Your evening rugby headlines on Monday, February 10.

Nick Tompkins: You want to say sorry

Wales centre Nick Tompkins issued an apology to travelling fans after the loss to Italy.

Warren Gatland's side slipped to their 14th consecutive international defeat in Rome, and confidence among players is at an all time low.

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Speaking to the media after the game, Saracens star Tompkins gave an open and honest interview where he took the opportunity to thank the fans for their support throughout the whole period. The 29-year-old seemed genuinely emotional and struggled to find his words.

"It's amazing. You want to say sorry," he said.

"We appreciate every bit of support they give us. We know it's tough times at the moment, but they keep supporting and shows what an amazing nation Wales is.

"We are trying for them. We want to keep going and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about.

"Putting something specific on it is tough. We are frustrated. It's devastating. The frustration and disappointment around the camp is there. It is hard because the boys are trying so hard and it's not quite coming off.

"The lads care a lot and when it doesn't come off you're gutted, and you know how hard it is for the fans as well. We've got to try and stick together and come back. No-one is going to do it for us."

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Bookies issue unprecedented odds on Wales v Ireland

The bookmakers have issued unprecedented odds on Wales v Ireland next week.

Ireland and Wales are the only two teams left that can win the Triple Crown out of the home nations, and the Irish have been given jaw-dropping 1/50 odds to win it, according to William Hill.

Simon Easterby's team are also odds on to win the tournament - priced at 10/11, down from 2/1. William Hill spokesperson, Lee Phelps, said: “Ireland have started the Six Nations in swashbuckling style, with statement victories against England and Scotland, and on the back of those victories we’ve cut their odds of completing the Grand Slam from 2/1 to 10/11.

“The Irish have shortened significantly to 1/50 from 1/2 to claim the Triple Crown, with only Wales standing in their way.

“England’s triumph against France has seen their odds slashed to 7/2 from 9/1 to be Six Nations champions but Steve Borthwick’s men remain second favourites behind Ireland, who are 8/15 to lift the trophy for a third year in a row.”

Wales are also 1000/1 to win the Six Nations and 200/1 for the Triple Crown.

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O'Mahony fires shot at Scots

Ireland flanker Peter O'Mahony has fired back at Scotland fans after they booed him from the field on Sunday.

Ireland kept their Grand Slam charge alive with a 32-18 victory over the Scots at Murrayfield. O'Mahony was replaced by Jack Conan on 51 minutes and was subsequently given a rather hostile reception from the home support.

Taking to social media, O'Mahony posted a picture of the Irish celebrating the Centenary Quaich, along with a rather cheeky caption.

"Always great to win in an Irish jersey but particularly in Murrayfield," began O'Mahony.

"I’d like to say a special thanks to the crowd yesterday for the boos coming off the pitch. One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received. Thank you."

Gregor Townsend wants perspective after Scotland’s loss

By Anthony Brown, PA

Gregor Townsend called for a sense of perspective to be applied in the wake of Scotland’s chastening 32-18 defeat by Ireland as he pointed out that it would have been a “massive shock” if his side had turned over the defending Six Nations champions at Murrayfield on Sunday.

After an encouraging autumn campaign, the Scots came into the championship with high hopes of finishing in the top two for the first time this century.

But Sunday’s demoralising defeat at the hands of an Irish side chasing a third consecutive title brought a familiar sense of deflation for Townsend and his players after they had spoken extensively in recent months about the progress they felt they had made since their 36-14 World Cup pool-stage defeat by the same opponents in Paris in October 2023.

“No, I don’t,” said the head coach when asked if he felt an 11th consecutive defeat by Ireland had left Scotland “back at square one” in their quest to become genuine title contenders.

“The scoreline was big, and I know it’s you guys’ (journalists) job to talk about this game but we have to look a bit longer term and where we’ve been.

“After that game against Ireland in the World Cup we changed a lot, who we select, who we are as a team, and that was done with the players as well. Our next game, we played a different type of rugby against Wales.

“We’ve carried on that, we’ve added bits to it and we’ve been really competitive since then. This was probably our most disappointing performance, defeat let’s say, since Ireland, but it happens every now and again. If it was to happen in the next two or three games I’d be much more concerned.

“It’s a one-off game and you’ve got to have context. We’re playing a tournament where you’ve got to play five games and if you start to over-analyse what went on in the one game, you lose sight of what you’ve been building towards. I said before the game that the defeats we’ve had against Ireland have shaped who we are as well.

“It’s changed a little bit how we played and that’s been transferred to other performances. It didn’t transfer well enough this time but you’ve got to take the learnings out of your game.

“No-one’s more disappointed than me that we weren’t able to go two from two today and we weren’t able to beat Ireland. But they deserved to win and we’ve got to make sure that this game, and all the last four or five that we’ve played, are part of who we are next time we play.”