Warren Gatland hinted there may be repercussions for World Cup selection after Wales surrendered a strong position in slumping to a 19-17 defeat by England at Twickenham.

The hosts had been reduced to 12 men after Owen Farrell’s yellow card was upgraded to a red by the ‘Bunker’ review system at a time when Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge were sat in the sin-bin.

Wales led 17-9 but against the odds England scored the next try when Maro Itoje rounded off a maul before George Ford landed a conversion and penalty to seal a come-from-behind victory.

“I’m furious we didn’t win the game, but it answered a few questions for us about certain individuals,” head coach Gatland said.

“The game management in that final quarter wasn’t good enough. We should have been comfortable.

“It was a big moment not taking the kick-off and giving England back a bit of momentum by not clearing our line, allowing them to score from that and get back into the game. That was disappointing.

“We capitulated in terms of our accuracy and with some guys not knowing their roles. For me that was disappointing because we’ve spent a lot of time ensuring there is clarity and everyone knows their roles.

“We gave away some soft penalties where we piggy-backed them up the field and gave them those chances. We’ll have learnt a lot from that.”

Wales’ inability to close out their first victory at Twickenham since 2015 completed a largely promising double-header against England that began with a solid 20-9 win in Cardiff.

Gatland has one last warm-up game to finalise selection for the World Cup, with South Africa visiting the Principality Stadium two days before he unveils his 33-man squad.

Dangerous Fiji are their opening opponents in France next month and Wales’ boss believes his players are being sufficiently battle-hardened.

“There are still some players we need to find out about and potentially give an opportunity to,” Gatland said.

“You couldn’t ask for better warm-up matches in terms of the physicality we are looking for, with England home and away and then South Africa.

“It’s going to be the same sort of test up-front against South Africa and we need to take the learnings from Twickenham.”

Wales are waiting for fitness updates on Dewi Lake and Taine Plumtree who suffered respective knee and shoulder injuries.

Taine Basham failed an HIA after being struck by a dangerous tackle by England captain Owen Farrell.

Adrian Lam is convinced the sky is the limit for Leigh’s leopardskin-clad heroes after he watched his son Lachlan kick the golden-point decider to sink Hull KR and end their 52-year-old wait for a Challenge Cup win at Wembley.

Leigh’s 17-16 win sustained an astonishing success story for a club whose announcement last October of a surprise rebrand was met with scorn in some quarters and the expectation of a top-flight return spotted with struggle.

With the world’s oldest rugby trophy in the cabinet and a top-four place in Super League seemingly secure, the Leopards head coach has warned the game had better start getting used to its garish newcomers.

“I had a conversation with (owner) Derek (Beaumont) about it (the rebrand) and how people were going to take it, and it’s snowballed to a point where I was having a coffee this morning and saw men wearing leopardskin tops and shirts,” recalled Lam.

“It helps because we’re winning but it’s just gone viral across the whole town and maybe across the UK. It’s caught on and I think it can go to so many different levels – where does it end?”

Lachlan Lam held his nerve to settle an enthralling if error-strewn affair in the fourth minute of the extra period, after both team-mate Gareth O’Brien and Rovers’ Brad Schneider missed opportunities to seal the victory.

Steeled by the influence of Lam and the constant prompting of Edwin Ipape, Leigh were the better team for long periods and would have been aggrieved to finish the first period only two points to the good as Rovers somehow clung on.

Jez Litten’s converted try cancelled out Ben Reynolds’ early penalty before Lam burst clear to put Leigh in control. Elliot Minchella’s yellow card for going high on Reynolds on the half-hour made Rovers’ task harder but they not only survived, but reduced the deficit through a Schneider penalty.

Schneider levelled at the start of the second half and valiant Rovers defence held Leigh at bay until Mikey Lewis coughed up an error too far on 65 minutes, Leigh capitalising when Tom Briscoe – the scourge of Rovers in their last final appearance in 2015 when he scored five tries in a 50-0 win for Leeds – touched down.

Matt Parcell gave his side hope on the hooter after the video referee took more than five minutes to deem Kane Linnett had not knocked on a crash ball before the Rovers hooker squeezed over, but Schneider’s conversion to drag the game into the extra period for the first time in the tournament’s history proved in vain.

No sooner had Lam’s kick soared between the posts, confirmation of the Leopards’ victory was greeted by a leopard-suited Beaumont leading a victory charge and Lam being engulfed by his team-mates, many of whom had faced uncertain futures before committing to the owner’s unlikely revolution.

“Some of the players we’ve recruited over the last 18 months were down and out in some areas and I’m just so grateful for what they’ve done,” added Adrian Lam.

“Edwin Ipape wasn’t in a team anywhere, no-one knew who Kai O’Donnell was, Josh Charnley couldn’t get in the Warrington team. The way that group has got together has been incredible. This is a magic moment for the club but we feel there is so much more to come.”

While few if any would dare mock Leigh’s pretensions to repeat the feat and go all the way to the season-ending Grand Final, Rovers face the difficult task of recovering and embarking on a run that will secure their own place in the end-of-season play-offs.

Such an eventuality would provide hope of a fitting send-off for captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall, whose hopes of marking his final season as a player by becoming the first KR player to lift the Challenge Cup since 1980 were cruelly dashed.

The veteran New Zealander had been the prime instigator in keeping his side’s feet on the ground after their golden point semi-final win over Wigan, and he will spend this week imparting a message of a different kind ahead of their Super League resumption at St Helens next weekend.

“I’m obviously very disappointed and I really feel for our fans who showed up in numbers like they always do,” said Kenny-Dowall. “But we will dust ourselves off and get back to what we always do, and that is the messaging for this week.

“We will take the learnings as a group and our full focus is on what is ahead. We are sitting nicely and we know if we rally round and put our full energy into the next few games, we will give ourselves the best chance to be playing in another game like that at the end of the year.”

Owen Farrell will learn on Tuesday if he is to miss England’s critical World Cup opener against Argentina after he was sent off for a dangerous tackle against Wales.

Farrell’s shoulder-led challenge to the head of Taine Basham in Saturday’s 19-17 victory at Twickenham was upgraded from a yellow card to red by the ‘Bunker’ review system.

England’s captain must now appear before a video disciplinary hearing that begins on Tuesday morning to find out the length of his suspension.

The mid-range sanction for a dangerous tackle is six games and given he received a three-match ban for the same offence in January, on top of five matches in 2020 and two in 2016, it is doubtful he will be treated leniently by the disciplinary process.

Fixtures against Ireland and Fiji complete England’s warm-up schedule for the World Cup before their group campaign is launched with a pivotal group clash with Argentina in Marseille on September 9.

Steve Borthwick now faces the likely prospect of being without his skipper and talisman for the toughest opponents in Pool D, while his participation against Japan, Chile and Samoa are also in question.

Henry Arundell, Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge were shown yellow cards too and at one point England were reduced to 12 men, although that merely inspired an audacious comeback expertly directed by Farrell’s replacement George Ford.

Courtney Lawes, the frontrunner to become captain if Farrell is unavailable, admits that despite an escape act that showed remarkable resilience, the disciplinary implosion must be addressed.

“There aren’t many teams who would win that game, so we can take a lot of positives from it,” Lawes said.

“At the same time it’s not good enough going down to 12 men. If we keep putting ourselves in situations like that, we’re not likely to do as well as we did.

“We’ve got a lot to learn but it’s great to show everyone our strength in character so early and it gives us confidence to push on and get things right so that the next time we’re out there we get one step better.

“Sometimes you’ve got to find a way to win and we certainly did that against Wales. We will do our very best to take it forward and keep on improving.”

Farrell’s looming absence justifies Borthwick’s decision to pick three fly-halves in his World Cup squad and it was Ford who took centre stage in an unlikely comeback, his match-winning penalty only one element of a masterclass in game management.

“This win is going to be big for us. You can’t put a value on stuff like that,” Ford said.

“However you train and whatever scenarios you train, it’s not like it is in the heat of the moment when you have three men in the sin-bin, are points down and under the sticks.

“You can never replicate that and this gives us unbelievable belief, a real solid platform to know what we can do.

“Traditional English rugby is set-piece orientated, so getting on top there to be able to play the game we want to play and we’ll take some real belief from that.”

Ford insists England, who are sweating on the fitness of ankle-injury victim Jack van Poortvliet, will rally around Farrell.

“Owen’s not a player who would intentionally want to do that. We’ll get behind him, he’s our captain and our leader and he’ll be back,” Ford said.

Gregor Townsend was proud of his Scotland side after they went agonisingly close to pulling off a second comeback win over France in the space of a week.

The Scots – who beat Les Bleus from 21-3 behind at Murrayfield last weekend – roared back from 27-10 down in balmy Saint-Etienne on Saturday night to level the match at 27-27 before a 78th-minute penalty from Thomas Ramos secured a 30-27 victory for the World Cup hosts.

The visitors outscored the French by four tries to three and Townsend was buoyed by the way his team stood up to their formidable opponents in front of a partisan home crowd just four weeks before their opening match of the tournament against world champions South Africa in Marseille.

“It showed a lot for the character and the competitiveness of the group,” he said. “They wanted to win that one, they did all they could to win it. Obviously we’re a bit disappointed that we didn’t do that.

“Even a draw would have been something that we could have taken a lot more positives out of, because we’re here to win. But there’s so much more to come from this team.

“We showed in the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes that we can win ball, our set-piece can be strong, and also we can attack and score great tries. So our job is to put that together for more than 20-30 minutes when we’re playing at our best, but also to do that for much longer.”

The Scots made a strong start and led 10-6 at the half-hour mark, with Ali Price’s 29th-minute yellow card paving the way for the French to seize command in the game’s mid-section.

Townsend rued the concession of two tries in the first four minutes of the second half, but was encouraged by the way his players rallied in the final 20 minutes to give themselves a real chance of only a second away win over France this century.

“I’m really proud of the effort and also how we started the game,” he said. “We were ambitious, accurate and very physical in our contacts. We had to soak up a lot of pressure in that first half when we were a man down.

“But we just missed the first five minutes of the second half. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes and France got opportunities. I was so proud of the togetherness, the effort, the skill that was on show, and we’re gutted we didn’t get anything out of that. Really disappointed.”

Townsend names his final 33-man World Cup squad on Wednesday, meaning four players will be cut from his current pool. Asked if anything from the gallant defeat at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard had changed his thinking with regard to selection, the head coach said: “No. I’ve not had much time to think about it. I was really proud of the 23 tonight and how they went about taking on a top side. Their focus was on winning the game, not on the World Cup.

“They put their bodies on the line. The effort that the players have put in over the last two months was transferred on to the field. We’re fit enough to have a real crack at this World Cup and we’ll have a lot of players that will be putting their hands up for selection over the next few days.”

Scotland staged another stirring fightback against France before being edged out by a late penalty from Thomas Ramos on an intoxicating Saturday night in the Saint-Etienne heat.

Gregor Townsend’s side – who overturned a 21-3 deficit to beat Les Bleus at Murrayfield a week previously – trailed 27-10 going into the final quarter inside the raucous Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The Scots roared back to level the match at 27-27 and would have gone ahead if Finn Russell had managed to convert Kyle Steyn’s second try of the match in the 72nd minute.

However, their hopes of only a second victory on French soil this century were dashed when Ramos’s reliable boot made it 30-27 with just two minutes remaining.

Scotland made six changes to the side that started last weekend’s 25-21 win over France at Murrayfield, two of which were enforced with the suspended Zander Fagerson and the injured Ben White dropping out. Captain Jamie Ritchie returned after being troubled by a minor calf issue in recent weeks.

After fielding a shadow side in Edinburgh last weekend, Les Bleus made 13 changes, restoring big-hitters like captain Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Gael Fickou and Jonathan Danty.

In addition to facing the side ranked second in the world, the Scots also had to contend with 26 degree heat as they emerged from the tunnel to a buoyant home support clearly revelling in the prospect of hosting the World Cup, which gets under way in less than four weeks.

The Scots – who were 19-0 down after 20 minutes on their last trip to France in February – could easily have wilted in the cauldron but they set about taking the sting out of the atmosphere by getting themselves into French territory from kick-off.

Following a sustained period of pressure, the visitors took the lead after four minutes when the ball was worked from left to right and Steyn ran on to a perfectly-weighted pass from Blair Kinghorn before evading a challenge from Gabin Villiere and touching down. Russell executed the conversion impressively from wide on the right.

France got themselves off the mark in the eighth minute with a penalty from Ramos, but Russell restored the Scots’ seven-point lead with a penalty of his own three minutes later. Ramos reduced the hosts’ deficit once more with another penalty in the 22nd minute.

The French momentarily thought they had gone ahead in the 29th minute when Dupont raced clear to touch down behind the posts but the celebrations were cut short as play was pulled back with Ali Price having failed to retreat the necessary 10 yards when Les Bleus took a quick penalty. There was some consolation for the frustrated home support, however, as the Scotland scrum-half was sin-binned for his infringement.

France, who had been building up a head of steam, soon capitalised on their extra-man advantage as Ntamack cut through the Scottish defence to plant the ball down left of the posts, and Ramos was once again on point with his kick to edge them three ahead.

The visitors desperately needed a strong start to the second half but their hopes were dented when they conceded two tries – scored by Damien Penaud and Charles Ollivon – within four minutes of the restart. The unflappable Ramos converted both times.

However, the Scots managed to reduce their arrears in the 62nd minute when Duhan van der Merwe bounded over on the left after a breakthrough attempt from Huw Jones was thwarted just before the line. Russell was off target with his kick.

The visitors – having appeared well-beaten – suddenly had some impetus and they closed to within five points in the 68th minute when Rory Darge forced his way over from close range after a slick build-up, with Russell adding the extras.

Remarkably, Scotland drew level four minutes later when Steyn ran on to a kick-through from George Horne to touch down on the right. Russell – with the chance to edge his team in front – was just wide with his conversion attempt.

Ramos made no mistake when presented with the opportunity to win a pulsating match for the French in the 78th minute.

England captain Owen Farrell is set to miss the start of the World Cup after being sent off in Saturday’s 19-17 victory over Wales at Twickenham.

Farrell’s yellow card for a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker review system, reducing the home side to 12 men because of the yellow cards shown to Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge.

England now face the prospect losing their captain for the critical opener against Argentina on September 9, with his availability for the remainder of the group stage to be determined by a disciplinary hearing next week.

Fixtures against Ireland and Fiji complete the warm-up schedule and, while those games would be included in a suspension, his outlook will be affected by being sanctioned for dangerous tackles in the past..

As recently as January he received a ban that was reduced to three games for attending tackle school.

“I’ll wait and see what comes of the disciplinary process,” head coach Steve Borthwick said.

“Right now it would be wrong for me to comment on an individual incident that would likely go through a disciplinary procedure. I’ll deal with the facts of the situation.”

England trailed 17-9 when Farrell departed yet remarkably they recovered to snatch victory through a Maro Itoje try and George Ford penalty.

“I am incredibly proud of the character that the players showed,” said Borthwick, who confirmed Jack Van Poortvliet suffered an ankle injury.

“To go down to 12 men and be resilient and fight your way through that situation is immense credit to them. They just keep going.

“And that’s something they’ve worked hard to instil in this group, which is not something you’d potentially have said in the past.”

Wales boss Warren Gatland felt it was the right call to upgrade Farrell’s yellow card to a red after seeing his replacement flanker Basham fail an HIA as a result of the tackle.

“It was the right decision on the day. Hopefully for Owen’s sake he doesn’t get too long a ban, you need someone like him in the game,” Gatland said.

“He’d be a big loss to England if he does have a lengthy ban. Given his previous I’m not too sure what’s going to happen with that, fingers crossed it’s not long for him.”

Steward was sent to the sin-bin for taking Josh Adams out in mid-air with a clumsy tackle and referee Nika Amashukeli awarded a penalty try after the England full-back tackled Liam Williams over the line.

“It was probably on the threshold of a yellow to a red. He’s taken him out high in the air,” Gatland said.

“Sometimes that decision, if it had been made by another official, might have been a red card. It was pretty close. It will be interesting to see what they come back with when they review it.”

Gatland revealed that Dewi Lake (knee) and Taine Plumtree (shoulder) are being assessed for the injuries they sustained in the first half.

The Wales boss admitted his disappointment at how Wales managed the final quarter when they let a 17-9 lead slip from their fingertips.

England’s preparations for the World Cup continued to unravel after captain Owen Farrell was sent off in a 19-17 victory secured through a late George Ford penalty.

At one point during the final quarter Steve Borthwick’s men were reduced to 12 men when Farrell – whose yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker – followed the sin-binned Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge into the stands.

England’s brainless final quarter saw a 9-3 lead overtaken by a penalty try and swashbuckling Tomos Williams touch-down as an otherwise lifeless encounter exploded into life the moment Steward took Josh Adams out in the air in the 60th minute.

A fourth successive defeat and slump to ninth in the world rankings beckoned, but they rallied bravely and even with three players off the pitch they claimed a maul try scored by Maro Itoje before Ford landed the winning penalty with three minutes left.

Farrell now faces a ban that could see him miss the World Cup opener against Argentina on September 9, with his recent three-match suspension for the same offence in January sure to count against him.

Jack Van Poortvliet sustained an ankle injury to leave England sweating on his fitness, while Dewi Lake, Taine Plumtree and Basham emerged concerns for Wales, who ultimately ran out of steam.

There was little to signpost the action to come in a dull first half that saw Farrell reward England’s solid start with a penalty.

The one-way traffic was eventually broken up by a 50-22 that gave the visitors a short-range line-out, but England defended the ensuing maul well and a rare chance was gone.

Two returning stars making their first appearances under Borthwick made pleasing starts, with Billy Vunipola barrelling into Wales up-front and Elliot Daly showing his athleticism in attack.

Slowly, Wales were clawing their way into the game but time and again were hampered by unforced errors as the match meandered along a stop-start path, unable to shake off its training ground feel.

Lake hobbled off to add to Gatland’s injury concerns at hooker but England were reeling soon after Van Poortvliet departed following an accidental collision and Henry Arundell was sent to the sin-bin for not retreating 10 yards.

The half finished with a red rose assault on the whitewash but in all-too familiar scenes they were unable to break through and had to settle for a second Farrell penalty.

Tommy Reffell was sin-binned for not releasing an opponent and over went another Farrell penalty, but Wales were finally off the mark when Owen Williams landed three points.

Plumtree was the next to exit nursing an injury as play continued to be marred by error after error, another promising spell of England pressure petering out.

Genge came on to win his 50th cap and was then shown a yellow card for collapsing a scrum, but worse was to come when Steward followed him into the sin-bin for taking Adams out in the air.

Adams was close to the line and Steward’s subsequent tackle on Liam Williams prevented a certain score, so a penalty try was awarded.

Somehow England were the the next to cross through a maul and when Ford landed a late penalty their against-the-odds escape act was complete.

Ben Earl believes England are ready to turn a corner but are determined to let their rugby do the talking amid low expectations of what can be achieved at the World Cup.

England have lost their last three Tests and will sink to their lowest position of ninth in the 20-year history of the global rankings should they fall to Wales in Saturday’s clash at Twickenham.

Their most recent home appearance was a traumatising 53-10 rout by France in the Six Nations and there has been little evidence of an uplift since Steve Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones in December.

With a key World Cup opener against Argentina fast approaching on September 9, they need to reverse their fortunes – and Earl senses that moment is coming.

“We didn’t have a great Six Nations, which came off an average autumn, and there’s been a change of regime between the two,” Earl said.

“Steve talks about not talking but doing – and we’re right on the precipice of trying to show what we can do.

“There’s been a big challenge laid down by the coaching team and the players that it has to start transferring on to the pitch. We know that. There’s an onus on us and it’s the privilege we’ve got to show that this weekend.

“We’re training really well. We’re competing really hard. It’s one of the best environments we’ve all been in.

“We’re really enjoying each other’s company and it just feels like we’re on the edge of something.

“It might just take one game, it might take three games. It might take us to try and scrap our way out of the group and see what happens, but we’re trying really hard.”

The second of four warm-up Tests will be a special moment for Earl, whose 15 caps to date have all been won as a replacement since making his debut in 2020.

Unable to truly convince Jones of his talents – even while lighting up the Premiership as an all-action openside with a flair for attack – and then being sent back to Saracens during the Six Nations, he was in danger of being marooned on the margins.

But selection in England’s final 33-man World Cup squad has been followed by a place in the back row against Wales, giving him the platform to press his case for selection against Argentina.

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Only Saracens and England team-mate Jamie George is disappointed that the stars might finally be aligning for the 25-year-old.

“There was a bit of an ongoing joke between us because Jamie has got the record of the most Test appearances off the bench without a start. I was two away,” Earl said.

“He’s a good mate of mine and he wasn’t the most proud to have that record. When he heard I was starting this weekend, I think he was quietly gutted.

“Not starting was something that was playing on my mind for sure. It’s no secret that my history with England has been a bit bizarre. It’s not just been one clear, upward curve.

“There have been times when you think it’s not going to happen, but you just crack on.”

Dewi Lake will captain Wales for the first time on Saturday after an injury-hit 12 months plunged his Test career into cold storage.

More than a year after his last Wales appearance against South Africa in Cape Town, the Ospreys hooker has a chance to display World Cup leadership credentials.

As the countdown continues to Warren Gatland announcing Wales’ World Cup squad, Lake follows flanker Jac Morgan in being appointed skipper against tournament warm-up opponents England.

A third leadership candidate is likely to take the reins when Wales host South Africa on Saturday week, then Gatland names his 33-player group for France.

Lake missed the whole of Wales’ international schedule last term as a shoulder injury ruled him out of their autumn campaign, then a knee problem put paid to any Six Nations hopes.

“It is always tough with injuries and then they always seem to pile on each other,” Lake said.

“One comes after the next and you think am I going to break this cycle of getting a good run of games and showing that I’m good enough to be selected?

“But no, I am grateful for the work of the people behind the scenes at the Ospreys put in with me to get me back fit. And here we are, I guess.”

Morgan set a high bar with his display when Wales saw off England 20-9 in Cardiff last weekend, delivering a performance that must surely have put him in pole position as potential World Cup captain.

“I think it is important to try to lead from the front, lead by example, as Jac did last weekend,” Lake added, ahead of the Twickenham rematch.

“Hopefully, if I can do anything as well as he has, then I will be on to a winner.

“There are boys that don’t need to be told anything. They have got the experience, they know what they are doing.

“Maybe some boys like a pat on the back if they have done something well or an arm around them if they’ve messed up. Some boys need to be shouted at if they’ve messed up because that is what kicks them into the next gear.

“Your (captaincy) style is all about knowing your team and knowing who you’ve got around you and being able to cater to how they are going to react to things.”

Gatland has made 15 changes for the England clash, with wing Josh Adams winning his 50th cap, while centre Joe Roberts makes a Test debut and the likes of fly-half Owen Williams, lock Rhys Davies and number eight Taine Plumtree also gain opportunities.

Roberts’ midfield partner Nick Tompkins said: “We are playing for a spot on that plane. It is something you can’t forget about.

“I would be lying if I said you weren’t a little bit on the edge. No-one really feels safe, no-one feels their position is locked down.

“It brings a lot of intensity and it brings a lot of positive emotions. This game, there is a lot on it. I definitely feel that way.

“A lot of people are talking about England coming back and trying to bounce back from the last performance, but you forget there’s 23 (Wales) players back there who are all fighting for their lives to be in the World Cup.”

England want to develop their scrum into a “ruthless” weapon in time for the World Cup as Wales provide another important test of its progress at Twickenham on Saturday.

A major improvement in the scrum was evident during the Six Nations, when it emerged as the most effective in the tournament just months after being statistically the worst among tier one sides.

It wobbled in the opening Summer Nations match in Cardiff, however, and England are looking to bounce back in the second instalment of the double header.

Adding to the stakes for Saturday’s showdown between the old rivals is that should England fall to a defeat of any description, they will slump to ninth in the global rankings – their lowest position since the standings were introduced in 2003.

“We want to have a ruthless scrum. England want to scrummage,” scrum coach Tom Harrison said.

“Joe Marler and Dan Cole are in the squad and those two players want to scrummage.

“What we’re working on is if it doesn’t go right or there is a problem, how can we solve it quickly?

“How can we be so ruthless that if a team tries to do something against us, we can solve the problem?

“Against Wales I thought there were some good bits with our scrum and some bits to improve.

“I hope you’ll see a pack that’s going to work and one that will show physicality.

“Everything we’re doing is building towards the World Cup and we want to have a good performance against Wales.”

England are fielding a team that is close to their strongest XV as preparations for their opener against Argentina on September 9 ratchet up.

Owen Farrell leads the side and is joined by fellow big guns Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Billy Vunipola, with Elliot Daly and Henry Arundell adding finishing ability on the wings.

Jamie Ritchie has declared himself fit and ready to lead Scotland into the Rugby World Cup after shaking off his recent calf issue.

The captain sat out the previous two warm-up matches at home to Italy and France as a precaution after what he described as “a little niggle” but he returns to the starting XV for this Saturday night’s rematch with Les Bleus in the heat of Saint-Etienne.

Ritchie is raring to go ahead of his first outing since playing for Edinburgh in a United Rugby Championship match away to Ulster almost four months ago.

“I feel like I’ve had a good pre-season and I’m feeling good, really excited to get back playing,” he said at the captain’s run press conference at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Friday.

“I’ve been sad to miss out the last couple of weeks because I was looking forward to getting a run out at Murrayfield but I have had to wait until this week so I’m really excited to get going.”

Ritchie insists there was never any fear that the injury would cause him any major problems ahead of the World Cup, which gets under way in France in four weeks’ time.

“No, not really,” he said when asked if he was worried about being fit in time. “It was just a little niggle I picked up in the week of the Italy match.

“It was probably touch and go for the home game against France, we were just erring on the side of caution. I was always going to be good to go for this week.”

Head coach Gregor Townsend said on Thursday that Ritchie is “probably in the best shape I’ve seen him in the last few years”.

“That’s kind of him,” smiled the captain when asked if he agreed with Townsend. “I need to ask my wife! Yeah, I feel good. It’s been good to have an extended pre-season.

“I got more or less a full pre-season in last year post-injury but the start of that was probably inhibited by the fact I’d been out for eight months (with a serious hamstring injury sustained against England in February 2022) so this is the first full pre-season I’ve had off the back of a full season of playing.

“I’m feeling in good shape and looking forward to getting going.”

Scotland spent the early part of this week at their World Cup training base near Nice before flying up to Saint-Etienne, where they found temperatures in the high 20s as they went through their team run on Friday.

Although Saturday’s match kicks off at 9pm, balmy conditions are expected. Ritchie feels the heat his team have been exposed to this week – and on their previous trip to the south of France in June – will stand them in good stead for the demands of the tournament itself.

“Massively, it means we’re adapted to what it’s going to be like out here, particularly on the training side of things (when they’ll be in the south of France).

“We’re playing in different parts of the country and the game tomorrow is in the evening so it might not be in the direct sunlight. Hopefully we’ll be a bit more acclimatised to the heat but not feeling that direct sunlight.

“We’re in a great place, our training sessions have been consistent, they’ve started well and they’ve finished well. There’s not been a session where we’ve dropped off, even in the heat, which is testament to the guys’ fitness and how hard we’ve worked.”

Ritchie feels Scotland’s fitness was highlighted by their stirring second-half fightback against the French last weekend when they scored 22 unanswered points to win 25-21 after trailing 21-3 at the break.

The 26-year-old flanker is hoping they can build on that performance and pull off another victory even though Les Bleus have selected arguably their strongest XV for this weekend after fielding a predominantly second-string team in Edinburgh.

“We take loads of confidence from last week in that we didn’t necessarily start that well but we fought to come back and have a really great finish,” said Ritchie.

“Our fitness showed in that game, we really started to peak towards the end and played some of our best stuff.

“We also felt we were the better team in the Six Nations (when losing 32-21 in Paris in February) and we’ll be looking to show it tomorrow.”

England and Wales meet at Twickenham on Saturday in their second World Cup warm-up Test.

Wales won the opening encounter, scoring 14 unanswered second-half points as tries from Gareth Davies and George North saw them home 20-9.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key points heading into their latest clash.

England summon the cavalry

England have assembled their big guns as they enter must-win territory just two games into their World Cup warm-up campaign. Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George are among the front-line stars in action at Twickenham, and potentially only Ellis Genge and Tom Curry are missing from the strongest XV. With the pivotal opener against Argentina on September 9 fast approaching, England need a reassuring performance and to avoid a fourth successive defeat that would continue a worrying downward spiral.

Momentum key for Wales

Wales have not won back-to-back Test matches since November 2021 when they beat Fiji and Australia, so there is a need to build on last weekend’s impressive 20-9 warm-up victory over England. Head coach Warren Gatland has made 15 changes as the clock continues ticking towards his World Cup squad announcement, and Saturday’s encounter will be the final opportunity for many players to impress. Wales have lost on their last six visits to Twickenham since the 2015 World Cup, which underlines the size of challenge ahead, but there were hints of a feelgood factor returning as a 65,000 crowd roared them home in Cardiff.

Dewi Lake in the spotlight

Flanker Jac Morgan led Wales with distinction at the Principality Stadium last Saturday, putting himself in pole position to skipper his country at the World Cup. Gatland, though, has said he will use the August schedule to assess captaincy candidates, and 24-year-old Ospreys hooker Lake now steps forward on his international return after shoulder and knee injuries meant he did not play Test rugby last season. Lake is a proven performer at the highest level, and he is likely to soak up the extra responsibility that awaits him.

Vunipola and Earl take centre-stage

If given the chance, Daly and Henry Arundell will provide thrills on the wing, but it is in the back-row where England’s most interesting picks reside. Vunipola makes his first Test appearance since the autumn – and because of a knee injury his maiden outing of any description since April. As the squad’s only specialist number eight and most destructive carrier in the forwards, he needs to hit the ground running. Earl, meanwhile, is rewarded for his perseverance with a full debut after winning all 15 previous caps as a replacement. Dynamic in attack, the Saracens openside can help ignite England.

Warren Gatland’s stamp is all over Wales

Last season’s Six Nations campaign – which marked Gatland returning for a second stint as Wales head coach – was one to forget, with a fifth-placed finish being accompanied by major off-field issues that almost led to a players’ strike. Fast-forward five months, though, and Wales appear to be a different beast. Demanding training camps in Switzerland and Turkey were followed by victory over England – “too fit for them” were Gatland’s words as he left the Principality Stadium last weekend – and it has been the New Zealander in his element, relishing a fourth World Cup campaign and loving nothing more than a chance to prove the doubters wrong.

Henry Arundell has been urged to “trust his instincts” against Wales as Steve Borthwick backs England’s rising star to become a gamebreaker at the World Cup.

Arundell makes only his second start in eight Tests when Warren Gatland’s men visit Twickenham on Saturday, lining up on the right wing of a team that is close to Borthwick’s strongest.

Owen Farrell is present as captain and is joined by fellow big guns Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George, while Saracens openside Ben Earl makes his long-awaited full debut and Elliot Daly returns after 18 months in international exile.

A tame defeat 20-9 by Wales launched the World Cup warm-up schedule in disheartening fashion and it is hoped the inclusion of try-scoring Racing 92 sensation Arundell will address some of the finishing deficiencies evident in Cardiff.

The 20-year-old is the most exciting talent in English rugby and has electric running skills, but Borthwick insists he must not overthink his game.

“Henry is in great physical shape and he’s got such incredible natural talents that you want to ensure are always going to be there. We want him to trust his instincts,” Borthwick said.

“We want to give him the ball and I’m sure the opposition will know that and try to shut down the space, which may open up opportunities elsewhere.

“We’re aware of that but everyone is looking forward to seeing him. He’s a young man with a big future in front of him.

“When you look around world rugby right now you see teams who have players that can break the game up in different ways.

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“One of those ways is pace and Henry has pace. If we can get him the ball in space, and he in particular doesn’t need a huge amount of space, then he can make things happen.

“We’ve already seen him do that in an England shirt and we’re looking forward to seeing him do it more.”

Providing firepower on the opposite wing is Daly, the 30-year Saracen whose last England outing came in the 2022 Six Nations, after he which he was frozen out by Eddie Jones.

One of Borthwick’s priorities upon replacing Jones as head coach in December was to re-establish the versatile back with a booming left boot, only for a hamstring injury to rule him out of the entire Six Nations.

“Elliot was one of the first players I rang when I was appointed. He hadn’t been in the environment, hadn’t played an awful lot in recent times,” Borthwick said.

“He has been looking really good in training, he has multiple dimensions to his game and I’m looking forward to seeing that on Saturday.”

A starting XV populated with six Saracens produces a special moment for 2022 Premiership player of the season Earl, who after 15 caps as a replacement is finally thrust on to the main stage.

Earl was unable to convince Jones, despite his dynamic club form, and was even sent back to his club by Borthwick after two appearances off the bench in the most recent Six Nations but he has impressed during the World Cup training camp.

“What Ben Earl has, which I don’t see too many opensides possess, is the ability to link with the backs in attacking play and to keep the ball moving. That’s a rare talent,” Borthwick said.

“He has the pace to operate with the quickest guys. He is up there with the quickest guys in our squad. He is not quite Henry Arundell but not too many people are.”

Veteran prop Cian Healy revealed Ireland’s players were not treated to a motivational speech from former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane during his visit to their training base in Portugal.

Ex-Ireland captain Keane was one of three high-profile visitors to watch Andy Farrell’s men train on Wednesday, alongside One Direction singer Niall Horan and major golf champion Padraig Harrington.

The 52-year-old pundit, who has previously been a guest speaker for his country’s rugby stars, was pictured chatting with Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton in the Algarve.

However, on this occasion, he did not address the full squad.

“I have no idea what he was doing there, to be honest,” said Healy.

“He wasn’t in camp, he was at the side of the pitch watching training. I didn’t get to chat to him, I was training.

“Some of the lads that already had done their part of the session would have said hello or whatever.

“But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a scheduled thing and he was just on holiday here or whatever and showed up for a look.”

Head coach Farrell is putting his preliminary 42-man World Cup squad, which is missing only the injured Jack Conan, through their paces ahead of cutting it down to a final 33 following warm-up clashes with England and Samoa.

Healy warned peripheral players they will not secure a seat on the plane to France by trying to be “the hero”.

“There’s going to be a lot of players looking to put their hand up,” he said.

“How to do that is to play our game and play how we play to the best of your ability.

“You don’t get picked by being the hero and going out and trying to do something fantastic because the percentage of that coming off is pretty low.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing everyone getting their chance and I suppose how they buy into what we’re doing and what stamp they can put on it themselves.”

Healy moved level with Rory Best as Ireland’s third most capped player during a try-scoring cameo in Saturday’s 33-17 win over Italy in Dublin.

The 35-year-old, who has played 124 Test matches, is preparing for his fourth and potentially final World Cup.

He is almost certain to be in Farrell’s final selection as loosehead back-up to Leinster team-mate Andrew Porter and is enjoying the build up to this year’s tournament, with players not “dying” to escape camp.

“It’s a great buzz, a really good camp to be in,” he said. “A lot of fun, a lot of time together on and off the pitch, especially over here (in Portugal).

“We’ve got nice time in the afternoon to spend a bit of time with the group and break off to spend a bit of time with families as well.

“We have had it before where you do the six-week block and people are dying to get out of camp for a couple of days or dying to go for a pint or something. You’re living in a hotel and that’s how life is.

“This has been managed really well in the sense that no one feels overloaded by time away.”

Wales boss Warren Gatland says he is “pretty confident” that star back-row forward Taulupe Faletau will be available for World Cup selection.

The Cardiff number eight, who has won 100 caps, will play no part in Wales’ tournament warm-up schedule as he continues his recovery from a calf muscle injury.

He is not involved against England at Twickenham on Saturday, and has also been ruled out of contention to face world champions South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday week.

Gatland said: “Taulupe won’t be available next week.

“He trained pretty well today, he is not feeling anything in his calf, so we are pretty confident he is available for selection.”

Centre Johnny Williams and wing Alex Cuthbert, though, are on course to be available for South Africa’s visit, with fly-half Gareth Anscombe ruled out as a precautionary measure after taking a knock to his thumb during Wales’ training camp in Turkey.

Gatland is set to name his final 33-strong World Cup squad within the next fortnight as the clock continues ticking on players’ selection hopes.

“I am expecting a group of players who are desperate to perform. It is a good situation to be in,” Gatland added, ahead of Saturday’s clash.

“England have picked their (World Cup) squad, so they will want to go out there and perform.

“But sometimes, it is almost the relief of being selected in the squad, and whether you are quite there emotionally. That’s the challenge for them to get up.

“I know we have a group of players that are in the right head-space because that team went out last week (Wales beat England 20-9 in Cardiff) they weren’t perfect, but they showed some great signs of what we are looking for as a group.

“There is a lot at stake, and players are well aware of that. We are not highlighting that or trying to put extra pressure on them.”

Asked about players’ World Cup selection prospects who have yet to feature in the summer Tests, Gatland said: “It is going to be tougher for them isn’t?

“If they haven’t trained a lot and they haven’t played, you might get an opportunity next week and you have probably got to have a pretty special game.

“Some of those players might get that chance next week. We will see how Saturday goes. It is always a challenge for players who have had injuries and haven’t taken a full part.”

Gatland was linked with the England head coach’s job following Eddie Jones’ sacking last year, before Steve Borthwick was appointed as the Australian’s successor.

Asked if he looked back and wished he was in the England camp, Gatland added: “Not really. I’m happy that I’m here.”

He was more forthcoming on England fly-half Marcus Smith, though, a player who Gatland believes is a potential world superstar.

“I just think he is an incredibly talented player. I like him as a person, I like him as a rugby player,” he said.

“There has been so much negativity around rugby the last couple of years.

“We need to be positive about the game, and how do we create superstars in the game where kids want to look up to people and wear their jersey and play in their back yard and call themselves Marcus Smith. Potentially, he can be that superstar.”

Wales, meanwhile, will lock horns with Jones’ Australia team at the World Cup, facing them in a potentially pivotal pool clash on September 24.

Australia did not win a game in this summer’s Rugby Championship, while Jones’ World Cup squad announced on Thursday features a solitary recognised fly-half and no place for former captain Michael Hooper.

“He (Jones) seems comfortable with throwing a few curve-balls in there. He has spoken really positively about what they are capable of doing,” Gatland added.

“Eddie talked about smash and grab in the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe (Cup). Maybe part two of that will work, but part one hasn’t come off.”