Tonight's rugby news as Warburton sees Gatland's potential 'masterstroke' and Wales star out of France game
These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, January 26.
Warburton sees Gatland's potential 'masterstroke'
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton has hailed the WRU's appointment of psychology and human performance specialist Andy McCann as a potential 'masterstroke'.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that McCann - who previously worked with the Wales men's team between 2009 and 2017 - would be part of Warren Gatland's backroom team for the Six Nations, returning to the international set-up to cover mental skills and performance and "support players from a mindset and mentality perspective".
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Former Wales prop Adam Jones has also joined Gatland's team as scrum coach on secondment from Harlequins, with attack coach Alex King no longer part of the coaching staff for the tournament. Previewing the Six Nations from a Welsh perspective, Warburton says that "some sort of change" simply had to happen and admits that the appointment of his former mentor McCann could prove to be a stroke of genius.
"Jones will alter the environment and freshen things up," the former skipper wrote in his column for the Times. "He is a great character to have around any group. He knows what winning is about and is an icon of the game in Wales. He will also help in trying to alleviate the problems at tight-head prop.
"I know Andy very well," he added. "He helped me tremendously during my career and it could be this is a bit of a masterstroke from Gatland, but only if the players utilise him.
"It is very difficult for a sports psychologist to ask players to go to him for help, the players need to explore that for themselves. But if they do, they will soon discover how good he is. He can help them not just with sports psychology, but with leadership skills (Andy was a massive help to me when I became Wales captain and had so many doubts about whether I actually wanted to do the job), preparation and time-management. He can cover so much, but the players need to buy into him."
In terms of Wales' chances for the tournament, Warburton added that he was "more optimistic" than he was during the autumn, as he tipped them to be "more competitive" over the coming weeks with the return of the likes of Josh Adams helping to "bring toughness" back to the squad. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
However, he added that Wales' "lack of firepower is glaringly obvious" without the likes of Max Llewellyn and Mason Grady involved and he fears what may happen in the rest of the tournament if they "get hammered" by France in their opening match. On the other hand, though, Warburton added that this young squad would take a lot of confidence from the first game if they can "stay in the fight" in Paris, which would help them in their crucial showdown with Italy a week later.
"They are in a horribly tricky place right now," he wrote. "It is going to take some tactical masterclasses from Gatland, as well as huge physical efforts from the players, to break the negativity and provide some glimmers of positivity for the fans to latch on to."
Wales star out of France game
Wales are going to be short of tighthead props for their Six Nations opener against France after WillGriff John failed a HIA in Sale Sharks' English Premiership clash with Bath.
It was always unlikely John would figure against France given the five-day turnaround but he is now certainly out of contention after his HIA. This means Keiron Assiratti and Henry Thomas will be the matchday props at the Stade de France.
But Warren Gatland is going to have to call up another tighthead as cover for the Friday night trip to Paris. John has been unlucky when it comes to winning international caps in the past after he was selected to make his Test debut as a starter against Scotland in March 2020 but the game was postponed due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
John went on to sign for the Scarlets from Sale where he won two caps for Wales before getting released. He has since found his way back to Sale and the Wales squad.
Lightning strike back to go second
Gwalia Lightning have moved to second in the Celtic Challenge table after a 29-27 victory away to Edinburgh.
The Welsh side have won four of their five games in the competition so far and were lifted from midtable as they came from behind to claim victory at the Hive Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Backrower Lily Terry, hooker Molly Wakely, replacement Gwennan Hopkins and second row Alaw Pyrs crossed for Lightning’s tries, with fly-half Carys Hughes landing the winning conversion. However, it took a heroic defensive effort from the visitors late on to ensure that they returned to Wales with the victory.
Wales centre Kerin Lake made her debut for the side, while skipper Bryonie King and fellow Welsh international Pyrs were standouts within a gritty team performance.
It was the Scottish side who took the lead after four minutes as GB Sevens player Shona Campbell sped over out wide, and the Gwalia defence was called into action numerous times early on as the hosts furiously attacked their line.
However, an interception from Lake led to a try for Terry against the run of play midway through the first half, with Wakely then crashing over for her side's second.
Hannah Walker then hit back with a try for Edinburgh, who took the lead again shortly after half-time through hooker Aila Ronald.
Wales international Hopkins then came off the bench and drove over to get her side back into the contest, with Hughes keeping the scores level with a penalty after Cieron Bell crossed for Edinburgh's fourth try.
Walker then scored again to restore the host's lead, but Pyrs hit back with a try of her own before Hughes landed the conversion - with the Gwalia defence holding firm at the death to seal an impressive win.
