Gregor Townsend has defended Scotland’s decision to keep the Principality Stadium roof open for their Guinness Six Nations opener in Cardiff.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland called the decision “disappointing”, saying it would impact upon the atmosphere and noise in the 74,500-capacity stadium.

Tournament regulations say both sides must agree to have the roof closed.

Scotland head coach Townsend said: “I thought we had 48 hours to decide, but they said on Wednesday you have to come to a decision.

“I looked at the forecast and it looked quite nice, I’d much prefer playing with the roof open if we can.

“It’s noisier when the roof’s closed, that’s why they’re disappointed. They don’t get that (advantage).

“If the pitch is greasy it’s not great conditions, but it would be better playing in heavy rain. When we looked, it was good weather with 20 to 30 per cent chance of rain in the morning.”

Rain is actually now forecast in the Welsh capital on Saturday evening, with the game kicking off at 4.45pm.

But Townsend remains philosophical should that happen, saying: “I hope the weather stays dry, we want it to be a dry day.

“If that’s the case the conditions will be better because the ball does get greasy and sweaty when the roof’s closed.

“You play rugby at every other ground that doesn’t have a roof. So you play in the dry and the wet.

“If it’s a wet day it will be trickier to move the ball, but I have confidence our players can do that, or find another way to put pressure on the opposition through defence and a kicking game.

“I hope it’s rain in the morning and dry in the afternoon, but we do play in the winter in our sport so players are used to a wet ball.”

Scotland have not beaten Wales in Cardiff since 2002, a day that former outside-half Townsend recalls “wasn’t a great game to play in but I have more fond memories of now”.

Wales have won 11 successive times in Cardiff – nine Six Nations games, a World Cup warm-up and an Autumn Test – although Scotland did win a Covid-impacted contest at Llanelli in 2020.

Townsend said: “We don’t talk about why we’ve struggled here in past but we talk about the record.

“Not many have played throughout those years, although a few played here two years ago when we we didn’t perform and produce our best rugby.

“You have defeats and wins in your Test career and the one against Ireland (the 36-14 loss at the 2023 World Cup) is more in our minds than the one two years ago, and certainly those 10 or 20 years before that.”

Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn misses out after picking up a knee injury playing for Toulouse last weekend.

Glasgow’s Kyle Rowe deputises to makes his first international start, his only previous cap coming away to Argentina in July 2022 when he appeared as a substitute and lasted only 10 minutes before damaging his ACL.

“Blair didn’t think he’d thought be out this week, but we had the scan done in camp and he will be out for the first two games,” said Townsend.

“We’re really pleased with Kyle’s form and see him as someone comfortable in that position, and it’s really important we’ve got someone with confidence coming into such a big fixture.”

Townsend says the game has “come a couple of days too soon” for recently appointed co-captain Rory Darge, who has been sidelined by a knee injury, so outside-half Finn Russell leads the side.

The Washington Commanders have reached an agreement with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to become their new head coach, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

Quinn will get a second opportunity to run a team after previously serving six seasons as the Atlanta Falcons' head coach from 2015-20. He led the Falcons to a Super Bowl in his second season in charge in 2016, but was fired after an 0-5 start in 2020 that followed up two consecutive losing campaigns.

The 53-year-old takes over for another coach who previously guided a team to a Super Bowl in Ron Rivera, who was let go at the conclusion of this past season after Washington struggled to a 4-13 record. Rivera was the head coach during the Carolina Panthers' NFC championship season of 2015. 

Quinn becomes the latest addition to a franchise that has undergone a slew of changes in the past year, beginning with long-time owner Daniel Snyder selling the team to an investment group headed by Josh Harris, the managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils, in July. 

The Commanders also have a new general manager in place after hiring Adam Peters from the San Francisco 49ers' front office in January.

Quinn gets to stay in the NFC's East Division after restoring his head coaching credentials with a successful stint orchestrating a defence that helped Dallas reach the playoffs in all three of his seasons there. The Cowboys ranked fifth in the NFL in both points and total yards allowed in 2023, while their 93 takeaways during Quinn's tenure are the most in the league over that three-year stretch.

The veteran assistant also had an excellent run as the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator from 2013-14, helping that team win a Super Bowl in the first of those seasons.

Quinn compiled a 43-42 overall record in Atlanta and led the Falcons to two play-off appearances, the first of which nearly culminated in the franchise's first NFL title. In one of the most memorable games in recent NFL history, Atlanta infamously blew a 28-3 third-quarter lead in Super Bowl LI as the New England Patriots rallied for a stunning 34-28 overtime win.

He now joins a franchise that has gone 18 consecutive seasons since its last play-off victory in 2005, the third-longest active streak in the NFL, and has reached the post-season only once in the past eight seasons. 

Despite that recent lack of success, the Commanders' vacancy was considered an attractive job due to the team's newfound stability in ownership and the front office and a wealth of available salary cap space to work with this offseason.

Washington also owns the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft and is in position to select one of the three quarterbacks viewed as potential franchise players, Heisman Trophy winners Caleb Williams (USC) and Jayden Daniels (LSU) and North Carolina's Drake Maye.

Jack Jones’ An Bradan Feasa looks to take the next step in his promising hurdling career at Musselburgh on Sunday.

The four-year-old was previously trained by Joseph O’Brien before making his debut for new connections at Cheltenham in November, where he chased home James Owen’s highly-regarded Burdett Road in a Grade Two Triumph Hurdle Trial.

His next outing was a return to the same track the following month, where he contested a lesser Triumph trial and prevailed by three lengths as the favourite.

The Fred Winter at the Festival has always been the goal for An Bradan Feasa and he will prepare for that with a run in the bet365 Scottish Triumph Hurdle this weekend, a Listed contest for four-year-olds.

“He had a quiet week or 10 days after Cheltenham and then we got him back into his work, he’s had a mini break but this has always been the aim from a long way,” said Jones.

“He’s fit, well and happy, he’s schooled a couple of times and Tom (Bellamy) is going to come and school him tomorrow morning for the finishing touches and then he’ll travel up Saturday.

“He’s all good to go, Musselburgh looks a suitable opportunity and we’re very happy with him.

“I’m pleased we managed to schedule a little break in and he’ll go out there with a very good chance. The Paul Nicholls horse (Liari) is level with us on ratings, so it should be between the two of them, without being overconfident.”

Of his Cheltenham aspirations, the trainer added: “We’re aiming for the Fred Winter, and we’ll enter him in the Triumph, but we’re keeping expectations sensible and the owners are agreed on that one.

“We’ve always been working back from the Fred Winter.”

Queen Mother Champion Chase favourite El Fabiolo will captain Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s Dublin Racing Festival team as the unbeaten chaser heads to Leopardstown a red-hot favourite for Sunday’s Ladbrokes Dublin Chase.

Originally set to contest Ascot’s abandoned Clarence House Chase, Willie Mullins’ ace two-miler will seek riches closer to home as he looks to supplement his victory in the Irish Arkle at the two-day meeting 12 months ago.

El Fabiolo went on to add to his Grade One tally at both the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals and following a successful comeback run in Cork’s Hilly Way Chase, the odds-on shot will be seeking to solidify his spot at the top of the market for the Champion Chase in just under six weeks’ time.

“The team will probably have about nine runners, but he’s the only one who will be a hot favourite for us and is our best chance,” said Munir and Souede’s racing manager Anthony Bromley.

“He’s training well and was in great form leading up to the Clarence House two weeks ago – and the team are all happy with him still, so let’s hope we cannot fluff our lines.”

Sunday will also see Impaire Et Passe, another of the owners’ 2023 Cheltenham Festival heroes, lock horns with State Man for a second time in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, attempting to overturn a three-and-a-quarter-length beating from when they met in the Matheson Hurdle at Christmas.

A strong second-day squad will see Closutton’s James Du Berlais drop back in trip for the valuable O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase.

Meanwhile, the day ends with Stuart Crawford bidding to provide Munir and Souede with a third-straight victory in the concluding Coolmore N.H. Sires Hurricane Lane Irish EBF Mares I.N.H. Flat Race with wide-margin Down Royal scorer Mongibello.

“James Du Berlais ran really well at Christmas in the three-mile handicap chase,” continued Bromley.

“We’re dropping back to two-miles-five on Sunday in the €150,000 race. We’re hoping dropping a couple of furlongs works the oracle, as he showed up well for a very long way and went very well at Christmas and I would be hopeful of a bold show, but it’s a hugely competitive handicap chase.”

He went on: “Mongibello was second on her debut in a Listed bumper and then won very well at Down Royal in a race that is starting to work out.

“There will be plenty more fancied than us in the race, but I think she will run a really solid race and we’ve had a bit of luck in the race with the colours in the past.

“Two years ago, the Crawfords won it with Lily Du Berlais and last year the Mullins father-and-son team won it for us with Fun Fun Fun. It may be asking a bit to make it a hat-trick in the race but Mongibello certainly won’t let us down.”

Hopes for the opening day rest on Intellotto in a red-hot renewal of the Grade One McCann FitzGerald Spring Juvenile Hurdle and Ayiko in the concluding Donohue Marquees Future Stars (C & G) I.N.H. Flat Race, with the Dublin Racing Festival arriving at the ideal time for the in-form ‘double green’ team.

They have enjoyed plenty of success over the last seven days, with a double at Naas last Sunday followed by talented novices Anotherway and Mistergif impressing in midweek.

Some of those victors could be set for a step up to better things next time, with Naas bumper winner Jasmin De Vaux set to be pointed towards the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival following his commanding 15-length romp.

“Jasmin De Vaux was a Crawford graduate and we purchased him from Stuart and sent him to Willie and he looked very good in the bumper on Sunday,” said Bromley.

“I imagine all roads lead to Cheltenham for him. You could probably pick holes in the form of the bumper but it was the manner in which he did it which was impressive and he’s a really exciting horse to look forward to.”

A day later, it was Anotherway who was representing the team with distinction as he sauntered his way to success at Punchestown, a win that meant an awful lot to connections.

Bromley explained: “Anotherway was extremely pleasing because he had severe complications after being gelded as a three-year-old and had to have two big operations, life-saving operations, and to even get him on the track at Christmas was brilliant.

“He blew up a bit then, but he certainly showed the benefit of that at Punchestown and that gave me as much pleasure as anything.

“He is Concertista’s half-brother as well, so that is quite nice and it was a very poignant winner. I don’t think he will necessarily go to Cheltenham but he will be racing at some sort of festival in the spring I suspect.”

Warren Gatland has backed Wales’ most inexperienced Six Nations line-up since 2019 to “go out there with no fear” in Saturday’s clash against Scotland.

Cardiff full-back Cameron Winnett is handed a Test debut after just 15 games of professional rugby, 21-year-old Dafydd Jenkins will lead Wales out as his country’s youngest captain for 56 years, while six of the Wales’ replacements have just 12 caps between them.

The absentees read like a current who’s who of Welsh rugby – George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Liam Williams, Dan Biggar, Dewi Lake, Will Rowlands, Jac Morgan and Taulupe Faletau, to name just eight.

And the starting XV’s 413 caps has more than half that total shared by only four players in scrum-half Gareth Davies, wing Josh Adams, lock Adam Beard and number eight Aaron Wainwright.

Wales, though, will defend a 22-year unbeaten record against Scotland in Cardiff that comprises nine Six Nations games, a World Cup warm-up fixture and an autumn Test.

“We are at home and Scotland haven’t won here in Cardiff for a long time,” Wales head coach Gatland said.

“It is a full stadium and we’ve got a responsibility to go and deliver a performance.

“The enthusiasm of this young group of players has been exceptional over the last few weeks. I am really excited about this group that we’ve got, building with some youngsters who I think are really going to grow, develop and impress.

“Those young players get out there and learn what it is like to play in front of 75,000 people where things are happening quicker than you would normally experience.

“I couldn’t be happier with how they have trained and prepared. Two weeks, the attitudes have been outstanding – no-one has moaned about how hard we have worked.

“Everyone has been vocal and pushed each other. I think we’ve got an average age of 25. I think they can go out there with no fear with the way they have prepared.”

Centre North, who has won 118 caps and is comfortably the most experienced player in Wales’ Six Nations squad, suffered a shoulder injury during Ospreys’ recent European Challenge Cup victory over South Africa side the Lions.

Gatland, though, allayed any fears surrounding his fitness for next week’s Twickenham appointment with England.

“He is ready to go now. We’ve just made that decision early – we wanted to select the team early,” Gatland added.

“The fact he hadn’t trained much, we could have held on (until) later in the week, but we just wanted to make that call early to give those players the best chance in terms of preparing for Saturday.”

And on Racing 92 lock Rowlands, Gatland said: “Will hasn’t come into the squad yet. His wife had a baby a couple of weeks ago in France, and unfortunately there were some complications.

“So the message to him has been ‘you stay home and be with your family’. We always talk about how important that is, and he will turn up when he is ready.”

Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins will forge Wales’ midfield partnership, with Winnett’s Cardiff colleague James Botham – grandson of England cricket great Sir Ian Botham – being recalled for a first Wales appearance since July 2021.

Dragons prop Leon Brown also starts, with uncapped Cardiff flanker Alex Mann among the replacements, where former Bristol back Ioan Lloyd provides fly-half cover for Sam Costelow.

“The Six Nations is always about momentum,” Gatland said.

“We are under no illusions that it is going to be a tough game for us, but we can go there being excited about this group of young players.”

You Wear It Well remains on course for a crack at more Cheltenham Festival glory in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle after running with credit in defeat at Doncaster last weekend.

Jamie Snowden’s charge produced her best effort as a novice at Prestbury Park when making all to see off 20 rivals in Grade Two company last March, scoring at generous odds of 16-1 under Gavin Sheehan.

She kicked off this term by getting the better of Luccia at Wetherby over two miles before being a well-beaten favourite in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown.

Snowden opted to step her up to an extended three miles in the Warfield Mares’ Hurdle, with a change of tactics deployed, as she was held up at the back early on.

You Wear It Well came through to challenge Marie’s Rock at the final flight but just found the 2022 Mares’ Hurdle winner too strong on the run-in.

“I think we just got beat by a better horse on the day in that set of circumstances,” said Snowden.

“It was our first try at the trip and the ground was a little bit quicker than ideal. It turned into a little bit of a sprint from three out and we had a bit of ground to make up.

“But Marie’s Rock is rated 150, we’re rated 140, we were carrying the same weight and we only got beat a length and a half, so it was a decent performance and I was glad to get that run into her, it was a nice run.

“The Mares’ Hurdle is the plan and we might look at the Warwick race (February 10) on route.”

Blair Kinghorn has been ruled out of Scotland’s first two Guinness Six Nations matches with a knee injury, paving the way for Kyle Rowe to make his first international start at full-back in Saturday’s opener in Wales.

The Toulouse number 15 becomes the second member of Scotland’s first-choice back three to be ruled out of the match in Cardiff and the following weekend’s visit from France, with free-scoring Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham also absent due to quad tightness.

Rowe’s only previous cap came away to Argentina in July 2022 when he came on as a substitute and lasted only 10 minutes before damaging his ACL, resulting in him being sidelined for most of the following year.

The 25-year-old has been in good form for Glasgow this term, scoring seven tries, including three in his last two outings before meeting up with the national team.

Kyle Steyn, who recently returned after three months out, and Duhan van der Merwe will start on the wings.

Recently-appointed co-captain Rory Darge has not recovered from a knee injury in time to feature so stand-off Finn Russell will skipper the side.

Previous skipper Jamie Ritchie, who lost the role last month, has been named as one of this weekend’s vice-captains and will start in the back-row alongside Matt Fagerson and Luke Crosbie, with Jack Dempsey – the first-choice number eight for most of last year – on the bench.

Ben White, Scotland’s preferred scrum-half for the majority of last year, is restored to the number-nine jersey after Ali Price took his place in the starting XV for the last two matches of the World Cup against Romania and Ireland.

Glasgow lock Scott Cummings starts in place of his suspended Edinburgh counterpart Grant Gilchrist.

Props Elliot Millar-Mills and Alec Hepburn – who was capped six times by England in 2018 – are both in line to make their Scotland debuts off the bench.

However, there is no place in the 23 for in-form Saracens back-rower Andy Christie who had been touted as a potential starter.

The Scots are eyeing a first victory in Cardiff for 22 years.

William Haggas has decided to keep the King and Queen’s Desert Hero closer to home for his first outing of 2024, with Royal Ascot once again on the agenda before a potential trip to Australia at the end of the year.

The chestnut sparked fabulous scenes last June, providing his owners with their first winner at the big meeting in the King George V Stakes.

He went on to win at Glorious Goodwood and finish third in the St Leger, after which Haggas was contemplating a Melbourne Cup tilt.

That was put on the backburner but the Newmarket handler was considering sending him out to Australia in the early months of the new year, given the success he has had with the likes of Addeybb and Dubai Honour Down Under.

However, those plans have now been shelved and Haggas told RadioTAB Australia: “We decided definitely that His Majesty’s horse will not be coming to Sydney in the autumn.

“We may well come down at the backend of the year in your (Australian) spring, but I just felt he needed a bit more time and they (his owners) concurred.

“Possibly (the Melbourne Cup) or possibly something in Sydney, we’ll see.

“We are going to concentrate on going to Royal Ascot for the Hardwicke Stakes, which will be his first major target.

“He’s done very well this winter. He will benefit from all the time he can get. It’s ‘do we press the button now or wait a bit’ and we plumped for the second option, we’re going to wait a bit.

“He’s pretty useful, he got better and better last year and we think he’s done better again this winter, so I am very pleased with him.”

Haggas will be represented in the big Australian races once again by Dubai Honour, who won both the Ranvet Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes last year before finishing a fine third to Romantic Warrior in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong.

“He’ll go into quarantine on February 15. We’re looking at the same two races as last year,” said Haggas.

“I probably shouldn’t have run him in the Eclipse, as he’d been on the go for a while, but there were only four runners and I thought he ran well for a long way in the Champion Stakes.

“To be honest, his whole summer was based around getting him in top shape to come to you (Australia) in February/March.

“He will be the same horse he was, I hope.

“I’d like him to come back for two years. If all goes well this year and he runs competitively, then basically it will be all the same again.”

Two more could travel with Dubai Honour, as Post Impressionist, winner of the Old Borough Cup, and Mujtaba, last seen finishing second in the Huxley Stakes in May, are both pencilled in.

“Post Impressionist will run in the Sydney Cup, he’s been bought by Lloyd Williams. He’s in really good shape,” said Haggas.

“Mujtaba might well go. I’m really pleased with his condition. He’ll either go Ranvet or Tancred and then hopefully Queen Elizabeth.

“He’s never won a Stakes race, in his only start last year he was second in a Group Two and then got colic.

“He’s a good age, he’s six but has only run nine times in his life.”

Lewis Hamilton looks set to make a shock move to Ferrari from the 2025 season onwards.

The seven-time Formula One world champion has enjoyed unrivalled success at Mercedes but is now on course to become the 12th British racer to don the famous red overalls of Ferrari.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five of the most notable former Britons to race for the Maranello marque.

John Surtees

Starts: 37
Wins: 5

Surtees is the subject of a pub quiz question to this day as he remains the only man to win world championships on both two and four wheels.

His F1 title came during a four-year stint at Ferrari, where he won the championship in 1964.

More success probably would have followed had he not quit the team after just two races of the 1966 season following a public spat resulting from his omission from Ferrari’s team for the Le Mans 24-hour race.

Eddie Irvine

Starts: 65
Wins: 4

Ferrari’s hopes of a first drivers’ championship in two decades had seemingly been resting solely on the shoulders of Michael Schumacher.

That all changed when he broke his leg in a crash at Silverstone in 1999, jettisoning Northern Ireland’s Irvine into a title showdown with the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen.

Having joined Ferrari in 1996, Irvine was very much the number two in the team, although victories in Australia, Austria, Germany and Malaysia saw the championship race go down to the wire but – even with Schumacher back from injury and playing a supporting role, he fell short by two points and quit for Jaguar in 2000.

Nigel Mansell

Starts: 32
Wins: 3

Already a world champion, Mansell would forever be bestowed with the honour of being the last driver hand-picked by Enzo Ferrari to race for his eponymous marque.

Mansell had endured a terrible season at Williams in 1988 but won in Brazil in 1989 – his first race behind the wheel of a Ferrari – and later in Hungary, too.

Reliability issues hampered the remainder of his debut year with the Prancing Horse and 1990 proved even worse in that regard as Mansell retired from seven grands prix, winning in Portugal but falling out with the team and returning to Williams the following year.

Mike Hawthorn

Starts: 24
Wins: 3

Hawthorn became the United Kingdom’s first Formula One world champion when he took the title with Ferrari in 1958.

Having driven for the team earlier in the decade, he returned to take the crown after winning in France and finishing second in Belgium, Britain, Portugal, Italy and Morocco.

He retired after winning the championship having watched team-mate Peter Collins die at the German Grand Prix months earlier – Hawthorn himself would die in a road accident in January 1959 at the age of 29.

Peter Whitehead

Starts: 8
Wins: 0

Whitehead may have raced in Formula One but it was with a Ferrari, rather than for the team itself.

The Englishman became the first private racer to convince Enzo Ferrari to sell him a car, which he duly painted in British racing green.

He was entered into one race by the works Ferrari team – but failed to qualify for the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix.

New Ireland skipper Peter O’Mahony has dismissed suggestions Friday’s “colossal” Guinness Six Nations curtain-raiser against France will be an early title decider.

Andy Farrell’s men will run out in Marseille as reigning Grand Slam champions on the back of a decisive 32-19 round-two win over the French last February in Dublin.

Les Bleus, who are the pre-tournament favourites this year, completed a championship clean sweep in 2022 following a crucial 30-24 victory over Ireland in Paris.

Munster flanker O’Mahony, who has taken the captaincy from the retired Johnny Sexton, played down talk of silverware once again being decided by the fixture ahead of a mouth-watering opening evening at Stade Velodrome.

“I don’t know about that,” he told a press conference.

“It’s the first one up for us, first one up for them. In this competition, every game is colossal and that’s an understatement.

“Both of us are out there tomorrow to win the game, set ourselves up with some momentum for the rest of the campaign.

“Every opportunity you get to play for Ireland is huge, but this one seems particularly special… to continue our journey on.

“What a place to do it, what a stadium… what a place to play rugby.”

Ireland and France are both on the rebound from agonising quarter-final exits at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Head coach Farrell has made three enforced changes from the 28-24 last-eight loss to New Zealand on October 14, with fly-half Jack Crowley, wing Calvin Nash and centre Robbie Henshaw coming in for the departed Sexton and injured pair Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy has been preferred to James Ryan and Iain Henderson in the other alteration to the starting XV.

O’Mahony insists the team are looking forward, rather than attempting to make up for disappointment suffered at the hands of the All Blacks.

“We’re not trying to prove a point to ourselves about what happened,” he said.

“We’re trying to prove to ourselves in performance, where the scene is at, where we want to go, setting up momentum.

“It’s not about putting things right or whatever. It’s about a Test match tomorrow night. That’s what the occasion is, it’s the most important thing for us.

“And performance is absolutely paramount. That’s what everyone is here to do, be the best version of themselves. That’s what we’re trying to do for Ireland.”

O’Mahony has captained Ireland on a number of previous occasions but will lead his country for the first time as permanent skipper.

The 34-year-old believes he and his team-mates all learnt from his predecessor Sexton.

“I had a good chat with him a few weeks ago and he’s in good form, I can report,” O’Mahony said.

“I’d be shocked if you asked anybody in that dressing room who’s played with Johnny if they hadn’t picked up something from him.

“It’s kind of what the game’s about, it’s learning and being diligent and picking stuff up from guys who’ve figured it out and he was certainly one of them.”

England have given debuts to centre Fraser Dingwall and flanker Ethan Roots for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has also named three uncapped players on the bench in back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South, fly-half Fin Smith and wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

“Winning a first cap for your country is always a very special occasion,” Borthwick said.

“We’re delighted for the debutants who have all worked incredibly hard to get themselves selected in the 23 to face Italy. I know Saturday will be a very proud moment for the players and their families.

“My message to them this week has been to be themselves, to grasp their opportunity, and to play with the strengths and skills that deservedly got them selected to a strong Six Nations squad.”

Alex Mitchell has overcome an infected cut on his leg to form a half-back axis with George Ford, who is named as one of two vice-captains alongside Maro Itoje with Jamie George leading the team out at the Stadio Olimpico.

Ford has edged rookie Fin Smith for the number 10 jersey after Marcus Smith was ruled out of the round one clash because of a calf problem and he will direct a midfield partnership of Dingwall and Henry Slade.

Tommy Freeman wins his fourth cap and first since 2022 on the right wing as reward for an impressive season at Gallagher Premiership pace-setters Northampton, who also supply Dingwall and Mitchell to the starting back line.

Joe Marler and Will Stuart are the preferred props, keeping Ellis Genge and Dan Cole on the bench, while Itoje and Ollie Chessum are paired together in a familiar-looking lock duo.

Roots has big boots to fill after being chosen to start in the number six jersey worn by Courtney Lawes until his international retirement after the World Cup, with Ben Earl continuing at number eight and Sam Underhill at openside.

Roots played for the Maori All Blacks but has been a revelation at Exeter this season after arriving at Sandy Park having spent two seasons at the Ospreys.

Italy have never beaten England in 30 previous attempts but Borthwick refuses to take victory for granted.

“After an excellent week’s preparation in Girona, we look forward to the challenge of playing Italy in Rome,” Borthwick said.

“The Azzurri are a dangerous team, with some talented ball-carriers and players who like to find space. We’ll need to make good decisions, keep our discipline, and maintain a level of intensity to our performance from the first whistle to the last.”

Royale Pagaille may not run again this season as Venetia Williams reports he is “still very sore” following his final fence fall in Cheltenham’s Cotswold Chase.

The 10-year-old holds an entry for the Gold Cup, as well as being seen as a potential Grand National candidate, and after a career-best performance to win the Betfair Chase in November, he was out to cement his claims for the blue riband at Prestbury Park last Saturday.

However, dreams of a fourth shot at the Cheltenham Festival’s main prize now appear to be on hold after his Trials Day fall, which came when staying on strongly in the hands of Charlie Deutsch, with Williams suggesting his recovery time will keep him off the track for the rest of the current campaign.

“I don’t know for sure, but he is still very sore,” said Williams.

“He should be all right, but it is going to need a bit of time and I’m not sure if we will see him out again this season. It’s a big shame.”

Despite Royale Pagaille looking likely to be out of the Gold Cup picture, there was better news about high-ranking stablemate L’Homme Presse following his successful Lingfield comeback.

Having brought the house down with a terrific display to better Protektorat in the Fleur De Lys Chase, he is now firmly on course for his scheduled pre-Gold Cup stop in the Betfair Ascot Chase on February 17.

Williams said: “He’s fine and I’m happy with him. Ascot is in two weeks and we will see, but all being well, that is what we will do.”

Alongside Shishkin, L’Homme Presse is seen as one of Britain’s best chances of claiming victory in the Gold Cup for the first time since Native River in 2018 and is a best price of 10-1 with the bookmakers.