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.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as