It's true Wales lack the depth of other nations in the front-row, but Assiratti is well-respected as a scrummager within the game. The 27-year-old is a strong technical scrummager who has a good shape at scrum time, while he will undoubtedly benefit from working closely with Adam Jones.

Wales' 'strongest' side: Liam Williams; Josh Adams, Joe Roberts, Owen Watkin, Tom Rogers; Ben Thomas, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee, Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan, Taulupe Faletau.

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou have both been included in France's matchday squad to face Wales in the first game of the Six Nations tournament next week.

In December, the case against the 21-year-olds was dropped after the two forwards had faced accusations in July. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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Ahead of the opening match of the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations, Fabien Galthié has revealed for the first time the secrets of his French squad selections.

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French rugby union chiefs on Wednesday named the players accused of raping a 39-year-old woman in Argentina during the summer tour of South America in the 42-man squad for the 2025 Six Nations tournament.

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