Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, March 1.
Brown tears apart Wales and Alun Wyn
England international Mike Brown believes this is the worst Wales team he has seen in his time as a professional rugby player.
And he accused Alun Wyn Jones and some of his team-mates of 'walking' around in the heat of battle during Saturday's Six Nations clash with England.
Brown, who plays for Leicester Tigers, was a guest on Rugby Pass's Offload podcast and did not mince his words.
He said: "Wales are in a real dark place on and off the field at the moment and you could see that. They have got some work to do."
He was then asked by presenter Marc Edwards if it was the worst Wales side he had ever seen in his time in the game.
“It has got to be,” he replied. “Just for me, they were slow and ponderous. There was one moment when their nine who actually was quite good, I can’t remember his name now, did a quick tap and he was off and gone and actually made some good metres and caught England and the whole team were like 20 metres away.
“And that was why they were getting beaten at breakdown, people walking. People like Alun Wyn, who is supposed to be the talisman leader, just walking around. I don’t think they were that physical and that was why they were getting turned over at breakdown. And then no adaption of their game plan.
“You were thinking at some point they are going to change it, shift to kick it or do something different because it was just every single kick was on him [Freddie Steward] and he was never going to drop it because also there was never really any pressure as well so it was like, ‘What are they doing?’ It was strange."
He concluded, with tongue firmly in cheek: "Yeah, such a shame to see from the Wales team, isn’t it?”
England star 'wiped floor' with Alun Wyn Jones
Former Scotland international Jim Hamilton has also cast doubt on his old international rival Alun Wyn Jones' continued selection, claiming England lock Ollie Chessum "wiped the floor with him" in the Wales v England match.
50-cap former Scotland lock Hamilton said he is worried about Wales' future amid seemingly poor succession planning in the squad.
Hamilton said on the Rugby Pod: "When you look at Wales you've got an aging team, with not a lot coming through. Then you've got Joe Hawkins and Mason Grady at 13, but that's a partnership we've not seen, so that's going to take time to evolve."
"Alun Wyn Jones is 52 (joke), and as much as we love Alun Wyn Jones you've got to say it - Ollie Chessum completely wiped the floor with him at the weekend. From a Gatland standpoint he has inherited this now.
"Ultimately, he's in the middle of it, whether he's head coach of director of rugby, there's rumours of him going upstairs. It is an absolute mess in Wales."
New Welsh talent would thrive with best teams in world
Wales are harbouring a talent in 20-year-old Dafydd Jenkins who would do a job for some of the best sides in the world.
That is the belief of former England and British and Irish wing Ugo Monye, who is now a respected pundit.
Second-row Jenkins has so far been restricted to a start and two appearances off the bench in this Six Nations, with Wales struggling for confidence and losing all three games to date.
But Monye has still seen enough from the Exeter Chiefs youngster to be impressed.
“You just mentioned Dafydd Jenkins,” said Monye on the Rugby Union Daily podcast.
“Imagine if he was trying to fit into the England tight five. You’ve got four British Lions within that, a pretty settled setpiece. I reckon he’d really thrive. You stick him into a French tight five or an Irish one.
“You are now trying to give opportunities to young players who are inexperienced at international level within a side that aren’t quite sure who they are. In fact, the coach doesn’t quite know what his team is. So that’s really tough and that takes time.”
Ireland are number one in the World Rugby rankings, with France a spot below them.
Baxter backs Marcus Smith decision
By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has backed the decision to release Harlequins star Marcus Smith from England duty for Saturday's Gallagher Premiership clash against the Chiefs.
Smith has played under nine minutes of Test rugby across the last two Guinness Six Nations games after starting England's tournament opener against Scotland on February 4.
England captain Owen Farrell was the fly-half in Six Nations appointments with Italy and Wales, while Smith found himself reduced to brief cameos as a replacement.
Smith was then omitted from a 26-man group for this week's England training camp in Brighton, losing out to a fit-again George Ford.
And while England head coach Steve Borthwick insists that Smith will return for preparations to face France on Saturday week, his place in the matchday 23 now looks under serious threat.
Smith looks set to line up for Quins when Exeter arrive at Twickenham, and Baxter said: "The reality is that Marcus Smith needs to play. He has not played that much.
"Despite the howls of derision from pretty much every area of the press, it seems like very good management to me to let him go and play some rugby.
"I am not necessarily pleased he has been let back to play some rugby!
"But I don't think it is the wrong thing for him to get out and get back to his club and play some rugby.
"He is still a young player, and the one thing you know young players want to do is to be on the field and playing.
"It is the right management of him to get him playing again."
Read more:
Welsh rugby club make move against WRU's governance changes and hit out at 'do or die' pressure
Welsh region admit they don't have enough money to form a squad next season
Wales international set to sign for English giants this week and throw Test career into doubt
The penny has finally dropped and this Welsh rugby crisis has a long way to run yet
