England players challenged ahead of Scotland
England head coach Eddie Jones says his players have an opportunity to 'change their lives' by getting one over on Scotland this afternoon.
England's Six Nations opener is away at Murrayfield (4:45pm) with the Calcutta Cup up for grabs in rugby's oldest Test match.
Scotland won at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years in last year's Six Nations and Jones roared: "You have got a chance to play in an England side that is young, but very good and play rugby that people will remember for the rest of their lives and be etched in history.
"They can change their lives, these young players on Saturday. This is how they can make a name for themselves."
Dupont returns to captain France vs Italy
World Player of the Year Antoine Dupont has returned from his COVID absence to captain France vs Italy in his side's Six Nations opener this weekend.
Unfortunately his head coach, Fabien Galthie will miss the game due to a positive test, with his assistant Raphael Ibanez taking the reigns for this encounter.
France are among the favourites for this year's tournament and will be boosted by the return of talismanic scrum-half Dupont, who captains Les Bleus in the absence of captain Charles Ollivon, who has a long-term knee injury.
Italy meanwhile hand debuts to winger Tommaso Menoncello and number eight Toa Halafihi as they hope to claim their first vitory in the competition since beating Scotland 22-19 at Murrayfield in 2015.
Kit clash troubles for colour-blind fans
Ireland vs Wales is an appetising opener to this year's Six Nations with fans of both sides looking forward to a hotly contested game between the defending champions and one of the favourites for this year's tournament.
However, one issue has arisen for some fans with the fact that the teams' respective red and green kits will clash for colour-blind supporters, making the game hard to follow.
One in 12 men are colour-blind along with one in 200 women, meaning that there will be lots of rugby fans having issues when the teams meet on Saturday afternoon.
New World Rugby proposals state that from 2027 teams must change kits should such a clash occur, but with no rules currently in place the teams will play as planned with Ireland in green and Wales in red.
"Every year our social media feeds are full of angry colour-blind fans unable to follow the Ireland v Wales Six Nations game," said Kathryn Albany-Ward, founder of Colour Blind Awareness. "We're bracing ourselves for an avalanche of complaints this year."
A Welsh Rugby Union spokesman told the BBC : "Our plan is to grow, develop and enhance the offer of rugby union in Wales by modifying the traditional approach and ensuring we are inclusive and engaging to all people and communities.
"In terms of our current national kit offering… with our partners Macron… the next cycle of the design process for future kits will begin soon and we would hope to be able to fully assess these recent comments from World Rugby within that timeframe."
Moore 'sad' to step back from BBC coverage
Veteran of BBC commentary Brian Moore has said that he is sad to be stepping back from the BBC's coverage due a reduction in the number of games being covered.
The BBC will only show home games of Wales and Scotland with England games reserved for ITV, meaning that Moore will move into coverage of women's rugby, with the women's Six Nations taking place in the spring, live across the BBC.
Legendary England hooker Moore explained in his Telegraph newspaper column: "It’s going to be an emotional day for me because, after about two decades of co-commentating on men’s Six Nations matches, Saturday’s will be my final one.
"I am sad about it, but that’s the way it goes. It’s a consequence of the way the rights have fallen. With the recent broadcast deal announcement, and the BBC getting fewer games, and none of England’s home ones - plus any number of commentators and presenters to accommodate - it’s not easy.
"I can understand it. The BBC has a regional remit. So when they’ve got Scotland and Wales home games people want to hear from a local co-commentator."
