Gatland says he will aim to ignore external criticism."It's been about creating some positivity," said Gatland."It is almost like creating a siege mentality and realising there is a lot of negativity and criticism from outside towards myself and the coaches and the players."We need to put some confidence back in and create that self-belief. It's about bonding and working hard…

Cheika took over from fellow Australia Dan McKellar last summer, with Tigers turning to the former Champions Cup-winning boss after they finished third from bottom of the 10-team Premiership.The job in the East Midlands was Cheika's first in club rugby for a decade.His time away from the week-to-week demands, as well as the speed of the appointment, are among the…

Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh), Josh Bayliss (Bath), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Gregor Brown (Glasgow), Dave Cherry (Edinburgh), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh), Rory Darge (Glasgow), Jack Dempsey (Glasgow), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Bordeaux), Patrick Harrison (Edinburgh), Will Hurd (Leicester), Jack Mann (Glasgow), D'Arcy Rae (Edinburgh), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Glasgow), Marshall…

The championship will represent Easterby's first time acting as a head coach since leaving the Scarlets in 2014.While Farrell will return to post after the Lions Test series against the Wallabies, the former flanker is looking forward to his time at the top of the coaching ticket."I'm really excited," he said."It's something I've been around for a while. I've been…