The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond
Here are your rugby evening headlines for Sunday, 26 October.
Faletau to be assessed after knee injury
Taulupe Faletau and Alex Mann will both be assessed by Wales medics on Monday after taking knocks to the knee during Cardiff’s win over Edinburgh on Saturday night.
Faletau was forced off early on at the Arms Park on Saturday night, a week on from making his first start of the season against the Dragons, while Mann was replaced at half-time.
Both Faletau and Mann had been named in Steve Tandy’s first Wales squad last Tuesday.
After the 20-19 victory, Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl confirmed the pair were both taking off as precautions.
Both will join up with Wales on Monday ahead of the first autumn Test against Argentina on November 9, with the pair likely to be assessed further in Wales camp.
Cuthbert calls WRU confusion ‘mad’
Former Wales wing Alex Cuthbert says the lack of clarity from the Welsh Rugby Union over the number of teams is ‘mad’. The WRU announced their intention to go down to three teams over the next couple of years on Friday, although four will remain for now.
No definitive timescale was offered, with the union still hoping to get to its desired solution through consensus – something that appears unlikely and fraught with difficulties.
“We’re asking the same question (we’ve been asking for some time),” Cuthbert said on Premier Sports. “There’s no clarity around it whatsoever.
“They’ve had this consultation period and they’ve still not made a decision. They’ve just said maybe a team in the west area and they’re hoping the Scarlets and Ospreys merge.
“That’s been tried before and it didn’t happen. Their preference was two regions but there was such a backlash that they were scared of that.
“Four regions wouldn’t have been a big enough change. So I think they’ve gone for three to try and keep everyone happy and as few people angry about the decision, which is mad, really.”
Wainwright frustrated by derby draw
Dragons back-row Aaron Wainwright was left frustrated by the derby draw with the Ospreys on Saturday night.
The Men of Gwent fought back to draw level with Mark Jones’ side, before missing chances to win their first league match since September 2024.
“It’s similar to the Sharks game at Rodney Parade a couple of weeks ago. Frustrating not to get the win,” said Wainwright.
“We didn’t manage the opposition well in the first half, but we came out in the second half and played a bit more. We got momentum and territory and came away with a couple of maul tries.
“If we had controlled it a bit more in the first half, the outcome would have been a bit different.
“We needed to control field position better in the first half. We gave them some easy ins into our 22 and a couple of breakaway tries.
“Controlling it more would have kept us more in the game for longer and allowed us to capitalise in the second half.
“We’re almost there – that is the frustrating thing,” he added. “It’s frustrating, it’s not a win, not what we spoke about in the week.
“We needed a win in this game and didn’t quite get it so there is lots to work on.”
France hit with big injury doubt
France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert is a doubt for the autumn internationals after injuring his thigh in Bordeaux’s win over Bayonne on Saturday night.
The 35-cap playmaker was forced off just six minutes from the end of the match after feeling discomfort in his right thigh.
“I felt something strange in my thigh, the same area where I’ve had issues for a few years,” he told Canal+. “From how it feels, it doesn’t seem very positive.
“I know it’s a sensitive spot for me. Honestly, I don’t have much hope. It kind of ruins the night for me.”
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