These are your morning headlines on Sunday, February 11.
‘Proper rock star’ emerges for Wales
Adam Jones believes Wales have a ‘correct rockstar’ within the form of Alex Mann.
Mann scored Wales’ second strive at Twickenham on Satuday – the primary being a penalty strive – so as to add to the one he notched up on debut in opposition to Scotland final weekend.
Indeed his cameo in opposition to the Scots earned him the correct to start out at Twickenham and he did not let Warren Gatland or his nation down.
Wales legend Jones wrote on X, previously Twitter: “Tough loss right this moment, load of battle. Back row class as common, I reckon Alex Mann goes to be a correct rockstar!”
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Jones was echoing what Gatland had already mentioned in his post-match media briefing about Mann. “He’s going to be actual high quality,” he mentioned. “He’s not the most important on the earth however he jogs my memory of a New Zealand unfastened ahead. His anticipation, his velocity, his footwork. He’s fairly sore and drained in the intervening time. That was the factor after he got here on final week. As coaches, we had that dialogue about whether or not we left him on the bench and introduced him on for influence.
“That’s not the place we’re at proper now. It’s about placing gamers on the market and making them higher, experiencing what the physicality of an England v Wales sport is all about. He’ll enhance from that have right this moment.”
Jamie Roberts, on pundit responsibility for ITV, additionally praised Mann for his show. He added: “There’s two gamers I’ll pick – Cam Winnett and Alex Mann. They made their debuts final week! Test rugby as we all know is sink or swim, there isn’t any hiding place. You’ve received to entrance up and people guys prior to now two weeks have proven that they’re Test gamers.
“They’ve swam. They have been good for Wales and they’re solely going to get higher by being uncovered to Test matches like this.”
Jenkins ‘completely gutted’
Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins says he was “completely gutted” with defeat at Twickenham, maintining the win was there for the taking.
The guests, laced with inexperience all through the squad, held a 14-5 lead on the turnaround however a little bit of naivety when it comes to their sport administration allowed the hosts to get a foothold in proceedings.
A Mason Grady yellow card would see the resultant penalty knocked over by George Ford – which proved to be the profitable factors.
Welsh gamers have been pictured on their knees on the full-time whistle and Jenkins says they simply weren’t correct sufficient with their ending.
He mentioned to ITV post-match: “Absolutely gutted, that sport was there for us to win and we did not take it. We weren’t correct sufficient, I’m actually disillusioned.
“When you come to Twickenham it’s going to be a bodily battle and you need to match them, I do not suppose we did that.
“I do not suppose we are able to use being a young group as an excuse, if we’re right here, we’re adequate. I feel we have created the possibilities however we simply weren’t correct when ending.”
Rees-Zammit, Williams watch team-mates
Louis Rees-Zammit tuned into the match Stateside, supporting his former team-mates throughout their conflict in opposition to their old foes England in south west London.
Posting an image to his Instagram tales, Rees-Zammit wrote a caption with the snap, taken proper at the beginning of the sport, which mentioned: “Let’s go boys,” accompanied by a Welsh flag and the WRU’s official deal with.
Rees-Zammit is at the moment present process coaching within the NFL’s worldwide participant pathway in Miami, Florida, having give up rugby to pursue his dream of creating it as an expert in American soccer.
He posted a sequence of photographs on his social media account on Friday of him decked out in American soccer gear whereas coaching, with the caption: “Loving life.”
Liam Williams additionally tuned into the match, staying up till the early hours to catch the motion out in Japan.
Townsend left angered
Anthony Brown, PA
Gregor Townsend felt Scotland have been robbed of victory over France as he expressed bewilderment that the officers did not award them a strive within the final motion of a dramatic Murrayfield showdown.
Les Bleus claimed a 20-16 win in Edinburgh to get their Guinness Six Nations marketing campaign up and working – however solely after referee Nic Berry and TMO Brian MacNeice spent a number of minutes deliberating over whether or not home substitute Sam Skinner had grounded the ball on the try-line earlier than deciding that it had been held up by the boot of French substitute Yoram Moefana.
Scotland’s supporters, gamers and employees – having seen footage of the incident on the massive display screen – have been satisfied they have been about to be awarded a match-winning strive, and the officers have been loudly booed by the home crowd once they caught with the unique name to not give the rating.
“We have been celebrating within the coaches’ field having seen the photographs of the ball being placed down on the tryline after having been on the participant’s boot,” mentioned head coach Townsend, visibly angered.
“That was additionally after listening to the communication to the referee from the TMO to say that the ball began on the foot after which went on the bottom. The ref then says, ‘I also can see that (ball) on the bottom’ then their final interplay was ‘hold on, let us take a look at that different angle….yeah, it is inconclusive now, stick together with your on-field choice’.
“It was TMO-driven. If the referee is seeing the photographs we have been all seeing within the stadium, possibly it is on his shoulders as nicely to say, ‘that is the ball down, that is a strive’. But the TMO was the one who modified his thoughts and mentioned, ‘stick together with your on-field choice.’
“I do not perceive the rationale. When you see the photographs, and while you additionally see the dialog, they’ve already mentioned between them that the ball has been placed on the tryline.”
