The latest rugby news from Wales and beyond
07:41, 06 Nov 2025Updated 08:00, 06 Nov 2025
Wales head coach Steve Tandy and Jac Morgan(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Here’s your round-up of all the latest rugby news for Thursday, November 6.
Morgan living up to expectations
Wales assistant coach Danny Wilson says Jac Morgan is so far living up to all the hype, and says the 25-year-old’s leadership skills even remind him of a certain Sam Warburton.
Morgan is expected to line up against Argentina on Sunday in what will be Steve Tandy’s first game at the international helm.
The Ospreys skipper has been Wales’ form player for the past two years and Wilson says he leads by example.
“Really impressed,” he said when asked how he’s found working with Morgan.
“I heard a lot.
“He’s a young player I’ve never worked with but what he does is lead by example.
“As a leader that has to be the go to.
“Years ago I was lucky enough to work with Sam Warburton as a captain and that’s how Sam led.
“He led by example.
“What I’m seeing so far from Jac is he leads by example with his training standards and standards around the environment along with how he deals with individuals and people.
“He’s been excellent so I’m really looking forward to seeing that journey flourish.”
Former Lion and England skipper dies
Former England captain and Lions tourist Richard Sharp OBE has died aged 87.
Sharp was born in India but grew up in the south west of England and after studying at Balliol College Oxford his rugby career began with Redruth in Cornwall. He also represented Wasps and Bristol.
He was capped 14 times by England, skippering the side, while also featuring in two Lions Tests in 1962, where the fly-half scored 45 points in 11 games in the tour of South Africa.
He led England to a Five Nations title in 1963, scoring an outstanding 40-metre try in a win over Wales in Cardiff.
Steve Murley, CRFU chairman, paid tribute to Sharp, saying: “Richard will be remembered not simply for the tries scored, the caps won, or the tours undertaken – but for the person he was: quietly assured, respectfully modest, unwavering in his support for Cornwall and his sporting communities.
“His passing will be mourned by his family, his many friends in Cornish and English sport, and all who valued not only his athletic talents but his character.
“Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and to the communities – rugby, cricket, Cornwall – that he enriched so deeply.”
Smith – We’re putting noise to one side
Nicky Smith insists Wales are putting the outside ‘noise’ around Welsh rugby to one side as they bid to kick off a new chapter under Steve Tandy.
Wales take on Argentina this weekend in the opening game of the Tandy reign, amid a backdrop of uncertainty around the state of the regional game and proposals to cut the number sides down from four to three.
But Smith insists everyone in camp is fully focused on the task at hand.
“Of course there is a lot of noise but the main thing is that the boys just want to play for Wales,” he said.
“Whether on the pitch or in training, they just want to put their best foot forward.
“There is noise and as a team we talk about it – there is no point burying our heads in the sand.
“It’s good that we talk about it off the pitch and then when we are on it we are focused and have got everything off our chests.
“It’s nothing new because when I was at the Ospreys I was out of contract when a merger was coming around the corner.
“It’s a bit easier for me now that I am out of the picture, but when I was in it things were distracting and stressful.
“The main thing is to talk about it and as a team, as players and coaches, we do that.
“If we want to get something off our chests – and that’s not just what is going on now in Welsh rugby, it’s anything – then we do.
“That’s what Steve wants because with a clear mind you can give your best for the team.”
Heyes ‘infatuated’ with Dan Cole
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Joe Heyes has revealed his “infatuation” with Dan Cole ensured that pledging national allegiance to Ireland over England was never an option.
Heyes started last Saturday’s victory over Australia and will be in action when Fiji visit Allianz Stadium in this weekend’s second autumn international to continue his breakthrough 2025.
But the Leicester prop might have turned his back on England had his mum Rachel, a former Ireland basketball player, succeeded in persuading him to choose green over white.
As an emerging tighthead at Leicester, the opportunity to learn from Tigers and England great Cole – who retired last season aged 38 – made the decision a formality.
“My mum’s Irish and my mum and dad divorced so my dad wasn’t in the house. It was an Irish household in Nottinghamshire and she was always pushing me to play for Ireland,” Heyes said.
“But I’ve chosen the right side and she’s incredibly proud of me. I might have upset my mum in the process, but my dad’s English, I’m English and I was born here, so it was an incredibly easy decision.
“I started playing rugby when I was 15, came to Leicester and from day one it was Dan Cole – I was infatuated with that man.
“Dan was the guy. Starting tighthead for England and Tigers, you’d just get excited every time someone dropped a ball because it was like, ‘Coley’s going to scrum now’.
“For a young tighthead prop going through the Tigers system it was mostly about scrummaging and defence.
“Those two things are my standard now – if I go well in the scrum and in defence, then I’ve had a good game. That’s what Dan brought and that’s what Tigers respect and want from their props.”
Whether Heyes starts or finishes against Fiji depends on if England continue with the ‘bomb squad’ tactic of stacking the bench with forwards after the introduction of five British and Irish forwards around the half-hour mark turned the tide against the Wallabies.
Head coach Steve Borthwick names his team on Thursday, at which point he will know if full-back Freddie Steward and wing Tom Roebuck have recovered from their respective hand and ankle injuries.
If they are ruled out, Marcus Smith is favourite to start in the number 15 jersey with Henry Arundell the front-runner to come in for Roebuck in what would be his first England appearance since the 2023 World Cup.
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