Two of the game's brightest minds, Alex Cora and AJ Hinch, are now unemployed, forced to confront the possibility that their suddenly tainted reputations might prevent them from ever managing again. Two of the sport's most dominant teams, the 2017 Houston Astros and the 2018 Boston Red Sox, now shoulder the reputation of cheaters, their illegal sign-stealing practices spoiling the memories of their greatness.

It has been an unimaginably dispiriting start to the 2020s for Major League Baseball, and this might only be the beginning.

The Astros have been hit with an array of penalties that include year-long suspensions for their two most important employees, the loss of four draft picks within the first two rounds and the largest allowable fine. But the Red Sox, who got out in front of looming punishment by firing Cora on Tuesday evening, are next. And other teams might eventually be incriminated in one of the biggest cheating scandals in sports history.

Many, as you might imagine, have thoughts. ESPN spoke to more than 15 executives, coaches, scouts and players about key topics surrounding the Astros' cheating scandal -- from the stiffness of the penalties to the perceptions of wrongdoing to potential ways to prevent it. Opinions were provided under the condition of anonymity because MLB asked its personnel not to comment.

The 2020 Astros were not hurt nearly enough

A longtime executive went through the penalties to illustrate how the Astros were not necessarily harmed in a big-picture sense.

• A $5 million fine? Chump change for a team that profited far more than that by winning the World Series, and something that probably pales in comparison to not having to pay Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow during their season-long suspensions.

• The loss of a first- and second-round pick in the 2020 and 2021 drafts? Successful teams pick later, which lessens the value of their picks, and they're constantly giving up future assets for immediate returns.

The longtime exec called those draft picks "a liquidated cost," and a veteran scout said the organization "should have been hammered" internationally -- an area where the Astros were not penalized whatsoever.

• The biggest blow, it seems, comes from the suspensions of Luhnow and Hinch, the two foundational pieces in the Astros' resurgence. Both were subsequently fired by owner Jim Crane, who must find a new GM and manager with only weeks remaining until spring training. But the Astros can simply replace them internally, with bench coach Joe Espada expected to be the new manager and assistant GM Pete Putila probably handling most of the baseball-operations work moving forward.

Firing Luhnow and Hinch grants the Astros "a clean slate," the executive said -- a benefit for Crane, given the fallout.

"In one sense, it was on the lighter side because the commish was clear and then they broke the rules some more," another executive told ESPN." So this was the least they could do. If this was isolated, maybe it's not so bad. But they were brazen in breaking the rules."

Isn't a tarnished reputation enough?

That's the question a longtime manager posed when asked if the penalties were enough to serve as a deterrent for other teams, making the point that Luhnow and Hinch could struggle to work in baseball again and might never hold such high-profile positions.

"At the end of the day," the source said, "all we have in this game is our reputation."

A front-office executive agreed, calling the punishments "stiff" while saying: "I would be surprised if anyone else would want to jeopardize their livelihoods and reputations."

But some players presented an interesting scenario: If you were to go back in time and tell Crane that he would win the World Series, but then have to suffer through the fallout of this scandal -- the fine, the loss of draft picks, the suspensions and subsequent firings of his two most important employees, the public smearing for unethical practices -- would he take that deal? The players, emphatically, believe that he would.

And that brings us to another point: The position players who used the system and potentially reaped the benefits were unharmed.

"It's hard for me not to look at my own numbers against them and be pissed," a retired major league pitcher said. "Everyone involved deserves to be seriously punished because it's wrong."

How can a player-driven scheme not punish any players?

This was definitely on the minds of executives and players alike. And for good reason. One player likened it to giving immunity to a burglar just so he can tell you how he broke into your house and stole your television.

"It makes zero sense," one rival player said.

But when pushed on how to dole out punishments, that same player was at a loss. Another player might have summed it up best.

"You can't punish a whole team," this pitcher said. "And some of those guys are not with the Astros anymore. It has to be the organization. Like in college football -- when there's misconduct, by the time it's found, most players and sometimes coaches are gone. The fans and the current players take the brunt of the punishment. Same here."

Executives were more concerned about the message it sends. Perhaps they're also concerned about their own fates being tied to the players.

"It doesn't seem like there are any consequences for players for doing this stuff, so as a result, why would they stop?" one executive asked. "I suppose if they see how much trouble they can get their manager in, then maybe that will matter."

One thing is for sure -- it's going to be a major topic this spring.

"Frankly, players have been aware for a while," another exec said. "But now that people have lost jobs, it will be addressed again with our team and I'm sure every other one in baseball starting next month."

What did opposing players know or suspect of the Astros cheating?

It was a pretty open secret among rival players that the Astros were stealing signs in some fashion, but no one ESPN spoke with knew to what extent they were doing it.

"I faced Carlos Beltran in 2017," one pitcher said. "I actually went back and looked at the AB. I knew it could be the last time I might pitch against him and I wanted to get him out. He was always such a hard out. I got ahead 0-2, then he laid off four straight pitches. I couldn't believe it. When I went back to watch it, I heard the banging. I just figured I was tipping or whatever. No one knew to what extent they were doing it, but we all suspected something."

Some players said suspicions about the Astros illegally stealing signs were a constant topic of conversation coming in and out of series in Houston dating as far back as 2016. Grievances were filed, one player said, and baseball did not act until the issue reached the public. But multiple pitchers also put the onus on themselves, assuming they were tipping their pitches or, at worst, the Astros had an elaborate -- but legal -- process of stealing and relaying signs. They definitely wondered how the Astros were winning the battle when the bases were open (meaning no runner on second base).

"MLB knew teams were up to something more than I think I even realize because why else would these employees be sitting with us monitoring all this stuff and then putting the clubhouse TVs on eight-second delays," one pitcher said. "That's where I figured the stealing was coming from. I guess I wasn't that far off. TVs were used."

2017 World Series, Game 4

A longtime scout cited Game 4 of the 2017 World Series from Minute Maid Park to prove a point about the Astros' sign-stealing chicanery. Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood performed well, giving up only one run and one hit over the course of 5⅔ innings -- but his process was telling.

That night, Wood and his catcher, Austin Barnes, switched their sequence every eight pitches or so out of paranoia that the Astros were stealing the signs, the scout said. Earlier this offseason, in the wake of Mike Fiers' public comments about the Astros' illegal sign-stealing, Wood told The Athletic that he had "heard whispers of some of the shady stuff they'd been doing" and thus accounted for them -- though he did not realize the extent of them.

The Astros went 8-1 at home while on their way to a championship that October, winning every postseason game except the one against Wood. The seven other starting pitchers who faced the Astros at Minute Maid Park that month -- names such as Chris Sale, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw -- gave up a combined 28 runs in 31⅓ innings.

The scout also recalled a handful of ugly swings and misses by some of the Astros' stars during that postseason, when the bat path was nowhere near the pitch's trajectory.

Strangely, this also provided him with confirmation.

"Good hitters don't miss pitches like that," the scout said, "unless they think they are getting something hard and they get spin instead."

Less technology? More technology?

So what can baseball do to stop this problem going forward? A veteran pitching coach says he believes MLB can quell the sign-stealing issue with one simple mandate: a technology shutdown at the start of games. It means no iPads in the dugout and no functioning TVs nearby, with the only exception being the replay-review room -- where an MLB representative is always stationed throughout the game, a policy that was instituted last season.

A longtime manager says he believes video coordinators should not be allowed near the dugout and should not be in communication with the players and coaches because they can provide teams with the most valuable resource of all -- real-time video of the game, rather than the standard eight-second delay that is current policy.

"It's Pandora's box," the source said. "You allow communication in the dugout [with the video replay room], and players are asking, 'What signs are they using?'"

But a current pitcher says he believes an uptick in technology might hold the answer, and summoned another sport for a potential solution. In the NFL, coaches and players -- usually quarterbacks and linebackers -- use headsets to communicate plays on the field, the pitcher noted. And the same should be true for a catcher, pitching coach or manager and the pitcher, with other players -- the third baseman, shortstop, center fielder, or anybody else who traditionally reads the signs to determine positioning -- gaining access if they desire.

The system wouldn't just crack down on sign-stealing, the pitcher said, but potentially also quicken the pace of games, an ongoing pursuit by MLB. Catchers wouldn't be making so many trips to the pitcher's mound to change sign sequences. And perhaps those prolonged bullpen games that come into play when a starting pitcher gets knocked out early would be minimized.

Is anyone shocked Alex Cora lost his job in this?

Not after the news out of Houston broke Monday. More than one player agreed Cora was the "ringleader" for the Astros sign-stealing saga. As often is the case with teams, the bench coach has intimate knowledge of the goings-on with players even more than the manager does. In this case it cost Cora his job with the Red Sox. There was no getting around it.

"A few of us texted with each other that we knew Cora was next," one player said. "It's been a rough 24 hours for baseball."

British number three Kyle Edmund beat Andreas Seppi to reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.

The 25-year-old recovered from a break down in the second set to beat the experienced Italian 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

He will play American world number 20 John Isner in the last eight.

Edmund reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open two years ago but has since fallen to 69 in the rankings going into this year's event, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.

British number one Dan Evans will play his Adelaide Open quarter-final against Russia's Andrey Rublev on Thursday.

A number of tennis greats played in a charity match to take the amount of money raised for the bushfire appeal to over 4m Australian dollars.

Home player Nick Kyrgios raised A$1,600 (£954) in aces alone at Wednesday's Rally for Relief, while Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - who between them have won 39 Grand Slams - joined together to donate A$250,000 (£132,285).

The firefighters in attendance were given a lengthy, standing ovation by the crowd, while one joined Nadal on court to play doubles.

"Back home in Canberra, I couldn't even go outside. It was emotional," said Kyrgios, who made the first pledge to the appeal.

"I'm so happy we had Roger, Rafa, Novak [Djokovic] - some of the greats to get behind it. We're doing everything we possibly can to overcome this together."

A number of players have pledged to donate money for each ace they hit while in Australia, including all those involved in the exhibition match.

Ongoing bushfires in the country have killed at least 28 people and destroyed an estimated 10 million hectares (100,000 sq km) of land.

Australian Open qualifying has also been affected by smoke in Melbourne, with the city's air quality rated "very poor" on Wednesday.

The two teams for the doubles were:

Kyrgios, representing Team Wozniacki, then played a singles match against Federer for Team Williams, with the Swiss winning 7-6 (7-4). Team Williams were also the overall winners.

American Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, said she had taken her daughter, Olympia, to meet the firefighters.

"For 20 years, this has been my home. We're all here tonight to support and help out," she added.

‘It’s funny because today I was the challenger and she had the pressure’
By SEAN REUTHE – PSA World Tour

France’s World No.5 Camille Serme ended a seven-match losing streak against World No.1 Raneem El Welily earlier today at New York’s Grand Central Terminal to book her place in the semi-finals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, PSA World Tour Platinum event.

Serme hadn’t beaten El Welily over a best-of-five games format since January 2013 and had only prevailed in three of their previous 20 encounters, surrendering a two-game lead the last time they met in the title decider of June’s CIB PSA World Tour Finals.

But, under the chandeliers of Grand Central’s stunning Vanderbilt Hall, the 30-year-old put in a composed, resilient performance to withstand El Welily’s shot-making efforts as Serme came back from 2-1 down to win 13-15, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6.

“It’s funny because today I was the challenger and she had the pressure,” said an emotional Serme afterwards.

“It’s kind of easier to play your best squash because you think you have nothing to lose. You play free and I proved to myself that I can play those shots as well as they can do.

“It’s the kind of match you want to enjoy, I’m playing the World No.1 here in Grand Central, it’s going to be a great match. Raneem is the fairest player on tour so you know it’s going to be a clean and good match. I just enjoyed it so much and it’s not that often I beat Raneem, I think it’s only the fourth time in my career.”

2017 Tournament of Champions winner Serme will line up against another Egyptian, World No.3 Nouran Gohar, in the semi-finals after Gohar overcame England’s Alison Waters in straight games.

Meanwhile, 2018 runner-up Nour El Tayeb saw her tournament come to an end after a surprise defeat to World No.14 Salma Hany in their third round encounter.

El Tayeb had won all four of their previous meetings but looked out of sorts despite winning the opening game as Hany executed her game plan to perfection, The 23-year-old hit good lines and dominated the ’T’ to take away attacking opportunities from the World No.4 and she was rewarded with an 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 victory to claim her first win over a player ranked inside the world’s top five.

“Nour is an amazing player and obviously she has been chopping me the last few times,” said Hany afterwards.

“Everyone knows that Nour can hit any shot from anywhere on the court, so I was just trying to minimise her options as much as I could. I didn’t feel like I did much wrong in the first, maybe I levelled up my accuracy a little and I stuck to the plan. She is such a fighter and kept coming back stronger and stronger in the fourth, but I’m glad I managed to get the win.”

Hany will clash with New Zealand’s Joelle King in the last eight, with King coming through to win in four games against India’s Joshna Chinappa.

US hopes were extinguished in the women’s event as US No.2 Olivia Blatchford Clyne went down to defending champion Nour El Sherbini, while Sabrina Sobhy saw her run come to an end against England’s Sarah-Jane Perry. El Sherbini and Perry will clash in the quarter-finals, with Perry aiming to extend a three-match winning run over the World No.2.

Two of the men’s quarter-final fixtures took place today, with World No.1 Ali Farag and reigning World Champion Tarek Momen overcoming World Championship runner-up Paul Coll and World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal, respectively.

Farag extended his unbeaten run over Coll to 11 matches after completing an 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 5-11, 11-6 victory after 62 minutes to ensure he will take on Momen in a repeat of the 2018-19 PSA World Championship final.

Defending champion Farag was firing on all cylinders in the opening two games as Coll looked off the pace, but the Kiwi came out a different player in the third and fourth and dominated to level the scores. However, at 6-4 up in the decider, Coll’s attacking shots began to find the tin and Farag rattled off seven points in a row to complete the win.

“I started off really well,” said Farag.

“The ball was quite bouncy, so I couldn’t really going for those killing shots I just had to move it around and try to dominate the ‘T’ area which I think I did well for the first game and part of the second game. In the third he came out more aggressive and hitting shots with the racket, getting in front of me for most of the time and what I didn’t like at the end of the third and for the fourth was my body language.

“I don’t mind losing at all but I mind losing without a fight. I wasn’t really putting on a good fight, so Karim [Darwish] told me if you are to lose just have good body language and push – if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but then at least you will have no regrets.”

Momen, who lost that World Championship final before going one better against Coll in Qatar in the final of the 2019-20 World Championship eight months later, put in a masterclass of attacking squash to beat Asal 11-8, 11-2, 11-5. The World No.3 will now look to avenge his 3-0 defeat to Farag in last year’s Tournament of Champions semi-final.

“I’m definitely happy to get through in three games,” said Momen.

“I’ve known Mostafa probably since he was born. I think I finished my junior career when he was just four or five years old, and to be honest I never thought I’d be competing against him, I always thought I’d have retired before he even joined the PSA. Kudos to him, he has done impressively well to improve and reach that level where he is actually competing on a big stage like this.”

The quarter-finals continue tomorrow from 17:00 (GMT-5) onwards, with live action being shown on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.

Squash fans can also follow the event via the official tournament website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Results – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): 2020 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-2: 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 5-11, 11-6 (62m)
[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (33m)

Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played January 15th

[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [6] Simon Rösner (GER)
Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)

Draw – Men’s Semi-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played January 16th

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [4] Tarek Momen (EGY)

Results – Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2020 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

[14] Salma Hany (EGY) bt [4] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 (41m)
[6] Joelle King (NZL) bt [12] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (48m)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (42m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA) 3-1: 14-12, 11-8, 6-11, 16-14 (53m)

Results – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): 2020 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

[5] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) 3-2: 13-15, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 (59m)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [13] Alison Waters (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (39m)

Draw – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played January 15th

[14] Salma Hany (EGY) v [6] Joelle King (NZL)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)

Draw – Women’s Semi-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played January 16th

[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

Pictures courtesy of  PSA World Tour

From Casa Amor to Cape Town, 2019 was quite a year for Love Island winner Greg O'Shea.

Or is that professional rugby player Greg O'Shea? Or radio host? Or law graduate?

No matter how you know him, just Greg will do, because that's who he is.

O'Shea's profile sky-rocketed over the summer after winning reality TV show Love Island with Amber Gill, and although their relationship didn't work out in the long run ("it is what is is"), the 24-year-old's popularity has endured.

Before his reality success, O'Shea helped Ireland make history by qualifying as a core World Sevens Series nation for the first time, and despite his new-found fame, rugby remains the Limerick star's bread and butter.

"It's easy to forget that I've been a sports player my whole life, and although people say I'm more of a celebrity star now, my main thing is sport," said O'Shea.

"It was the most unexpected year of my life. I started off the year thinking I was going to do normal stuff, like qualifying as a solicitor and playing with the Sevens.

"We then qualified for Hong Kong, which was my biggest goal from last year, and then Love Island happened.

"It was just bizarre, but I loved every second of it."

Love Island? I thought, 'why not?'

While his relationship with Amber Gill didn't last long after Love Island ended, O'Shea says he has "no regrets" about his experience on the show.

"I didn't actually apply for it," he recalled.

"They found me on Instagram, and I've no idea how because I only had around 1,000 followers at that point.

"They got onto me and asked me if I would do it, and I said 'why not?'."

O'Shea revealed he was offered a place in the original line-up, but his rugby commitments meant he had to wait until the off-season before entering the villa.

"The last two weeks worked, so I went in and I won it," he recalled.

"The statistics to get into the villa are insane. There's something like 150,000 people interviewed, and 36 go in. That's only like 0.02%.

"The chances of winning are even more ridiculous than that. I do count myself very lucky."

Fame 'was madness'

After his Love Island win, O'Shea became one of the most recognisable faces in the UK and Ireland. So how do you deal with "the madness" of overnight success?

"The key thing for me was that I surrounded myself with my family and my closest friends. That really kept me grounded," added O'Shea.

"It was about taking the right opportunities and sticking to my morals, which I think has gone well so far.

"Honestly, you couldn't have planned it any better with how it worked.

"The IRFU were so nice for letting me go on, and thankfully it went well for me because it was a bit of a risk.

"My team-mates here cut me at the knees straight away, so that kept me grounded too.

"Everyone has been so supportive and I'm really glad about everything that has come from it."

'One slip-up and you're out'

While the Limerick native is best known for his time in the villa, O'Shea says his biggest success in 2019 was helping Ireland qualify for the World Sevens Series after winning the qualification tournament in Hong Kong in April.

After a tricky debut in Dubai in December, where they finished 12th, Ireland stepped up another gear in the second leg and came home sixth in Cape Town. An impressive feat when you consider it was only their second set of matches as a core nation.

"The word we kept using as a group was 'relief'," said O'Shea on helping Ireland qualify for the first time.

"We had put so much work into getting there and it is a really hard competition to qualify for.

"Only the winners make it, and it is a case of any slip-up and you are out."

On paper, a 12th-place finish in Dubai may not sound like anything to shout about, but O'Shea says Ireland's maiden win over Scotland in their final pool match proved to be a springboard for the following stage in South Africa.

"As a team we probably acknowledged we were a bit tense and a bit stressed with the whole occasion," reflected O'Shea.

"There was plenty of analysis, and we went to Cape Town with a much better mindset. That's a stepping stone now to keep on improving.

"We want to do as well as we can, and if we win one of the stages then that would be amazing.

"We're one of the best teams in the world when it comes to 15s rugby, so we wanted to get the sevens up there with them. Now we are and we're fighting on the world stage."

Olympic qualification 'would be incredible'

After the IRFU set up their sevens programme in 2014, reaching the World Sevens Series capped off a remarkable rise for the sport in Ireland.

"We've been through a lot together now," added O'Shea.

"We've been together for four years, starting in European Division C, right through to the World Series now.

"We're a really tight group of lads and it's a big year ahead."

A big year it is. On top of the remainder of their World Series campaign, Ireland have one last shot at making the Olympic Games with a 12-team qualifying tournament, with the final slot at Tokyo up for grabs.

Tournament hosts France are, at least on paper, Ireland's biggest opposition when it comes to making the Games, and O'Shea says that it would be "a dream" to represent Ireland in Japan.

"The Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, you can't get higher than that," he added.

"Anthony Eddy is the brains behind the operation and he has pulled us all together from all corners of Ireland. I'm not even sure how you would label us as a team.

"I think our journey has brought us tighter, and if we could get to the Olympics then that would be amazing and incredible for the whole country."

'I want to grow the sport'

Perhaps unsurprisingly, O'Shea's popularity outside of sport means he is the most-followed rugby player in the world on Instagram.

That brings pressure in itself, but he feels he can use that to try and promote and grow rugby sevens.

"Most of my followers are people who like reality TV, and I'm trying my best to stick to what got me to that position," he added.

"A lot of people ask me what sevens is. It is exactly what it says on the tin. It is really entertaining sport and I'm hoping my profile can help build it.

"It's just so exciting. Every time is just 'try time'. It's just like a party in the stands and there is a match happening in the middle of it all."

After representing Ireland at underage level, and with his status, could O'Shea be tempted back to the higher-profile world of 15s rugby?

"I'm really happy with where I am," he said.

"The money isn't as lucrative, but it is the lifestyle and the boys. I can't see myself going back to 15s at the minute, but who knows what will happen in the future.

"People always say about winning Love Island, but my proudest thing is playing for my country and I'll try and do it for as long as I can.

"I've a lot of avenues that I can potentially go down now. And, as the last 12 months show, I am not entirely sure where my life will take me."

Saracens scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth says his future is unresolved as the club cuts costs to comply with the salary cap regulations.

"Some players' names got put in the press, mine being one of them, but there was no real truth to it as far as I know," he told Rugby Union Weekly.

"The club is more important and we will wait for them to get it sorted."

Fellow England internationals George Kruis and Calum Clark have also been linked with exits.

Full-back Liam Williams became the first high-profile player to leave the club when it was announced in December that he will rejoin Scarlets, possibly before the end of the season.

Saracens, Premiership champions in four of the past five seasons, were docked 35 points and fined £5.36m in November for breaching salary cap regulations.

Saracens owner Nigel Wray's business dealings with some senior player were judged to be a circumvention of the rules by Premiership Rugby.

Interim chief executive Edward Griffiths has admitted pay cuts and releasing players may be necessary to comply with regulations this season.

However, speaking before Saracens' final Champions Cup pool-stage game on Sunday, director of rugby Mark McCall said he is still to find out how balancing the club's finances will affect his squad.

"There have been a lot of rumours and a lot of speculation over the past 10 weeks and we are not 100% clear on what needs to be done. When we are we will get it done," he told BBC Radio London.

Wigglesworth, 36, says he has no intention of retiring from rugby.

"I would like to play on," he added.

"I have taken advice and everyone says you have to play while you still feel there is something in you.

"My enthusiasm for the game is not waning and the body still feels good so I think I should play on while I still feel like that."

Saracens have won six of their eight Premiership games to close the gap on 11th-placed Leicester to 18 points and could face domestic rivals and chief critics Exeter in the last eight of the Champions Cup in April, but Wigglesworth says that they cannot fuel their season on a desire to prove others wrong.

"Having to ram it down people's throats is not our main focus anymore," he added.

"We had a chat as a squad when it happened and that feeling won't last and carry you through. We have to go out there and play the game."

Stuart Hogg is the new Scotland captain after head coach Gregor Townsend named his squad for this year's Six Nations.

The 27-year-old Exeter Chiefs full-back replaces Edinburgh's Stuart McInally, who skippered the national side during last year's disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign.

Six uncapped players are included in Townsend's 38-man squad.

"He's a really intelligent rugby player who is learning and improving with every season," Townsend said of Hogg.

"He really wanted to take on the honour and responsibility of being captain, which was a huge positive.

"And - having heard his plans for how he would work as a captain and work to bring the best out of others, while being able to focus on his own game - meant it became a relatively straightforward decision."

Hogg's sole game as skipper came in a loss to the USA in June 2018, but he has been vice-captain several times since and the 72-cap star is the most experienced player in the squad following the retirement of former skippers Greig Laidlaw and John Barclay.

Glasgow Warriors trio Tom Gordon, Kyle Steynand and Ratu Tagive, plus Edinburgh duo Luke Crosbie and Nick Haining and Gloucester's Alex Craig, are the uncapped players called up for the tournament, which Scotland begin away to Ireland on 1 February.

Centres Huw Jones and Rory Hutchinson are recalled after missing out on the World Cup. Edinburgh centre Matt Scott returns after a two-and-a-half year absence and club-mate Rory Sutherland is back more than three-and-a-half years after his last cap.

"We've put a bigger emphasis on form as a guide for our selection, with those picked backed to go out and grab their opportunity," Townsend added.

Scotland's Six Nations squad

Forwards: Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Magnus Bradbury, Fraser Brown, Alex Craig, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Allan Dell, Cornell du Preez, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Tom Gordon, Nick Haining, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Sutherland, Ben Toolis, George Turner, Hamish Watson.

Backs: Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Stuart Hogg (c), George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Sam Johnson, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Sean Maitland, Matt Scott, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Kyle Stern, Ratu Tagive.