Here are the headlines from rugby night on Thursday 21st December.
Peele: Ken Owens will return
Scarlets boss Dwayne Peele says hooker Ken Owens will return from injury but it will take some time. Owens, 36, played 91 games for Wales but missed this year’s World Cup in France with a back injury.
With so many international players deciding to retire before and after the World Cup, some fear that Owens will simply decide he has had enough and hang up his boots.
Peel, however, remains adamant that Owens will return to the Scarlets. “For him, this work is slow,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll see him on the field again. It’s not going to happen anytime soon, but I know he’s working hard. Ken being Ken is 100% determined to get back on the field.
“We’ll wait for him and hope he gets back to full training.”
Dan Biggar returns to Toulon
Dan Biggar returns from injury in Toulon. Biggar suffered a back injury while trying to join the French national team in early November and at the time the club were unsure of the severity of the injury, anticipating a long spell on the sidelines.
The Welsh legend will face Top 14 side Toulouse in just over a month, having missed his former club Northampton Saints’ Champions Cup encounter last week.
Biggar will line up for the club in a star-studded line-up at the Stade Toulousein. The team features players such as All Black Leicester Fainga’anuku and French stars Charles Ollivon and Gabin Villiers.
Four Welshmen make the elite list
The Telegraph has compiled an elite list of Britain’s 30 best players.
Four Welshmen are on the list, including Louis Rees-Zammit, Nick Tompkins, Tommy Raffell and Jack Morgan.
Gloucester’s Rhys-Zammit scored five tries in five World Cup appearances in France and recently played for his club, scoring twice against derby rivals Bristol Bears. Some would say the flying Welshman deserves a higher place on this list at number 28.
Saracen’s Nick Tompkins has been an integral part of Wales’ World Cup attack. The 28-year-old was adept at absorbing shots while making passes to unlock defences. His test pass to George North against Fiji was absolutely magnificent and a great example of that.
The inside center has translated his international form to Premier League level and was typical when he produced a superb, quick pass against Connacht in the Champions Cup last weekend. He is 25 years old.
Raffel is another player who continued his excellent World Cup form in the Premier League. The Bridgend man didn’t get many chances at the World Cup, but he took them when he got one.
Reffell was most recently man of the match for the Tigers in their battle against Newcastle Falcons earlier this month, scoring a hat-trick in the process. The 24-year-old jackal expert came in 21st place.
First on the list, unsurprisingly, is Ospreys man Jack Morgan. A captain who set an example, Morgan not only demonstrated his defensive skills with powerful and surprising shots, but also showed that he is very comfortable on the ball. The 23-year-old athlete came in 13th place.
First place went to Courtney Laws, second to Handre Pollard and third to George Ford.
Just bad luck for Scarlets, says Shane Williams
Wales icon Shane Williams says the Scarlets and Dwayne Peel have simply failed and Peel should not be sacked as head coach. The West Wales side have made a difficult start to the 2023-24 campaign, with their poor performance coming to a harrowing climax with defeat to the Black Lion of Georgia at Parc y Scarlets.
The Llanelli team currently sit third in the United Rugby Championship table, having won just two games (a double against Cardiff Rugby).
However, legendary winger Williams says it was simply bad luck that hampered the region. “I think the Scarlets are very unlucky,” he said. “I spoke to Dwayne a few weeks ago when they played Cardiff at the Arms Park. He has a team full of injuries and it has been very difficult for Dwayne this year.
“Dwayne was tearing his hair out at the time, please, and said, look, we’re in a position where we’re going to have to face young guys who might not be ready for the URC and certainly not for Europe.” Standard cup games. Therefore, the season was very difficult for them.
“Is it time to get rid of someone of Dwayne Peel’s caliber? Certainly not. Like I said, he was very unhappy, he took a lot of things personally, he met with the fans and promised that they would do the best they could.
“But I think they are very, very unlucky. I was there at the Black Lion game last week and I looked at a lot of names on the team sheet and on the bench and they are mainly young players who I have no experience with. Unfortunately, the result seemed to reflect this.
“It has been a difficult season for all regions so far, as we probably thought. Things will get better? Hopefully as the DL gets shorter and experience returns they can get some wins. under your control and regain your trust. Sometimes that trust is all you need and they certainly don’t have it right now. So I feel a little sorry for them.”
Shane Williams is part of the Viaplay team live-streaming all four BKT United Rugby Championship Welsh derbies during the festive rugby season. Join the Viaplay team of Shane Williams, Philippa Tuttiette, Alex Cuthbert, Ross Harris and Martin Gillingham for Christmas rugby, with Welsh doubles derby dates on Boxing Day and New Year.
Rugby fans can follow all URC matches live on the Viaplay streaming service and on Viaplay Sports 1 and Viaplay Sports 2. Visit www.viaplay.com for more information. Viaplay is available on the Viaplay streaming service, Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime, Samsung and Roku.
Source: Wales Online

I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.