World League to be rejected

World Rugby’s proposed Nations League is expected to hit the buffers at today’s summit in Dublin amid extensive opposition to the annual tournament.

Chairman Bill Beaumont will host the meeting that will be attended by representatives from all tier one countries plus Fiji and Japan, as well as the international players’ union.

The challenge facing Beaumont is to convince the Six Nations unions to abandon “Project Light” – the pooling of TV rights from the Championship

England’s replacement scrum-half Dan Robson is undergoing medical checks after being ruled out of Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland through illness.

Robson was poised to win his third cap as Ben Youngs’ understudy at Twickenham but will now be replaced on the bench by Saracens’ Ben Spencer.

“Dan is not available and has left camp. He’s got some investigations and consultations going on. We’re trying to investigate exactly what’s wrong,” said forwards coach Steve Borthwick.

Meanwhile, England centre Manu Tuilagi has ended speculation about his future by signing a new deal with Leicester. Tuilagi’s previous contract with the Tigers was due to expire in the summer and he was in discussions with French club Racing 92 over a switch to the Top 14.

Such a move would have potentially made him unavailable for this autumn’s World Cup due to Twickenham’s edict on ignoring players based overseas but Tuilagi has now opted to remain with the Premiership club where he began his career in 2010. The length of his new deal has not been revealed.