James Haskell and Joe Marler have been called up to train with England even though they are suspended for the opening two rounds. They are the only additions to the 34-man squad who attended the training camp in Portugal. England name their team on Friday morning for the match with Italy.
O’Shea annoyed Italy did not get praise for England match
Italy did not get the credit they deserved when they troubled England at Twickenham last year, Conor O’Shea said yesterday.
England beat Italy 36-15 but were only two points ahead with 12 minutes remaining having struggled against Italy’s novel tactics at the breakdown. The Italy head coach was frustrated that Eddie Jones’s criticism of the visitors’ tactics detracted from Italy’s overall performance.
“What frustrated me was we’d actually played good rugby in the match and didn’t get the credit for it,” O’Shea said. “We’d had a really tough day against Ireland in Rome, and for our team to come out and have the inner strength and belief to put in a performance like that [at Twickenham] two weeks later, when everyone was just saying, ‘You’re rubbish,’ that’s what I thought should have been focused on. That was actually a game of rugby we were very competitive in.”
Later in the year, the laws of the game were changed to prevent Italy’s tactics from being repeated. “I thought the clarification to the law was done too hastily,” O’Shea said. “Because it was a law clarification that led to a game with more contact in it now. It didn’t need to be tinkered with.”
Gray ruled out of opener
Richie Gray will miss Scotland’s opener against Wales on Saturday through injury.
Advertisement
The Toulouse lock, who has been capped 64 times by Scotland, will remain in France for treatment on a calf injury. Gray’s absence means that his brother, Jonny, is likely to start alongside either Ben Toolis or Grant Gilchrist in the second row at the Principality Stadium.
It is the latest injury blow to befall Scotland ahead of the tournament, with the front-row forwards Ross Ford, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, WP Nel, Darryl Marfo, Allan Dell and Alasdair Dickinson all on the casualty list, while the tight-head prop Simon Berghan is suspended for the Cardiff encounter.
Six Nations fixtures
BBC1 unless stated
Sat Wales v Scotland 2.15pm
France v Ireland 4.45pm
Sun Italy v England 3pm*
Feb 10 Ireland v Italy 2.15pm*
England v Wales 4.45pm*
Feb 11 Scotland v France 3pm
Feb 23 France v Italy 8pm
Feb 24 Ireland v Wales 2.15pm*
Scotland v England 4.45pm
Mar 10 Ireland v Scotland 2.15pm*
France v England 4.45pm
Mar 11 Wales v Italy 3pm
Mar 17 Italy v Scotland 12.30pm*
England v Ireland 2.45pm*
Wales v France 5pm
*indicates shown live on ITV