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Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021 jon

Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021

MEN’S INTERNATIONALS – 27 FEBRUARY, 2021

WORLD RUGBY MEN’S RANKINGS STATS

• will surrender third place with defeat in with occupying the position for the first time since 27 February, 2012 • England cannot improve on third place, although could close to within 0.32 of a rating point of New Zealand in second with a win by more than 15 points in Cardiff • will climb two places to fifth if they win – regardless of what do in as the Irish can only improve their rating by a maximum of 0.24 points • ’s match has been postponed but they can end the weekend two places higher in sixth if Wales and Ireland lose • Ireland will fall two places in defeat, dropping beneath both Wales and Scotland – even if the Welsh lose in Cardiff • Ireland can drop to ninth with defeat by more than 15 points – equalling their lowest-ever position which came after losing to in the Six Nations in March 2013 • Italy will climb above Georgia and Tonga with victory over Ireland in Rome • A draw would be enough to lift the Azzurri one place at Tonga’s expense • However, Italy will drop below Samoa if they lose by more than 15 points – equalling their lowest ever position of 15th, which they last occupied in February 2019

ITALY (14) 70.88 v IRELAND (6) 82.31

Italy win by 15 points or less – Italy 72.73, Ireland 80.47 Italy win by more than 15 points – Italy 73.65 , Ireland 79.55 Draw – Italy 71.73 , Ireland 81.47 Ireland win by 15 points or less – Italy 70.73, Ireland 82.47 Ireland win by more than 15 points – Italy 70.65, Ireland 82.55

WALES (7) 82.11 v ENGLAND (3) 87.49

Wales win by 15 points or less – Wales 82.11, England 86.25 Wales win by more than 15 points – Wales 83.97, England 85.63 Draw – Wales 82.35, England 87.25 England win by 15 points or less – Wales 81.35, England 88.25 England win by more than 15 points – Wales 80.97, England 88.63

The Men’s Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 GMT.

1 Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021

SIX NATIONS 2021 – 27 FEBRUARY

ITALY v IRELAND – , ROME – KO 15:15 (14:15 GMT)

Head to head Played 32 – Ireland leads 28-4 Points for: Italy 485 / Ireland 1,124 (avg. score: Italy 35-15 Ireland) Highest score: Italy 37 (37-22 on 20 December, 1997 / 37-29 on 4 January, 1997) / Ireland 63 (63-10 on 11 February, 2017) Biggest winning margin: Italy 15 (37-22 on 20 December, 1997) / Ireland 56 (61-6 on 30 August, 2003)

First met: 31 December, 1988 – Ireland 31-15 Italy – Lansdowne Road, Last met: 24 October, 2020 – Ireland 50-17 Italy – Aviva , Dublin

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France) Debut: 25 April, 2009 – Malta 9-27 Netherlands Tests as referee: 27 Six Nations debut: 11 March, 2017 – England 61-21 Scotland Six Nations tests as referee: 4

• Three of Mathieu Raynal’s four Six Nations matches have involved Italy (twice) or Ireland • Italy have lost their last 29 Six Nations matches, dating back to a 22-19 defeat of Scotland at Murrayfield on 28 February, 2015 • In this run, Italy have scored 47 tries and 392 points but conceded 152 tries and 1,154 points • In total, Italy have won just 12 and drawn one of their 107 Six Nations matches, losing 94 • Italy’s last Six Nations win on home soil was 22-15 against Ireland on 16 March, 2013 • That match was the last time Italy scored a second-half point on home soil against Ireland • Ireland have won their last 10 meetings with Italy since that defeat at the Stadio Olimpico • Ireland are yet to win away since took over as head coach • Italy have now lost all 10 matches under coach Franco Smith • This will be the fifth meeting between the sides at the Stadio Olimpico and 11th in Rome • Ireland’s only win in their last five Six Nations matches was against Italy, 50-17 last October Ireland have lost their opening two matches for the first time in the Six Nations era – the last time it happened was in 1998 • Ireland are the only team in the 2021 Six Nations not to score a point in the first 20 minutes • These sides have scored the fewest tries in this Six Nations – Italy with three, Ireland two • Ireland need four conversions to bring up 100 in test rugby against Italy (31) • Only once has an Italian player scored more than one try in a match against Ireland, Paolo Vaccari in a 37-29 victory at Lansdowne Road in January 1997 Johnny Sexton needs six points to become the second Irish player after Ronan O’Gara (180) to 100 in tests against Italy • Sexton has more caps for his country (96) than Italy’s entire backline (81) • and win their 50th caps for Ireland and Italy respectively • Italy have named an unchanged starting line-up from the loss to England but made four changes to the bench with Cherif Traore, , and coming in • , and made their debut v Ireland in October • Ireland have made seven personnel changes to the starting line-up beaten by France, including a new front row combination of , Ronan Kelleher and Tadgh Furlong, the latter’s first start since the loss to England on 23 February, 2020 • James Ryan returns to the second row with dropping into the back-row where also comes in alongside CJ Stander • Fly-half Sexton and on the wing are the changes to the backline

2 Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021

• Scrum-half – unused against France – and forward could make their Ireland debuts off the bench • Replacement needs one try to move clear of (eight) as Ireland’s top scorer in tests against Italy

3 Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021

WALES v ENGLAND – PRINCIPALITY STADIUM, CARDIFF – KO 16:45 GMT

Head to head Played: 136 – England leads 65-59 with 12 draws Points for: Wales 1,636 / England 1,815 (avg. score: Wales 12-13 England) Highest score: Wales 34 (34-21 on 15 April, 1967) / England 62 (62-5 on 4 August, 2007) Biggest winning margin: Wales 27 (30-3 on 16 March, 2016) / England 57 (62-5 on 4 August, 2007)

First meeting: 16 February, 1875 – England* 0-0 Wales – Rectory Field, Blackheath Last meeting: 28 November, 2020 – England 24-13 – Parc y , * England won by eight goals to nil

Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France) Test debut: 13 March, 2010 – Russia 48-11 Germany Tests as referee : 50 (including one as replacement referee) Six Nations debut: 15 March, 2014 – Italy 11-52 England Six Nations tests as referee: 9

• Pascal Gaüzère has refereed Wales v England once before, their RWC 2019 warm-up match which Wales won 13-6 at the Principality Stadium • This will be his second Six Nations match as referee at the Principality Stadium, having taken charge of Wales’ 34-7 win against Scotland in 2018 • Victory for Wales would be their 60th test win over England • Defeat for Wales would be their 200th loss in the history of the Championship • Wales have won their opening two matches in the Six Nations era for the sixth time – on four of the previous five they went on to win the (2005, 2008, 2012, 2019) • Wales will win the Triple Crown with victory over England • Eight points is the biggest margin of victory in their last five meetings in the Six Nations (Wales’ 21-13 win in 2019) • England have won nine of their last 12 meetings with Wales but have lost two of their last three meetings on Welsh soil • England have won back-to-back matches against Wales, for the first time since 2017-18 • England need seven penalties to reach 200 in tests against Wales (159) • Both teams have kicked 29 drop goals in this head-to-head in test rugby • Alun has played in Wales’ last 22 meetings with England dating back to March 2007, winning nine and losing 13 and has never scored a try against them • will play his 100th test for Wales – the sixth to reach the milestone, joining , , Stephen Jones, Gareth and ) • North will become the youngest player to play 100 tests for his country, beating Australian Michael Hooper’s record set last October by 28 days • replaces in the only change to the Welsh pack • Four changes – one positional – see scrum-half , winger and centre Jonathan Davies come into the backline with Liam Williams switching to full-back • will play his 90th test for Wales and his 80th, while Gareth Davies could win his 60th off the bench • It will be a first appearance of the year for Adams and Davies after a COVID protocol breach and injury respectively • Wales’ starting line-up has 902 caps to England’s 786 – Wales boast the most in the pack with 523, but England’s backline have more with 466 • Five of the top seven players for successful tackles made are Welsh • will draw level with on 91 caps for England – joint fifth on all- time list • will win his 50th cap for England – their 12th World Rugby U20 Championship graduate to reach the half century

4 Men’s preview – 27 February, 2021

• England have made only two changes, hooker Jamie Georgie and flanker Mark Wilson returning to the starting line-up • Tigers’ George Martin could make his England debut off the bench

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