Let’s keep all the players out of harm’s way
FINN RUSSELL will almost certainly miss Saturday’s Six Nations match in France because of a concussion suffered on club duty with Racing 92 on Sunday. It is a blow not just to Scotland but the championship itself.
There is something magnetic and mesmeric about Russell. No-one else has such a well-stocked box of tricks and the nerve to open it quite so often.
Wales’ Dan Biggar, a more prosaic stand-off but no less valuable in his own way, was also hurt at the weekend on club duty. Biggar, the choice to start at No 10 against England on Saturday for many, including former captain Sam Warburton, limped off in Northampton’s thrashing of Sale.
He was able to train yesterday but the scares surrounding the pair because they were required to play for their clubs underlines the bumpy playing field upon which the championship is staged.
England, Ireland and France are able to mothball their entire squad for both of the Six Nations’ fallow weeks whereas Wales, Scotland and Italy are not.
In the case of England and France, it has cost their unions a considerable amount to strike deals with their domestic leagues to keep their players out of harm’s way.
In Ireland the provinces do what they are told by the IRFU because they are part of the same system and, to a man, that means being rested after two punishing weekends of Test rugby.
Warren Gatland does not have the same luxury with Wales despite the partial success of the 60-cap selection rule in persuading players to stay at home. As well as Biggar, Tomas Francis and Josh Adams both played for their English clubs at the weekend. So too did Thomas Young and Jonah Holmes.
Gregor Townsend is even more exposed with Scotland, who lose the most players overseas. As well as Russell, Greig Laidlaw started for Clermont at the weekend, as did Gary Graham and Chris Harris for Newcastle. Josh Strauss, Jake Kerr and John Hardie were all involved off the bench in the Premiership.
In some cases a runaround for a fringe player might be beneficial but the last thing Italy wanted for their 35-yearold captain Sergio Parisse was to play for Stade Francais in the Top 14 on Saturday.
He could be thankful for small mercies that it was for the last 26 minutes; Leonardo Ghiraldini, of Toulouse, and Michele Campagnaro, of Wasps, started for their clubs.
The situation will get worse next season when Scotland’s Stuart Hogg and Allan Dell head south to Exeter and London Irish respectively and Matteo Minozzi, Italy’s injured full-back, moves to Wasps.
They are complicit in their own overplaying in signing more lucrative contracts to play outside their home country, but it should not be the Six Nations that suffers.
This is the shop window of the sport. The championship needs to be roped off by World Rugby, not just for the five match weekends, but for its entire duration. WALES are in line for a huge World Cup boost with scrum-half Rhys Webb set to become available again.
Webb, who won his last cap against South Africa in December 2017, has been out of the selection frame since joining Toulon, as he falls short of the 60-cap overseasbased eligibility mark.
But Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal has revealed the 30-year-old, below, is looking to return home at the end of the season – and he will not stand in Webb’s way. “His agents are offering him all over Wales while he still owes us a year on his contract,” said Boudjellal.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hold him back.”
Webb’s fiancee and three children have returned home after failing to settle in France.
The Lion, who missed the 2015 World Cup through injury, would be a certainty for Japan 2019 if he returned to one of the Welsh regions. The catch, however, could be the transfer fee Toulon would be entitled to.
❑ IRELAND lock Iain Henderson has been cited for a dangerous neck roll on Ospreys’ Simon Cross in Ulster’s 8-0 win on Friday.
NEIL SQUIRES FRANCE are today set to name the novice half-back partnership of Antoine Dupont, 22, and Romain Ntamack, 19, to face Scotland in Paris on Saturday.
The pair, with just 13 caps between them, are in line to replace Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez.
1 Italy 35mins 27.90secs, 2 Austria 35:50.80, 3 France 36:18.10, 4 Germany 36:34.80, 5 Norway 36:35.30, 6 Ukraine 36:45.80, 7 Sweden 36:47.50, 8 Estonia 36:57.50, 9 Poland 37:04.80, 10 Japan 37:15.10
1 France 151pts, 2 Norway 138, 3 Italy 134, 4 Austria 133, 5 Ukraine 118, 6 Germany 113, 7 Sweden 110, 8 Russia 109, 9 Switzerland 102, 10 Canada 98
1 France 1hr 3mins 51.40secs, 2 Germany 1:4:4.90, 3 Norway 1:4:53.60, 4 Switzerland 1:5:22.60, 5 Sweden 1:5:51.10, 6 Czech Republic 1:6:4.30, 7 Russia 1:6:32.70, 8 Austria 1:6:39.90, 9 Estonia 1:6:47.30, 10 USA 1:6:51.30.
(Chittagong) 337 (102.5 overs, Smith 90, Hill 91, Charlesworth 63) & 223-8dec (54 overs; Smith 104, Rahman 4-74); 228 (88 overs, Joy 74, Dipu 56) & 333-7 (93.5 overs, Joy 114, Hridoy 76, Tamim 51).
(Mumbai)
(49 overs, Shrubsole 4-30); 157-8 (37.3 overs, Knight 64 no).
(Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, California)—
(USA unless stated, par 71): J.B. Holmes 63 69 68 70, J Thomas 66 65 65 75, S Woo Kim (Kor) 68 70 68 66, R McIlroy (NIrl) 72 63 69 69, M Leishman (Aus) 69 69 67 68, Howell III 69 69 68 69, M Thompson 69 64 73 70, A Scott (Aus) 66 65 69 76, D Johnson 73 66 69 69, H Matsuyama (Jpn) 71 69 70 67, V Taylor 67 69 74 67, J Rahm (Spa) 67 70 69 71, C Oritz (Mex) 67 72 69 69, K Kraft 69 68 69 71,
L List 71 66 73 68, T Woods 70 71 65 72, X Schauffele 74 68 67 69, B Hossler 68 69 70 71, B Watson 70 66 69 73, P Cantlay 68 71 70 69, J Blixt (Swe) 71 68 66 73, T Finau 66 68 72 72, B DeChambeau 70 68 69 71, P Rodgers 66 67 73 72.
CAnaheim Ducks 5 Washington Capitals 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 Philadelphia Flyers 3, Florida Panthers 6 Montreal Canadiens 3, Minnesota Wild 0 St Louis Blues 4, New Jersey Devils 4 Buffalo Sabres 1, Pittsburgh Penguins 6 New York Rangers 5.
Celtic Dragons 46 Wasps Netball 58, London Pulse 54 Sirens 60
(Marseille, France)—Singles H Hurkacz (Pol) bt F Krajinovic (Ser) 6-3 6-2, (6) G Simon (Fra) bt A Hoang (Fra) 5-7 6-3 6-3.
(Dubai, United Arab Emirates)—Singles C Suarez Navarro (Spa) bt B Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 6-1 6-3, S Zhang (Chn) bt (15) A Kontaveit (Est) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, O Jabeur (Tun) bt D Vekic (Cro) 6-4 7-6 (11-9), D Jakupovic (Slo) bt Z Diyas (Kaz) 1-6 6-1 6-2, A Riske (USA) bt (13) J Goerges (Ger) 6-4 7-5, S Kenin (USA) bt M Buzarnescu (Rom) 6-3 6-0, J Brady (USA) bt J Ostapenko (Lat) 6-4 6-0, K Siniakova (Cze) bt P Martic (Cro) 6-4 6-3.
(Budapest, Hungary)—Singles
A Rus (Ned) bt F Ferro (Fra) 7-5 6-3, (6) A Petkovic (Ger) bt A Bogdan (Rom) 6-1 6-0, A Potapova (Rus) bt H Watson (Gbr) 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-4), (4) A Krunic (Ser) bt T Korpatsch (Ger) 6-0 7-5.