Today's rugby news as new Welsh cap 'outstanding' and Erasmus says players lucky against Wales

Here are your rugby headlines for Thursday, June 27.

Beetham 'an outstanding player' with 'very bright future'

Gareth Davies has backed new Wales cap Jacob Beetham to have a "very bright future" after branding him an "outstanding player".

Cardiff utility back Beetham made his bow for Wales in the defeat by South Africa at the weekend, having performed consistently well for his club side throughout the campaign.

The fact Beetham can play all across the back line, in a time when Warren Gatland is looking for solutions to a number of problem positions, is certainly a tick in the yes column, too.

And scrum-half Davies revealed Beetham's nerves leading up to his first cap at Twickenham, but believes there is much more to come from the 23-year-old, who will tour Australia with the squad in the coming weeks.

“Jacob, he’s an outstanding player, so talented. I’ve watched him play for Cardiff for the last couple years when he’s come through. He can play in a lot of positions, which is a fantastic talent. He covers 10, the centres, wing, full-back, nearly across the whole back line!" Davies told Ruck.

SIGN UP: Get the new exclusive Inside Welsh rugby newsletter for full insight into what's really going on around all the big issues. This special offer will get you full access for the entire year for just £10 instead of £40.

“So, in fairness to him, he hasn’t played much at 10. I know he was a little bit stressed in the week trying to learn the calls at 10, as well as 15 and centre. So no, to be fair to him, he came on in the last 10 or so minutes, and I thought he his confidence was good. I think he’s got a very bright future.”

Wales face a two-Test series against the Wallabies before a final tour game against the Queensland Reds. Despite the heavy defeat by the world champions at the weekend, Davies is confident of his side's chances Down Under.

“It’s going to be an exciting challenge for us," he added. "We’ve got a lot of new faces in our squad as well. So you could say that we’re in a similar sort of boat (to Australia). A lot of players coming back into contention for selection as well for those two games.

"The competition for positions in the squad is going to be good, which only makes us stronger as a squad. We can be quite confident going over there, hopefully.”

Dee 'absolutely gutted'

Wales hooker Elliot Dee has spoken for the first time since being ruled out of the tour of Australia.

The experienced Dragons hooker has been struggling with an ankle injury which has prompted the Wales management to call rookie Daniel into the squad.

And Dee, who has 51 caps for Wales, has revealed his disappointment over missing the tour, but has vowed to come back stronger next term.

"Some unbelievable moments shared with the best people this season!" he wrote on Instagram.

"Absolutely gutted to be missing out on the summer tour with Wales but will be supporting the boys from in front of the box before getting stuck into this rehab, ready for next season."

Erasmus: My players lucky to escape cards against Wales

Rassie Erasmus has admitted that Bongi Mbonambi was lucky to avoid a yellow card in the match against Wales at Twickenham and also gave his thoughts on Aphelele Fassi's controversial sin-binning.

Erasmus steered his team to a commanding 41-13 triumph over Wales in London last weekend, however he expressed concern over his team's discipline, as they gave away 11 penalties and narrowly avoided having two players sent to the sin bin.

Fassi received only a yellow card from referee Chris Busby for reckless play after he raised his leg unnaturally while catching a high ball and making contact with Welsh back-rower Taine Plumtree. After consulting with the TMO, Busby decided on a sin bin for Fassi, with no further action taken by the TMO Bunker.

Erasmus called Fassi's act "reckless" when asked for his view, saying: "There were a few instances in the match but Fassi did have some bad luck. But definitely it is a little bit reckless and you can't just put your foot out there and hope he doesn't hit somebody's head."

Erasmus also shared his thoughts on Mbomabi's tackle on Welsh prop Gareth Thomas after the hour mark. The South African hooker joined a double tackle after Ox Nche initiated contact, resulting in a head-to-head collision with the Welsh forward.

After an extensive review, it was determined that Mbonambi's actions were 'careless', but both players were 'very bent', leading to a penalty against the South African. However, Erasmus believes his hooker was lucky not to be sent off for his actions.

"I think Bongi was definitely lucky not to get a yellow card for when he went in there with his tackle," the Springboks' head coach added.

"Overall, I think we conceded around 13 penalties, and Jaco Peyper took us through them all this morning, and there were seven or eight that were avoidable that weren't accidents but were stupidity, so overall, I'm happy."

While Erasmus felt it could have resulted in a yellow card, the citing commissioner did not believe it warranted more as the hooker has not been cited for his tackle with the window to do so now closed.

Scotland rookie relishing shock call-up

By Anthony Brown, PA

Edinburgh hooker Paddy Harrison is intent on making the most of his unexpected Scotland call-up at the end of his first season as a professional.

The 22-year-old is still trying to establish himself at club level but was included in Gregor Townsend's squad to travel to the Americas for four matches against Canada, the United States, Chile and Uruguay next month.

Harrison admitted he was pleasantly surprised when he noticed he had received a phone call from the national team head coach earlier this month.

"It's always a goal if you grow up in Scotland to play for Scotland, but this year for me was mainly about trying to do well for Edinburgh," said the front-rower. "Scotland was never in the back of my mind so it was a bit of a surprise.

"I just got the call on the way back from training. Gregor had phoned me and it was an unknown number so I didn't answer it. But I pulled in and saw his face on the profile picture and thought, 'I'd better phone that number back'.

"That was pretty surreal. It was a nice call to get. I wasn't expecting it at all this summer. I've only had a handful of games at Edinburgh, so it wasn't something I was really thinking about, to be honest, but obviously I am really excited for it.

"It is literally about learning as much as I can from the opportunity because no doubt it will fly by, so it is just making sure I make the most out of it.

"I've been to Canada once but that was a few years ago now, so I'm really looking forward to it - taking in the sights and taking a few photos."