Men's Preview – 13-14 February, 2021
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Men’s preview – 13- 14 February, 2021 jon Men’s preview – 13-14 February, 2021 SIX NATIONS – 13-14 FEBRUARY, 2021 ENGLAND v ITALY – TWICKENHAM STADIUM – KO 14:15 GMT (SATURDAY) Head to head Played: 27* – England leads 27-0 Points for: England 1,092 / Italy 324 (avg. score: England 39-11 Italy) Highest score: England 80 (80-23 on 17 February, 2001) / Italy 23 (23-80 on 17 February, 2001) Biggest winning margin: England 60 (67-7 on 2 October, 1999) * Tests for both teams First met: 10 May, 1986 – Italy 15-15 England – Stadio Olimpico, Rome (non-cap for England) Last met: 31 October, 2020 – England 34-5 Italy – Stadio Olimpico, Rome Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland) Test debut: 18 November, 2017 – Romania 17-13 Samoa Tests (Six Nations) as referee: 3 (0) • Mike Adamson makes his Six Nations debut as a referee – FEATURE >> • Adamson is the first Scottish official to take charge of a men’s Six Nations match for 19 years, the last was Rob Dickson with Ireland v Italy on 23 March, 2002 • This will be the first time Adamson has refereed any of the Six Nations teams • England’s six points against Scotland is their lowest in a match at Twickenham since losing 19-6 to New Zealand in November, 2009 – the last time they didn’t reach double figures • The defeat ended England’s 12-match unbeaten run (11 wins, one draw) at Twickenham • Italy have lost their last 28 Six Nations matches, dating back to a 22-19 defeat of Scotland at Murrayfield on 28 February, 2015 • In this run Italy have scored 45 tries and 374 points but conceded 146 tries and 1,113 points • Italy have now lost all nine matches under coach Franco Smith • The closest the Azzurri have come to victory in 27 tests with England are four-point losses in 2008 and 2012 (they did draw 15-15 in 1986 but that was a non-cap match for England) • Italy’s first visit to Twickenham in the Six Nations ended in an 80-23 defeat in 2001 – their most points conceded and scored against England • Jonny Wilkinson contributed 35 points that day – the most by an England player v Italy • England’s record for most tries in a match against Italy is 10 (80-23 in February 2001) • The fewest points England have scored against Italy at Twickenham are 18 on 10 March, 2013 – the 18-11 victory also providing their smallest victory margin at the stadium • Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney was not born at time of that first Six Nations visit while four others in the squad – Garbisi, Trulla, Lucchesi and Mori – were under the age of one • England are the only Six Nations side that Italy have never beaten • Italy have never scored more than three tries in a match with England • England have kicked two drop goals against Italy – one by flanker Neil Back in 2000 • Luca Morisi is the only Italy player to score two tries in a game against England (in 2015) • England need 14 points to bring up 7,000 in the history of the Championship • Owen Farrell needs 25 points to become second player to score 1,000 test points for England after Jonny Wilkinson (1,179) • Farrell will captain England for the 30th time in what will be his 90th test for his country • Ben Youngs will face Italy for the 11th time this weekend – a record for an England player • Only Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Tom Curry and Billy Vunipola retain their spots in the pack • George Ford comes into the starting line-up at fly-half with Owen Farrell moving to inside- centre • Twenty-one of England’s match-day squad are World Rugby U20 Championship graduates 1 Men’s preview – 13-14 February, 2021 • Carlo Canna – the only player in Italy’s backline with more than 10 caps (48) – comes in at inside centre with Juan Ignacio Brex moving to outside centre • Prop Andrea Lovotti is the only change to the Italy pack from the France defeat • England’s starting line-up has 3.6 times more caps their Italian counterparts (801/224) • In fact George Ford (73) has only one fewer cap than the entire Italy backline 2 Men’s preview – 13-14 February, 2021 SCOTLAND v WALES – MURRAYFIELD, EDINBURGH – KO 16:45 GMT (SATURDAY) Head-to-head Played: 126 – Wales leads 73-50 with three draws Points for: Scotland 1,305 / Wales 1,707 (avg. score Scotland 10-13 Wales) Highest score: Scotland 35 (35-10 on 2 February, 1924) / Wales 51 (51-3 on 15 March, 2014) Biggest winning margin: Scotland 25 (35-10 on 2 February, 1924) / Wales 48 (51-3 on 15 March, 2014) First met: 8 January, 1883 – Scotland 0-0 Wales* – Raeburn Place, Edinburgh Last met: 31 October, 2020 – Scotland 14-10 Wales – Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli * Wales won by three goals to one Referee: Matthew Carley (England) Test debut: 14 March, 2015 – Portugal 8-19 Spain Six Nations debut: 16 March, 2019 – France 25-14 Italy Tests (Six Nations): 20 (4) • This will be the first time Carley referees Scotland in the Six Nations – he refereed Wales’ loss to France in 2020 • Scotland have won their last four Six Nations matches – they have never won five in a row in the Six Nations era • They have not won five in a row in the Championship since 1984 • They have never won their first two matches of a Championship in the Six Nations era • Wales ended a run of four successive Six Nations defeats by beating Ireland last weekend • Wales have won on five of their last six visits to Murrayfield – the exception being a 29-13 loss in the 2017 Six Nations • Wales did not lose to Scotland when Warren Gatland was in charge, their one defeat in 2017 coming when he was on sabbatical with the British and Irish Lions • Scotland’s 14-10 victory in October was their first on Welsh soil since 2002 – it was also their first Six Nations away win outside of Rome since 2010 • Scotland have not won back-to-back matches against Wales since 2003 • Defeat for Wales would be their 200th loss in the history of the Championship • Wales need five tries to reach 250 in tests against Scotland (190) • Scotland need two penalties to bring up 150 in tests against Wales (154) • Wales’ Justin Tipuric made a round-one high 29 successful tackles against Ireland – Wales made 245 tackles in total, only just short of the competition record • Stuart Hogg will draw level with coach Gregor Townsend on 82 caps for Scotland – joint sixth on the country’s all-time list • Scotland are forced into making three changes with Jamie Ritchie, Cameron Redpath and Sean Maitland unavailable through injury • Scarlets flanker Blade Thomson, centre James Lang and winger Darcy Graham come in with the bench unchanged from the Calcutta Cup victory • Adam Wainwright replaces the injured Dan Lydiate the only change to Wales pack • Gareth Davies, Liam Williams and Owen Watkin come into the backline • Willis Halalolo, a former Tonga U20 player, could make his Wales debut off the bench • Wales’ starting line-up has more than double the caps of Scotland’s (865 to 417) – the opposite is true for the bench 3 Men’s preview – 13-14 February, 2021 IRELAND v FRANCE – AVIVA STADIUM, DUBLIN – KO 15:00 GMT (SUNDAY) Head to head Played: 99 – France leads 57-35 with seven draws Points for: Ireland 1,204 / France 1,598 (avg. score Ireland 12-16 France) Highest score: Ireland 31 (31-43 on 11 February, 2016) / France 45 (45-10 on 17 February, 1996) Biggest winning margin: Ireland 24 (24-0 on 24 March, 1913) / France 39 (44-5 on 6 April, 2002) First met: 20 March, 1909 – Ireland 19-8 France – Lansdowne Road, Dublin Last met: 31 October, 2020 – France 35-27 Ireland – Stade de France, Paris Referee: Luke Pearce (England) Test debut: 9 February, 2013 – Romania 29-14 Russia Six Nations debut: 2 February, 2019 – Scotland 33-20 Italy Tests (Six Nations): 28 (2) • Luke Pearce has not refereed Ireland or France in the Six Nations before • This will be the 100th test match between Ireland and France • Victory for France will be their 200th in the history of the Championship • France won their last meeting with Ireland in October, ending Irish hopes of the title • Ireland have not lost back-to-back Six Nations matches against France since 2010 and 2011 • Ireland have never lost their opening two matches in the Six Nations era • France’s last win in Dublin was a RWC 2011 warm-up match on 20 August, 2011 (26-22) • France have drawn one and lost three at the Aviva Stadium since that victory • France failed to score in the first half on their last Six Nations visit to Dublin and went in trailing 19-0 before ultimately losing 26-14 • It is almost 10 years to the day since France won their first match at the Aviva Stadium – and only victory there in the Six Nations – with a 25-22 triumph on 13 February, 2011 • Ireland have won five of their last seven Six Nations encounters with France • Ireland need three penalties to become the fifth side to kick 600 in the Championship • France’s win against Italy was the first time a team has scored 50 points on the opening weekend of a Six Nations since England in 2004 • France pair Matthieu Jalibert (15) and Teddy Thomas (2) are the top point and try scorers after round one • Antoine Dupont became the first Frenchman to be named Six Nations Player of the Championship in 2020 and began 2021 with the Player of the Match award v Italy • The first Ireland player to be sent off in Six Nations history, Peter O’Mahony is suspended for three weeks and will only be available for the final round match against England • Iain Henderson will captain Ireland for the first time in what is his 60th test match • Henderson and Rhys Ruddock are the only changes to the pack, while Jamison Gibson Park and Billy Burns are the new half-back pairing in an otherwise unchanged backline • Ruddock will make his first start in the Six