I have a feeling England are gonna walk this series.
They look so much better than everybody else in the NH at the moment.
Interested to see how Ireland get on over the weekend and if their downtrend is gonna continue or if they manage to stop the rot.
I might check out Ireland v France, should be a cracker.
I've a Friday 9am kickoff ... c'mon Shamrocks
Sorry - rugby brothers - the France - Ireland game is on THURSDAY 5 February 2026. IN NZ time it will be kick-off by 9 am as BB stated,
scheduled to avoid clashing wiv summer olympics
England captain missed training to attend mother’s funeral; Henry Arundell makes first start since 2023 World Cup on left wing
new
, Deputy Rugby Correspondent
Monday February 02 2026, 1.30pm GMT, The Times
George will take up the captaincy in Itoje’s absence
STEVE BARDENS/GETTY IMAGES
Maro Itoje will not captain England against Wales in their Six Nations opener on Saturday, having missed training to attend his mother’s funeral in Nigeria. He makes the bench, so Jamie George will lead the side from hooker.
Itoje, 31, is rarely left out of an England starting line-up. He has played every minute of 30 consecutive Six Nations matches, stretching back six years, but there are extenuating circumstances for this appearance on the bench.
As Itoje told the Sunday Times in an emotional interview, he has been dealing with the loss of his mother, Florence, who died in December. Itoje therefore missed the start of England’s training camp in Girona, Spain, to attend her funeral in Africa, joining up with the team last Wednesday. He will resume his captaincy duties when he appears from the bench.
Itoje has been an ever-present for England for years
STEVE BARDENS/GETTY
Alex Coles comes in for Itoje at lock, alongside Ollie Chessum, and Henry Arundell starts his first match for England since the 2023 World Cup on the left wing.
Arundell, the 23-year-old Bath wing, makes the starting line-up as Tom Roebuck is not yet fully fit. Roebuck broke his toe in November, and has not played since for Sale Sharks, but trained throughout England’s pre-tournament camp in Girona, Spain.
Arundell therefore has his chance to shine in a settled back-line that includes three Northampton Saints players; Alex Mitchell at scrum half and Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman in midfield. Dingwall and Freeman were the centres when England last beat Wales in Cardiff, 68-14.
Arundell’s last start came against Argentina in the third-fourth play-off of the 2023 World Cup in Paris.
Maro Itoje: She saw me captain Lions, but I’ll never get over losing Mum
He has scored nine tries in 14 matches for Bath this season, and eight tries in his previous 11 Tests for England, including five tries against Chile in the 71-0 World Cup win and one on his last outing for the national team, against Fiji.
George Ford remains at fly half for the Wales match at Twickenham on Saturday, with Freddie Steward at full back and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the opposite wing to Arundell. Feyi-Waboso, who was born in Cardiff, will face Wales for the first time.
In the pack head coach Steve Borthwick retains his selection order from the November Tests, leaving Henry Pollock and Tom Curry in reserve, alongside Itoje. That means Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl start in the back row. Ellis Genge, George and Joe Heyes start in the front-row with Bevan Rodd and Trevor Davison on the bench with Luke Cowan-Dickie. There is therefore no chance of a debut for Vilikesa Sela or Emmanuel Iyogun.
Completing England’s bench are Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith, who are the only two backs included as substitutes.
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 41 caps)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 13 caps)
13. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 22 caps)
12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
11. Henry Arundell (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
10. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 105 caps) – vice-captain
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 27 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 75 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 105 caps) – captain
3. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
4. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 30 caps)
6. Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 45 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 46 caps)
Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 53 caps)
17. Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 10 caps)
18. Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
19. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 97 caps)
20. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 65 caps)
21. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
22. Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 14 caps)
23. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 46 caps)
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Beat me to it, blob.
I was just about to post the team :)
Team looks good ... Pollock, Itoje Curry Smith on bench
Yeah it’s not a bad team. Just have to wait and see. We should, on paper, beat Wales comfortably but that’s on paper. It always worries me !
Thursday night will be interesting with France and Ireland.
George Ford starts and Marcus Smith sits on the bench?
Sounds a bit odd to me. Where is Fin Smith in all of this?
Fin had a calf injury a few weeks back and hasn’t trained much.
He will always lose out to Marcus because he can cover Full Back and Borthwick is insistent on starting with Ford.
Thanks becs.
For me it would be which Smith starts and which one sits on the bench.
Good luck. I do think Borthwick has it wrong but there's no question about it, England are strong contenders this year.
I'll be happy if Wales finish above Italy.
"I might check out Ireland v France, should be a cracker."
I hope so.
Kinda looking forward to it actually.
Won't be watching the England game cos tis basically a practice match for them.
You’re more confident than I am, Plum !
I'm 25 points more confident than you, Becs
Jellybear back for France, even more reason to watch now. What a contrast in flyhalves with Pretendergast.
Come on Becs, England keep boasting about being Bok killers, you can't possibly have nerves about Wales. Commit to the narrative!
Pakie
In a Champions Cup match recently the commentator said Jalibert is the best fluhallf in the Northern hemisphere.
I'd say in the world, Mike. Sacha is the only close challenger. Finn Russell is an excellent game manager, Albornoz has done some fine things for Argentina, but Jellybear is dynamite. Of course he hasn't played test rugby for a while, so let's see how he goes in a big test.
He was in an out o the French test team - the only match he and Sach a played S acha was a hell of a lot better than Jalibert.
When was this? I don't think they've ever faced each other.
Ok, Pakie. We’re going to win by 50 !!!
Ok, Pakie. We’re going to win by 50 !!!
The Sladester will be proud, Becs :)
"Pretendergast."
LMAO!
You could go one further and say Pretenderghastly but Pretendergast is better. Good one, Pakie.
Ou Maaik, which was the match when Sacha played against Jalibert?
Wish I could pretend it was me who coined that, Rooinek, but I'm riding the coattails of some other genius somewhere. I will lay claim to Jellybear though.
Cool.
I claim "ou Maaik". I coined that.
Just to add, while I like the name, in fairness, I'm not seeing a lot better than Pretendergast outside of Crowley . . . or else giving someone like Frawley, Osborne or Keenan ithe #10 jersey for an extended run, so good luck to him.
I know we all couldn't stand Jonny Sexton but I can admit he has left big boots to fill.
Stav, you input would be appreciated here.
Personally I think Frnce would beat Ieland by 13 points, En gland onm ppaer may be he team that could win the eries - but they would have to ebat Grance and that is not easy.
Ou Maaik has gone strangely silent on the match where Sacha faced Jalibert. Maybe he's had his Marie biscuit, his meds and his warm milk already?
Pakie, you know all I want is to make the Sladester proud ;)
Nope, Pakie……he’s been Jellybear in my household ever since we saw him play. In fact, my mother might just have called him it first ! :)
Nope, Pakie……he’s been Jellybear in my household ever since we saw him play. In fact, my mother might just have called him it first ! :)
Ah well, I'll accidentally get on the scoreboard at some point with all the nonsense I speak :P
Yeah Ireland not looking too hot in the flyhalf stakes.
So becs, what you're really saying here is that Pakie has no claim to any name coined so far?
Pakie, I'd start thinking up some names to use for fellow posters or rugby players with some degree of urgency, if I were you.
I have "Ou Maaik", "Skulk", "Moffie", "Baboon-ou", 'ButtPlug", "DumbAss", "Squeaky Toy" and "giMp" as patents. What do you have?
Pakie, you could say that you coined it in SA !!
For the record I shouldn't claim "ButtPlug" as I name I coined.
I'm not sure if it was Bob or Sharkbok or someone else who first used the term but I certainly helped to popularize it . . . and since then, there's nothing ButtPlug has done nothing to disprove the notion of a grovelling cork in the arsehole of progress . . . so kudos to the person who first coined the term. As I say I can't remember if it was Bob, Sharkbok or Dense . . . but I did help to popularize that well-earned name.
57,009 posts
5 February 2025
France: 15 Thomas Ramos; 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain); 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Francois Cros; 5 Mickael Guillard, 4 Charles Ollivon; 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Regis Montagne, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Kalvin Gourgues
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Predergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Cian Predergast, 5 Tadgh Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Nick Timoney, 22 Craig Casey, 23 Jack Crowley.
______________________________________________
7 February 2026
Italy: 15 Leonardo Marin, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Giacomo Da Re, 23 Lorenzo Pani.
Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham
_____________________________________________
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith
Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17Rhys Carre, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Harri Deaves, 22 Kieran Hardy, 23 Mason Grady