These are your rugby headlines on Wednesday, February 23.
'Wales need to muscle up for Tuilagi threat'
Neil Jenkins says Wales know they must "muscle-up" against Manu Tuilagi when he makes his expected England return on Saturday.
The powerhouse centre has recently recovered from a hamstring injury and is poised for a first Test match appearance since England's Autumn Nations Series game against world champions South Africa in November.
Wales assistant coach and skills specialist Jenkins worked with Tuilagi on the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, and he is fully aware of his threat.
"We need to be mindful of what Manu brings," Jenkins said.
"He is a very, very good rugby player and very physical. He brings a lot to England when he does play.
"It will be a little bit different with Manu playing, there is no doubting that. Whether he is carrying or a decoy runner, he certainly attracts defenders either way.
"They can use him in a couple of different ways if they need to, and I am sure they will on Saturday. One thing is simple, we have to muscle-up on him and show our intent."
Jenkins also has Lions experience from last summer's South Africa trip of gifted England fly-half talent Marcus Smith, who is set to oppose Wales for the first time this weekend.
The Harlequins playmaker has made a storming start to his international career, and Jenkins added: "He is a very talented player who seems to have a lot of time on the ball.
"He puts people in holes or is goose-stepping and taking you on. There is his kicking game as well, so he is a big threat to us and one we will have to keep a close eye on.
"It's a big defensive week for us, as it is with our attack and kicking game and set-piece. There is going to be no hiding place on Saturday, and we are going to have to be ready in every department."
Wales have not beaten England in the Six Nations at Twickenham since 2012, although they revived title hopes by defeating Scotland last time out after a tame opening weekend loss to Ireland.
"When you look back on history, you don't tend to remember the performance, you remember the win. That's what Test match rugby is all about," Jenkins said.
"I always like to think we get better as the tournament progresses. We will certainly have to be at our best on Saturday and front-up in all areas and take the game to England as best as we possibly can."
Moore spots Wales frailty
Brian Moore believes the roar of the Twickenham crowd will be a test of Wales' "belligerence" on Saturday and could be the difference between the sides.
England return to their home ground this weekend after a convincing win in Rome, having lost their opening-round match to Scotland at Murrayfield.
Opponents Wales were put to the sword in Dublin by the Irish in round one before regaining some belief with a tight, tense victory over the Scots in Cardiff.
Moore feels Wales - like other away teams - may miss the fervent support from their own home crowd in south-west London, and the passion of the England supporters will be a "crucial factor" on the day.
"England will have to overcome what nearly every Welsh player interviewed after their win over Scotland called a 'never-say-die' attitude," he said in his column for The Telegraph.
"The Welsh scrapped and turned the game into a direct confrontation, which suited them far more than the Scots. However, within that belligerence there might be frailty.
"Playing at home is not only statistically advantageous, it also sparks performances that teams do not replicate away from home. In Cardiff, every tackle, carry and turnover was greeted with roars of approval. You could see the galvanising effect that had on the Welsh forwards in particular.
"England need to carry the crowd early and if they do this it will make Wales’s job considerably harder. It can take time to incite passion into an England crowd, but when it is done, it is the equal of the passion showed by any other rugby crowd in the world. In a tournament that has produced the narrowest of winning margins this is a crucial factor and if it happens, we will see how deep this Welsh belligerence runs."
Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds helping each other in No. 8 battle
Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds are working to enhance each other's game despite their intensifying rivalry for the England number eight jersey.
The back rows are in a shoot out to start Saturday's Guinness Six Nations collision with Wales at Twickenham in a selection duel that could last all the way until next year's World Cup.
Dombrandt uses his power and rugby smarts to run devastating lines in wider channels, most effectively off Harlequins team-mate Marcus Smith, while Simmonds is an explosive carrier with electric pace.
It gives Eddie Jones two high-quality options as he finalises his starting XV ahead of Thursday's team announcement and Dombrandt insists both players are benefiting from the time spent together.
"We have a great relationship. We spend a lot of time off the pitch playing cards and chilling out and on the pitch we are trying to help each other's games," Dombrandt said.
"We are great friends and that translates into what we do sometimes on the pitch as well. We understand each other's game well.
"Any little things that we pick up, we try and help each other with. It's nothing really specific we are working on, but if we can improve each other's games we are doing that."
The two have started one game apiece so far in this Six Nations and by the end of the tournament a clearer picture of the pecking order should have emerged.
"For Sam it's about the out and out pace that he's got. There are not many other eights who pick from the base and do what he can do," Dombrandt said.
"That ability to find the try line... there are not many forwards out there that have scored more tries than him, so they're definitely the two things I pick up from him and try to improve myself on.
"For me, it's just trying to get my hands on the ball as much as possible. My work off the ball is just as important as on the ball.
"The more times I can get my hands on the ball the better and I try and impose myself on the game, but that comes first of all from the work I do off the ball.
"I'm an attack-minded player but I am also aware at this level you need an all-court game.
"Your attack has to be good but also your defence has to be up there as well, so I have been working hard on that aspect of my game as well to make sure they are on a level."
Ex-Ireland coach: 'Boks joining Six Nations 'inevitable'
Former Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan believes South Africa joining the Six Nations is “inevitable”.
Tournament organisers were quick to play down reports last week which detailed proposals for the world champions to join the European competition in three years’ time at the expense of Italy.
The news garnered a widespread negative response from the rugby community, but O’Sullivan believes it will be happen at some point.
“I think it’s inevitable that it’s going to happen,” he said.
“I’ve been saying this for 10 years. It’s much easier for South Africa to play in Europe. It’s going to change the tournament. It’ll be worth a lot more money. There will be a political realignment of rugby in the world.
“Let’s talk about Italy: The Italian experiment is over for a long time. There was a lot of talking during the week, ‘What about Italy? What about Italy?’
“Italy are in the tournament 22 years. They’ve had plenty of time to make a stamp on it, and they haven’t been able to.
“They have a 12 per cent win ratio (in the Six Nations), which means they are the whipping boy of the tournament. Ireland go in next week knowing it’s not enough to beat Italy; we’ve got to score a bonus point and rack up 30 or 40 points or we’ll pay a price at the end of the tournament. It skews the tournament.
“You can be romantic about it, ‘weekends in Rome, and keep the Italians involved’ but the truth of the matter is it’s a business venture. It’s fuelling the running of the game on the ground here. If South Africa jumped it up another level, it’s going to happen.”
Read more: The latest England v Wales headlines ahead of the weekend
Francis praises new law
Wales prop Tomas Francis has praised the new brake foot scrum law being trailed in the Six Nations.
The new law is aimed at preventing degenerative neck injuries developing in hookers.
It is now be mandatory for hookers to have one foot forward at the ‘bind’ stage of the ‘crouch, bind, set’ sequence called by the referee, with the change designed to act as a brake on scrums and prevent ‘axial loading’.
Neck injuries have previously been caused by packs leaning forward on the ‘bind’ call, sending a huge force through the spine and neck of the hooker.
World Rugby banned axial loading ahead of the 2019 World Cup, but teams still do it to try and gain an advantage at scrum-time before the referee calls ‘set’.
It would appear that refereeing the new law tightly is working well, according to Francis.
“It’s just the actual loading,” he said. "The weight going through the head on to the shoulders is a lot less, so there is more chance to get a punch. There is more of an actual set into a contest. I think it is very positive, and it is better for our health.
“Hopefully, it keeps getting reffed, and people don’t find ways. As any law comes in, people try and find a way around it. That’s rugby.
“People try and find a loophole, but hopefully it can be reffed properly.”
The Ospreys tight-head is also hopeful that the trend of less scrum penalties and resets will continue throughout the tournament.
“The ball needs to be in play,” he added.
“No-one wants to see seven re-set scrums, no-one wants to watch that.
“Some games have been messy and there have been penalties early on; some games, if it goes down after the ball has been hooked, the ref is more likely to play on.
“It’s just about the game as a brand. It has got to grow globally, and people don’t want to watch - purists do - but a lot of people don’t want to watch seven scrums re-set and the skull-duggery involved in that, so it has got to be a positive.”
O'Toole ruled out of Ireland v Italy
Ireland prop Tom O'Toole has been ruled out of Sunday's Six Nations clash with Italy due to injury.
The 23-year-old suffered a hamstring strain during Ulster's 12-0 United Rugby Championship win over Dragons at the weekend.
He is yet to feature in the Six Nations, having made his Test debut in last summer's 71-10 victory over the United States before coming off the bench to win his second cap in November's 53-7 success against Argentina.
"O'Toole will rehab the injury at Ulster and his progress will be reviewed over the coming weeks," a statement from the Irish Rugby Football Union said.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has opted not to call up a direct replacement ahead of the weekend game at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
After hosting the Italians on Sunday, the Irish next take on England at Twickenham on March 12, before concluding the tournament at home to Scotland a week later.
Wing James Lowe, who has returned from injury, and his uncapped Leinster team-mate Jimmy O'Brien were added to Farrell's squad on Monday.
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