Today's rugby news as BBC fear Six Nations bombshell and coach 'can't get head round' Wales decision
These are your rugby headlines on Monday, January 27
Fears grow over Six Nations' future on BBC
There are growing fears within the BBC that this year's Six Nations will be the last shown by the broadcaster, according to reports.
The current broadcast deal for the tournament sees the BBC and ITV share live coverage of games between them, with the former showing Wales and Scotland's home games and the remainder of the fixtures being broadcast by ITV.
READ MORE: Wales call up uncapped prop in unexpected Six Nations announcement
However, that deal ends this year and there is now a very real possibility that the tournament could move away from free-to-air TV from 2026. Unlike events like Wimbledon or the football World Cups, the Six Nations is not listed as a 'Category A' event which ensures coverage must be broadcast on free-to-air TV - which means the tournament could well move to a subscription channel.
The six unions are continuing their discussions with broadcasters, with BBC Sport recently reporting that "all options are being explored".
However, according to a report in The Rugby Paper, fears are mounting within the BBC that they could be "frozen out" of showing future tournaments. A £100m valuation has been put on the tournament, which is £10m more than the BBC and ITV have been paying.
Any price hike appears extremely difficult for the BBC to meet. A BBC executive involved in previous discussions told The Rugby Paper: "There is now a real risk the BBC will be frozen out. The likelihood of the BBC and ITV being given the go-ahead to renew the current deal is fading. They (the BBC) have been forced to make so many budgetary cuts they are in no position to pay still more for the Six Nations.
"That would leave ITV in a tricky position. Their clear priority is to cover England's matches. A few years ago they would have been keen on Wales but, in their current floundering state, they aren't box office anymore."
One option previously mooted to balance the desire for more money from subscription broadcasters and the need to showcase the sport in front of as large an audience as possible is for some games to be on terrestrial TV, such as ITV, and others to be behind a paywall. ITV already shows all of England, Ireland, Italy and France's home matches during the Six Nations, due to rising fees for the BBC.
Outgoing BBC director of sport Barbara Slater said in November last year that the corporation would no longer be able to afford to keep the Six Nations. "We need a well-funded BBC if we are going to be able to continue to afford sports rights," she told MPs.
"Sports rights in the UK have more than doubled in the past decade. BBC’s income in real terms has gone down 30%. It is incredibly difficult for the BBC to maintain, across a range of sports, the expectations of those governing bodies."
Coach 'can't get head round' Wales star's omission
Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington says he remains baffled at Max Llewellyn's omission from Wales' Six Nations squad, after the centre impressed again in their dramatic win over Leicester Tigers.
There was widespread shock after Llewellyn - the top try scorer in the Gallagher Premiership so far this season - was left out of Warren Gatland's plans for the tournament, having been recalled to the international fold over the autumn.
He has played a key part in Gloucester's resurgence during the current campaign and was expected by many to start in midfield against France in Paris on the opening night of the Championship. But, barring any mid-tournament call-up, he will remain at Kingsholm over the coming weeks, with the decision leaving fans and pundits alike stunned and the man himself "shocked".
Skivington was one of those to share their surprise at the snub earlier this month and, after watching the 26-year-old help the Cherry & Whites to a 38-31 win on Saturday, again admitted the decision for Gatland to leave him out was hard to understand.
"I don't think anyone's got their head round why he's not in the Welsh squad to be honest," the coach told the BBC. "I think he's just got to suck it up for a little while and do what he did today, which is play extremely well and keep working away.
"There might be some fall out from the Six Nations where he finds himself back in, but we love him here. He's a brilliant bloke, he's a brilliant player, he's part of that young crew that are so tight now and it's just great for Gloucester."
Tiatia takes blame for bruising defeat
Dragons boss Filo Tiatia says he should be blamed for his side's poor start against Munster as they fell to a ninth successive defeat in the URC.
The region - depleted by injuries - found themselves on the wrong side of a 38-19 defeat but the scoreline flattered them somewhat as they were overpowered by the Irish side, who scored four tries in the first 20 minutes at Rodney Parade.
After trailing 31-0 at half-time, the Dragons managed to get themselves back into it through tries from prop Chris Coleman, centre Harry Wilson and scrum-half Dane Blacker. But it was too little, too late as the defensive shambles in the first half condemned them to another loss which leaves them bottom of the table.
Despite moving into the hotseat as interim head coach in November, Tiatia is still responsible for his side's defence and says he should take the blame for their nightmare start on Saturday.
“Munster played well but defensively we were poor in the first half,” he said. “When we got it right we could control momentum, but they attacked really well in that first 40 before we made some adjustments.
“It was a better defensive display in the second half and there was better character around some of the things we know we are capable of. The boys didn’t give up and went to the final whistle but there are parts of the game we need to sharpen up.
“The first half was my fault with some of the defensive stuff, there was poor stuff that we didn’t get right."
To make matters worse for Tiatia and his side, the defeat also saw them lose Taine Basham, Rodrigo Martinez, Harri Ackerman and Ryan Woodman to injury having already had several important players sidelined this season.
Ireland star ruled out
By PA Sport Staff
Prop Tadhg Furlong is out of Ireland's Guinness Six Nations opener against England through injury.
The 32-year-old Leinster front-rower will sit out Saturday's game at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin after suffering a recurrence of a calf problem during training in Portugal.
Head coach Andy Farrell has plugged the sizeable gap left by Furlong by drafting in Connacht's Jack Aungier.
An Irish Rugby Football Union statement said: "Tadhg Furlong has been ruled out of next weekend's Guinness Men's Six Nations opener against England after suffering a recurrence of a calf strain in training and he has returned to Dublin for further assessment.
"Jack Aungier has been called up to the squad."
Marcus Smith's last-gasp drop goal handed England a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham last year, in the process ending a run of four successive defeats by them.
Russell gears up for Six Nations
By Chris Phillips
Finn Russell pulled the strings as Premiership leaders Bath ended Sale's unbeaten home record this season with a hard-earned 32-23 win at Salford Stadium.
The Scotland fly-half created three tries - Two for Ruaridh McConnochie in the first half and the clincher six minutes from time for Tom Carr-Smith - and also added 12 points with the boot to give his side a hard-earned win on the road.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend will have been delighted to have seen Russell's contribution ahead of the start of the Six Nations next weekend. However he will have been concerned to see flanker Josh Bayliss limp off late in the first half.
It took Bath the best part of an hour to get on top of their tenacious rivals in a close contest but in the end they had just too much for Sale.
England's players were all mothballed ahead of the championship which affected the make-up of both sides.
While Bath were without four players including captain Ben Spencer and centre Ollie Lawrence, Sale had to cope without eight men.
Arron Reed, added to Scotland's Six Nations squad because of an injury doubt over Duhan van der Merwe, gave Sale an 18th-minute lead with a smart finish.
Reed took Rob du Preez's pass to dart between Joe Cokanasiga and Louis Schreuder to score out wide. The visitors hit back seven minutes later with a try from McConnochie, who dived over in the left-hand corner from Russell's pass. And the same duo combined just before half time to good effect with Russell's delayed pass putting the left wing clear for his second try.
In between though Sale stand-off Rob du Preez burrowed over down the blind side for the Sharks' second try after Tom O'Flaherty had been held up near to the line so the home side led 16-12 at the break.
Sale had a big let-off in the 46th minute when Max Ojomoh crossed from another delightful pass by Russell. However the centre's juggle as he went over proved costly as his loss of control saw the ball catch the shoulder of Sale's last defender O'Flaherty and the Television Match Official stepped in to cross the score off for a knock-on. The Bath centre made amends eight minutes later though, forcing his way over after a 20-phase barrage.
Russell's medium-range penalty stretched Bath's lead on the hour. Then his vision delivered the killer blow as, seeing there was no-one deep in defence for Sale, he hammered a penalty long from his own 22 and substitute Carr-Smith won the race to score.
Russell's added-time penalty meant that Sale did not even earn the consolation of a bonus point despite Joe Carpenter's late try.
