hello this is bbc news with clive myrie. the headlines: counter—terror police are investigating three packages containing explosives found at heathrow airport, london city airport and waterloo station. britain's most senior police officer — the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick — has said there is a link between falling police numbers and violent crime. bmw has warned it could consider moving production of its mini from its cowley plant in oxford in the event of a no—deal brexit. traces of a no—deal brexit. of the hiv virus have become undetectable traces of the hiv virus have become undetectable following a stem cell transplant in a patient, only the

second case of its kind. hundreds of people have joined the royal family at buckingham palace to mark the 50th anniversary of the investiture of the prince of wales. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. in beyond 100 days, we cover the attorney general to attempt to secure a legally binding changes to the brexit deal of theresa may and we have the latest update on the scotla nd we have the latest update on the scotland yard investigation into three small improvised explosive devices sent to transport hubs in london. at 10:a0pm and 11:30pm, the papers, with me, my guest will be daisy mcandrew and kevin schofield, should be good, stay with us for that. now, sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday.

i'mjohn watson. seeing red — the bitter row that threatens the future of club rugby in wales. it doesn't seem like anything has been thought out properly, it hasn't been thought out properly, it hasn't been relayed properly, the players have been kept in the dark at every stage. tottenham stand on the brink of the champions league quarterfinals. we will have the latest from germany shortly. and will there be a crowning moment for england's women and manager phil neville in the she believes cup tonight? first tonight.

england's women are hoping to lift their first england's women are hoping to lift theirfirst piece of england's women are hoping to lift their first piece of silverware with victory over japan their first piece of silverware with victory overjapan in the shebelieves cup. it has gone awfully well so far for england, getting shebelieves cup. it has gone awfully well so farfor england, getting off toa well so farfor england, getting off to a great start, beating brazil, they drew with you back about the united states, and this is a huge yearfor united states, and this is a huge year for the team with the world cup around the corner, they stand potentially on the brink of winning their first potentially on the brink of winning theirfirst piece of potentially on the brink of winning their first piece of silverware with manager philip neville, what a great day this could be. not even the grey clouds overhead and the impending rain will dampen the spirits of the lionesses if they beat japan tonight, that will mean that they will lift the cup, they have waited four long years to exact revenge on japan, the last time they played them with the world cup in 2015, the own goal by in the dying minutes when they did not go through.

tonight, no world cup final but a piece of silverware, and in a world cup year, heading into the tournament this summer, could be a very good benchmark of showing where they are, the lionesses, heading into the world cup. the florida sunshine, a magnet for sun—seekers, spring breakers, and senior citizens. and also, i haven for wildlife. for the lionesses, a year ago, the heat got a little bit much, as they mist out on silverware in the final match of the shebelieves tournament, this year, they are using that heartbreak to their advantage. —— mist. they are using that heartbreak to their advantage. —— misti they are using that heartbreak to their advantage. -- mist. i have reminded them of that little bit of dropping down a peg or two in the concentration and intensity, this team is in a far better place. what lam team is in a far better place. what i am feeling from the players now is that they want to win. england sense victory in the tournament after an impressive draw against world number one the usa... commentator: what an

equaliser... v0|ceover: and beating brazil, now, can they hold their nerve against japan, a brazil, now, can they hold their nerve againstjapan, a team who brazil, now, can they hold their nerve against japan, a team who have reached the last two world cup finals. the lionesses have been mixing it with the best in the world for years, rarely getting the better of them on the biggest stages, now, in their most important year, they look stronger than ever. and success here will be the perfect preparation for victory in france this summer. that is something that england is not used to doing, as a nation never mind the women's football team, what we have to get used to is what it is starting to feel like to win, that is what america, germany, france, thatis is what america, germany, france, that is what carries them through the bad spells, champions being champions. we have to find a way to get to that level. the lionesses manager will make changes tonight, emphasising that he has belief in his squad. becoming increasingly clear that they also have belief in

each other and they mayjust be about to make their country proud. studio: they will do just that, we will be back with joe studio: they will do just that, we will be back withjoe in a moment, we can speak with a former arsenal and england defender, who played in the last world cup, have you been impressed with what we have seen so farfrom this impressed with what we have seen so far from this england impressed with what we have seen so farfrom this england side in the tournament? yes, especially with the amount of rotation they have had, i would like to see a little more consistency, we have shown we can play such good football in spells, so play such good football in spells, so if we can do that, extend that, that would be even better. no easy task, against japan, who that would be even better. no easy task, againstjapan, who have real pedigree, is an international team. some of the technical ability that we have shown in this tournament has been absolutely tremendous, so it should be a really close contest unexpected tonight. —— i would expect tonight. obviously spending time with the england team out there, jo, and it has been interesting to see phil neville,

throughout the tournament, rather relaxed, i am sure inside that he recognises how crucial this game is. absolutely, the word that all the lionesses we have spoken to this week have been using is togetherness, the fact that they are a close knit unit, that is something that phil neville has been able to create, he knows that a piece of silverware against top teams in the world so close to a world cup will be very impressive and set the market to other teams around the world, what condition england are in but also he says it is not the be all and end all, they want to be with us, they want to win things like this but if they do not when it is not the end of the world. i spoke with him yesterday, he said he will make wholesale changes tonight, six or seven, perhaps, so it will be an experienced, young side. he has belief in the squad, it'll be interesting to see what kind of squat he puts out. —— inexperience, young side. —— squad. squat he puts out. —— inexperience,

young side. -- squad. mix of youth and experience that phil neville has assembled, and also the thoughts of the goalkeeper, carly telford, who has said that england winning international, is something that we are not used to, men's and women's football, that is something that if they get over the line, will really help them going into the world cup. it will, and after england came up, we had to watch the usa lift the trophy with the ticker flying around, as players you want to be pa rt around, as players you want to be part of that, you want to be yourself, and so if they can get across the finishing line, be a very —— beat a very established japan team, runners—up in the 2015 world cup, that can only build confidence and momentum and hopefully be able to have a bit of swagger and or about them going into the world cup. iam sure about them going into the world cup. i am sure you will be working and hoping to get back into the squad. still trying to get fit after having my still trying to get fit after having b still trying to get fit after having my baby in december, so we shall see about that! best of luck, thank you

so about that! best of luck, thank you so much for coming in to speak with us. so much for coming in to speak with us. you can watch how england get on this evening, live coverage on bbc four, from ten p m. we will be returning to women's football later on in the programme. a big night of champions league action. a place in the quarterfinals of the champions league is in touching distance for tottenham — they‘ re in germany to face borussia dortmund with a 3—0 advantage heading into the second leg of their last 16 tie. it kicks off in a little

over an hours time. we need to forget the first leg, we need to be focused and try to beat them, and have that feeling again. to go to the pitch and in the first leg only to have very good performance, very professional performance, and try to win the game. to a major shake up in welsh rugby which could see two of the biggest regional sides — ospreys and scarlets — merge. the controversial plans to restructure club rugby brought about the resignation of ospreys chairman mike james today, over what he called the welsh rfu's "catastrophic mismanagement" of the regional game. so what are the proposals and why are they so radical. kate morgan's been

following the story. the fiercest of rivals and two of the best performing regions on the pitch since their creation more than 15 years ago, now the battle has moved off it, with survival, not success , moved off it, with survival, not success, at its heart. the proposed merger between the two to make room for a new north wales region has fa ns for a new north wales region has fans in angerand for a new north wales region has fans in anger and upset. for a new north wales region has fans in anger and upsetlj for a new north wales region has fans in anger and upset. i think it is disgraceful, the idea ofjust one region in the south, in order to create a region in the north... they are not ready to have another professional tea m are not ready to have another professional team up north.|j are not ready to have another professionalteam up north. i think it is terrible, they should keep their own identity. i'm not happy with them urging the ospreys but if it will be good for welsh rugby as a whole, then it might be the best thing. it should be the dragons and the blues, the dragons are struggling as they are. plenty more aren't happy about the timing of this, wales are in the middle of a six nations grand slam campaign, the captain, alun wyn jones, six nations grand slam campaign, the captain, alun wynjones, already expressed frustration after the win over england and today's press conference ahead of the scotland match was dominated by talk of a merger. i wanted to reiterate that

there is speculation that this is being driven by the wru, no, it has come from the regions to the professional rugby board, the timing is not brilliant from our point of view, but that is what happens in professional sport and in fairness to the players, after the meeting, they have focused on saturday. wales hooker ken owens, chair of the association, has described this as the most challenging situation he has faced as a player, today he has said it has been a shock. of course there is a little bit of anger because, no question, there is a question of, for someone like myself, and alan win, one club man, playing for only one region, there isa playing for only one region, there is a question of, how is the new entity going to look, which they cannot answer. —— alan wyn. entity going to look, which they cannot answer. -- alan wyn. one former player says it is a mess. the

players have been kept in the dark at every stage, they have not had any information, and it leads to this absolute anxiety that they must all be going through. i am super glad i all be going through. i am super gbdlam all be going through. i am super glad i am not playing and i have had collea g u es glad i am not playing and i have had colleagues i have spoken to who say the same thing, they are so glad they are not playing and we are so glad we have finished our careers. bosses will meet behind closed doors, that is nothing new in rugby, with players waiting for news. we have been unable to reach agreement, and it is april one, yes! david moffat was all smiles at the unveiling of the regions in 2003, many were not, including the chairman of ospreys, mikejones, he resigned at the start of the meeting ina resigned at the start of the meeting in a statement —— mikejames. the welsh rugby union has remained silent on project research since the start of january but warned then nothing was off the table. it is

understood if the meeting agrees to the proposals today, a merger could be approved unannounced as early as sunday —— and announced, with the new region potentially on the pitch for the start of next season. daffyd james. the timing is not the best, going for the grand slam, going for the six nations, the timing is pretty bad and there will be a lot of heated emotions, in that debate going on. it is history repeating itself, 2003, warriors were dismantled, disbanded, regional by dismantled, disbanded, regional rugby was set up all of a sudden. detrimental not only to the players but the backroom staff, as well and

the fans are. the key thing here is the fans are. the key thing here is the livelihoods of the players, the futures of the club to remain in doubt, there must be real concern as to what players will do. quite rightly, the psychological impact as well, players not really knowing where they will get their next paycheck from. putting all their eggsin paycheck from. putting all their eggs in one basket. talking for weeks and weeks about not giving up the dayjob, weeks and weeks about not giving up the day job, unfortunately, weeks and weeks about not giving up the dayjob, unfortunately, some of these players will be looking further afield and may have two step down, in which case, it will cause a problem. the whole situation has been handled pretty poorly from the outset. especially the timing. if they are going to go ahead and merge sites within the space of six months, players really need to have

been informed last year. thoughts there of the former wales international, dafydd james. just to illustrate how far apart the parties are, ospreys have released a statement this evening saying: —— ospreys. in response, worth pointing out, the professional rugby board said they would like to make clear that the state m e nts would like to make clear that the statements issued today to the ospreys do not reconcile with the limited meetings, actions and documented agreements that have taken place today. —— ospreys. they

support the principle of the proposed merger not least because it is in keeping with the overall strategic direction agreed within planning session. some distance of opinion as to what has and has not been agreed. i imagine we will be hearing more on this over the coming weeks. still to come on the programme: why netball interest is at an all—time high, and that's amongst men too. we meet the scottish wheelchair curlers competing for a world title this week. england's cricketers begin the final leg of their winter travels in a couple of hours, with the first t20 match against west indies in st lucia. after losing the test series and drawing the one—dayers, these

t20s aren't going to be easy either. the west indies in their home patch are a strong outfit, they have matchwinners all the way down, especially in this format of the game, playing a lot of franchise cricket, a lot of these guys play around, the way they hit the ball, the skills they have developed through those competitions, they are as good as anyone on the day. we will have to be right on it but i have no doubt that we have enough tale nt have no doubt that we have enough talent and enough ability in the side, a lot of the guys have played around the world now as well and have definitely benefited from that experience. the build-up to international women's day, which is on friday, you may be surprised to learn that we are featuring men's sport but bear with us, netball is a sport but bear with us, netball is a sport that has seen a huge increase in participation for it to become eligible to be considered for the olympics and ironically the sport has to reach out to male players as well. as former england international tamzin greenway has been finding out.

if you speak to most people, they see netball as predominantly female, but more men are playing, and if it wa nts to but more men are playing, and if it wants to go to the olympic games, then that must play a huge part. socially, mix netball is popular and continues to grow but the knights took that one step further, really giving men a route into the game. —— knights. there is definitely an appetite, we are not surprised by the traction, nine out of the ten super league teams, a lot of visibility, a lot of local teams as well, we want to get them a momentum and keep it going to more and more teams and create a league as well. globally at elite level, netball is all female and in schools and clubs in the uk it is marked as a sport for girls in the uk it is marked as a sport forgirls and in the uk it is marked as a sport for girls and women, this has made recruiting men and interest for knights a real struggle. every time

we get someone down to play for the first time they love it, it is getting them down for the first time and getting rid of the ridiculous stereotype that is not important. if you are stereotype that is not important. if you a re interested stereotype that is not important. if you are interested in a sport you wa nt you are interested in a sport you want both genders involved, you give your maximum potential for people being interested in it. the knights may be in their infancy but their presence is certainly being embraced. we have been inviting the men's team to come across and play us once every six men's team to come across and play us once every six weeks, and not only is it good for their game but it is good for our game. all our players get very excited, nice team to play, and a lot of banter as well as physicality on court and we need that, we need that in the women's game. while england prepare to welcome the best women's teams to the world cup this summer, these men can dream of their own success at a global tournament with australia set to host a mixed and men's world cup next year. with the single gender status one of the barriers