Ireland team to be announced at 2pm
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Ireland again have the opening fixture of the weekend, hosting Wales at the Aviva on Friday night, kick-off 8.10pm.
Scotland and France then get Saturday’s action under way at Murrayfield, where there’ll be a 2.10pm kick-off, before Italy host England in the 4.40pm start.
RTÉ2 and ITV1 will have live coverage of Ireland v Wales on Friday, while Virgin Media One will show both of Saturday’s games. BBC One will air Scotland v France and ITV1 will have Italy v England.
The story of round three went like this…
In the first game of the weekend, Ireland travelled to Twickenham to face England, who threatened a response following their 31-20 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield the weekend prior. However, it went very much the other way for Steve Borthwick’s side, Ireland claiming a record win in southwest London.
Then it was over to Cardiff, where Wales came within a whisker of taking their first win of this year’s championship. It wasn’t to be however, as Scotland crossed for a late try to push Wales’s losing streak in the tournament to 14 games.
Sunday’s fixture took us to Paris, where France showed no sign of slowing their charge for the Grand Slam. They ran out handy winners over Italy, 33-8 the final score at the Stade de France.
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In the latest episode of The Counter Ruck, Nathan Johns chats to Sam Larner about his new book, Attacking the Space, which offers an insight into how data has shaped rugby tactics.
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Wales have made three changes to the side that lost 26-23 to Scotland last time out.
James Botham comes into the backrow in place of the injured Taine Plumtree, Dan Edwards is in for Sam Costelow at outhalf, and Ellis Mee swaps in for GabrielHamer-Webb on the wing.
Their head coach, Steve Tandy, said Friday will be about backing up their positive performance against the Scots, who denied them a home victory after a 75th-minute try from George Turner.
George Turner celebrates after Scotland’s win over Wales at the Principality Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
“Going away from home is a different type of environment for our group, but the focus for us is really improving on what we did last game,” said Tandy.
“I thought the defence against Scotland was much improved, so we definitely want to double down on that going to Ireland.
“You see how they keep the ball in possession, they play lots of passes so we know we’re going to have to build and improve from the other week.”
[ Wales make three changes for Dublin Test against renewed IrelandOpens in new window ]
Wales have named their team for Friday. Here’s how they line out:
WALES: Louis Rees-Zammit; Ellis Mee, Eddie James, Joe Hawkins, Josh Adams; Dan Edwards, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake (capt), Tomas Francis; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, James Botham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin, Adam Beard, Olly Cracknell, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Loue Hennessey.
Some early-morning news for us from New Zealand, the All Blacks have named Dave Rennie as Scott Robertson’s successor.
The 62-year-old former Wallabies coach beat out All Blacks XV head coach Jamie Joseph for one of the biggest jobs in world rugby after an extensive recruitment process that started when Robertson stepped down in mid January after a critical review.
In case you’ve forgotten how the table looks after the third round:
Good morning all!
After a week off, the Six Nations returns for round four, with Andy Farrell to name his side to face Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening.
The Ireland team announcement is due to be made at 2pm, so we’ve a while to go on that front.
However, Wales are up and at ‘em bright and early this morning as Steve Tandy is due to name his side around 9am.
To kick us off, how about we take a look at Gerry Thornley’s predictions.
He thinks Ulster’s Nick Timoney is in line to start on Friday night, with Jacob Stockdale also expected to return to the starting fold.
“With Farrell evidently more inclined to rotate in this more congested Six Nations of five games in a six-week window, and perhaps with one eye on the next World Cup, the signs are that there might be further changes, especially up front,” Gerry writes.
Read his predictions in full below:
Ireland’s Nick Timoney. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho