Six Nations 2024 - Fixtures, Results & News

Six Nations 2024: England 'clear' on how to attack Ireland, says Elliot Daly..By Mantej Mann, BBC Sport.

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Elliot Daly has started all three of England's Six Nations games so far this year on the wing

Wing Elliot Daly says England's plan to attack Ireland in the Six Nations is the "clearest" it has been in years.

England's attack has struggled in their opening three games but Daly says they want to entertain against Ireland and create a buzz around Twickenham.

Steve Borthwick's side return to their London base to host the defending champions after defeat in Scotland ended their winning start.

"We're very clear on how we want to attack," Daly, 31, told BBC Sport.

"I think it's the clearest we have been in a few years.

"We are going into these last two games against Ireland and France to get exactly what we want out of them, which is some ball in hand and putting teams on the back foot by scoring some tries."

England have scored two tries in each game so far, with only an under-performing France and bottom-of-the-table Italy having managed fewer in this year's tournament.

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Victories over the Azzurri in Rome and Wales at Twickenham were followed by defeat at Murrayfield, but Daly says the hosts want to retain more possession and produce a "proper England performance" against Ireland on 9 March.

"We gave away 21 turnovers against Scotland, which in international rugby doesn't win many games," Daly added. "It's something we will look at this week and the weeks coming and hopefully we can put that right against Ireland.

"The buzz around at Twickenham was brilliant in the last game against Wales so I think we're looking forward to that.

"It was louder than I have seen it in three or four years, so hopefully we can do that and hopefully those guys get behind us again.

"We're looking forward to putting on a show for the fans at home with a proper England performance of never giving up and putting everything on the pitch.

"As soon as you do that, the crowd gets behind you."

Ireland are chasing a second consecutive Grand Slam after opening wins over France, Italy and Wales, but Daly says England's new blitz defence can help to tip the balance in their favour.

"Our defence is great and it puts teams under pressure," the Saracens wing added.

"I think that was the most errors Scotland have made in a game for a long time, so it's definitely working. Everyone is buying into it and we are going for it full throttle.

"We need to be more connected but I think we defended pretty well in phase play. We made one error off a scrum, but apart from that I think the actual defence throughout the whole game was pretty good.

"We want to keep being connected with each other so we can really get off the line.

"Ireland are a quality team. When you get to international level everything is about fine margins and you have to be on it to get a result.

"Whether it's in the kicking game or whether it's in attack or defence. They're really good at the breakdown as well, so we're going to have to be good there."

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Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth says England were a "little bit safe and tense" in Edinburgh and will look to express themselves back on home soil.

"We were too far away from the gainline against Scotland and it is something we have been through and we will sort," Wigglesworth told BBC Sport.

"The turnover count was also really high and we want to reduce that against Ireland. You don't reduce turnovers by going into your shell and not trying things. You reduce the turnovers by doing things the way we want to do them.

"Challenging the defence is the way we are aiming to go and we didn't do that at the weekend. We were a little bit safe and tense and we produced errors on the back of it.

"Obviously you want to put everything together, you want a defence that pressurises the attack, you want a kicking game that gets you great field position and puts the opposition on the back foot, allied to a set-piece that is stronger.

"We don't want one thing taking priority over another."

Wigglesworth, however, has called for patience from the Twickenham faithful while England continue to fine-tune their attack.

"We know that a cohesive attack takes time and we want that progress to always be upwards. We know there will be bumps in the road but it is in the subtleties where we have to be effective.

"We want our players to be able to put their best talent on the field and that looks different for everyone, so let's get an England way of playing that gets the best out of the players we've got."

Six Nations 2024: Italy vs Scotland match preview..2.15pm KO.

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Duhan van der Merwe's hat-trick against England leaves him one short of equalling Stuart Hogg as Scotland's leading try-scorer

Scotland face Italy in their penultimate Six Nations match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

Gregor Townsend's side have an outside chance of pipping Ireland to the title but finishing second for the first time in the Six Nations appears to be a more realistic target.

Duhan van der Merwe scored a hat-trick of tries as Scotland beat England two weeks ago to retain the Calcutta Cup.

The winger needs one try to match Stuart Hogg's Scotland record of 27.

His overall total of five tries from three games makes him the top scorer in this year's Championship.

Paolo Garbisi's last-gasp penalty miss a fortnight ago meant Italy were denied a first Six Nations victory away to France, with the Azzurri having to settle for a 13-13 draw.

The result was not enough to move them off the bottom of the Six Nations table but did halt a run of seven consecutive defeats in the championship.

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Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada on debutant Louis Lynagh: "He will be up against a great player [Scotland wing Van der Merwe] but he plays and defends well, he's a good communicator and we're staying true to our philosophy of giving young players their chance."

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "In terms of performance, we're a little bit away from what we know we can deliver. The first 45 minutes against Wales is probably still the best we've played.
"We had elements of control throughout much of the France game and for the last 60 minutes of the England game. But there's still a lot more to come from us."

Line-ups
Italy: 15-Ange Capuozzo, 14-Louis Lynagh, 13-Ignacio Brex, 12-Tommaso Menoncello, 11-Monty Ioane, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Martin Page-Relo; 1-Danilo Fischetti, 2-Giacomo Nicotera, 3-Simone Ferrari, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 5-Federico Ruzza, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Michele Lamaro (captain), 8-Ross Vintcent.
Replacements: 16-Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17-Mirco Spagnolo, 18-Giosue Zilocchi, 19-Andrea Zambonin, 20-Lorenzo Cannone, 21-Stephen Varney, 22-Leonardo Marin, 23-Federico Mori.

Scotland: 15-Blair Kinghorn, 14-Kyle Steyn, 13-Huw Jones, 12- Cameron Redpath, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Finn Russell (co-captain), 9-George Horne; 1-Pierre Schoeman, 2-George Turner, 3-Zander Fagerson, 4-Grant Gilchrist, 5-Scott Cummings, 6-Andy Christie, 7-Rory Darge (co-captain), 8-Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: 16-Ewan Ashman, 17-Alec Hepburn, 18-Elliot Millar-Mills, 19-Sam Skinner, 20-Jamie Ritchie, 21-Matt Fagerson, 22-Ali Price, 23-Kyle Rowe.

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Match officials
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Touch judges: Karl Dickson (England) & Adam Leal (England)

TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

FT: England 23-22 Ireland..Reactions.

England skipper Jamie George, speaking to ITV: "It's been a tough week and I'm lost for words a bit.
"I am so proud of this team, we came under a lot of negativity after that Scotland game.
"We talked about making Twickenham great again and how good is this.
"It's the best possible end to a tough few weeks for me.
"We have known that something special was coming, we had a huge amount of belief.
"Are we one of the best teams in the world? No. But, do we have the best people in place - absolutely.
"We have a tough challenge going away to France. If we cannot take belief off that performance then we will never be able to - that was special."


England captain Jamie George, speaking to BBC: "There is a lot of emotion to be completely honest.
"What I know is that there is an incredible group of players. I have said it a lot, I said it after the game against Scotland, there was a lot of doubt.
"I don’t think a huge amount of people thought we could go and do that, but internally there was a lot of belief."
On Marcus Smith: "I am very thankful to that little kid."
On France: "No matter what the result, we will go there and have a crack, it is an incredible atmosphere.
"We need a lot of belief, let's take a lot of excitement going into that game"


England head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking to ITV: "I am delighted for the players who played really well against against an incredible Ireland team.
"I am delighted for the supporters who I think will be very proud of their team.
"That middle patch of the game become a real tactical battle, I was pleased with how the team adjusted on the pitch.
"We knew the team would have to problem-solve on the grass and they did that very well.
"I sensed there was always belief before the game. I spoke about believing in this group and the players looked like they enjoyed being out there.
"They enjoyed being in front of the supporters, to get the result and everybody goes home happy - we take a lot of satisfaction with that."
On being in contention for the championship: "Firstly, I am going to say we will enjoy tonight, it's important the players enjoy it and in seven days time we have another big Test match in France.
"But right now, let's enjoy this, Danny Care got his 100th cap for England and we will make sure we mark that."


More from England head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking to BBC Sport: "You want to see results tangibly on the grass.
"The team has been progressing. We are four games into building a new team here. I am delighted for the players and especially the supporters. There will be a lot of people on their sofas and in the pubs happy with themselves.
"When you look at that game the players showed incredible intensity from the first minute to the 80th minute.
"Against a team of this quality you know you are going to have to problem-solve, and there were small adjustments we could see from the box.
"The blend of the game for periods was an arm wrestle and then it would break open with a counter-attack."


England's match-winner Marcus Smith, speaking to BBC Sport: "I was excited to be honest we got an advantage in the wide channels.
"To watch it from the back and get the forwards round the corner getting us momentum, I have been practising my drop-goals and I thought why not!
"It was nice to get the ball off Danny Care on a special day."
On returning from injury: "Personally I was gutted to be injured, but watching the lads from home got me excited again.
"From a personal level I feel lucky and honoured.
"This team is going to take a lot of pride and confidence from this performance. I know the boys will be very happy with that one!
"Two weeks ago things didn't go to plan at Scotland, but we said as a promise to each other to have that confidence, we have been building nicely - moments like this give us hope."


England scrum-half Danny Care, who came on to win his 100th cap, speaking to ITV: "It's been a special week, the boys made it special. I would have swapped it all to just to get the win today - it's the icing on the cake.
"We played against one of the best teams in the world, and to win it the way we did, I am incredibly proud of the team.
"We wanted to show we could beat the best and we have done that.
“We let ourselves down against Scotland and wanted to show the world what we are all about and if you don't play well against Ireland you are going to get battered.
On making 100 appearances: "I have been dropped a few times and always try to believe in myself. The only thing I love more in the world than the wife and kids is playing for England."
On facing criticism: "You hear it.
"Some of it we take with a pinch of salt, but we believe in what we are doing in this squad - I urge people to stick with us."
On not retiring from international rugby: "This is right up there and that is why I didn't give up the dream of doing this. Hopefully, there is a lesson in this for the kids to learn - never give up."

Six Nations 2024: Wales recall George North and Nick Tompkins for Italy decider..

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George North returns for his 121st Wales cap

Wales have recalled centres George North and Nick Tompkins for the Six Nations against Italy in Cardiff.

Warren Gatland has made five changes, including one positional, for Saturday's Wooden Spoon decider following the defeat by France.

North and Tompkins replace Owen Watkin and Joe Roberts, while tight-head prop Dillon Lewis comes in for Keiron Assiratti.

Captain Dafydd Jenkins reverts to lock with flanker Alex Mann starting.

Flanker Tommy Reffell has been named despite hobbling out of the 45-24 loss to France with a knee injury, while lock Will Rowlands is dropped to the replacements.

Scarlets prop Harri O'Connor could make his Test debut having been included in one of the most inexperienced Wales' replacement benches.

Five of the eight replacements have made fewer than seven Test appearances with the front-row trio having just 41 minutes of international rugby between them.

Wales are bottom of the Six Nations, four points behind Italy, and have not finished last for 21 years.

"This is an important game for us," said Gatland.

"We definitely don't want to finish bottom and the squad is hungry to win.

"We understand that external pressure and expectation comes with international rugby.

"It's about embracing that, continuing the hard work and fronting up to go out and be accurate and disciplined on Saturday."

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The experienced Nick Tompkins has been selected by head coach Warren Gatland

Wales are in the grip of their worst home run in the Six Nations, having lost their last six games in Cardiff, since beating Scotland in February 2022 and have lost 11 of their subsequent 12 games in the tournament.

That run includes a defeat by Italy on their last visit to Cardiff two years ago.

"Italy have quality players throughout the side and have been good at taking opportunities to keep the scoreboard ticking over," added Gatland.

"We're excited and will step up and welcome the challenge ahead. We're still looking for that 80 minute performance and have spoken about needing to be better in the big moments."

Wales: Winnett; Adams, North, Tompkins, Dyer; Costelow, T Williams; Thomas, Dee, Lewis, Jenkins (capt), Beard, Mann, Reffell, Wainwright.

Replacements: E Lloyd, Mathias, H O'Connor, Rowlands, Martin, Hardy, I Lloyd, Grady.

Six Nations fixtures, kick-off times and coverage..

Saturday 16th March

Wales v Italy - BBC One & BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra - 2.15pm KO

Ireland v Scotland - ITV1 & BBC Radio 5 Live - 4,45pm KO

France v England - ITV1 & BBC Radio 5 Live - 8pm KO

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Six Nations 2024: Warren Gatland's resignation offer turned down by WRU chief..By Gareth Griffiths, BBC Sport Wales at Principality Stadium.

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Head coach Warren Gatland says he offered his resignation to Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney after leading Wales to their first Wooden Spoon in 21 years.

The 24-21 home defeat by Italy completed a Six Nations clean sweep of defeats for the first time since 2003.

Gatland returned to Wales in 2022.

Asked whether he wanted to guide Wales through to the 2027 World Cup, Gatland replied: "Yes, absolutely. I've made that commitment."

Gatland added: "I just said to Abi [Tierney] in the changing room if you want me to resign, I'm quite happy to do that.

"She said, 'Like hell, that's the last thing I want, that's what I'm really afraid of'.

"But I can promise you we'll go away and review this really carefully. We've already done some review stuff and [we'll] work on areas that need to improve."

WRU executive director of rugby Nigel Walker has previously calling Gatland the best coach in the world.

When asked whether he was confident he could turn things around, Gatland replied: "Absolutely. I've never shied away from that.

"We've had glimpses where we've been really good in this tournament. We need to do that for longer periods."

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This was a 12th Wales defeat in the past 13 games in the tournament, including seven successive Six Nations home losses.

Since he returned, Gatland has only won one game in 10 Six Nations matches, with a solitary away victory against Italy in Rome last year.

His overall record of his second spell in charge is six wins in 18 games, with four of those victories coming in the World Cup in France last year where Wales reached the quarter-finals before losing to Argentina.

Gatland has lost a lot of experience in the past year with the retirements of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar, Josh Navidi, Leigh Halfpenny and now George North.

Liam Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Tomas Francis, Taulupe Faletau, Jac Morgan, Taine Plumtree, Christ Tshiunza and Dewi Lake have been unavailable for this campaign because of injury or club commitments.

Gatland says his coaching staff were "gutted" at this campaign.

"We're hurting as coaches and players," said Gatland.

"I know the fans are hurting. It doesn't help, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel because we've got a fantastic group of guys who I know have worked hard.

"There is a huge amount of inexperience, haven't played a lot of regional rugby and we're exposing them at the Test level.

"It's a real challenge. I said to the players in the changing room that when they turn up to the summer tour, make sure they're doing their extras and work-ons conditioning-wise, the gym work and that they're ready to go.

"This rebuild isn't harder than we thought. We knew the inexperience we had in the squad and the players we asked to step up to leadership roles.

"It's about taking the good out of the games and showing what we need to do."

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Following the World Cup in 2019 where Gatland quit after guiding Wales to a fourth-place finish, he signed off by saying it would break his heart if Welsh rugby returned to the doldrums.

When asked whether Wales had gone back to that situation, Gatland said: "No. We're probably a little bit at rock bottom at the moment but I honesty do see some light at the end of the tunnel.

"Some exciting players who with some time are going to be excellent internationals."

Gatland says there will be a review of the 2024 Six Nations tournament with Tierney promising an overall Welsh rugby strategy by June.

Wales face world champions South Africa in June at Twickenham before travelling to Australia for a two-Test series in July.

"There's planning to be done over the next few weeks, in terms of the summer tour and making sure as a coaching group we're visible in the regions as well," said Gatland.

"We will work with Richard Whiffin (head coach) and that Under-20s program. It's tough because we probably haven't had a lot of success at 20s level over the years.

"Then those players come through to us and it's probably quite difficult for them. How do we change their whole mindset and expectations?

"That's what we're focusing on doing. We're not shying away from those expectations and that international rugby is about winning.

"That's incredibly important. Collectively we've all got a lot of work to do to make sure we can continue to improve the state of Welsh rugby."

Gatland added: "We just need to win, don't we?

"We need to get some confidence and self-belief, whether that's first of all at the national level, but also at regional level.

"When you starting winning and get confidence, it makes a huge amount of difference.

"I know the regions and Union are talking collectively and trying to put strategies in place for the future.

"That will make a huge difference to everyone."