Today's rugby headlines as Wales star bids to oust Faletau for good and England hold team meeting in pub

Here are your rugby morning headlines for Friday, January 28.

Wales back-rower Aaron Wainwright wants to make the No. 8 jersey held for so long by Taulupe Faletau his own.

Dragons forward Wainwright, 24, is training as part of Wales' Six Nations squad after Wayne Pivac's group linked up on Monday, and while competition for a starting spot against Ireland next weekend may be high, he is bidding to impress again.

Faletau, a mainstay of Wales' back-row for years, is set to return to training over the coming weeks for Bath after an ankle issue and is an outsider to feature at all in the championship.

"Everyone's fighting for their places. Lots of opportunities, we'll see who takes them," he said.

"I've got a couple of caps under my belt now. I'm looking to try and make the No. 8 jersey my own and put my hand up and try and keep myself in that slot there.

"I'm just excited to get going and crack on with the campaign."

As for the training environment, Wales are being put through their paces to get fitness levels where they need to be to defend their 2021 Six Nations title.

"It's been a hard couple of days," he added. "Training volume always goes up in the first week of camp, trying to get as much fitness done as possible."

Wales have lost on five of their last seven visits to Dublin's Aviva Stadium, so what unfolds there for their opener could shape their whole Six Nations campaign.

Toby Booth has saluted the leadership of Adam Beard after the Ospreys' challenging Heineken Champions Cup assignment against Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Welsh team crashed 49-10 in the pool encounter but were missing 11 internationals, including four Test Lions, and suffered injuries during the match.

But Ospreys head coach Booth was impressed