Here are your rugby headlines for Friday, March 28.
Flanagan: Losing Dragons would be 'disastrous'
Former Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan believes cutting the Dragons would be "disastrous" and would be like "letting a wolf into our garden" with Bristol and clubs across the Severn Bridge so close.
Ex-Wales captain Sam Warburton suggested that going down to three regions is the logical way forward in order to concentrate Wales' player pool and prop up the levels below the pro clubs, too.
Warburton suggested that if you are looking at the regions on a performance basis then the Dragons would be in danger, however Flanagan, who was head coach at Rodney Parade for two and a half years until he was sacked in November, has railed against that idea.
"First and foremost I find it tough listening to that because instantly my head goes to 65 good people being out of work," he told the BBC Scrum V show.
"Take the Dragons as an example. I've done some after school clubs for my son's school. Just yesterday a boy turned up in full Dragons kit and he hadn't turned up before - he had been to the game on Saturday, Dragons v Ulster, 6,500 fans, 1,600 kids.
"First question was 'Do you know Aaron Wainwright?' Second question, 'Do you still like the Dragons?' Then he said 'I met Aaron Wainwright, I had a photo with Rio Dyer', the last thing he spoke about was the outcome of the game.
"We have got 25 years of investment in these regions, rightly or wrongly. Say we did move Gwent on, which would be disastrous, there are 74 rugby clubs in Gwent. Bristol just over the Bridge, 30 minutes away from Newport. Suddenly Bristol are playing Cardiff at the Principality and it's like we've let a wolf into our garden.
"The kids playing for Penallta minis, Whitehead minis, they'll either stop playing, play football or they'll end up over the Bridge. So we've got to be really careful how we tread here."
He added: "We are going through the pain now. We've had massive budget cuts for the greater good, we've restructured, I know we've restructured Gwent for the greater good.
"It was always agreed, once the cost is at neutral, the owners will reinvest and I'm hearing good things now, that they're reinvesting and bringing quality in, but what they haven't changed is the foundation.
"Because we get that right, we can build on it."
Wales are still searching for their new head coach and it's not out of the realms of possibility that they have an interim person in charge for the summer tour of Japan.
When asked if Flanagan would be interested, should he get the call, he replied: "It's a good question for Welsh people, I'm a proud Welshman. I coached Wales against Argentina twice and Canada in the Covid summer series at home and it was one of the proudest days of my life.
"If they call, you are going to be there, hence Jockey (Matt Sherratt), jumping at it, Adam (Jones) coming back, but I'm also a realist. My journey probably needs to be somewhere else now to develop, experience new things.
"Potentially new roles, but I've still got a lot to offer Welsh rugby."
Wales call-up Warren pens new Ospreys deal
The Ospreys have confirmed that prop Ben Warren has penned a new deal with the club.
The 24-year-old has 32 appearances for the Ospreys under his belt and was part of the Wales squad in the recent Guinness Six Nations, receiving a call-up after an injury to WillGriff John. His rugby journey also includes 15 caps for Wales at under-20 level.
Upon signing his new contract, Warren said: "I'm really happy to be continuing my career with the Ospreys. I've had the opportunity to work with some quality, experienced front rowers and been coached by Dunc (Duncan Jones), who has played an important role in my development.
"There's some great competition at tight head and we all push ourselves in training, which is what you want. The next step for me, on a personal note, is to get as much rugby under my belt as I can and to keep improving."
Head coach Mark Jones shared his optimism about Warren's future: "We have high hopes for Ben, so it's great to have him commit his future to the club. He's already beginning to show the qualities of a top-class tighthead and we're excited to see how he builds on that going forward.
"I know Dunc (Duncan Jones) sees Ben as a strong prospect in our front row, and I'm confident that he will continue to develop under his stewardship, as so many of our front rowers have in recent years."
Bill Sweeney survives RFU no-confidence vote
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has survived a vote of no confidence held at a special general meeting where he faced a call for his dismissal by the board.
A community game uprising gathered enough support to trigger the RFU's first SGM for 20 years and tabled the motion for Sweeney's contract to be terminated as soon as possible.
But they could muster only 206 of the 466 votes cast with 36 abstaining, registering 29.10 per cent of the total vote.
The 65.82 per cent who voted in support of Sweeney means the highest ranking administrator in English rugby has faced down the rebellion.
The SGM was held at Twickenham and featured a mixture of RFU members attending and others taking part virtually. Of the total RFU membership of around 1,300, 672 cast votes.
Interim chairman Bill Beaumont described the outcome of the vote as "emphatic".
Dragons to face strong Edinburgh side as six internationals return
By PA Sport Staff
Edinburgh welcome a string of senior Scotland internationals back to the fold for the first time in more than two months when they host Dragons in the United Rugby Championship on Friday night.
Wing duo Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe are back in club colours after moving further clear at the top of the Scots' all-time try-scoring charts with two apiece during the recent Guinness Six Nations.
Experienced forward trio Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie also return to Edinburgh's starting XV, while hooker Dave Cherry - who started all five Scotland matches in the championship - is on the bench.
Sean Everitt's side are looking to climb back into the top eight after going down to a frustrating 21-18 defeat away to Benetton in which the Italians scored a late winner.
Head coach Everitt told the Edinburgh website: "Dragons are a dangerous side, they win a lot of turnovers and can be really efficient and hurt you in the 22. They gave Ulster a hard time on Saturday, so it's not a team we can take lightly.
"Every game in the URC has been tight in the last couple of months, so we have to focus on ourselves and make sure we can execute as accurately as we can."
Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman is rested while back-rower Ben Muncaster, who has concussion, is the most notable of the injury absentees.
