeat by joking that he had a Rassie Erasmus-like video in the works after referee Ben O'Keeffe's decisions.

O'Keeffe could have rewarded England's scrum dominance at the end of the fixture by giving a penalty which would have enabled them to tie the game and the Kiwi was busy in the closing stages of an engrossing match.

In reference to Rassie Erasmus' lengthy video critique of the officials during South Africa's victory over the Lions last summer, Jones joked that he would emulate the Springboks boss.

"It was three points at the end and the referee becomes pretty influential in those situations," Jones said.

"Wait for the video, I have got the production team on it now. It is called 'Rassie In Love With'. That is my production team so I am getting ready."

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