Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made six changes to his XV that will face Italy in a crucial Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico.

Rhys Webb has been brought in at scrum-half ahead of a benched Tomos Williams, while Owen Williams continues in the number 10 jersey for the Rome match.

Rio Dyer and Josh Adams are picked on the wings with Liam Williams returning at full-back, with Louis Rees-Zammit in jersey 23 and Leigh Halfpenny injured.

Midfield is unchanged

Mason Grady, who won his first senior international cap against England at the Principality Stadium in Round Three, and Joe Hawkins continue in Wales’ midfield.

Up front, Wyn Jones returns at loosehead prop to join captain Ken Owens (hooker) and Tomas Francis (tighthead prop) in the front-row for Saturday’s fixture.

Exeter Chiefs’ Dafydd Jenkins makes his second start for Wales this week, partnering Adam Beard in the second-row, with Alun Wyn Jones left out of the 23.

The Wales forward pack is completed with a back-row of Jac Morgan at blindside flanker, Justin Tipuric at openside and Taulupe Faletau as the number eight.

Among the Wales replacements, Scott Baldwin, Gareth Thomas and Dillon Lewis provide the front-row cover. Rhys Davies, who made his senior Wales debut against Scotland at Murrayfield in Round Two of the Championship, and Tommy Reffell are the other forwards selected in the matchday 23 by head coach Gatland.

Joining Williams and Rees-Zammit as the backline options off the bench will be George North, with no specialist fly-half in reserve should injury hit at 10.

Gatland said: “We feel that having watched Italy and how they’ll tend to play from everywhere, including their own 22, getting guys on the ball is going to be pretty important.

“Rhys Webb gets an opportunity at nine having been training well. He’s been great in the squad, he brings that experience and a voice to that nine position.

“Liam Williams comes in at full-back. We did discuss whether we put Louis Rees-Zammit to full back and how that would have looked. But he still hasn’t played a lot of rugby in terms of coming back from a relatively long injury with his ankle and we just felt with the way the game’s going to be and the pace of the game that him coming off the bench and the impact he can have could be pretty important.

Disappointing start

“We’ve been disappointed with the results so far and for me it’s hard to take as it’s the first time I’ve lost three games in the Six Nations with Wales. We’ve had a lot of things going on off the field as well but there are no excuses.

“The message to the players has been that we have to be smart in terms of the way we play but we’ve also got to be brave and make sure that when the opportunities are on we shift the ball. We have to keep scanning and looking at options and if there’s a chance to move the ball then be brave and do that.”

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 George North, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit

Date: Saturday, March 11
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Damon Murphy (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

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Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg will make his 100th appearance for his country when they face Ireland in the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Hogg, who made his debut in 2012, has gone on to become their record try-scorer and is set to be the fourth Scotland men’s player to reach the landmark.

Head coach Gregor Townsend has made two changes to his side that lost to France, with Jonny Gray and Jack Dempsey being named in the starting XV.

Gray, who will enter Scotland’s top 10 most capped players in running out for his 76th Test game, joins his brother Richie in an experienced second-row with Grant Gilchrist unavailable through suspension following his red card against Les Bleus last time out.

First Six Nations start for Dempsey

Number eight Dempsey earns a first start of the Six Nations as part of a back-row reshuffle, with captain Jamie Ritchie moving to openside flanker and Matt Fagerson selected on the blindside. Hamish Watson has been moved to bench duty for this weekend.

Scotland’s front-row again comprises hooker George Turner, Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson, the same trio who lined up against Wales and France in the previous Six Nations matches.

For a fourth straight game, the starting back division remains unchanged, with Hogg at full-back and Kyle Steyn and Duhan van der Merwe on the wings.

Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones – the 2023 Championship’s current leading try scorer – continue their centre partnership and will hope to shine again.

Elsewhere, the half-back combination of Ben White and Finn Russell is retained and Ireland will no doubt be paying close attention to the number 10.

Amongst the replacements, Scott Cummings is in line for his first involvement of this year’s Six Nations, with fellow forwards Fraser Brown, Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti and Watson also part of coach Townsend’s matchday squad for the Murrayfield fixture.

Triple Crown on the line on Sunday

Ali Price, Blair Kinghorn and Chris Harris complete the 23-player line-up as Scotland go in search of what would be a first Triple Crown win in 33 years.

The Scots are currently in second place on the standings on 10 points heading into Round Four, five points behind pace-setters Ireland, in a huge game.

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Chris Harris

Date: Sunday, March 12
Venue: BT Murrayfield
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

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Speaking to L’Équipe, French central defender Aymeric Laporte turned up the heat on Didier Deschamps and France, threatening to accept a proposal to join the Spanish side as the international team he will represent.

“One plays at Chelsea, the other at PSG. I am at Bilbao, a club that is maybe not thought of highly enough in France. Here, being at this club does not stop certain others from making it to the national team… It is as if Marseille is superior to Athletic Bilbao. Each to their own. If it is worse, it is not worse by much.”

“If I am honest, I think that sometimes there have been injuries, changes and opportunities that have been given to others but not to me. A part of me is Spanish because I have loved there for 8 years. But if I do [choose the Spanish national team] it will be because of how much interest they are showing in me. More than France are.”

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Adam White is joined by Rich Allen, Peter Rutzler and special guest Julien Laurens for the 100th episode of the GFFN Show that has an explosive Le Classique to pour over, and much more.

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The Blues started their 2023 Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a convincing 60-20 victory over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday, with Mark Telea starting the rout with a clinical finish.

Telea delivered an outstanding attacking performance and crossed the whitewash on two occasions, and he went over for the Auckland-based outfit’s first try as early as the 13th minute.

This, after running onto a pass from Ofa Tuungafasi and the All Blacks flyer, showed his class as he went past Folau Fakatava before finishing in the right-hand corner.

Mark Telea gets the Blues first for 2023 👏

↳ Highlanders v Blues, LIVE NOW. Every Match. Ad-free. Live & On Demand on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport.#StanSportAU #SuperRugbyPacific #HIGvBLU pic.twitter.com/l7pQOnpHXc

— Stan Sport Rugby (@StanSportRugby) February 25, 2023

Beauden Barrett added the extras to give the Blues a 10-3 lead, after he had traded penalties with Sam Gilbert during the game’s early stages.

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Gilbert slotted another three-pointer off the kicking tee before the visitors took control of proceedings as they ran in three further tries – scored by Barrett, Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane – which were all converted by the Blues fly-half.

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That gave the visitors a 31-6 lead by the half-hour mark, but the Highlanders struck back with two converted five-pointers from Mitch Hunt and Josh Timu, which meant the Blues were up 31-20 at half-time.

The Blues continued to dominate after the interval and extended their lead in the 54th minute when Marcel Renata scored their fifth try before Dalton Papalii also got his name on the scoresheet with a five-pointer 10 minutes before full-time.

However, the visitors were not done yet as in the 73rd minute, Telea intercepted a wayward Highlanders pass close to the halfway line before racing away to score his second try and shortly before the end, Ioane also sealed his brace and a convincing victory in their Super Rugby Pacific opener.

Video credit: Super Rugby Pacific

World Rugby will hold the pool draws for future Rugby World Cups at a later date, closer to the kick-off of upcoming tournaments.

This comes after criticism that the draws were taking place far too early, with world rankings at the time of the draw playing a crucial role in the teams’ seedings.

Change in the World Rankings

The 2023 Rugby World Cup draw took place in December 2020, some 13 months after the 2019 tournament in Japan, almost a full three years before the tournament.

The rankings used to decide the 2023 World Cup pools meant that South Africa, New Zealand, England and Wales claimed band one seedings. The latter two have fallen out of the top four since with Wales now ranked 10th.

The set-up of the 2023 pools means that only two of Ireland, hosts France, New Zealand, defending champions South Africa and Scotland, can reach the semi-finals.

World Rugby will shake the pool draw up ahead of 2027, according to a report by the Mirror.

“World Rugby said it is able to make the change because of a new ‘hosting model’ that sees the international federation create collaborations with the host union,” the report read.

“The top of the men’s Test game has never been more competitive,” the spokesperson added. “There has never been so much movement over a two-year period.

“Bearing that in mind and noting the format of four pools of five teams, there is arguably no perfect time for a draw.”

The changes are set to be made ahead of the next World Cup in Australia.

How the 2023 Rugby World Cup draw worked

Due to COVID-19, the seedings for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the RWC board decided that the World Rugby rankings as of 1 January 2020 would be used to determine the five bands.

That meant that no Test matches after the 2019 Rugby World Cup were accounted for before the next tournament draw.

12 of the 20 teams automatically qualified owing to a top-three place in their respective Rugby World Cup 2019 pools. They were: champions South Africa, England, Wales, New Zealand, Japan, France, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina and Fiji.

The bands as of 1 January 2020 were:

Band 1: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales
Band 2: Ireland, Australia, France, Japan
Band 3: Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Americas 1, Asia / Pacific 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Final Qualifier Winner

The final pools are as follows (Qualifier winner = Portugal):

image credit: World Rugby

Had the draw taken place at the start of 2023, the top three bands would be:

Band 1: Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa
Band 2: England, Australia, Scotland, Argentina
Band 3: Wales, Japan, Italy, Fiji

READ MORE: All Blacks: Ian Foster confirms he will step down as head coach after World Cup

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Nathan Staples, Rich Allen and Peter Rutzler dig into a deep Ligue 1 weekend full of managerial debuts, minnows showing their worth and people holding their shirts up.

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The SITE Inter Group, an observatory group for Jihadi content, has signalled a propaganda article from the Wafa Media Foundation, which threatens France boss Didier Deschamps as an “enemy of Allah”.

The article shows images of Deschamps in a prisoners outfit with chains around his arms and an ISIS fighter behind him pointing a gun and predicts terrorist attacks to occur at the 2018 World Cup in Russia next year.

The article was accompanied with the following threat:

“We will continue to terrorise and ruin your lives.”

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Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber said the door is still open for players hoping to stake a claim for the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.

Nienaber revealed that he and his backroom staff are keeping tabs on a group of about 60 players ahead of their upcoming international campaign.

Training camp in full swing

A group of 14 players are currently at the Springboks‘ first training camp of the year in Cape Town after a break from the United Rugby Championship (URC). They have been participating in several gym and training field sessions as well as alignment meetings with the Bok coaches and management team.

The camp started on Sunday, February 19 and will run until Friday, March 10. Following that, the players will return to their franchises for the closing stages of the URC and Champions Cup tournaments.

Nienaber discussed about the importance of the camp and the make-up of the group and said most of the players had very little rest in the last two seasons as the South African franchises breached the divide between the southern and northern hemisphere.

“Most of the players participating in this camp have not had a break since the British & Irish Lions series due to the combined northern and southern hemisphere seasons,” he told the Springboks’ official website.

“That sums up the importance of this block for us. It was also fantastic that we were able to plan this break during the Six Nations competition as the other franchises will also be without their top players.

“The biggest mistake one can make though is to assume that these players will be in the Rugby World Cup squad. We are currently tracking around 60 players, but at the same time the door is open for any player to throw their name into the mix.

“We used close to 50 players in the last two years since the Covid-19 pandemic, many of whom were in our bubble, but that said, form does influence selection and the door is always open for someone who is not necessarily in the mix to prove that he deserves a place in the squad, as Herschel Jantjies did in 2019.”

SA Rugby’s head of athletic performance, Andy Edwards, is delighted to start what will be an important year for the Boks with the Rugby World Cup kicking off in September.

He said the break and this development block was crucial for the players from a physical and rugby perspective.

“We have players playing all around the world, so it was important for us to enter this year in a sensible way,” said Edwards.

“Most of these players have been on a long stretch following the shift into the northern hemisphere, and while there are many positives to playing in the north, it created challenges for us from a rest and development window perspective.

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“With a break in the URC, we tried not to disrupt the teams too much, and to factor the rest in at a time when the other teams were also without their internationals due to the Six Nations. And it is exciting to start the year with this block going into the Rugby World Cup later this season.”

Commenting on the differences tracked from the 2019 World Cup to this year, Edwards said: “We measured a few things from the last World Cup to now and there are things that have stood out, such as the way the season has evolved and demands on the players.”

South Africa will start their 2023 Test campaign with a Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Pretoria on Saturday, July 8.

That will be followed by an encounter against New Zealand at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland a week later and Argentina in Johannesburg on Saturday, July 29, in their last match on home soil before they start the build-up to the defence of their Rugby World Cup title.

In August, the Boks head to Buenos Aires to face Los Pumas before they take on Wales and the All Blacks in Rugby World Cup warm-up games in Cardiff and London, respectively. That will bring their World Cup preparations to an end before they head to France for the global showpiece.

World Cup campaign starts against Scotland

They start their Rugby World Cup campaign on Sunday, September 10, against Scotland in Marseille, before facing Romania in Bordeaux (September 17), Ireland in Paris (September 23) and Tonga in Marseille (October 1) in their other pool matches.

The Rugby World Cup quarter-finals will take place on the weekend of October 14/15, with the semi-finals on October 20/21 and the final on Saturday, October 28.

Ligue 1 sides St Étienne and AS Monaco have in recent weeks watched teenage left-winger Hassane Bandé on a series of occasions, according to Foot Mercato.

KV Mechelen’s 19-year-old Burkinabé forward has scored 9 goals in 16 games this season, but Bandé has already been snapped up by Dutch giants Ajax in an €8m agreement.

Regardless, this pair of Ligue 1 sides are also circling on a longer-term basis.

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