These are your morning headlines on Monday, January 23.
On a day when serious allegations against the Welsh Rugby Union, which you can read about here, will dominate the headlines, here are the other rugby stories also making the news.
Morgan nailed on to start - Shane
Shane Williams has joined the chorus of pundits waxing lyrical about Jac Morgan following his display against Leicester Tigers on Friday night.
Morgan was outstanding in a brilliant Ospreys performance at Welford Road, winning the official man-of-the-match award. WIlliams believes he should now be a stick-on pick to start against Ireland a week on Saturday.
"However well the two Welsh opensides’ played, Jac Morgan was outstanding," Williams said in his Rugby Paper column. "You’d have to say that he is now nailed on to start against Ireland, perhaps even in tandem with his Ospreys skipper, (Juston) Tipuric, as a No.8 rather than No.7. The power in his ball carrying, his tenacity in the tackle and his desire to get involved in everything was a delight to watch.
"Coming back to Austin (Healey) and Ben (Kay), their view was that ‘Tommy the Tiger’ (Tommy Reffell) was the best Welsh back row player on the field. There were six of them to choose from with the ex-Osprey Olly Cracknell at No.8 for the home side and new Wales squad member Rhys Davies at blindside for the visitors. Jac was the man for me, and also for Austin, who picked the official Heineken star of the match."
Another who Williams was impressed by was his old pal Alun Wyn Jones, who he feels fully justified the call from Gatland last week.
"As I shook the hand of Alun Wyn Jones after the game – he is the only surviving player from the defeat in Estadio Anoeta, in San Sebastian back in 2010 – I could see in his eyes just how much the win meant to him," Williams added. "All of a sudden, he had forgotten about the turnover he conceded to his old British & Irish Lions mate Dan Cole!
"The last two games, against Montpellier and Leicester, have shown how right Warren Gatland was to pick the old warhorse in his Six Nations squad. He has been immense in both games."
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Roberts: Trio have scope for massive growth
Former Wales centre Jamie Roberts says Mason Grady, Joe Hawkins and Kieran Williams are Test players in waiting and believes they have scope for a "massive amount of growth".
The trio were named in Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad last week and will meet up with their new Wales team-mates at the Vale Resort in the coming days. Roberts said he was impressed with the Kiwi's picks and labelled the squad "fantastic".
Roberts, who was appearing as a pundit for Viaplay ahead of the Dragons' clash with the Lions on Sunday, said: “I think it’s a fantastic squad. There is a lot of chat in Welsh rugby maybe about there not being strength in depth across the board, I think it’s a really exciting squad. It’s probably a squad Gatland feels he can work with to improve immensely ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
“You’ve mentioned the midfield. When you mention Mason Grady, Joe Hawkins, Kieran Williams, yes I think George (North) and Nick Tompkins have been there at Test level for a few years now, but those three young players I think... whether all three will go to the Rugby World Cup, maybe only one or two of them, so they’ll be competing against each other but (there is) huge scope for a massive amount of growth in those three.
"They are all Test players in waiting, no doubt about it.”
Nigel fears over new tackle law
Referee Nigel Owens believes new tackle laws being brought into English rugby from this summer will make things extra difficult for officials.
The RFU want the tackle height to be lowered to the waist from next season for every league below the Premiership and Championship. But Owens, the greatest referee of his generation and who took charge of the World Cup final, outlined his concerns.
"Most importantly there needs to be total clarity for the referees because it is a contact sport," WalesOnline columnist Owens told the BBC.
"It is going to be very difficult, I would think, unless there is total clarity around this to have a shift in the behaviour to referee it.
"The only issue is there are a lot of questions around this by the players who play the game, ex-players and officials and everybody involved in the game. So there's a lot of questions around this at the moment which we are finding it difficult to get answers to.
"It's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out, how will the game look.
"If the ball carrier is going to ground near the try-line, how are you going to be able to get below his waist to tackle him? How do you now set up a maul? Because the ball-carrier is on his feet, the defenders wrap around him and you can't join a maul below the waist.
"There are a lot of question marks and that is what needs to be addressed."
Ospreys face Sarries
The Ospreys will face Saracens in the last 16 of the Champions Cup later this year. They will do so away from home. Sarries went down to Edinburgh on Sunday evening, setting up a clash with Toby Booth's men in April.
The full draw: Leinster v Ulster, La Rochelle v Gloucester, Exeter v Montpellier, Toulouse v Bulls, Saracens v Ospreys, Sharks v Munster, Leicester v Edinburgh and Stormers v Harlequins
In the Challenge Cup, Cardiff have a home tie against Sale Sharks, the Scarlets host Brive and the Dragons face a trip to Glasgow to face the Warriors.
Full draw: Toulon v Cheetahs, Glasgow Warriors v Dragons, Cardiff Rugby v Sale Sharks, Bristol Bears v Clermont, Stade Francais Paris v Lyon, Lions v Racing 92, Benetton v Connacht and Scarlets v Brive.
READ MORE:
The 'insane' moment of brilliance from overlooked Wales international that caused jaws to drop
Ross Moriarty's miserable week ends with him being forced off the field with worrying injury
Wales 'in danger of losing 15 stars' and Gatland young guns dazzle in English Euro triumph
Six now on Wales' injury list in problem position as favourite to step up for Six Nations emerges
Wales close to unleashing their own 'bomb squad' and Sam Warburton is excited
