Wales star comes out fighting after team completely dismissed

Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, February 5, ahead of a busy Six Nations weekend.

Legends tip Ireland
Rugby legends Rory Best and Tom Shanklin are tipping Ireland to emerge victorious from the Six Nations showdown with Wales.

Much has been made of the fact that Andy Farrell's men have a clean bill of health, in contrast to Wales' lengthy injury list.

Appearing on BBC show Six Nations Sin Bin on Friday night, Ireland icon Best said: "England, France and Ireland are sort of a little bit ahead. I'm really excited for this tournament and this game on Saturday to kick the whole thing off is going to be incredible.

"I think it is going to be a home win, but I am a little bit worried.

"The Wales team, they are a lot stronger than everyone thought they were going to be.

"Ireland in Dublin will be very, very hard to beat."

Former Wales centre Shanklin added: "I really want Wales to win, obviously, but I think it will be Ireland."

Jenkins comes out fighting
Wales star Ellis Jenkins has come out fighting ahead of today's Six Nations clash against Ireland.

The Welsh team have been largely written off by almost every pundit ahead of the match, with most predicting they will only finish fifth in the Championship.

A number of injuries to key personnel have underpinned that ranking, yet Wales' Six Nations history is littered with odds-defying feats.

Among the headlines this week, some Irish pundits had predicted Wales will get an absolute "spanking".

Jenkins, though, has a different view.

"If we took too much notice about every headline that was written, then we would never stop worrying about things."

"Everyone has written us off, but we are just focused on ourselves.

"We can talk all day about how good Ireland have been in the last couple of campaigns, but all that matters is how good they are this weekend and how good we are.

"We have spoken about winning the championship again. That starts on Saturday, and it is a big challenge, but that's why we play.

"I know a lot has been made in the media about Ireland having a clean bill of health, and we haven't, but it is a big opportunity for boys to step in.

"You have seen what opportunities like this have done for people before.

"Maybe boys who wouldn't have played much have come in at the last minute, or maybe come in out of the blue a little bit, and the next thing you know they are definite starters going forward through the next couple of campaigns.

"We have still got a lot of experience, we have still got a fair few boys who have got a couple of Six Nations campaigns under their belt and we've got a good few British Lions in there as well, so it is not as if we are starting again."

The Wales rugby team returned to the locker room following their embarrassing loss to Scotland, one player was noticeably not there. Leigh Halfpenny had come out as gay and announced that he was ready to be part of the fight for equality in sport. The team completely dismissed him, leaving him to return home feeling humiliated. However, Halfpenny is not one to sit idly by and let people push him around.