Here are the latest rugby headlines on Thursday, October 13.
Dragons bid to silence Faletau
Dragons boss Dai Flanagan has told his team to stop Talupe Faletau and Cardiff's plethora of stars as they prepare to clash at the Arms Park this weekend.
The game will be played against a backdrop of Cardiff coach David Young claiming the Welsh regions are 20 points behind other teams in the United Rugby Championship.
Flanagan strongly disputes that, insists the Welsh teams are brimful of quality players and should fancy their chances against anyone.
Read more: WRU announce plans to improve fan experience at Wales autumn internationals
He feels Cardiff have a number of 'X-Factor' stars, Wales and Lions No.8 Faletau among them.
“Taulupe Faletau has been pretty decent since he has come on board," said Flanagan. "If we are being honest, he won them the game against Munster. I thought he was different class in what was an evenly contested game. He was good last weekend again versus the Scarlets. I know he didn’t have much of the ball, but he made his tackles.
“Our job is to make Taulupe just another player for them. That will be tough. He will find ways of breaking us, I am sure, in certain parts. We’ve just got to recover and stick together well.
“I can’t remember him having a bad game. I watched him as a teenager in one of his first games for Cross Keys against Cardiff at the Arms Park when I was still part of the Blues. I remember thinking ‘Wow, who is this No 8?’
“Cardiff have got a lot of talent throughout their squad, a lot of X-factor players, a lot of internationals. We know what’s coming. We have to take away time and space in all elements of the game. If you give people of the quality they have time and space, they are going to hurt you.
“Cardiff is a big club. It’s the capital city of Wales. Rightly so, everyone wants to have a go at them. We are no different this week. We can’t wait to get stuck into them."
Hardy relishing scrum-half rivalry
Kieran Hardy insists he is relishing the scrum-half rivalry with the Scarlets alongside Wales duties.
Despite starting all three matches for Wales in the South Africa Test series, Hardy has worn nine just once this season for the Scarlets. However, the 26-year-old believes the strength in depth, with Gareth Davies and up-and-coming talent Dane Blacker competing with him for a starting spot, will be of benefit.
"It just makes you a better player with that challenge, that knowing other boys are pushing behind you," he said.
"That's something you've got to accept sometimes, that if you're not playing well, then you probably won't get the opportunity next week.
"I didn't take my opportunity in Treviso [against Benetton], I probably wasn't good enough on that day."
Scarlets face Zebre on Saturday at Parc y Scarlets, Dwayne Peel's side looking to register their first win of the United Rugby Championship campaign.
Wales gear up for World Cup clash against Black Ferns
Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap says their last-minute win against Scotland in their World Cup opener has given them the confidence to express themselves against reigning champions New Zealand on Sunday.
Scrum-half Keira Bevan slotted a penalty with the last kick of the game to snatch an 18-15 win, ensuring Ioan Cunningham's side got the vital victory needed if they are to have any hope of exiting the group.
Now, Wales face the Black Ferns in the early hours of Sunday (for UK viewers), with the world champions posting a 41-17 win over Australia in round one.
"There is huge excitement that we're going to be playing them in their home World Cup," Lillicrap said in her BBC Sport column. "They will be a different type of animal, we are not used to playing them, the last time we played them in a Test was at the 2017 World Cup, although we did have a training game against them last year.
"The brand of rugby they play is very different. They play with a lot of flair, lots of offloads and they'll attack from anywhere. But our win against Scotland has given us the confidence to go and express ourselves.
"It's good for us to be the underdog as all eyes will be on New Zealand, we have shown glimpses of what we can do and there's more to come. We absolutely believe as a squad that we can put in a performance."
Football success affects rugby - finance expert
Rugby union's reluctance to address football's commercial dominance has contributed to the crises which have engulfed Premiership clubs Wasps and Worcester, according to a sports finance expert. The teams have been suspended from the Premiership, with Wasps having earlier withdrawn from this weekend's match against Exeter and announcing it was "likely" they would enter administration.
Kieran Maguire, a lecturer from the University of Liverpool Management School, believes the sport has been slow to act to address the issues it faces.
"Rugby is still a relatively new professional sport and in many aspects it's being run in an amateur way in terms of cash flow and cost control and governance, all the dull words that get accountants excited," he told the PA news agency. "I know rugby fans would be upset about rugby being called a minority sport, but football is too successful. It takes too many of the column inches and too much of the broadcasters' focus, because it delivers in terms of eyeballs.
"That's a challenge - how does rugby increase its income streams and control costs? I think there's a reluctance to address that. So trying to find a solution is genuinely challenging. I think there will always be a rugby, but in terms of the level of expenditure I'm not convinced that it can go on as it has done historically."
Read next:
Welsh rugby cult hero Nick Williams recovering from cardiac arrest
Wales' expected plan to unleash Christ Tshiunza in a different way
Tom Shanklin names the gifted young Wales bolter Wayne Pivac must pick for autumn Tests
The final Wales experiments and wildcard call-ups Pivac will consider this week
World Cup ball to be named in memory of Welsh rugby legend as beautiful gesture made
