Today's rugby news as new era begins for Wales and Franco Smith fuels speculation in fresh job claim
These are your rugby headlines on Monday, February 17.
New era begins for Wales as trio arrive in camp
Wales' Six Nations squad will join up for the first time in the post-Warren Gatland era today, with interim head coach Matt Sherratt set to get straight to work with his new players.
Sherratt - who is taking charge of Wales for the remainder of the Six Nations - officially started his new role on Sunday as he met up with his international coaching staff, having been with his Cardiff side in Connacht the previous evening.
READ MORE: The key areas Matt Sherratt must improve Wales as confidence on the floor and creativity needed
READ MORE: Live Wales press conference updates as Matt Sherratt starts work and new players arrive
But the start of a new working week signals a fresh start proper for Wales, with all of the players set to return to camp today, including three new call-ups.
After being left out of the initial squad by Gatland last month, Gloucester duo Gareth Anscombe and Max Llewellyn have been called in by Sherratt, alongside Harlequins fly-half Jarrod Evans.
Having been with Cardiff throughout last week, the new coach now has just a handful of training sessions to try to turn Wales' fortunes around as they prepare to welcome reigning Six Nations champions Ireland to the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Asked where he planned to start after being appointed as interim boss last week, Sherratt said: "I’ll be honest, it feels a bit like I started with Cardiff. They were at a low ebb. It’ll be about mindset.
"It’ll be hard to change things tactically. But we can get a mindset shift. It doesn't matter what tactical stuff you put on the pitch, if there’s a lack of belief or fear. The first step is that the players are really excited to take the field."
Smith fuels Wales speculation
Franco Smith says the vacant Wales head coach job is "not yet" something he can talk about as he again addressed speculation linking him to taking over from Warren Gatland.
The Glasgow Warriors boss - who was in Wales last weekend as his side defeated the Dragons - did little to play down suggestions that he wants the job, as he said there were "enough positives" to be found in Welsh rugby and talked up his own track record at turning around the fortunes of struggling teams.
Prior to kick-off at Rodney Parade on Sunday, Smith said he had a desire to coach at Test level again and went into more detail at the final whistle, having watched his side triumph 20-45.
"I want to coach internationally again, but for now I'll focus on what needs to be done at Glasgow Warriors," he told BBC Sport Wales after the match. "Most coaches in the world work to do that.
"I've been involved with Italy, had a stint with South Africa so I've had a taste of it. The experience with Italy was different to what it should be, but there was a good opportunity to change their progress as well."
While all four of the Welsh professional sides failed to register a win this weekend, Smith said there were still positives to be found at regional level and in the international side, despite Wales currently being on a winless run of 14 Test matches.
"I watched the Ospreys play, there's good players there and they're a good quality side, Scarlets have been performing well, Cardiff are up there and some of the Dragons' actions were good quality," he said. "There's work to be done but there's enough positives to be taken and I don't think all is lost for Wales, Gatland did a great job for many years."
"Italy was in the same position as Wales when I took over at the back end of the 2019 World Cup, they had a big turnover of players and Zebre and Benetton weren't performing in the Pro14," the coach added.
"I was brave enough to pick the younger boys and get them going, and hopefully by 2031 they'll be the team with the most caps ever because I started them so young. It was a big challenge for me, I've learned from it and that's a skill I've developed."
Smith also said that there were "a lot of good ingredients" in Welsh rugby to spark a revival in fortunes, and advised Wales to follow his approach to coaching.
"The Wales job is not yet something I can talk about," he said. "But from a general point of view in my history as a coach I developed Benetton and helped them get to the Magners League as it was then, I developed the Cheetahs and helped them get to the Pro14.
"It's the story of my coaching career, I always see the glass as half-full and not half-empty, and that's the approach Wales should follow. Warren Gatland did a great job and Wales has got so much passion for the game, so there's a lot of good ingredients in Welsh rugby to find their feet again."
Welsh stars to go head-to-head
The quarter-final fixtures for this season's Premiership Rugby Cup have been confirmed with a host of Welsh players set to be involved.
The last eight clashes will be played on the final weekend of this month, with Newcastle Falcons taking on Gloucester Rugby and Bath facing Harlequins on the evening of Friday, February 28.
Those matches could see the likes of Welsh age-grade back rower Caio James feature for Gloucester, while Bath's highly rated centre Louie Hennessey could come up against Leigh Halfpenny and Wyn Jones in their clash.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, March 1, Exeter Chiefs will host Sale Sharks and Northampton Saints will take on Ealing Trailfinders. Joe Hawkins will likely start for the Chiefs as he did against Gloucester at the weekend, while Christ Tshiunza could also feature having been one of two of Wales' England-based players to feature in the competition this weekend.
With the quarter-finals falling at the end of another fallow week for the Six Nations, however, more Welsh players could perhaps feature depending on whether they are released to their clubs.
Georgia move further clear of Wales
After another busy weekend of action in the Rugby Europe Championship, Georgia have pulled further clear of Wales in the World Rugby rankings.
Wales fell to 12th in the global standings - an all-time low - following their defeat to Italy in the second round of the Six Nations, with Tier 2 side Georgia leapfrogging them into 11th place by beating the Netherlands.
Heading into the weekend, their lead over Wales only stood at 0.10 ranking points - but after a comprehensive 62-32 win over Spain, they now lead by 0.94 ranking points.
That means Matt Sherratt's side are now closer to Japan in 13th place than they are to Georgia, but it could all change this weekend if Wales can pull off an almighty shock at home to Ireland.
A draw with Simon Easterby's men would be enough to move Wales back up to 11th, marginally ahead of the Georgians, while a win within 15 points would lift them by 2.00 ranking points. If they were to stun the rugby world and win by a margin of more than 15 points however, they would earn 3.00 ranking points and move closer to Italy in 10th place, as long as the Azzurri also fail to beat France in Rome.
