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Wales back George North missed the win against Scotland last weekend after sustaining a foot injury against Ireland on the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations; North will hope to help maintain Wales’ Grand Slam bid when England visit Cardiff on February 27

George North is in line to win his 100th Wales cap against England in the Six Nations after returning to training.

North missed Wales’ win against Scotland at Murrayfield last Saturday with a foot injury sustained during the opening weekend 21-16 victory over Ireland earlier this month.

The 28-year-old could now reach a landmark appearance when Eddie Jones’ side visit Cardiff on February 27 as Wales look to maintain their Grand Slam bid.

Wales attack coach Stephen Jones said: “George is making good progress, every day he is improving.

“He’s taken part in some sort of training already, which is great, and that’s the good thing from our perspective.

“I believe it is a full green light.”

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Alun Wyn Jones says this is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for Louis Rees-Zammit after his match-winning try for Wales over Scotland on Saturday

Fellow centres Johnny Williams and Jonathan Davies are also back in training to strengthen head coach Wayne Pivac’s midfield options, while flanker Josh Navidi has overcome the neck injury which forced him to miss the Scotland win.

Meanwhile, full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who was injured against Scotland, and wing Hallam Amos are going through HIA protocols.

Scrum-half Tomos Williams has been ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Jones said: “Hallam and Leigh are still going through the protocols. But Johnny Williams is good, it’s the same with Navidi’s neck and Jonathan Davies.”

Progressive Rugby group writes open letter to World Rugby outlining concerns over player safety and provides a plan to reform the game in order to reduce head injuries within rugby union; RPA chairman Ethan Waller says their top priority is player welfare, including brain and mental health

Progressive Rugby has written an open letter to World Rugby calling for urgent reform in rugby union.

The group has been formed by Jamie Cudmore, James Haskell, Professors John Fairclough and Bill Ribbans, plus various other senior names from the game.

It comprises of current and former players, coaches, club representatives, referees, refereeing coaches, medics, sponsors, politicians and teachers at rugby-playing schools – and believes that more must be done to protect the health and wellbeing of rugby players from excessive workloads, brain trauma and the potentially serious and life-threatening consequences that come from repeated concussive and sub-concussive injuries.

In an open letter to World Rugby, the group has outlined its concerns along with a suggested plan of action to improve overall safety, protect players and bring much-needed reform to the game – stating that “without change, the sport is threatened with extinction within a couple of generations.”

Zander Fagerson was shown a red card for making contact with Alun Wyn Jones’ head when launching himself into a ruck

Within the letter, Progressive Rugby said: “We consider in view of the evidence of risk for traumatic brain injuries occurring in rugby union that more should be done to protect the rugby-playing community from the dangers of injury and that World Rugby has a moral and legal duty to minimise risk and to inform players and parents of the risk of brain damage from repeated knocks.

“Evidence of the existence of brain disorders in retired players supports the contention that participation in rugby union can cause brain damage.

The awareness of the association with traumatic brain injury and participation in rugby union is of paramount importance for both the players and the sport itself. We believe that this issue is the greatest threat to the worldwide game.”

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Ireland captain Johnny Sexton branded comments from a French doctor about his concussion record ‘inaccurate’ and ‘highly inappropriate’

The letter suggested a number of measures that should be taken to limit head injuries in the game, including limiting contact between players in training, and a review of double-teaming tackles and upper level of tackle height.

Among additional measures, the group also put forward a guaranteed number of days off for players in-between seasons and increased education of head injuries.

RPA chairman Waller: Brain damage not like breaking a leg

Newly appointed Rugby Players’ Association chairman Ethan Waller says that the organisation’s top priority is player welfare – including brain and mental health.

The RFU’s medical figures in December revealed that one in five professional rugby union players in England had a concussion during the 2018-19 season. Those figures represented greater than a four per cent increase of players who sustained concussions during the previous campaign.

Waller backs the call for a sport-wide concussion database and limited contact in training to help prevent further head damage among players.

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Rugby Players’ Association chairman Ethan Waller says players must be shown red cards for reckless contact with the head of opposition players

Waller told Sky Sports News: “It’s different at each club, but research shows that a lot of injuries do come from training including head injuries.

“It’s clearly an area to look at. There needs to be a balance of what’s safe so that players don’t get injured – because if you do ‘no contact’, it also can end up being detrimental, so it’s about finding the balance of what’s a safe amount to do and finding that middle ground for what’s best for our players.”

The prevalence of concussions has been under sharp scrutiny in recent months with a number of former players launching a legal case against the sport’s authorities.

James Ryan sustained a head injury in Ireland’s opening Six Nations game against Wales

Scotland’s Zander Fagerson has been banned for the rest of the Six Nations after receiving a red card for making contact with Alun Wyn Jones’ head when launching himself into a ruck against Wales.

Waller believes that contact with the head should result in a red card and reckless clear-outs need to be removed from the game.

Waller added: “Head contact is not like breaking a leg where you can go have an operation and get it fixed – the damage that you could be doing to your brain is something that you may not know about for years.

“I think the way it’s been refereed is spot on because you can’t be having those kinds of reckless clear-outs or those kinds of contacts to the head constantly.

“The more deterrents we have against that, the less likely you are to see those things and games to be won or lost on the back of a red card. You’re more likely to see, from a supporter’s point of view, a better spectacle when that begins to filter out of the game.”

Wayne Pivac claims first away win of Wales coaching reign, and a second successive Six Nations victory this season, setting them up for England’s visit to Cardiff later this month.

Wales made it two wins from two as they fought back to beat Scotland 25-24 who were reduced to 14-men after Zander Fagerson was sent off.

A brace from Louis Rees-Zammit, plus tries from Liam Williams and Wyn Jones secured the win for Wales while Callum Sheedy and Leigh Halfpenny added a conversion and a penalty.

Stuart Hogg once again produced a superb performance for Scotland scoring two tries while Darcy Graham also got onto the scoresheet with Finn Russell adding three conversions and a penalty.

Scotland had looked on track for victory until referee Matthew Carley sent off Zander Fagerson in the 53rd minute after he made shoulder-led contact with Wales prop Wyn Jones’ head at a ruck.

Despite being down a man, Scotland threw everything at Wales but could not do enough to secure victory.

More to follow…

Ulster maintained their 100-per-cent start in the Guinness PRO14 by beating Irish rivals Munster; Edinburgh claimed Scottish bragging rights with victory over Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield; Zebre beat Benetton in Italian derby

There were wins for Ulster, Edinburgh and Zebre in Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 action…

Ulster 15-10 Munster

Ulster maintained their 100-per-cent start in the Guinness PRO14 as they began the new year by beating Irish rivals Munster 15-10, although they were made to fight all the way at the Kingspan Stadium.

The Conference A leaders inflicted the first defeat of the season on Munster, the Conference B pacesetters who came to Belfast without their front-line players but still managed to claim a losing bonus point despite trailing 15-3 at half-time.

First-half tries from wingers Matt Faddes and Ethan McIlroy, plus a conversion and a penalty from John Cooney, seemed to have put Ulster in full control.

Matt Faddes scored Ulster’s first try at Kingspan Stadium

However, Munster battled back in the second half, despite having skipper Billy Holland yellow-carded, while Ulster failed to register a single point.

Munster’s only score in the first half was from a Ben Healy penalty and they next scored in the 82nd minute when Ulster, a man down after Callum Reid’s yellow card, could not stop Darren Sweetnam from diving over.

Edinburgh 10-7 Glasgow Warriors

Magnus Bradbury’s try was enough to seal a 10-7 win for Edinburgh over Glasgow after a late surge of points at Murrayfield.

The scoreboard remained blank until the 65th minute as a mixture of freezing conditions and sloppy mistakes resulted in both teams wasting a string of openings to strike.

Edinburgh celebrate after beating Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield

Edinburgh fly-half Jaco van der Walt eventually nudged his side in front with a penalty before Bradbury’s try with 10 minutes remaining left Glasgow with it all to do.

Warriors replacement Lewis Bean did cross over in the final moments but Edinburgh held on to win the first leg of the 1872 Cup double-header and claim four valuable Guinness PRO14 points.

The winning try capped off a memorable start to 2021 for the Bradbury family, coming just 24 hours after Magnus’ mother Dee – a former president of the Scottish Rugby Union – discovered she had been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Years honours.

Benetton 15-24 Zebre

Zebre claimed bragging rights in the Italian derby with a 24-15 victory over Benetton.

Benetton have traditionally had the better of matches between the sides and were hoping for a first win at home since beating Zebre in December 2019 but a tight encounter went the way of the visitors.

An early yellow card for Benetton’s Giovanni Pettinelli proved very costly as Luca Bigi crossed for two tries, one of which was converted by Carlo Canna.

Benetton got on the board with a Tommaso Allan penalty and the tables were turned when Renato Giammarioli was shown a yellow card for Zebre five minutes before half-time.

A Callum Braley try was converted by Allan to pull the deficit back to 12-10 before penalties from Canna and Antonio Rizzi extended the visitors’ lead again.

Monti Ioane’s 71st-minute try gave Benetton real hope but the only subsequent scores were two penalties from Rizzi.