Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, October 29.
Retallick facing ban for Wales clash
All Blacks star Brodie Retallick could miss next weekend's autumn clash with Wales after being sent off in his side's 38-31 win over Japan in Tokyo.
The experienced lock was dismissed for a dangerous clear-out on Japan's Kazuki Himeno, and is now a real doubt for the remainder of New Zealand's upcoming schedule.
It remains to be seen what sort of punishment will be dished out to the 31-year-old, but it seems likely he will miss the trip to Cardiff on November 5. He could also miss out on the clash with England at Twickenham on November 19.
In their report from Tokyo, Kiwi outlet Stuff wrote: "The biggest issue, in the short-term, is whether the experienced Retallick, who was sent-off for a dangerous clean-out on loose forward Kazuki Himeno in the 65th minute, will take any further part in this tour. That will be up to the judiciary in the days ahead, but given the desire to scrutinise acts that jeopardise the safety of players these days you wouldn't be confident of the outcome favouring Retallick, who became the eighth All Blacks to be sent-off - and the fifth in the last four years."
Edwards: Wales can stand up to anyone
Shaun Edwards says a full-strength Wales can stand up to anyone, and he wouldn't be surprised to see Alun Wyn Jones at the next World Cup.
Wales are seeking to earn their first win over New Zealand since 1953 this autumn, and know history will be very much against them when they step out onto the Principality Stadium turf.
However, the former Wales defence coach is convinced there is enough talent within the ranks of Wayne Pivac's side to beat any side in the world.
In a Q&A with the Daily Mail, he said: "’ll go back to 2007, when I was asked to work with the Welsh team and I spoke to Clive Griffiths, their defence coach when they won the Grand Slam in 2005. He said when Wales have their best players available, they can challenge anyone, but when they suffer injuries, because they only have four professional teams, it hurts them. When Wales have Biggar and Faletau and all their stars playing, they can be a match for anybody, especially in Cardiff."
Another totemic player in recent years has been Alun Wyn Jones, and Edwards believes the 37-year-old could yet squeeze in another World Cup campaign before hanging up his boots. "I wouldn’t put it past him," he added. "He’s an extraordinary individual."
Peel focusing on positives amid disciplinary woes
Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel insists there were positives to take from his side's defeat to Leinster on Friday night, but admits something has to be done about their ongoing disciplinary issues.
Three second-half yellow cards did not help as the Welsh side slumped to a 35-5 defeat at the hands of Leinster. However, he insists there were a few reasons for positivity.
"I spoke to the guys, in terms of physicality in the first half, I felt we matched them," Peel said. "They're a good side with a lot of power but I felt we matched them. We created our line breaks but we weren't accurate. In terms of effort, the guys went hard. Accuracy let us down at times and that led to pressure and indiscipline again.
"That's obviously an area we need to be better in. Ten cards over this period of games is tough, particularly being down to 13 at one point. We need to look at that drastically in the next couple of weeks and make sure we're better in that area. In terms of our inaccuracy, when they had line breaks, they finished them. That's the reality of it. We weren't accurate when we had opportunities and discipline let us down."
Darracq hails depth
France coach Thomas Darracq says he's delighted by the level of depth in his squad after watching his side sweep Italy aside 39-3 to book their place in the semi-finals of the Women's Rugby World Cup.
Winger Joanna Grisez claimed a hat-trick in a dominant French performance, with hosts New Zealand now awaiting them in the final four.
"We are in the semi-finals of the World Cup, this is excellent news," Darracq said in L'Equipe. "Our first objective was to qualify in the last four. Scoring nearly 40 points against Italy is a great performance."
"We are really lucky to have a homogeneous squad," Darracq added. "When they came in, the replacements showed a lot of speed. It was an objective - to maintain our speed to the end.
"It is very important that the whole group is involved in order to go for victory...
"The message at half-time was to be patient. We knew we had an edge on the Italian team but we wanted to go too fast. The score at half-time should have been more, but we asked the players to play closer to the line, to attack the spaces where Italy were waiting to counter.
"We still have room for improvement but despite everything the scoreline is there and there is great satisfaction."
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