Here's the morning headlines from the rugby world for Sunday, January 12.
England rugby player returns four months after cancer treatment
Newcastle Falcons centre Johnny Williams has made a successful return to rugby just four months after undergoing treatment for cancer.
The 23-year-old, who played for Wales Under-16s through having a father from the north of the country, played the first half of a 31-5 win as a Falcons XV beat Watsonians in Melrose.
Williams, who scored a try on his England debut against the Barbarians last year, was in line for a possible place at the World Cup, before being diagnosed with testicular cancer.
But after his final round of chemotherapy treatment, the former London Irish and England Under-20s player swiftly returned to Newcastle training in November, with a gradual build-up to taking the field again.
"I've come a long way since the summer when I was diagnosed, and it's great to be back playing some competitive rugby again and be back with the Falcons boys," he said.
Williams said he was very thankful to the countless messages of support.
"I read every single one of them, and it really does mean a lot to know I've got so many people out there backing me and wishing me all the best.
"It drives me to keep working hard and to get out there on the field again as quickly as I possibly can, so to everyone who has made a comment or just had positive thoughts towards it, I can't thank you enough."
Future of South African rugby lies in Europe - World Cup winner
World Cup-winning hooker Schalk Brits believes the future of South African rugby lies in Europe including the Guinness PRO14 competition.
The 38-year-old former Saracens front-rower is now fully retired from the professional game having helped the 'Boks lift the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
But he'll be taking a close interest in Super Rugby having represented the Bulls last season.
The tournament is under pressure again this year with crowd numbers having been in a steady state of decline.
And it could be further hit with a number of high-profile World Cup winners leaving for clubs in France and England this season.
For Brits, who left South Africa and the Stormers in 2009 to pursue a career in the English Premiership, a move to European competition would be a positive for the South African franchises.
"For me, when I left South Africa in 2009 I think we had an average attendance of around 40 000 people at Newlands every week," Brits said. "Coming back, I was quite shocked with the lack of support.
"I've been saying this for quite a while, but for me people want to watch the best players play rugby and unfortunately it isn't great when you have your best players playing abroad.
"Going forward I foresee the game moving to the northern hemisphere. All of this jet lag and flying across different time zones just doesn't work. For me it just makes sense to go north.
"From a rugby community point of view, we've already got so many players playing in Europe and it would be awesome to see South African players playing against each other in a European competition."
Rugby fans turn on French ref Romain Poite
Fans from Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs have turned on Romain Poite in the wake of the 31-31 European Champions Cup draw at Scotstoun.
The French referee was described as having his ‘worst game ever’ and labelled a 'disgrace' after a series of contentious calls in the match.
Poite’s decisions included issuing a yellow card to Callum Gibbons for dangerously flying off-feet with a shoulder into the head an Exeter player at a ruck.
The consensus from the commentary was that the incident deserved a red card. The breakdown was a controversial area of the game that left fans confused.
Glasgow received another yellow card in the second half to hooker Fraser Brown, much to the confusion of Glasgow’s captain who couldn’t understand Poite’s explanation.
With 10 minutes remaining with the scores at 31-31 Poite sent a referral to the TMO after a try to midfielder Sam Johnson that was called back for a forward pass but refused to look at possible double-movements on Exeter’s tries despite protests.
Hurricanes reach out to Michael Fatialofa after neck surgery
The Hurricanes have told former teammate Michael Fatialofa that he is in their thoughts and prayers as he recovers from neck surgery in England.
Fatialofa - a Super Rugby title winner with the Hurricanes in 2016 - suffered a frightening neck injury in Worcester's heavy loss to Saracens on January 4 and has had surgery to ease the swelling.
The 27-year-old lock remains at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London with his wife Tatiana at his bedside.
Fatialofa's Worcester Warriors teammates have been offered counselling to help them deal with witnessing the horrific injury.
And his former Hurricanes colleagues are equally concerned about their friend.
Centre Vince Aso said: "Just on behalf of the Hurricanes and the boys, just like to send our love and our thoughts with Michael Fats and Tatiana, we know you're going through a tough gig but... I know you'll get through it."
