The latest rugby stories making headlines on Tuesday, October 20

These are your headlines on the morning of Tuesday, October 20

Peel makes case for Blacker

Former Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel believes current Scarlets number nine Dane Blacker could be one to push on to Test level.

Wales head coach Steve Tandy names his squad for the upcoming Nations Championship Tests against Japan, New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday.

Tomos Williams will be Tandy's undisputed first-choice scrum-half pick for those matches but behind the Saracens man is a dearth of ready-made replacements.

Dragons youngster Che Hope is one for the future, while Ospreys' Kieran Hardy is expected to be sidelined for some time due to injury. Reuben Morgan-Williams has had to bide his time, while veteran Gareth Davies has also been mentioned as a possible solution, should he reverse his retirement decision.

But Peel feels Blacker, who has started all three Scarlets games in the URC so far this season, has something to offer.

"He's a player who wants to play the game quickly and he's been very, very good for us," said Peel.

"I'm really happy with the way he's gone about his business. He's one who could definitely push if you want to play that quick, expansive game."

Spain's Six Nations ambition

President of the Spanish federation Juan Carlos Martin Sanchez says his plan for Spanish rugby is to compete at the elite level in Europe with a goal of one day featuring in the Six Nations.

Spain are among the frontrunners to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup, while European cup finals and Top 14 games have been staged in the country.

“You cannot think about competing if we don’t do things differently,” Sanchez told The Ruck podcast from The Times.

"The only way we can be competitive is by playing at the maximum level.”

There have been reports of other countries joining the Six Nations before, namely Georgia and South Africa.

Asked about the men’s and women’s Six Nations, Sanchez said he would be interested in pushing for inclusion - although he did recognise there would be a number of hurdles to clear.

“It could be something very interesting, but we recognise that the Six Nations is a private competition," he added. "First we have to become serious players — the Six Nations could be part of that programme.”

At a domestic club level, Sanchez revealed they would be engaging with the URC in the coming years about having Spanish representation in that competition.

“It’s now or never,” Sanchez added. “All the stakeholders in Spain are fully supporting rugby. Rugby is the only sport missing in Spain, the only sport where we have to develop and become a tier one in the following years — and we can do that."

Ritchie finally set for debut

Former Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie is finally set to make his debut for new club Glasgow Warriors.

Ritchie, 30, signed for the Warriors in the summer from French club Perpignan but has been plagued by ankle and Achilles tendon issues since his arrival.

The former Edinburgh man is now set to be "unleashed" this weekend when they face Benetton in Treviso.

"He's training fully. We feel he's integrated into the systems now very well. And he's itching to go," said Warriors head coach Nigel Carolan.

"It would be great if we get him involved this week, either starting or on the bench. It would be really positive to have him involved, especially ahead of Scotland's Nations Cup in a couple of weeks."

Ritchie has signed a two-year deal at Scotstoun. Carolan says it was important to stay patient with him during his recovery.

"I think it was important to get the timing right. We didn't want to rush him," the Irishman added.

"Obviously he had surgery over the summer so we didn't really want to push him. He's just moved to a new club and with all that going on, we felt the timing needed to be right.

"We could have involved him maybe last week but that was Ruwald van der Merwe's time. So I think the time has now come to unleash Jamie Ritchie in a Glasgow Warriors shirt."