Tonight's rugby news as hopeful says no contact with Wales and Anscombe absence leaves Gatland sweating
These are your evening rugby headlines on Thursday, January 9.
Cracknell: I've had no contact from Wales
Leicester Tigers star Olly Cracknell says he has not been contacted by Wales over a potential call-up for the Six Nations, despite reports to the contrary.
The dual-qualified back rower has been outstanding for the Tigers in recent weeks, with head coach Michael Cheika saying he was more than ready for Test-level rugby.
READ MORE: Coach urges Warren Gatland to select rising half-back pairing as 'awesome' talent praised
READ MORE: Adam Jones picks his dream rugby team including six Wales legends and 'unbelievable' cult hero
While he was born and raised in Leeds, Cracknell is qualified for England and Wales, with his grandfather hailing from Llanelli. Formerly of RGC 1404, Cardiff RFC and the Ospreys, the 30-year-old previously made six appearances for Wales U20s and was called up to the senior Welsh squad in 2017, only to go unused and never called up again.
Thanks to his recent form, he has been widely tipped to earn a call-up for the upcoming Six Nations, with the Daily Mail reporting earlier this week that Wales had been in contact with the in-form man.
The publication claimed that Welsh rugby's strength and conditioning staff have touched base with Leicester ahead of next week's squad announcement by Warren Gatland.
However, in an interview with the BBC, Cracknell said there has been no contact from Wales - but the forward added that he was determined to earn a call-up.
"Every player that goes out there in the Premiership aspires to play international rugby," he said. "I want to test myself at the highest level I can, but I've got to be patient and play as well as I can.
"I just have to keep pushing to improve my game and level up really."
Anscombe absent amid fears
Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe has been left out of the latest Gloucester squad amid fears he could miss the start of the Six Nations through injury.
The 33-year-old limped off at half-time in his side's emphatic win over Sale at the weekend, having suffered a "bang on the knee". While head coach George Skivington played down fears after the game, the injury seems significant enough to rule him out from playing any part in his side's Challenge Cup clash with Scarlets tomorrow night.
Warren Gatland names his Six Nations squad in four days' time, with Anscombe's absence a concern given Wales' lack of other experienced fly-halves.
“He took a bang on the knee," said Skivington after the Sale win. “I talked to him at half-time and he wasn’t moving particularly well, so we knocked it on the head.
“We could have pushed him out and kept him playing but I am not an advocate of doing that. I tend to whip lads off when I feel they are not quite 100 per cent. Hopefully, it is nothing too serious.”
Anscombe's absence comes amid four personnel changes for the Cherry & Whites, with the fly-half replaced by Santi Carreras, who switches from full-back. George Barton will take the No. 15 jersey on Friday night, while star man Tomos Williams has been moved to the bench and replaced at scrum-half by Caolan Englefield.
Chistian Wade's return to the wing meaning Welsh star Max Llewellyn switches back to inside centre after starring on the flank against Sale, while the only change in the pack sees tighthead prop Ciaran Knight move into the front row.
While Gatland will be keeping a close eye on members of the Scarlets' side, he will also be watching Llewellyn, Josh Hathaway and new cap Freddie Thomas, who form part of Gloucester's Welsh quintet alongside Williams and Anscombe.
"Our Welsh lads are flying the flag pretty well and making headlines. They're doing some great stuff and we're very proud of them," Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"There's a Welsh team coming to town and people know they'll be fighting with individuals for competition for Six Nations spots and bragging rights. There'll be a heavy Welsh contingent on the field and likely off the field on Friday night."
Grace handed debut
Regan Grace will start this weekend for Cardiff in their Challenge Cup clash with Perpignan.
The former St Helens wing has joined the Blue and Blacks from Bath until the end of the season, with the Arms Park side short on wingers amid a minor injury crisis.
Grace, who featured for Wales in an uncapped game against the Queensland Reds last summer, will make his debut for the club this weekend, having joined at the start of the week.
"Regan will start," said Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt. "He's fast. We previewed (Perpignan v) Lyon. They've got a long kicking game so we had a plan of how to attack from long kicks.
"I showed one of Regan's tries for St Helens when he's gone the length of the field from a long kick. I said the other plan is to just do this if we can. He's an exciting player. He's only going to have had three training sessions. He won't know all of our calls or be massively up to speed with our game.
"We don't want to fill his head with too much. If we can get him the ball early in space, he's an exciting player. So hopefully we can get him the ball," Sherratt added. "I've not seen him at full speed, but I've seen enough footage of him to know he's got very fast feet not just in terms of how quickly he runs, but also how quickly he changes direction.
"Without putting too much pressure on him, he's a very talented player but he's not had a huge amount of gametime so he will take some time to get up to speed."
Sherratt also confirmed how the club had the finances to sign Grace, with the money becoming available after Mason Grady was injured while playing for Wales against Fiji in the autumn.
"To be clear with it, Mason got injured in Welsh camp so we got compensation from that," said Sherratt. "We've brought Regan in with that money for Mason, until the end of the season.
"We've got Harri Millard, Theo Cabango and Iwan Stephens injured. We don't want Josh (Adams) to go from not playing to playing every week. Gabe (Hamer-Webb) has a concussion so he's out for 12 days minimum so our wingers are Josh, Tom Bowen and Regan."
