England star supports Welsh players as Eddie Jones warns ‘it could get ugly’

The latest rugby news from Wales and beyond as the Six Nations begins

Here are your rugby morning headlines for Saturday, February 7.

England star feels for Welsh players

England back-row Sam Underhill has spoken about the influence of the Ospreys on his career as he prepares to take on his former club coach Steve Tandy this weekend.

The 45-cap flanker spent two seasons at the Ospreys between 2015 and 2017 prior to being capped by England, with the link being a relevant one this week – given that the Ospreys find themselves fighting for their future beyond next season as the Welsh Rugby Union look to cull a professional side.

“I’m not sure I’m qualified to speak on the structure of rugby, but I feel for the players for sure,” said the 29-year-old. “The Ospreys are a phenomenal club, they’ve contributed so much to Welsh rugby over the years and it’s always a massive shame to risk losing potentially a club of that sort of significance and importance.

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“And you never want to put players in positions where they’re not sure what their future is going to look like, so I’d say for the most part I feel for the players, but I know for me myself I owe a lot to that club, I owe a lot to the Ospreys and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.”

He added: “I was a young player and I was given an opportunity by Steve Tandy. I was delighted, I went from playing in Nat One to playing Pro12 and European rugby in the space of a few months.

“I just remember feeling that sense of trust in myself from a coach and a playing group. The fact that I got to play and be a part of a team as a young player was special and something that potentially in English rugby wasn’t too common.

Speaking about what Tandy, who is preparing to take charge of Wales in the Six Nations for the first time, is like as a coach, Underhill added: “He’s a guy you want to play for.

“He’s got a good connection with players and he’s got a very high emotional understanding of what drives people and I imagine what drives the Welsh players.”

Lake: Tandy’s defence can stop England

Wales captain Dewi Lake has explained how Steve Tandy’s defensive plan could stop England at Twickenham today.

Last year saw England run in 68 points against the Welsh in Cardiff, with the bookies making Steve Borthwick’s side heavy favourites once again.

But Lake believes the efforts of Tandy – taking charge of his first Six Nations match as Wales coach – could help Wales stand up to England’s power in London.

“His defensive strategy is going to allow us to be physical and stay in front of England, hopefully allow us to dominate some collisions and get on top physically,” said Lake. “He’s a massively proud man when it comes to defence and how he sees the game, when it comes to playing in that area.

“It’s our job to put that out onto the pitch. I think the effect he’s had on this group is immense.

“He’s an incredible coach but more importantly a great man. Everyone can buy into that, rally the group. The tighter we’ve become as a group, the easier it all becomes.”

Eddie Jones: England v Wales could get ‘ugly’

Former England coach Eddie Jones says things could get “ugly” at Twickenham if his old side start well in today’s clash.

Wales are winless in the last two Six Nations – with the only side they’ve beaten in the past two years being Jones’ Japan side on two occasions.

The Australian says that England will be “too good” for Tandy’s side, but – despite his initial fears over the score getting ugly – actually believes it could end up being a close match.

“If you look at the teams in the Six Nations, all the teams are going through a bit of a generation change, but probably the most settled teams are England and France, and I think they’ll be the two that fight it out,” said Jones.

“Steve’s done a good job to refresh the team. He’s still got some good senior players there—Jamie George, Genge—but brought through some younger guys. They know how they want to play. I think all the players have bought into the style of play; they’ll play that high-kicking game, play off the back of what they get from that, aligned with a strong scrum and a strong maul.

“Wales… you hope they keep improving, mate. You know, for world rugby, I think it’s important. They had a win against us [Japan] in November, which would give them a bit of confidence, but it’s going to be a tough tournament for them again.

“It could get a bit ugly. I think England, first game at Twickenham, they’ll come out full of energy, full of intent physically. I think they’ll be probably too good for Wales.

“So Wales have got to try to find a way to stay in the game early. If they can stay in the game early, then it could be… you know, England-Wales games are always pretty tight.

“Unless England can get away early in the game, I think it’ll be a pretty tight game; there won’t be much in it.”

Michele Lamaro admits perception of Italy is changing as he targets flying start

By Anthony Brown, Press Association, Rome

Michele Lamaro believes improving Italy can no longer benefit from being underestimated by their Guinness Six Nations rivals.

Having been viewed as whipping boys in their early years in the championship, the Azzurri have enhanced their reputation by picking up results against Wales, Scotland and France in the past two seasons, while they have also run both England and Ireland close.

Italy kick off their campaign against the Scots in Rome and captain Lamaro says their performance this weekend will have to be “a step higher” than it was when they fought back from 22-10 down to defeat Gregor Townsend’s side 31-29 in their last Stadio Olimpico meeting in March 2024.

“I think what has changed in the last couple of years is the perception of our team,” said Benetton back-rower Lamaro. “Teams are not scared of what we can do, but scared of what we might do if we are put in the position to do that.

“We’ve shown some really good rugby in the last couple of years, and we can see how the teams are starting to prepare for us.

“We have the confidence that if we do everything in the proper way, if we put ourselves in the best situation possible, we know we can put Scotland under massive pressure, even from a scoreboard perspective.

“We’ve been speaking all week about doing what we can control to get to those last 15-20 minutes in contention, and then heart will do the rest.”

Italy have never finished higher than fifth in the championship, but Lamaro said “the dream inside our heads is to win every game of this tournament, and it is essential that we continue to believe, we continue to want it, because without that dream, all our efforts would probably become useless”.

The captain hopes that playing their first match in Rome can help get them off to a flying start.

“We want to get the crowd going and share that dream with them, make them feel part of it,” said Lamaro. “That’s what we need and what they need too.

“We’ve been through some really tough moments in the past, so to be able to get that dream going again, it’s a really massive thing for us.

“And now seeing that tomorrow we’ll have 70,000 people at the Stadio Olimpico, it’s something that makes us unbelievably proud, and it gives us a lot of confidence that we’re going in the right direction.”