These are your rugby headlines on Wednesday, February 14
Anscombe reveals what Wales need to address
Gareth Anscombe says Wales’ focus will be on creating width ahead of the trip to Dublin a week on Saturday.
Wales were narrowly beaten by England at Twickenham last weekend, a match Anscombe feels they should have won.
Leading 14-5 at half-time, Wales failed to score a point after the break as a George Ford-driven England asserted their experience as the game wore on.
Anscombe, who was at Twickenham, says Wales’ youngsters will have learned a lot from the experience but that width in attack will be the focus for the next few weeks on the training field.
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“I think Wales need to address how narrow we got in attack,” he said on the latest SportIn Wales podcast. “I felt at times we were really narrow and England didn’t have to defend much.
“So we need to look at why that happened and how we go about fixing that. I think the more we can have a longer line in attack in terms of having different options out the back in terms of being connected, it will bring in the likes of George (North), the Mason Gradys, the Rio Dyers. It’s getting these guys more touches.
“So, being a 10, it’s something you have to try to think about, but I expect that’s where Wales’ focus will be for the next couple of weeks, because they did a lot of good, particularly defensively, they are not far off it. I think there is one or two things with the kicking game they can shore up and look at different outs there. If we are accurate in those roles then we’ll get some second balls and that’s when you can come alive. You look at how we played against Scotland in the last 20, 25 minutes. We looked so much better when we had a bit of tempo and a bit more width. We kind of lost that at the weekend, so it’s just trying to create those moments as many times as possible for a young Welsh side I think.”
With a trip to Dublin up next - one of the most daunting fixtures in world rugby right now - Anscombe believes Wales do have a chance of upsetting the odds if they make it a "real streetfight"'.
“I think Ireland have shown physically that when they get stopped, what does their plan B look like?" he added. "They can almost struggle for all the success that they’ve had, they are not actually used to being stopped that often. So when it does happen, because it doesn't really happen at club level for them either, you wonder whether they struggle to go to plan B. It’s much easier said than done, but I think Wales have to be really dogged in the way they go out there, make it a real streetfight, get up in their faces and shut them down."
Macleod out for the season
The Scarlets have revealed Wales man Josh Macleod will miss the remainder of the season through injury.
Macleod has endured terrible luck with injuries in recent times; he suffered the latest setback against Clermont last month. He was expected to be in the Wales squad mix for the Six Nations but unfortunately damaged his knee at the worst possible time.
"It is brutal news for him and us," said Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel.
"He is a fantastic leader for us, he has captained the team and culturally he is very important for us off the field."
Macleod missed the Rugby World Cup in France with a shoulder injury and ankle complaint delayed his start to the season.
"What I know about him is he has had plenty of setbacks in the past and will come back stronger and his influence around the group remains huge," added Peel.
In a social media post, the west Wales region confirmed the skipper would miss the rest of the campaign.
They wrote on X: "Update from today's press conference. Sam Lousi, Johnny McNicholl and Dan Jones back in contention for Munster. Kemsley Mathias & Joe Roberts return from Wales duty. Unfortunately, Josh Macleod is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury."
Campaigners hit out at WRU
Campaigners have criticised the WRU for not changing to their away black strip for the trip to Ireland a week on Saturday.
Wales and Ireland will wear their traditional plain red and green jerseys against each other for the final time in the Six Nations in Dublin.
From next January, Six Nations teams will be mandated to avoid kit clashes which could negatively impact colour blind viewers.
Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of Colour Blind Awareness, says she contacted the WRU with her concerns last spring. "I spoke with (chief executive) Nigel Walker from the WRU personally last spring to make him aware of the issue and before that we’d already been in discussions with the WRU’s kit staff," she said, as quoted by MailOnline.
"Nigel has now said the kit suppliers, Macron, needed nine months’ notice to produce kits for the men’s, under-20s and women’s teams. Putting aside that the WRU has had more than nine months’ notice of this, I’ve told Nigel I don’t believe (supplier) Macron couldn’t produce the kits more quickly as they’ve already been supplying the black away kit since before the 2023 World Cup."
"It just feels like the issue has been kicked down the road until then," Albany-Ward added.
"And I don’t really understand why. France managed to play in their change strip against Scotland. I explained that there will be players in the Wales set-up who will be put at a disadvantage because of the clash. Why would you do that to your own team? Last week I chaired a meeting of the UK football authorities and the irony is that the Welsh FA were all over it and said they knew that avoiding colour blind kit clashes would give them a tactical advantage."
WRU CEO Abi Tierney insists associated problems for colour blind fans are a top priority.
Tierney said: "I empathise deeply with rugby supporters who suffer from the colour match which will be evident in Dublin.
"We fully support the World Rugby and Six Nations stance to mandate that visiting teams must use alternate kits to avoid clashes in matches from the 1st January, 2025. Our current alternate kit is black, and we have used green in the recent past. Neither of these examples help with this issue."
Albany-Ward disputes that, with the Mail adding Six Nations organisers were told green versus black would not cause a problem.
Botha signs new deal
Tom Botha has signed a new deal with the Ospreys.
The South Africa prop Botha, 33, follows hot on the heels of Keelan Giles, who has also penned fresh terms with the region.
Head coach Toby Booth said: "Tom has been an integral part of our set-up here at the Ospreys. His set piece has been exemplary which is obviously a defining factor of our identity. In the tight, you need someone of Tom's calibre, and his destructive scrummaging ability has been vital for us. We are delighted that he sees his future with us and we look forward to what's to come.”
Botha added: "I am very grateful for the opportunity to continue my journey with the Ospreys. It's a great club with a fantastic culture and ambitious players. The support from the fans has been amazing, and I'm eager to repay that faith with strong performances on the field."
