SIX NATIONS UPDATE
Owen Farrell expects his mum Colleen to be cheering for a try-less England win against Ireland when he comes up against his dad Andy.
Only the Irish, for whom Andy is defence coach, can prevent Eddie Jones’ men from becoming the first team of the Six Nations era to complete successive Grand Slams.
“I think the only person it will affect is my mum, not us. She just wants everyone to do well. She wants 3-0 England, I think.”
Farrell has emerged as the heartbeat of Jones’ England and when asked if his father will have devised a defensive plan to negate his own threat, the younger Farrell replied: “I guess we’ll see.” Keith Earls has become a doubt for the upcoming clash with England due to a groin injury.
Earls sat out training on Tuesday, leaving Ulster’s Jared Payne ready to step into Ireland’s backline if the Munster flyer cannot recover.
Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek said: “Johnny [Sexton] and Conor [Murray] trained today. They were pretty good, they got through it.
“With Jared, you’ve got to look at the weekend, where he would slot in, how he’s tracking physically and where he is with everything else.
“He’s a great guy to have even just in camp, let alone out on the field.” Robin McBryde has urged Wales to back up the quality of their RBS 6 Nations display against Ireland with another strong performance in Paris.
And if they can record a sixth successive victory over Les Bleus, it could see them reach new heights of a world top-four ranking, depending on results elsewhere.
Such a feat would secure Wales a top-tier seeding ahead of May’s 2019 World Cup draw in Japan.
“That is what good teams do, they back performances up with another good performance,” Wales assistant coach McBryde said. “We haven’t seen that in this campaign, and this is the last chance. The Six Nations is all about performance, irrespective whether you are in the hunt for the title or not.” When Stade Francais and Racing 92 announced they will merge next season, several of Les Bleus’ squad thought it was a prank.
And centre Jonathan Danty has revealed it has already sparked a rebellion in the French camp.
Danty and wing Djibril Camara left the squad hotel on Monday, against the wishes of management, to meet with stunned Stade team-mates.
Both Paris clubs released identical statements confirming their plans on Monday, and they expect France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) to ratify the move. Danty said he had no forewarning. “In my bedroom, I read about it on my phone,” he said.
“After that, we had a meeting between players from the two clubs. We gathered in a bedroom to talk about it. And we really thought it was a joke, because it was unthinkable that such a thing should happen.” Scottish-born lock George Biagi has been named in the Italy side as one of four changes to Conor O’Shea’s starting line-up for the Azzurri’s final Six Nations encounter at Murrayfield.
The 6ft 6in Zebre player, who came off the bench in defeats to Ireland, England and France, has been selected in the second row to face Scotland in place of club teammate Dries van Schalkwyk.
Zebre’s Maxime Mbanda is also named in the starting pack, in place of Glasgow flanker Simone Favaro, while Ornel Gega takes over from Leonardo Ghiraldini at hooker after recovering from a neck problem. Tommaso Benvenuti replaces the injured Michele Campagnaro in the centres.