Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, January 3.
Biggar's boss claims referee 'didn't have enough nuts'
Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd suggested referee Adam Leal "didn’t have enough nuts" to award a penalty at a crucial stage of a 30-6 Gallagher Premiership defeat by Saracens.
Saints, whose only points of the game came via the boot of Dan Biggar thanks to two successful penalty kicks, dominated the first half at Franklin’s Gardens and were camped in the 22 for an extended period, opting for three successive scrums under the posts as Saracens repeatedly infringed.
But on the third scrum Leal awarded the penalty against Northampton, allowing the visitors to escape and leaving Boyd frustrated.
"He didn’t have enough nuts did he? I mean it was a clear hinge. There was only one side under pressure in that series of scrums," he said.
"But anyway. I certainly think we took the right option. We could have taken three points there but we spent a long time down there. For us to come away with three points would have been a victory for them."
The first-half finished 6-6 and when Saracens found a new gear by scoring tries through Alex Lozowski, Tom Woolstencroft and Maro Itoje, they emerged conclusive winners.
"I didn’t fear anything that Saracens did", Boyd said. "At the end of the day we only got six points and they got 30.
"We had half a dozen opportunities in the first-half, they had three and scored three tries. That’s the difference between the two sides.
"There’s some credit for Saracens. They have a very good defence and their game is a kicking-based game. We lost the kicking battle often and we didn’t want to get sucked into that kicking game.
"Obviously the rain didn’t help for us because it was greasy and hard to handle. If you lose the aerial ping pong against a team with a good kicking game, you tend to not get territory. But they also defend very well so credit to them."
Eddie Jones rules himself out of Lions coaching role
England head coach Eddie Jones has categorically ruled himself out of coaching the British and Irish Lions.
The touring squad have played out their previous three campaigns under head coach Warren Gatland, who has one series win, draw and loss to his name.
Jones now says he has no interest in leading the touring team.
Answering Telegraph readers’ questions, the Australian said: "Respectfully, no. I am an Australian and I don’t really have any connection to the Lions as such.
"I think it’d be better for someone from the home countries to do it. I’m also not suited to wearing a blazer 12 months of the year. Someone like Gregor Townsend or Andy Farrell would be better for that job than me."
Steve Borthwick hails 'exceptional' Leicester display in rout of Newcastle
Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick was delighted at the way his side played the rain-sodden conditions to crush Newcastle 31-0 before a crowd of over 22,000 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Falcons barely had a look in as Tigers dominated throughout with their strong pack in control of proceedings, which allowed half-backs George Ford and Ben Youngs to run the show with some superbly-judged kicking.
It still took Tigers until the last minute to pick up their bonus-point try but that score allowed them to extend their lead to nine points over Saracens at the top of the Premiership table.
Dan Kelly, Matt Scott, George Martin and Harry Potter scored tries for Leicester with Ford kicking three conversions and a penalty. Freddie Burns added a conversion.
Borthwick said: "It was very wet out there and we played the conditions exceptionally well.
"We had to work really hard for the scores, especially the last one to get the bonus point at the end.
"This team has a great attitude to fight to the end but they are still are a young side who are improving as a team and we shouldn't be leaving it until the last minute to get a bonus point.
"We've got a terrific fan base which other teams haven't got and we have to ensure that we make them proud of us."
Earlier in the week, Leicester were accused of Premiership salary-cap breaches which are presently under investigation.
Borthwick said: "We addressed it at the start of the week and told the players and asked them if they had any questions on it.
"We then got on with it as anything that has happened was before I came here so whatever will be, will be, and I can't doing anything about it."
Newcastle's director of rugby Dean Richards accepted his side were well beaten.
"We are disappointed as we were very rusty after not playing for three weeks but we didn't play the conditions particularly well," he said.
"We had some possession in the first half but we were better off without it as George Ford and Ben Youngs were particularly shrewd today, they controlled the game totally.
"Tigers are on a roll and they play a Saracens or Eddie Jones type of game which is a kick-and-chase style.
"It's incredibly successful at club level and the Leicester crowd will love it as it's like going back to the old days with no quarter given."
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