Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, March 15.
Wales warned of thrashing
Wales could ship 70 points against France in Saturday's Six Nations finale if they defend like they did against Italy.
That's the view of prominent pundit and former England international Andy Goode, who believes Warren Gatland's side rode their luck on the way to a 29-17 win last weekend. France, meanwhile, demolished England 53-10 at Twickenham in a devastating display of try-scoring rugby.
Speaking on the Rugby Pod podcast, he said: "Wales this weekend? Oh my, they could take 70 if they defend like they did in Italy against the France.
"Wales found enough in themselves to win the game when most people had Italy down as favourites. They had a bit of luck and Rhys Webb was outstanding. First start in the Six Nations for six years at 34, he gets man-of-the-match and the emotion in his interview afterwards was amazing.
"Big players stepped up, they did enough to win but they rode their luck. On another day you are 30 points down with the number of line breaks. Italy had so many clear opportunities that they butchered and it could have been very different."
Fellow pundit Jim Hamilton raised concerns about the fragility of youngsters Joe Hawkins and Mason Grady in the Wales midfield, adding: "I think they had an issue at 12 and 13 with Hawkins and Grady. There were line breaks in those channels and they looked like they were all over the place with their communication around that."
Coach backs young centres
Wales duo Hawkins and Grady have, however, received the backing of attack coach Alex King despite those defensive issues in Rome.
Both have shown signs of real promise in the past two games they have started together and, with both men just 20-years-old, King has been impressed.
Warren Gatland names his line-up on Thursday to face Les Bleus, with both players in the frame to start a third successive game together, although Gatland will also undoubtedly consider the midfield merits of Nick Tompkins and George North.
Wales' selected centres are set to feature opposite the revered French midfield pair of Gael Fickou and Jonathan Danty after they caused England immeasurable grief in Les Bleus' 53-10 triumph at Twickenham last weekend.
"I think they (Grady and Hawkins) have been brilliant," King said.
"It is not easy, international rugby, and for two 20-year-olds to go in against England and then Italy, they have learnt a huge amount already.
"Joe has played four 80 minutes and Mason has played two 80 minutes. It's great for the future. We play these players and we give them opportunities. They've been great. They'll go back to their clubs at the end of this tournament and we'll give them things to look at. But they're really coachable and they're eager to learn. It just shows the quality of person as well as the quality of player that we've got coming through the system.
"They are going to form the nucleus of a midfield for Wales going forward.
"Fickou and Danty are probably the best combination in the world at the moment. Both sides of the ball they are physical, skilful, fast and powerful.
"If you are a young player playing against them, it is great to be able to put a marker down to see where you are against world-class opposition."
England face 'moment of truth'
Freddie Steward insists England face their moment of truth when they attempt to begin the healing process against Grand Slam-chasing Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick's team are reeling from the heaviest defeat in their Twickenham history after France amassed seven tries en route to a 53-10 rout that has sent shockwaves through English rugby.
While facing world rankings kingpins Ireland on St Patrick's weekend is the toughest possible arena in which to rebuild shattered reputations, Steward says England welcome the chance to show their character.
"Saturday was pretty bleak and I'd like to think that from there the only way is up and that we'll improve," said Steward, the only player to emerge with any credit from the wreckage of round four.
"Grief is a pretty good way to describe it. It's never nice to lose, but then to lose by a margin like that is pretty sore.
"The most frustrating thing is that we had ourselves to blame and there's no shying away from that.
"At times like this you don't want to splinter off because then the wheels would fall off. We're in a good spot at the minute because we've stayed tight.
"As (defence coach) Kevin Sinfield has said to us, these weeks define teams. When you go to the depths that we did, that's where you really challenge yourselves to pull together and come up with something.
"Hopefully we'll look back on this when we regather in a couple of months' time as a real point where we stepped up and improved."
Scotland aim to finish strong
Pierre Schoeman is adamant Scotland are in a strong position and just require some post-Six Nations "fine-tuning" in order to be ready for the World Cup later this year.
After winning their first two games, the Scots' hopes of silverware were dashed by back-to-back defeats against the world's top two sides, France and Ireland.
But prop Schoeman feels the Scots have shown in this campaign that the fundamentals are all in place for them to be successful and is confident they will be equipped to progress from a formidable World Cup group that includes South Africa and Ireland in the autumn.
"We have to believe that we have the cohesion, we have the players, team and management as well as the experience to go in against these teams," said the 28-year-old.
"That's exactly what you need to build on ahead of a World Cup and we need to use this Six Nations.
"We have to go for those first two spots, first or second (in the World Cup group).
"We know what happened in France and against Ireland, who are the best team in the world at the moment, so there are things we need to problem solve on the pitch.
"We will reflect after this campaign on what we need to fine-tune for the World Cup."
Read more:
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Wales legend explains the four changes Warren Gatland must make for showdown with French juggernaut
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