Today's rugby headlines as Dylan Hartley claims Wales stars would thrive if they played for England with Marcus Smith

Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, February 26.

Former England captain Dylan Hartley believes Wales' back-three would be thriving if Marcus Smith was their No. 10.

Liam Williams starts his third match of this year's Six Nations at full-back at Twickenham, while Johnny McNicholl and Louis Rees-Zammit accompanied him in the back-three in Dublin in round one. Alex Cuthbert then came in for Scarlets man McNicholl against Scotland, and Josh Adams returns to the wing against England, seeing Rees-Zammit drop out of the matchday 23.

Wales' is the only backline not to have scored a try in this year's tournament so far.

In a joint interview with Wales rugby legend Sam Warburton for The Times, Hartley said: "I knew your [Wales] DNA but with Pivac, seeing what he did at Scarlets, it is not the same with Wales. Every team can play out the back but you need that punch — what Jamie Roberts could provide, what Manu [Tuilagi] would have brought to England before injury ruled him out. You have got to have that.

"Against Scotland, England played some of what I’d call 'captain’s run rugby'. They went through the phases, kept the ball, it looked good but they never really got through or around the Scots and converted that possession into points. If you put Wales’s back three into England’s team now, with the way Marcus Smith is playing, then they’d thrive."

Scotland flanker Hamish Watson will miss Saturday's Six Nations match against France after returning a positive test for coronavirus.

Edinburgh back-row Nick Haining moves into the starting XV for the Murrayfield clash and will play on the blindside, with Rory Darge switching to openside flanker.

Saracens' Andy Christie comes into the matchday 23 and could make his