Sunday Snippets

Morgan out for Lancaster: According to reports emanating out of English rugby circles today, Gloucester no.8 Ben Morgan will miss the entirety of the forthcoming Six Nations Championship, after suffering an injury to his lower left leg. Morgan, who has been in fine form this campaign for the Cherry and Whites, incurred the injury during Friday night’s win against high flying Saracens on Friday. News has since emerged that Morgan suffered a fracture to the lower portion of his left leg and has already gone under the knife on Saturday morning in an effort to repair the damage. With an expected timeframe of absence standing at roughly 8 weeks, Morgan will miss England’s Six Nations campaign, only serving to damage his chances of selection for Stuart Lancaster’s starting XV come the World Cup, with the former Scarlet already facing stiff competition from the likes of Billy Vunipola, Matt Kvesic and potentially Toulon's Steffon Armitage should Lancaster decide to renege on the RFU's selection policy.

Five for Leinster: Matt O”Connor’s Leinster put in a solid performance against a 14-man Cardiff Blues side yesterday, as they returned from the Welsh capital with maximum match points. A game which ebbed and flowed in either side’s favour over the course of the opening half, the turning point came after 32 minutes when Blues second row Jarrad Hoeata was shown a straight red card for a dangerously high swinging arm to the neck of the on-rushing Rob Kearney. An act of stupidity and carelessness, the New Zealander was rightly handed his marching orders, allowing Leinster to develop a stronghold in the second period, as the hosts began to tire. Tries from Jimmy Gopperth, Noel Reid, Tadhg Furlong and the impressive Luke McGrath at scrumhalf, sealed a valuable away win for O’Connor’s men.

Ryan Sheady