Rugby Union Today: Six Nations previews

Colin Newboult
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Another busy day in the rugby union game as we look ahead to the three Six Nations encounters taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

What’s on the site

Ireland will hope to bounce back from their disappointing performance at home to England last weekend when they take on Scotland at Murrayfield and we have previewed the contest.

In stark contrast, the Red Rose will attempt to build on their opening round display on Sunday as they host France, while Wales head to Rome to face Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.

What’s in the news

Chris Ashton will start his first Six Nations match since 2013 after being named in the England XV to take on France on Sunday. Jack Nowell, who impressed against Ireland, drops to the bench, while Courtney Lawes replaces the injured Maro Itoje in the line-up.

For Les Bleus, they have made a number of alterations with Gael Fickou, Demba Bamba and Geoffrey Doumayrou coming in for the absent Maxime Medard, Uini Atonio and Wesley Fofana respectively, but it is the return of Mathieu Bastareaud which is the headline.

Elsewhere in the Six Nations, the Emerald Isle have suffered another blow to their second-row ranks with Devin Toner joining Iain Henderson and Tadhg Beirne on the sidelines. Toner will miss the rest of the tournament after coming off in the second half of their game against the Red Roe.

Finally, in transfer news, Leicester Tigers have pulled off a veritable coup by landing the Crusaders back-rower Jordan Taufua, who will join after the Rugby World Cup.

What’s on social media

These signing and re-signing announcements from Bristol keep getting better.

What’s on TV

Six Nations hits Round Two and kicks off on Saturday with Scotland versus Ireland on the BBC. ITV then televises Italy versus Wales before Sunday’s clash between England and France will also be shown on ITV.

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