Ireland team announcement LIVE: Six Nations line-ups as Scotland, Ireland, France reveal selections before England vs Italy

England flanker Lewis Ludlam has been ruled out of Sunday’s Six Nations match against Italy by rib cartilage damage.

Head coach Eddie Jones expects Ludlam to recover in time for the visit of Wales to Twickenham on February 26 after sustaining the injury in the Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland on Saturday.

Veteran second row Joe Launchbury has been called into the squad as cover after overcoming a knee injury.

“He is a good test lock,” Jones said. “He’s an outstanding mauler and is a guy who is tough on the one-pass play around the ruck. He brings a lot of experience and at the moment that is not something we have got a lot of.”

Jones says his side have moved on from Saturday’s 20-17 defeat at Murrayfield having felt the players left at least 15 points on the field through poor execution on attack.

“We’ve drawn a line under that. Our aim is to make sure we light up Rome this week with a good, energetic performance,” he said.

Taine Basham says there is “definitely going to be an edge” in the Wales camp ahead of a potential make-or-break Six Nations clash against Scotland

Wales know that a first Scottish victory in Cardiff since 2002 next Saturday would effectively end all hope of a successful Six Nations title defence.

A 29-7 defeat against Ireland shunted silverware hopes sideways, and if Scotland prevail it would leave Wales in damage-limitation mode heading for a Twickenham appointment with England two weeks later.

The Scots have lost on their last eight Six Nations visits to the Welsh capital, conceding 251 points, but they will head south buoyed by a memorable Calcutta Cup success against England.

“It is all about mindset for me. There will be no doubt that we will bring that next week,” Wales flanker Basham said .“We will look back and realise that physically we didn’t turn up. It has to turn up next week, especially in front of a home crowd.”

Scotland flanker Jamie Ritchie will miss this weekend’s Six Nations clash with Wales through injury.

The 25-year-old was taken off on the buggy during the second half of Saturday’s 20-17 victory over England after suffering damage in his hamstring and groin area.

He left the stadium on crutches afterwards, casting doubt on his participation in the remainder of the tournament.

It was confirmed by the Scottish Rugby Union that Ritchie, who was one of the team’s vice-captains in the victory over Tonga in October, has not joined up with the squad to prepare for the trip to the Principality Stadium.

Forwards coach John Dalziel is excited about Scotland’s Six Nations prospects after they beat England without hitting top form on Saturday.

The Scots eked out a hard-fought 20-17 Calcutta Cup win at Murrayfield despite being outplayed for long periods of the match.

Gregor Townsend’s side were already hotly fancied to make an impact at this year’s tournament, and Saturday’s result has merely heightened expectations among supporters ahead of this weekend’s trip to Wales.

And Dalziel takes confidence from the fact they were able to beat one of the world’s top teams while playing some way short of their best.

“They were special moments on Saturday, with a full Murrayfield singing and supporting the lads as they came off the field, seeing them lift the Calcutta Cup,” he said.

“That’s special and they enjoyed that, but realistically we didn’t actually play well. It was a pretty scrappy game. It’s exciting that we know we can still play a lot better.”

Johnny Sexton hopes Ireland can kick-start a winning habit in Paris ahead of next year’s World Cup by putting themselves in pole position for Six Nations glory.

Captain Sexton leads his country away to France on Saturday evening knowing that the victors will be swiftly installed as red-hot favourites for the championship title.

The Irish are scheduled to return to Stade de France for up to five matches in 2023 in their quest to become world champions, including pool-stage fixtures against South Africa and Scotland.

“We’re playing against one of the in-form teams in the world,” said Sexton. “We’re obviously in good form as well. It’s been, of course, hyped up and if we can win in the Stade de France, it puts you in a good position to win the championship.”

Courtney Lawes is unavailable for England’s Six Nations clash with Italy as he continues to recover from concussion.

Lawes missed the 20-17 Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland that opened the tournament and has yet to resume full training with Eddie Jones’ squad, ruling him out of Sunday’s trip to Rome.

Tom Curry will remain as captain in Lawes’ absence and the hope will be that the veteran Northampton lock is passed fit for the visit of Wales to Twickenham on February 26.

Uncapped Leicester forward Ollie Chessum has been retained in the reduced 27-man squad that will step up preparations for the Stadio Olimpico showdown and could make his debut on Sunday.

There is no place for Joe Launchbury, however, as he returns to Wasps to continue his comeback from the knee injury he sustained in April.

The absence of Mark Atkinson means England will either retain their centre duo of Henry Slade and Elliot Daly or opt for Slade alongside Joe Marchant.

England will name their starting team to face Italy tomorrow

Jonathan Humphreys says that physicality is “a big work-on” for Wales ahead of tackling resurgent Scotland in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton highlighted a major difference between the Irish and Welsh front-five forwards in terms of ball-carrying and breaking the gain-line after Ireland claimed an emphatic 29-7 success last weekend.

Wales have not lost their opening two games of a Six Nations campaign since 2007, but they now meet a Scotland side buoyant following an impressive Calcutta Cup victory over England.

Scotland have not won in the Welsh capital for 20 years, losing eight Six Nations Tests, a World Cup warm-up game and an autumn international during that time.

But they announced their Six Nations title credentials by defeating England, while defending champions Wales must win on Saturday to maintain any hope of retaining silverware.

Humphreys added: “Historically, we get better as this tournament goes on. We are hoping to see a big improvement this weekend.

“They (Scotland) will be pretty confident. Over the last period of time, they seem to be making big strides forward.”

Wales are expected to name their team at around 12:30pm

Andrew Conway expects France to be a “different animal” to Wales but has warned there is still plenty more to come from in-form Ireland.

The Irish take on the pre-tournament favourites in Paris on Saturday after beginning their Guinness Six Nations campaign by cruising to a bonus-point win over Wayne Pivac’s reigning champions.

Munster wing Conway – who battled a sickness bug amid claiming two tries in last weekend’s championship opener in Dublin – believes Andy Farrell’s remain capable of significant room for further improvement.

“I think there is so much growth in the team in that we didn’t actually play that well,” he said, reflecting on beating Wales 29-7. “We played quite well but there’s so much more in us.

“The detail that we’ve looked at – detail even we were chatting about in the changing room afterwards – about how much better we can be is pretty clear for us to see in here.

“Obviously this weekend is going to be a different animal altogether and it’s going to be a way, way tougher match. It’s probably one of the most exciting places to go in the world.”

Ireland are set to name their team at 11:30am this morning:

Grant Gilchrist believes Scotland can take heart from last year’s historic wins away to England and France as they bid to end a 20-year wait for victory in Cardiff

Gregor Townsend’s side enjoyed their first triumph at Twickenham since 1983 a year ago and then, in March, savoured a first success in Paris since 1999.

Although they beat Wales in Llanelli in 2020, behind closed doors, the Scots have not won at the Principality Stadium since 2002.

“The big one down at Twickenham, and then over in Paris, albeit behind closed doors, it’s good that this squad have knocked them off,” Edinburgh lock Gilchrist said. “We’ve got the belief now that we can go to away venues and come away with a result.

“This weekend is another big one. It’s 20 years. If we want to do something special we’re going to have to be at our very best this weekend. This history is there for a reason and it’s going to be a very difficult game.”

Scotland are expected to name their team at around 12:45 pm today.

Follow live updates from the Six Nations team announcements as Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France reveal their selections ahead of the second weekend of fixtures. Saturday sees two huge matches in Cardiff and Paris with three of the teams to win on the opening weekend in action, before England face a trip to Italy on Sunday.

Wales host Scotland in the early match on Saturday, with Wayne Pivac’s side in need of a response following their heavy defeat to Ireland in Dublin. The Wales head coach continues to deal with a lengthy injury list as he prepares to welcome Scotland to the Principality Stadium, fresh off their dramatic 20-17 victory over England at Murrayfield. It’s been 20 years since Scotland last won a Six Nations match in Cardiff but the visitors will be full of belief as they attempt to kick off their campaign with consecutive wins, which would be a real statement of their championship ambitions.

The later match at the Stade de France already has the feel of a Six Nations title decider, however, as France host Ireland in a meeting of two in-form teams, and who also both defeated the All Blacks last November. Ireland racked up 29 points in their thrashing of Wales as Andy Farrell’s side flexed their muscles, but will be given a stern test by a confident-looking France who strolled to an opening victory over Italy. England head coach Eddie Jones will be naming his team on Friday as they look to get back to winning ways.