These are your morning headlines on Tuesday, March 8.
Lions star Jones could be dropped
Wales are considering dropping Lions star Wyn Jones for the match against France.
Wayne Pivac is already set to spring one surprise by selecting Seb Davies at blindside flanker, with the other mooted change seeing Gareth Thomas come in for Jones at loosehead.
Jones was part of a solid scrummaging effort against England, but the Welsh props' lack of involvement around the park has become a concern.
Between them, Wyn Jones (1) and Tomas Francis (0) managed just one carry between them, compared with Ellis Genge (13) and Kyle Sinckler (11) putting in 24 runs as a pair.
The Welsh duo also failed to make a single metre, while Messrs Genge (68) and Sinckler (30) gained 98 metres.
Thomas came off the bench against England and had nine runs into the heart of the England cover, making 43 metres.
Pivac names his team on Wednesday.
Welsh second-row quits Russian club after invasion of Ukraine
Welsh second-row James Down has quit Lokomotiv Penza following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Down, who played 132 times for Cardiff Blues, has been playing in Russia since signing for the club in July 2020, but he has now returned to Wales and is looking for a new club.
"I made the decision I wasn't going to go back, for safety and because politically I don't agree with what is happening," Down told BBC Sport.
"I felt fine about the situation, we had left Russia for a training camp (to Turkey) and when we left we thought everything would be ok in terms of, we didn't think there would be an invasion, we just thought it was a political statement for leverage.
"A couple of days into the camp we heard that Russia had invaded and it was time to come home then.
"I just told the club I was resigning, basically. It is hard to be in a country that is doing what it is doing, an unjustifiable war.
"I don't feel comfortable being there while all this is going on. I don't think my club see how big this war is, I think they think this will just blow over, that's kind of their view, but they did accept my decision."
Down left Russia with no chance to retrieve his possessions, however he added "my problems are nothing compared to the suffering of the Ukrainian people, it is my inconvenience, but unfortunately all my stuff is in Penza in Russia".
"I was 100% happy with the decision to play out there, the Russian people, the majority, have been good to me and have helped me and I had a great experience over there both playing and off-the-field with my experiences in Russia as well," he added.
"How the situation is now, I can't believe it really, it is so sad that this has happened."
Warburton says France best team in the world right now
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton says France are "red-hot favourites" in Cardiff on Friday night - but added that a Wales win wouldn't surprise him one bit.
The visitors have made a stunning start to the tournament, seeing off Italy, Ireland and Scotland and are on for the Grand Slam.
Results have been good and performances in some way even better, with the Scots in particular swotted aside in Edinburgh.
Warburton feels the French are arguably the best side in the world right now and sees them as heavy favourites, but he stopped short of ruling out Wales altogether.
Warburton said on the Times' The Ruck podcast : "It's strange, the situation I am in, I can plonk myself on the journalist side of the fence and look at it objectively. Then I can plonk myself, which feels like it's not long ago, straight back into the team environment where I'd absolutely be raring to go and loving it, because I used to remember doing press conferences and somebody would ask 'can you beat France?'
"They want the headline 'yeah', they want the definitive yes, 'Warburton says Wales will beat France'. I used to remember thinking 'I can't do this anymore' because you are damned if you do, damned if you don't.
"This is how I feel now with Wales. If you said to me 'are we better than France?' Categorically no. Of course we're not better than France. France are arguably the best team in the world right now. Can we beat France? Absolutely. That's how I sort of feel with this game.
"France of course are red-hot favourites, and if I had to put money down then obviously I'd put it down on France.
"But if Wales win, I would not be surprised in the slightest, because they have this strange resilience which just comes out every now and then. Of course France are red hot, but coming to Cardiff, and anybody who was in Cardiff for the Scotland game will realise it's just different.
"It's different now, particularly with Covid and the atmosphere, that will be a big plus. I expect France to win but can Wales win? Yes, of course they can, and I wouldn't be surprised.
"And I also think in the Six Nations, we always have an upset which sort of throws us off. I thought it might have been Scotland against France. But I was absolutely blown away by how good France were which I was. I am... not concerned for Wales, but if France turn up with the same level as they were then, then I think there will be one winner."
Jenkins: I didn't sleep for days after France sickener
Wales defence coach Gethin Jenkins says he "didn’t sleep for three or four days" after the narrow defeat to France last year.
The men in red conceded a late, late try in Paris to lose 32-30 and missed out on the Grand Slam in the process.
It was gutting for all involved, and Jenkins, speaking ahead of the France game in cardiff this coming Friday, said it took some time to shake off the disappointment.
“It was bitter sweet wasn’t it? I probably didn’t sleep for three or four days after that game," he said.
“It was one which got away from us. There’s a little bit of a driver in it but I think they are a little bit of a different team to that now.
“It was the big occasion where we just came up short. It was a ride we went on and they managed to pip us at the end.
“I don’t think that game will have an effect on how we prepare this week. There’ll be a few technical bits that maybe we saw that we did well that me might try and impose again on them.
“There’s not too much apart from disappointment from that game really.”
There is no prospect of a clean sweep for Wales following their defeats to Ireland and England, but Les Bleus are still in with a shout.
Can Wales feed off the pressure the away side will be feeling at the Principality Stadium? Jenkins isn't too sure of that scenario.
“They went to Scotland and put them away quite easily in the last game so I wouldn’t say they are feeling the pressure too much," he said.
“They’ve got so many quality players we have to be really on top of our game to compete with them this weekend.
“I feel we can but we’ve got to be right up there physically and mentally.”
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Dombrandt and Underhill face wait
Alex Dombrandt and Sam Underhill will have the chance to train their way into selection contention for England's Six Nations clash with Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.
Dombrandt remains a doubt after testing positive for Covid-19, with England ready to give the Harlequins number eight an opportunity to prove his health and fitness in training on Thursday.
Underhill, meanwhile, has returned to the England set-up for the first time since the autumn, having battled Covid, illness and injury to be back in the Test arena.
But the Bath flanker must prove his sharpness in training on Tuesday, to push his way into the selection picture.
England coach Eddie Jones said of Quins powerhouse Dombrandt: "He'll be a chance, but we've just got to wait and see how he recovers from Covid.
"He has to do all the cardiac tests, and then we'll see on Thursday whether he can train, and participate in the training at the necessary level.
"And if that's the case then he has a chance to play against Ireland."
Dombrandt tested positive for Covid on Friday and missed England's training camp in Bristol last weekend due to initial isolation.
England's readiness to hand Dombrandt the brunt of the week to prove his availability for selection indicates the growing faith in the 24-year-old from taskmaster boss Jones.
Underhill was omitted from England's tournament opener against Scotland having been forced to navigate head-injury issues.
The loose forward suffered nasty-looking blows to the head against Gloucester on Boxing Day, and then again in action against Leinster in January.
The 25-year-old returned to Gallagher Premiership action as Bath edged out Bristol 29-27 on Saturday however, and now has the chance to impress with England.
"He's a quality player, he's had a difficult season, with Covid, sickness and a few injuries," Jones said of Underhill.
"He's a little bit off his best but we'll give him the opportunity to train tomorrow and see where he's up to.
"And if he's at the necessary level to play an international game against Ireland, then he'll come into the consideration for the 23."
England added Nic Dolly and Alex Mitchell to their squad on Sunday night, with the pair included for the first time since the 2021 Autumn Nations Series.
Bath's Orlando Bailey and Harlequins' Luke Northmore were also added to the ranks.
Wing Louis Lynagh on Monday evening became the second Harlequins player to withdraw from the training squad because of a positive Covid test.
It rules Lynagh out of the Ireland clash, although as a fringe player he was deemed unlikely to make his international debut in round four.
Further testing has produced no more positive results amongst players and staff.
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