Your rugby morning headlines for Saturday, April 2.
Welsh rugby dealt 'reality check'
Dean Ryan says the Dragons - and Welsh rugby - have had a reality check in light of recent results in South Africa.
So far the regions are seven defeats in seven matches on their trips to the country in the URC, with the Ospreys the last to finish their tour against the Stormers today.
And Wales head there on a summer tour later this year with three daunting Tests against the defending world champions on the horizon.
After watching his side ship another 50 points, this time at the hands of the Sharks, Ryan felt a warning had been issued.
"We can’t answer the power that is coming at us and that’s a reality check for us, it’s a reality check for Wales coming into three Tests in June. There is some gulf between ourselves and the South Africa sides when it comes to power.
“There’s a gulf and we can’t hide from that. We’re getting a good insight into what power at the top end of the game is – both at province and I’m sure Wales will find out in June at international level. At the moment, outside of a few, we don’t have regions stacked with people that can handle that power.
“I’m sure Wayne has seen all of these games. There are times when we haven’t had players available and there are times when we have.
“For us particularly, it’s about the critical mass of people to control that power, not one individual, isn’t enough across the side.
“It’s everywhere today – scrum, midfield collision, breakdown. We put some good sets together but we can’t get pressure. We cannot hold any pressure when on the first scrum we’re marched 50 metres up the field from our own ball.”
Ross Moriarty suffers injury
Wales international Ross Moriarty suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury during the Dragons' defeat to the Sharks.
In the first half, the back-rower got stuck in an awkward position whilst making a tackle and appeared in significant pain. He will now be assessed but, with TV microphones picking up his screams of agony, it looked a horror injury.
“Let’s wait and see. Initially I thought he was knocked out but he wasn’t, he’s injured a knee," said Dragons boss Dean Ryan.
“I’m not quite sure what the extent of that is at the moment. Ross wanted to get back playing and he’s probably one of a handful of players who can really impose himself physically on a South African side.
“I know he was really looking forward to this and into next week. Let’s wait and see. We don’t have many bodies like Ross so when we lose him the impact is huge."
Wales Women go again
Wales Women are back in action today as they continue their Six Nations campaign against Scotland.
Wales started with a famous comeback victory over Ireland at the RDS in Dublin last weekend and coach Ioan Cunningham has decided to go with the same starting XV against a dangerous Scotland side. More than 4,200 tickets have already been sold for the fixture which exceeds what is believed to be the current record for a standalone women's international in Wales of 4113 (Wales v England 2017).
“I want to reward the performance from last weekend, but I also wanted to give the girls the chance to play at home in front of our home fans along with their friends and family,” said Cunningham.
“I also wanted to give them an opportunity to back up a good performance, and hopefully we can do it again this weekend. It will be fantastic for us to have an atmosphere like we had last weekend or even better.
“It was excellent to be a part of. The girls thrive on it, and they love it. It’s the stage we want to be playing at. It was a great weekend, and the girls were excellent.
“It’s about trying to stay on top of that now, but also making sure we get our detail right this weekend.”
You can follow the match live here on WalesOnline
Sarries slap monster price tag on coach
English giants Saracens have named their price in a bid to ward off any interest the RFU might have in snapping up their Director of Rugby Mark McCall.
The Sarries boss has been heavily touted as a front-runner to succeed England boss Eddie Jones after the next World Cup but is under contract until 2025. And Saracens say they want an astonishing £32 million to let him go.
Dominic Silvester, who is part of the consortium that took over the club last year, told the Telegraph: "Mark and Phil are both contracted to the club until 2025 and are both very honourable guys. They are integral to Saracens going forward and put simply I would not have purchased control of the club had Mark and Phil not committed.
"Hence if the RFU comes knocking and either Mark or Phil were to tell me they wish to leave, then Lucy [Wray, Saracens chief executive] is right that I would not stand in their way, but my starting price to move out of the way would be £32 million."
