Image source, Getty Images

Could Louis Rees-Zammit star for Wales today? The former Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguar practice squad player is making only his fourth start at full-back for Wales in what will be his first Six Nations appearance since 2023.

Gareth Rhys Owen
BBC Radio Wales commentator

I think Welsh rugby players are now conditioned to cope with off-field issues. The bigger issue is now the tradition of the last two-three years of Welsh players not winning games.

What can the experienced players say to the younger players to really make it count?

Gareth Griffiths
BBC Sport Wales at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

A lot has been made about the off-the-field issues in Welsh rugby with the desire by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to cut a professional side and the Ospreys at risk.

On ITV, former Wales centre and current WRU board member Jamie Roberts explained the rationale.

"It’s a challenging time," said Roberts.

"There is a performance problem and financial problem facing the game in Wales.

"There was a big consultation with a lot of stakeholders in the game in Wales and a lot of information came back to the board.

"We made the best decision, we love the game in Wales and want to see it thrive with club sides winning and the national side winning again.

"We made the decision in the best interests of the game in Wales to go to three teams.

"There are complexities around that in how you get there – we have seen Cardiff go into administration and more recently the owners of the Ospreys being the best bidder for Cardiff.

"It’s challenging for fans with a lot of uncertainty but be assured that as a board of directors we are making the best decisions possible for the best interests of the game in Wales medium to long-term."

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Pierre Brousset takes charge of this one.

The Frenchman was also the referee for England's Six Nations match with Scotland last year, which ended in a dramatic 16-15 England win.

Mike Henson
BBC Sport at Allianz Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

Jamie George admitted in the week that he didn't expect to have the honour of captaining England again.

The 35-year-old, who has announced he will retire from rugby in late 2027, was replaced by Maro Itoje as skipper in early 2025, and although George got another spin on the armband when Itoje was on Lions duty last summer, opportunities seemed unlikely.

But with Itoje on the bench today, having joined up late with preparations in the wake of his mother Florence's funeral in Nigeria, George is skipper, at least until Itoje comes on.

George vowed to savour "every moment" of his chance to lead the side once again and, off the bus, he pointedly high-fives fans all the way along the length of a considerable welcoming gauntlet.

England have not lost a match since their opening game of last year's Six Nations. Some nail-biting wins against Scotland and France followed as England finished second behind France, but then there came an outstanding series win without their Lions stars in Argentina and a quartet of victories in the autumn, including a memorable triumph over New Zealand.

Niche stat for you all.

England last won a Five or Six Nations title following a Lions tour back in 1963. They have failed to win the championship in any of their past 16 such tournaments in 1967, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 or 2022

BBC Sounds

We're on air building up to this one on BBC 5 Sports Extra. You can follow along by clicking the play icon at the top of this page.

Rugby correspondent Chris Jones is joined by Matt Dawson and Alex Cuthbert, with Paul Grayson the pitchside analyst.

Image source, Getty Images

Yep, that's right. Maro Itoje's run of playing the full 80 mins in 30 successive Six Nations matches is over. The only previous time he was a Six Nations sub was on his 2016 debut.

Itoje missed the start of a training camp to attend his mother Florence’s funeral in Nigeria. Hooker Jamie George will instead lead the side and Alex Coles takes Itoje's place alongside Ollie Chessum in the second row.

Mike Henson
BBC Sport at Allianz Stadium

Nearly 10 years on from this social media post - produced when Eddie Jones' England's held a training camp at a school attended by a young Marcus Smith - and Smith and Ford are still punting the ball back and forth, only now with a few more eyeballs and camera lenses focused on them.

Image source, X

Elsewhere, also wearing a replacements' white bib as the team go through their preparations is Maro Itoje.

It will be the first time he has missed a single minute of an England Six Nations action in nearly seven years, having been on the pitch for all of every match since the start of the 2020 tournament.

Italy have just beaten Scotland 18-15 in Rome. Soak up the best of the reaction here.

Can I take you back to last year's Six Nations finale?

Then England had an outside shot of the championship after they walloped Wales 68-14 in Cardiff.

That defeat surpassed the 50-10 Six Nations loss Wales suffered at Twickenham back in March 2002.

Only a 62-5 Rugby World Cup warm-up defeat in 2007 stands as a worse result for Wales in the fixture's 144-year history.

England's title hopes fell short as France beat Scotland later on Super Saturday.

But that victory over Wales was oh so sweet for their players and supporters.

Two minutes to go in Rome. Italy still lead Scotland 18-15.

For those out the loop - which I can't imagine is many of you - this year's tournament started on Thursday.

Two days ago ruthless France inflicted more pain on Ireland as the Six Nations holders opened their title defence with a bonus-point victory at a buoyant Stade de France.

You can watch the highlights below.

BBC Sounds

Remember, you can listen to every minute of this afternoon's action from the BBC team by clicking the 'play' option at the top of this page.

Out and about? Commentary will be kicking off on BBC Sports Extra and then moving to BBC Radio 5 Live - you can listen on the go with the BBC Sounds app.

Want to listen on your smart speaker at home? Just say “Play 5 Sports Extra”.

To keep up with all the reaction in our rugby podcasts, just search ‘rugby’ on BBC Sounds.

Why not have your say?

Are you travelling to the match? How are you following along?

Any predictions?

Right we're going to pack the next hour full of build-up, but if it's live rugby you're after, Scotland are currently trailing Italy 18-15 in a muddy match in Rome.

There's about 10 minutes to go.

Image source, SNS