-Credit: (Image: 2024 Getty Images)
Here are your rugby morning headlines for Saturday, December 7.
Dragons edged out
Dragons were edged out 18-14 by Montpellier in their opener in the face of strong winds at Rodney Parade.
All the points were scored in the first half with the Welsh side battling back from an 18-point deficit.
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Tries from Madosh Tambwe and Marco Tauleigne after two Aurelien Barreau penalties got the visitors off to a flying start.
Dragons fought back with tries from Taine Basham and Angus O’Brien, who converted both, but were unable to maintain the momentum after the break.
Three Welshmen named in world’s top 100
Three Wales stars have so far been named in RugbyPass’s top 100 list, with the positions between 100 and 41 having been revealed.
The top 40 will be announced at the start of next week, with it seemingly unlikely any Welsh player makes the top-half of the list after a dismal 2024 for Warren Gatland’s side.
However, Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake and Tomos Williams do manage to make the cut. Gloucester scrum-half Williams sneaks in at 99, just ahead of Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw.
Described as a “running threat in broken-field, with snarl and nous in equal measure honed on the playing fields around Treorchy”, he’s tipped to be one of the three scrum-halves on the Lions tour next year.
Wales captain Lake features at 83, while his Ospreys team-mate Morgan – touted as “one of Wales’ shining lights in a tortuous (autumn) campaign” – is the highest-placed Welshman, taking the 57 spot.
Wales captain harbouring silverware hopes
Wales captain Dewi Lake is harbouring hopes of lifting some silverware as the Ospreys look to kick-off another European run.
Toby Booth’s side have enjoyed their European exploits in recent seasons, reaching the knockout stages of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup in the past two years.
Now, as they kick-off this year’s campaign against the Lions in Swansea on Sunday, the Ospreys will be hoping Europe offers them some solace after a tough start to the campaign that has seen them win just two out of seven.
But, with Wales stars like Lake, Gareth Thomas and Ospreys captain Jac Morgan back involved this weekend, it’s clear that the club are targeting another European run to mark Booth’s last season in charge.
“It’s something you all want to be involved in,” said Lake. “We had a great run last year and we saw what it did for the club, for us as players and fans.
“So we’re excited to have another run. We’ve come up against some great opposition in the past.
“Won some, lost some. We seem to keep pulling the same teams, like Montpellier.
“But that’s what this competition is all about. We’re looking forward to hopefully bringing some silverware back.”
On what makes Europe so special for the Ospreys, he added: “It’s the challenge. It’s when you go up against opposition that some people see as superior and you’re the underdog, it’s the challenge.
“We’ve had that, with Sale, Montpellier and Leicester. We perform how we perform every week, but we just seem to go on good runs in Europe.”
Wales star out until 2025 as youngster’s potential founded
Wales international James Ratti will be out until 2025, although Ospreys head coach Toby Booth admits he can see light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the Ospreys’ injury problems up front.
Some key departures and injuries have left them short in the opening fixtures of the season, with one trip to Ulster seeing them name a hooker in their back-row.
However, after promising youngster James Fender made his return last week, there will hopefully be more players making comebacks in the coming weeks.
“Not too much different from last week,” said Booth about the Ospreys’ injury situation. “The only additional injury is Justin Tipuric, who is HIA.
“He had some symptoms after the game. Obviously he won’t make it. We’re just waiting to see where everyone is.”
When asked about Ratti, who made his Wales debut this summer, Booth revealed that he likely wouldn’t be seen before the new year.
“I don’t know how far he is into his injury,” he added. “He sustained quite a bad injury.
“He’s not going to figure in these first two rounds of Europe. Will Griffiths, Rhys Davies and Rhys Henry should be back around it in the next couple of weeks. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Probably at the turn of the year, then James Ratti hopefully comes back in. And then we’re starting to look like the established set of forwards everyone recognises.”
With Adam Beard recently joining the likes of Davies, Ratti and Huw Sutton on the sidelines, the return of Fender was hailed as “massive” by Booth, although he warned about needing to over-rely on young and inexperienced talent.
“Despite a lot of eye-catching performances, you can’t expect too much of young players,” he said. “James Fender has played a dozen times for this team.
“That’s it. People forget that. Yes, he had a very good part of a season last year and there was talk about him. He’s got a very high ceiling and a lot of potential, we’re very excited to have him back, but understand he’s only played a dozen times for the Ospreys.
“That’s where we just have to understand the whole picture. But he got through the 80 minutes and performed at a very high level, which shows you that the rhetoric around his potential and where he is is absolutely founded.”
Franco Smith wants Glasgow to take encouraging start into Champions Cup
By Anthony Brown, PA
Franco Smith has challenged Glasgow to complement an encouraging start to their United Rugby Championship title defence by mounting a strong run in the Investec Champions Cup.
Warriors begin their European campaign at home to Gallagher Premiership side Sale on Saturday while they face further pool-stage fixtures against French pair Toulon and Racing 92 as well as Harlequins.
Glasgow enter the competition in good fettle, buoyed by being second in the URC with five wins from their last six matches. Smith is eager to see them carry their form into Europe.
“Being consistent in the Investec Champions Cup is a big objective for this group,” the head coach told Warriors’ website.
“We look forward to the challenge of competing with the best in Europe – Sale, Toulon, Racing and Harlequins are four quality outfits.
“We know we will need to be at our best against Sale, and we look forward to getting our campaign under way.”
Smith has made eight changes to the side that started last Friday’s 17-15 victory at Scarlets, with hooker Gregor Hiddleston added to the XV along with Scotland internationals Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Jamie Bhatti, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge.