France v England - Preview

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England have made two changes to the side that beat Wales with scrum-half Danny Care and prop Mako Vunipola coming into the side.

They take the places of Ben Youngs and Joe Marler, who both move to the bench.

France coach Guy Noves has also made two changes - both in the back row.

Loann Goujon replaces Yacouba Camara at number eight, while Bernard Le Roux makes his first appearance of this Six Nations in place of Wenceslas Lauret.

France head coach Guy Noves: "We need to bring the freshness in the team for Saturday's game.

"I believe in our team. I am sure that our team can take on great challenges.

"I believe our team can compete with the power of the English. This team is young, but we give them our confidence."

England head coach Eddie Jones: "While we are pleased to have already won the championship we don't want to let our foot off the gas.

"The objective has always been to win every game, to be the most dominant team in Europe, so it's been very important for us to approach this week with the same level of intensity we have shown in previous weeks.

"I'm pleased with how we have prepared and with the focus the squad have shown.

"You can't underestimate any team in Test match rugby. France are a dangerous side but we go to Paris full of confidence and a hunger to get the win."

England's only victory at the Stade de France since 2008 was 24-22 in 2012.

The last five Test matches between France and England have all been won by the home side.

France have stopped an opponent from claiming a Grand Slam on four previous occasions, beating England, Wales and Ireland in Paris in 1954, 1965 and 1982 respectively, and Wales in Cardiff in 1988.

They have finished in the bottom half of the table in the last four Six Nations (4th, 6th, 4th, 4th).

They are attempting to win a Grand Slam for the 13th time and for the first time since 2003.

England are bidding to become only the third side to win a Six Nations Grand Slam after playing three of their games away from home - following Wales in 2005 and Ireland in 2009.

They have a poor recent record in matches in which they could have won a Grand Slam, winning only one of their last six opportunities.

France

5-Scott Spedding, 14-Wesley Fofana, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Virimi Vakatawa, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 9-Maxime Machenaud; 1-Jefferson Poirot, 2-Guilhem Guirado (captain), 3-Rabah Slimani, 4-Alexandre Flanquart, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Damien Chouly, 7-Bernard Le Roux, 8-Loann Goujon

Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Uini Atonio, 18-Xavier Chiocci, 19-Paul Jedrasiak, 20-Wenceslas Lauret, 21-Sebastien Bezy, 22-Jules Plisson, 23-Maxime Medard

England

15-Mike Brown, 14-Anthony Watson, 13-Jonathan Joseph, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-Jack Nowell,10-George Ford, 9-Danny Care; 1-Mako Vunipola, 2-Dylan Hartley (captain), 3-Dan Cole, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-George Kruis, 6-Chris Robshaw, 7-James Haskell, 8-Billy Vunipola

Replacements: 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Joe Marler, 18-Kieran Brookes, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Jack Clifford, 21-Ben Youngs, 22-Manu Tuilagi, 23-Elliot Daly.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Assistant referees: John Lacey (IRFU) & Leighton Hodges (WRU)

TMO: Ben Skeen (NZR)

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England v Ireland - Preview

England make two changes to the side who beat Italy, with Maro Itoje and Joe Marler coming into the pack.

Itoje makes his first start at lock and prop Marler replaces Mako Vunipola, while uncapped centre Elliot Daly is on the bench.

Ireland hand debuts to centre Stuart McCloskey and flanker Josh van der Flier as they make five changes to the side who lost to France.

Also coming in to the side are Keith Earls, Donnacha Ryan and Mike Ross.

England head coach Eddie Jones: "Playing our first game at Twickenham after two away fixtures will be huge for us. We're determined to put in a strong performance against a clever Irish side who are the benchmark of European rugby."

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt on attempted mind games by Jones: "I think we're probably less affected by those extraneous things than you people are.

"That's because if we're distracted by that, then that's something that we're wasting energy and time on.

"We get little enough time together as it is. And we're all about making sure that we can be organised, enthusiastic and well-recovered, not distracted.

"People are within their rights to make whatever observation they like from outside the environment. But we know how things are inside the environment."

Head-to-head

England have won four out of the last five meetings against Ireland after only winning one out of the eight games preceding that.

So far in this Six Nations, England have scored more points (55) than the games involving Ireland have provided in total (51).

England are yet to concede a try in this year's Six Nations - restricting both Scotland and Italy to nine points apiece in their two matches so far.

They have started the Six Nations with successive victories for the sixth time in seven years.

Ireland have failed to win their opening two matches of the Five/Six Nations for the first time since 1998, a year in which they picked up the Wooden Spoon.

They scored 82 points in their three away games in the 2015 Six Nations, but managed just nine against France.

England

Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley (captain), Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Paul Hill, Courtney Lawes, Jack Clifford, Danny Care, Elliot Daly, Alex Goode.

Ireland

Rob Kearney, Andrew Trimble, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Keith Earls, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack McGrath, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Donnacha Ryan, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Josh van der Flier, Jamie Heaslip (captain).

Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Cian Healy, Nathan White, Ultan Dillane, Rhys Ruddock, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Simon Zebo.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Romain Poite (FFR)

Touch judges: Nigel Owens (WRU) & Alexandre Ruiz (FFR)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

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Italy v Scotland - Preview

Scotland have suffered a late blow before Saturday's Six Nations match against Italy with number eight Dave Denton forced out of the starting XV.

The Bath back-rower, 26, sustained a mild groin strain in Friday's captain's run and will be replaced by Glasgow's Ryan Wilson.

Wilson, recalled to the match-day 23 in Rome, is promoted from the bench.

Josh Strauss, who played 75 minutes for Glasgow against Dragons on Thursday, is summoned to join the replacements.

Scotland are aiming to avoid a 10th successive Six Nations defeat in Rome, scene of their last victory two years ago.

Italy have brought in Kelly Haimona to replace the injured Carlo Canna.

Full-back David Odiete returns from an ankle injury to replace Luke McLean, as lock Joshua Furno comes in for George Biagi, who broke a rib against England.

Meanwhile, veteran hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini returns to the front row, for his first international game since suffering a hamstring injury at the World Cup.

Scotland

Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Duncan Taylor, Tim Visser, Finn Russell, Grieg Laidlaw; Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Willem Nel, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray; John Barclay, John Hardie, Ryan Wilson

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Rory Sutherland, Moray Low, Tim Swinson, Josh Strauss, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Peter Horne, Sean Lamont.

Italy

David Odiete, Leonardo Sarto, Michele Campagnaro, Gonzalo Garcia, Mattia Bellini, Kelly Haimona, Edoardo Gori; Andrea Lovotti, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Lorenzo Citttadini, Marco Fuser, Joshua Furno, Francesco Minto, Alessandro Zanni, Sergio Parisse.

Replacements: Davide Giazzon, Matteo Zanusso, Martin Castrogiovanni, Valerio Bernabo, Andries Van Schalkwyk, Guglielmo Palazzani, Edoardo Padovani, Andrea Pratichetti

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Wales Biggar than England

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Dan Biggar stepped up to calmly slot a 75th-minute penalty to give Wales a 28-25 World Cup win over England at Twickenham.

Biggar and Owen Farrell traded penalties all night in Saturday's Pool A clash to complement tries from Jonny May and Gareth Davies, before Biggar was given the chance to separate the sides at the death.

He called for the kicking tee on the edge of his range and sent the ball over the crossbar as Wales held out for a famous victory at Twickenham.

England fly-half Farrell scored 20 points from the boot, and thanks to him England were seven points up with 10 minutes remaining, before a Gareth Davies try levelled the scores following the conversion.

Biggar then punched his seventh penalty over to give him a personal tally of 23 points, which was enough to be handed the Man of the Match accolade.

The win sends Wales to the top of Pool A, while England now cannot afford to lose to Australia or they will likely be out of the World Cup.

Wales got off to the perfect start when they won a penalty in the opening exchanges and Biggar kicked for touch. When his forwards set up the driving maul and England infringed again, Biggar was awarded his first shot at goal. The Welshman obliged and took the early lead.

Farrell levelled things up in the 12th minute but Biggar was on hand to reclaim the lead when Dan Cole was spotted with his hands at the ruck.

When England were on the attack moments later, Farrell opted for a drop goal and made it 6-6 as the first quarter drew to a close.

Farrell then nudged his side ahead from the kicking tee, the first time England were in the lead, before quick thinking from Ben Youngs handed England a try up the left touchline.

Farrell set the lineout up and a traning ground move ended with Mike Brown taking the ball into contact. Youngs spotted a gap on the blindside and tore around the ruck before passing to May, who crossed the whitewash to send Twickenham into bedlam.

It was all England but Biggar added another penalty on the stroke of half-time to make it 16-9 to the host nation at half-time.

The two fly-halves traded penalties early in the second period to keep the gap at seven points among various passages of threatening attack from both sides.

It was Wales who looked the most threatening as the game wore on, but it was Farrell who was given the chance to extend his side's lead and duly did so in the 53rd minute.

Wales fought back, and a period of dominance from the visiting side allowed Biggar to eradicate the Farrell kick not long after.

Wales lost both Scott Williams and Liam Williams to injury during sustained attacks from England as the Welsh were forced to tackle endlessly to stay in the game.

Biggar and Farrell once again traded penalties which ensured that May's try was still the difference, before Wales were finally able to break the drought and cross the opposition try-line.

Jamie Roberts got the ball in space and ran around the tackler before drawing and passing to release Lloyd Williams. Williams ran ahead and put in a perfect kick in-field for Gareth Davies to latch onto, and the scrum-half slid over the line under the posts to give Biggar the easiest of kicks to level the scores with just eight minutes remaining.

When England conceded a penalty moments later, Biggar stepped up and calmly slotted it from the edge of his range to set up an impossibly tense finish.

England came back hard and were awarded a penalty with three minutes remaining, and were able to go for goal in what was a tough opportunity, but Chris Robshaw opted for the lineout.

England set up the driving maul but Wales shunted them out as soon as the ball was brought down. The Welsh were then able to hold out for the win that sent them to the top of Pool A after two games and set up a thrilling showdown with Australia in the final game.

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