■ Wales v England, Saturday, 8.50pm, BeIN Sports HD
England will enter a hostile Principality Stadium with a rookie back row after naming Jack Clifford in place of Tom Wood for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Wales.
Clifford has recovered from a chest injury to make his first international appearance since last summer’s tour of Australia and is chosen ahead of the vastly more experienced Wood, who is demoted to the bench.
In the only other change to the starting XV that beat France 19-16 last Saturday, Jack Nowell is picked on the right wing in a move that sees Jonny May also relegated to a spot among the replacements.
The biggest talking point is in the back row, however, with England potentially facing at some stage an all-British & Irish Lions Welsh trio of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau with Clifford, Maro Itoje and Nathan Hughes.
Wood, who has recovered from a shoulder injury, has 46 caps while Clifford, Itoje and Hughes have only four back-row starts between them.
“Jack Clifford also deserves his starting role. He is a hard-working young player,” England coach Eddie Jones said.
“He has got a good record against Wales, he had a superb game against them in May, he knows what he is going to expect from Wales and we’re looking forward to him making an impact to our back-row play.
“Tom Wood will also play his part later in the game off the bench as a finisher.”
Nowell made a significant impact when arriving as a second-half replacement against France, with a robust carry helping to set up the decisive try for Ben Te’o.
“Jack Nowell starts this week, with Jonny May changing to a finisher,” Jones said. “Jack has an excellent work-rate and he’s a guy that carries through the line, which will be important for us.”
England made an unconvincing start to their Six Nations title defence, with only the arrival of a powerful bench sealing victory over France.
Jones accepted responsibility for what he described as an “awful” performance and has since been seeking explanations as to why England teams are “petrified” of playing in Cardiff.
“It’s been a great week of focused preparation and we can’t wait to play Wales,” Jones said.
“Playing Wales in Cardiff is one of the biggest games in world rugby and we’re excited. These are the games you want to be part of as a player and a coach.
“It’s a game that is going to be decided on the basics of the game. You do the fundamentals of the game well and you win the game of rugby. We have a young team eager to play well at the great Principality Stadium.
“We don’t need extra motivation this week – we play Test rugby because we want to be the best for England.
“Every game for us is important and our supporters, and Wales is our next game, so it’s the most important.”
Wales have made two changes to their starting line-up. Both switches are in the front row, where props Rob Evans and Tomas Francis take over from Nicky Smith and Samson Lee, respectively.
Fly-half Dan Biggar and wing George North, who both suffered injuries during last Sunday’s 33-7 victory against Italy, make the starting XV, while Bath No 8 Faletau is among the replacements for potentially his first run-out since suffering a knee injury on Christmas Eve.
His props apart, Wales’ interim head coach Rob Howley has retained the team that accounted for Italy in Rome.
“There is huge excitement in the camp ahead of Saturday for what is set to be a massive Six Nations encounter,” Howley said. “We were really pleased with the result out in Rome, and are looking to build on that performance this weekend.
■ Italy v Ireland, Saturday, 6.45pm, BeIN Sports HD
Ireland will not risk Johnny Sexton for Italy match
Ireland have refused to risk Johnny Sexton’s fitness in Saturday’s Six Nations encounter with Italy in Rome.
Lose at the Stadio Olimpico and Ireland would concede any lingering title chances, but coach Joe Schmidt has refused any temptation to field his linchpin fly-half.
Sexton missed the opening 27-22 loss in Scotland with calf trouble and was only ever handed an outside chance of facing Italy, so Schmidt has again turned to Paddy Jackson to run his backline.
Sexton has not played since Leinster’s 24-24 draw at Castres on January 20, but Ireland still expect the 31-year-old No 10 to be ready to face France in Dublin on February 25.
The fit-again Donnacha Ryan replaces Iain Henderson at lock after Ireland missed the Munster man’s wily tight work in Edinburgh.
Ryan and Cian Healy slot in to start in the only changes from the galling Scotland defeat, with Ireland’s Kiwi coach Schmidt challenging the bulk of those players to provide immediate atonement.
Connacht’s Ultan Dillane is preferred to Henderson as the lock cover on the bench, with Ulster wing Craig Gilroy also named among the replacements.
Schmidt has laid down the gauntlet to Ireland to move out of any professional era comfort blanket and cope far better with unexpected setbacks.
Ireland’s bus was 15 minutes late arriving at Murrayfield last Saturday, with Schmidt later admitting his players were unsettled by a rushed warm-up.
Now the former Leinster coach has demanded his players quickly devise far better coping strategies for similar unforeseen issues.
“I have challenged them for a better start in Italy,” Schmidt said. “I think it’s incredibly disappointing the way we started last weekend. I don’t think it was apathy, there was a bit of anxiety at not having had the full period to warm up.
“Players get anxious, they get very routine-based and I do think it’s a challenge for a professional player that they can be adaptable in different circumstances, so they can still start well and cope.
“We were really disappointed with the way we started.mThey scored three tries in those first 25 minutes, then didn’t score another try after that.
“So we’ve certainly given them that challenge this week, and hopefully we see a better start.”
* Agencies
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