Tonight's rugby news as Wales sent Six Nations warning and Welsh derby in Europe confirmed
These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, January 19.
France winger sends Wales warning with six-try outing
France wing Damian Penaud has sent Wales a stark warning ahead of their Six Nations opener at the end of the month after crossing for six tries in Bordeaux's Champions Cup win over the Sharks.
The South African outfit only needed to lose by less than 28 points to progress, but that eluded them - with the French side hammering them 66–12 in a 10-try victory.
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Six of those belonged to Penaud, who has hit a rich vein of form ahead of the Six Nations.
A week after crossing for a hat-trick against Exeter, the 28-year-old was even better in Bordeaux's final pool fixture as they once again outlined their tag of one of the favourites in the tournament.
Having not featured in the summer or autumn Tests, Penaud, who has crossed for 36 tries in 53 Tests, will be seeking his first Test try in a year - having dotted down in France's Six Nations opener against Ireland last year.
Welsh teams learn European opponents
There will be a west Wales derby in the knockout stages of Europe, after it was confirmed that the Ospreys will host the Scarlets in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.
The other Welsh side still left in the competition, Cardiff, face a trip to Galway to take on Connacht - with the Irish side having beaten them in their final pool match on Friday.
The knockout stage fixtures will be played on the weekend of April 4/5/6.
Quite where the clash between the Ospreys and Scarlets will take place is unclear at the moment. Swansea City are home to Derby County that weekend.
Previously, when there have been fixture clashes, the Ospreys have moved fixtures to the Brewery Field, but Bridgend are home to Cardiff RFC on the same day.
The two sides are already facing each other the week before their Challenge Cup meeting, with the Scarlets hosting the Ospreys in the final week of March.
Borthwick considering tactical switch
England head coach Steve Borthwick says he is considering switching fly-half Marcus Smith to full-back and moving Freddie Steward to the wing ahead of their Six Nations opener against Ireland.
Smith has played full-back for England before, but has started the last seven matches in the 10 jersey - proving crucial to their gameplan.
However, with full-back George Furbank and wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injured, Borthwick is considering moving the obvious replacement for the former - Leicester full-back Steward - to the wing and putting Smith in the 15 jersey.
That would allow him to start either Fin Smith or George Ford in the 10 jersey, while keeping the Harlequins playmaker's counterattacking ability from deep in the side. With a clampdown on 'escorts', Borthwick believes unstructured situations could arise from contestable kicks - while Steward has tended to be leaned on by England for his aerial ability.
“It’s certainly something that I would consider, especially in this contestable game,” said Borthwick. “I know Freddie has got a super strength there. His carry work has [also] been very good. We’ve seen steady improvements. He was challenged a good period ago about developing pace and he’s gone away and worked and he’s got faster and improved his pace. Fred on the wing is certainly a possibility.
“Certainly when you start talking about combinations and you start talking about whether you go 6-2. If you look at the number of players we’ve got in the back row and the quality we have there, you start looking at the possibility of 6-2. And then you start looking at Marcus and where he starts and his versatility, Freddie’s versatility, Elliot Daly’s versatility. I want players who have the ability to move positions.”
