Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, February 5, ahead of a busy Six Nations weekend.
Legends tip Ireland
Rugby legends Rory Best and Tom Shanklin are tipping Ireland to emerge victorious from the Six Nations showdown with Wales.
Much has been made of the fact that Andy Farrell's men have a clean bill of health, in contrast to Wales' lengthy injury list.
Appearing on BBC show Six Nations Sin Bin on Friday night, Ireland icon Best said: "England, France and Ireland are sort of a little bit ahead. I'm really excited for this tournament and this game on Saturday to kick the whole thing off is going to be incredible.
"I think it is going to be a home win, but I am a little bit worried.
"The Wales team, they are a lot stronger than everyone thought they were going to be.
"Ireland in Dublin will be very, very hard to beat."
Former Wales centre Shanklin added: "I really want Wales to win, obviously, but I think it will be Ireland."
Jenkins comes out fighting
Wales star Ellis Jenkins has come out fighting ahead of today's Six Nations clash against Ireland.
The Welsh team have been largely written off by almost every pundit ahead of the match, with most predicting they will only finish fifth in the Championship.
A number of injuries to key personnel have underpinned that ranking, yet Wales' Six Nations history is littered with odds-defying feats.
Among the headlines this week, some Irish pundits had predicted Wales will get an absolute "spanking".
Jenkins, though, has a different view.
"If we took too much notice about every headline that was written, then we would never stop worrying about things."
"Everyone has written us off, but we are just focused on ourselves.
"We can talk all day about how good Ireland have been in the last couple of campaigns, but all that matters is how good they are this weekend and how good we are.
"We have spoken about winning the championship again. That starts on Saturday, and it is a big challenge, but that's why we play.
"I know a lot has been made in the media about Ireland having a clean bill of health, and we haven't, but it is a big opportunity for boys to step in.
"You have seen what opportunities like this have done for people before.
"Maybe boys who wouldn't have played much have come in at the last minute, or maybe come in out of the blue a little bit, and the next thing you know they are definite starters going forward through the next couple of campaigns.
"We have still got a lot of experience, we have still got a fair few boys who have got a couple of Six Nations campaigns under their belt and we've got a good few British Lions in there as well, so it is not as if we are starting again."
Owens wants TMO to be used less
Former international referee Nigel Owens has called for the TMO to be used less during the upcoming Six Nations campaign.
And he predicted controversy around big decisions is likely to be a major talking point this year.
Owens told William Hill: “With the TMO, you need the technology if you want to get the big decisions right. There are some decisions that are humanly impossible for a referee.
“But it’s not there to referee the game, or for the referee to check every single decision that becomes a try or foul play. It should be used as a last resort when you need it. If we can get back to doing that (in the Six Nations) then it will play an important part in the game. But at the moment, it’s becoming far, far too technical and it’s impacting on the game – too many stops and starts and games lasting two hours because of looking at things that don’t really need to be looked at.”
Owens feels the TMO as well as decisions around foul play will prove to be the major refereeing talking points of this year’s Six Nations.
“There’s always going to be big talking points,” he said.
“I hope it doesn’t come down to wrong or right on red cards, or a lack of or too many yellow or red cards for the wrong reasons.
If there are going to be controversies, and I hope I’m wrong, it’ll be around foul play – was the red card correct or why wasn’t one given? Or there will be too much conversation around TMO decisions, because once you’ve got the TMO it becomes very technical and scrutinised and that’s when you bring the controversy into it.
It won’t be around refereeing performances because we have talented referees. It’ll be around foul play decisions or a lack of them and TMO outcomes. These will be the big talking points.”
Simmonds insists England will feed off Scotland fan hostility
Sam Simmonds insists England will feed off the hostility at Murrayfield when they launch their Guinness Six Nations against Scotland on Saturday.
The Calcutta Cup has provided lean pickings in recent times, with Eddie Jones' men managing a solitary victory from the last four instalments of international rugby's longest running rivalry.
England arrive into Edinburgh as narrow favourites despite missing five Lions and fielding a team containing only 462 caps - 112 of them supplied by Ben Youngs - in what is the least experienced Six Nations starting XV of the Jones era.
Ranged against them is a settled Scotland side that is confident of building on last year's evidence of revival, while the swirling winds and heavy rain are expected to play into the hands of home kickers Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg.
The stage is set for an upset, but Simmonds insists England are ready to turn the tide in the fixture.
"I've not played at Murrayfield before but we've got plenty of boys in the squad who have," the Exeter number eight said.
"We've talked about the hostile environment and how we can use that and come together as a 15 and a 23, plus the boys who aren't playing.
"We've talked about results in the past and maybe we haven't played to our full potential. This week we've trained well - mentally and physically - and we're in a very good place.
"What matters ultimately is the team performance. We have come up here to win. We want to get our Six Nations off to a good start and to win up here at Murrayfield would be the perfect start."
Simmonds will perform the role of propelling England onto the front foot, with his explosive carrying the reason for his recall to the side. It has been four years since he won the last of his seven caps as he fell out of favour under Jones until his destructive running for Exeter resulted in a call-up to last summer's Lions tour of South Africa where he made an additional Test appearance.
Stuart Hogg no longer fears playing England
Stuart Hogg admitted facing England was a "scary" prospect earlier in his career but the Scotland captain now goes into Calcutta Cup clashes with no fear.
Hogg made his Scotland debut 10 years ago this month while the team were in the midst of a 10-match run without victory over their biggest rivals.
The situation has changed with Scotland only losing once in four meetings and ending a 38-year wait for victory at Twickenham 12 months ago.
Hogg said: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sometimes worried about playing England, especially in the early years.
"For me being a rugby pig growing up, some of the names you used to play against for England, it was quite a scary task.
"Not now. I truly believe in the ability of myself and the ability of the squad that we can go out there and win, and it has shown over the last four years or so.
"We view England as the same as every other team. We respect them highly, individually and collectively, they are one of the best sides in world rugby. But we know we can compete with them.
"That's the exciting thing about our squad. We get excited about this fixture, we get excited about the challenge, and it's a good one to be involved in."
Ulster go top of URC with win over Connacht
Ireland squad member Robert Baloucoune touched down twice as Ulster climbed to the top of the United Rugby Championship table with a 32-12 bonus-point win against Connacht in Belfast.
Greg Jones and hooker Declan Moore - a late addition to the starting XV - also got on the scoresheet before Baloucoune crossed at the end of each half, while Nathan Doak kicked all three conversions and two penalties.
Connacht winger Peter Sullivan was yellow-carded after only two minutes following a shuddering collision with Michael Lowry.
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