Two rounds remain and nobody has emerged as a clear favorite for the Six Nations title. With the four leaders facing off against each other, this weekend will be critical.
England, France, Ireland and Scotland all have four points from three games.
England will be looking to beat France at the Stade de France for the first time since 2000 tomorrow. England last won the title in 2003; France last took the title in 2004.
"Playing England is always a big match and we will not need to motivate the players," French coach Bernard Laporte said.
Today, Scotland seeks to beat Ireland for the first time in eight years in the last match at the rundown Lansdowne Road stadium before it's refurbished.
Scotland has been the biggest surprise this season, beating France and England.
Ireland named lock Paul O'Connell in the second row after he passed a fitness test on his injured shoulder. O'Connell was injured in the 43-31 loss to France on Feb. 11 and missed the 31-5 Wales win, but is fit to pair up with Malcolm O'Kelly.
Wales hosts Italy in a bottom-of-the-table match today but coach Scott Johnson isn't prepared to let go of his country's title defense easily.
France has recalled scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili, who'll play in place of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, as one of two changes from the team which initially struggled to beat Italy two weeks ago.
England recalled Matt Dawson in one of two changes to the team that lost 18-12 to Scotland last month. Only Dawson, wing Ben Cohen and center Mike Tindall were in the last England team to win at the Stade de France, while Lawrence Dallaglio again is a replacement.
In the final round of matches on March 18, it's England versus Ireland, Italy versus Scotland and Wales versus France.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB