These are your evening rugby headlines on Thursday, December 19.

Gatland gets timely injury boost

Tomos Williams will return to action for Gloucester this weekend in a timely boost for Wales coach Warren Gatland.

The scrum-half was forced off with a shoulder injury during Wales' Autumn Nations Series opener against Fiji last month and missed the rest of the series, with Cherry & Whites boss George Skivington saying he would remain out for 'weeks' at the end of November after a 'more positive than negative' prognosis.

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Williams - who was talismanic for the Premiership side before the injury - will return to action against Harlequins on Friday, having been named alongside Wales teammate Gareth Anscombe in the half-backs.

The 29-year-old's return will not just be welcomed by Skivington but also by Gatland, who was without him for the autumn clashes against Australia and South Africa, with Ellis Bevan filling in.

The Wales boss has been dealt a series of concerning injury blows in recent weeks and is set to sweat on the fitness of some important players in the lead-up to their Six Nations campaign, which kicks off at the end of January.

Captain Dewi Lake has suffered a bicep injury while training for the Ospreys, while the experienced Adam Beard is set to miss the start of the tournament after he injured his knee during the autumn defeat to the Wallabies.

Archie Griffin is a major doubt after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, while Mason Grady also faces a fitness race after having ankle surgery, having also been injured during the autumn campaign.

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Wales legends' future clarified after major news

Wales legend Justin Tipuric will remain an Ospreys player until the end of the season despite Mark Jones' early ascension to the head coach role, it has been confirmed.

The 35-year-old flanker was set to retire from playing and form part of a new coaching team alongside Jones next summer with Toby Booth originally due to depart as head coach at the end of the current campaign. However, after a poor start to the season, Booth departed earlier this week, with Jones immediately promoted from defence coach to the top job.

But Tipuirc won't be replacing him in the defence coach role until the end of the season, with no plans in place for the iconic openside to bring forward his retirement in light of the news.

"I'm really passionate about Justin finishing his playing career and not coming over to the coaching career early because of what happened," said Jones. "It's really important to me he stays in the playing role and almost becomes the coach within the team.

"I want him to enjoy his last year as a player, give the best account of himself and remember the year positively. That guy still wants to win stuff like the rest of us."

Instead, a short-term option could be looked at to fill the void, although Jones has yet to fully explore options - having taken the job less than a week out from a derby against the Scarlets.

"We are looking at it," he said. "Because things have happened so quickly, we've had two or three days to prepare the team to play this fixture.

"But in my own mind, in a couple of quiet moments walking the dog, I have been thinking about what that work-flow looks like. We've got to responsibility as a management group to create the best environment for the players, giving them all the tools they need to perform.

"Having hands on deck is really important. Hooky (James Hook) has come in more of a consistent role this year. He's had an impact around our kicking game, the skillsets of the kickers and actually preparing some opposition plays," he added.

"There's been huge benefits from that and we're looking at how the academy coaches can support the environment at certain times in the week. But beyond that, I haven't gone any deeper in thinking around it. We will be adding support to the playing group, we're just not sure what it looks like at the minute."

Six Nations referees announced

The referees for next year's Six Nations Championship have been confirmed, with two Welsh officials involved in the tournament.

Australia's Angus Gardner and Kiwi referee Ben O'Keeffe will each bring up a half century of Test appearances during the competition, while Frenchman Pierre Brousset will make his tournament debut as a referee after missing the last tournament through injury.

Paul Williams of New Zealand will referee his 40th match as he takes charge of the opening match between France and Wales on January 31, while Englishman Matthew Carley will bring curtain down on the Championship when he referees Les Bleu's clash with Scotland.

Welshman Craig Evans will feature as an assistant referee, while compatriot Ben Whitehouse has been named among the TMOs, as has former tournament referee Mike Adamson, who makes his debut in the role.

World Rugby Chair and Chair of the Emirates World Rugby Match Officials Selection Committee Brett Robinson said: “The Guinness Men’s Six Nations represents the pinnacle of international rugby in the northern hemisphere and the officials selected for next year’s edition feature depth of experience and emerging talent. All are at the top of the game.

“Every international window next year represents an opportunity to develop talent depth and strong foundations as we build towards Men’s Rugby World Cup Australia 2027 and beyond to USA 2031. Congratulations all.”

World Rugby High Performance 15s Match Officials Manager Joël Jutge added: “Rugby is a thrilling sport when played and officiated at its best. Collaboration between World Rugby and the teams is important to achieving that goal, and I would like to thank all the coaches and players for buying into an open process of defining the critical few focus areas and ongoing calibration to ensure a fair contest and a great spectacle.”

England star says World Cup impact 'beyond imagination'

By Rachel Steinberg, PA

England and Harlequins full-back Ellie Kildunne cannot even fathom how transformative next year's home Rugby World Cup might be for her country.

The 25-year-old was crowned World Rugby women's 15s player of the year earlier this month at a glitzy ceremony in Monaco, honoured in part for her 70-point contribution to the Red Roses' perfect run in 2024.

Kildunne watched the Lionesses' triumph at the 2022 home Euros sparked a boom for women's football, and the West Yorkshirewoman is now daring to dream about a similar paradigm shift for her sport.

"I think it's beyond the imagination," Kildunne told the PA news agency. "You don't often get to reflect on how big it is, what we do, until there's a comment or you have a conversation with someone. "I actually saw a message (recently) that a young boy was playing in his boys' team and he scored a try and he said he scored a try like Ellie Kildunne.

"That's what I mean. I didn't even know that that was even a thing. I think you kind of think it could happen within the girls' game, but for a young boy to say that was very, very cool.

"We don't know how much we can impact the next generation until it happens, so I wouldn't be able to answer now. I obviously have hopes, but I think we're going to exceed them."

England will look to avenge their discouraging 34-31 defeat by New Zealand in the 2021 final when the Red Roses open their campaign against the United States at Sunderland's Stadium of Light in August on August 22.

Kildunne was also voted player of the championship after England sealed their third straight grand slam at the Six Nations in April, scoring nine tries across that campaign.

Just a few months later, the keen photographer suited up for Team GB's sevens squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the 80,000-seat Stade de France, an atmosphere Kildunne likened to "a Britain's Got Talent audition... people started doing high fives and kissing the camera!"

In October, Kildunne represented England as they successfully defended their title from the inaugural WXV1 tournament, a competition designed to facilitate more consistent and competitive matches for women's rugby.