France v Italy LIVE: Six Nations 2024 latest score and updates from Lille

“When you compete in the Six Nations, it’s like a 400m race, you start by sprinting and you have to accelerate at each turn.

“We want to play better and specifically defend better. Playing better also means without the ball. We need to be more disciplined. We must first be strong on the basics: solidarity, commitment and courage.”

Christophe Ridley will make his Six Nations debut after being appointed to referee the round three clash between France and Italy.

The talented young Englishman joins the officiating panel as a lead official after the retirement of Wayne Barnes, having worked closely with his compatriot during his career so far.

A former member of the academy at Leicester Tigers, Ridley switched to refereeing after a series of injuries and has developed quickly through the ranks after studying at the University of Gloucestershire.

Students on the sports scholarship programme at the university benefit from the expertise of three-time World Cup official Chris White, who helped both Ridley and fellow top official Matthew Carley develop.

Ridley’s Premiership debut came in 2018, taking charge of London Irish vs Wasps, and the 30-year-old travelled to last year’s World Cup as an assistant.

His Six Nations debut comes as one of four English referees appointed to games in the championship, with Carley, Karl Dickson and Luke Pearce all earning selection again.

Frustrated Steve Borthwick felt his work-in-progress England team were taught “a real painful lesson” by a Duhan Van Der Merwe-inspired Scotland after the Red Rose crashed to a fourth consecutive Calcutta Cup defeat at Murrayfield.

The visitors arrived in Edinburgh hoping to make it three Guinness Six Nations victories in a row, but after a bright start in which a George Furbank try helped them carve a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter of an hour.

However, they lost their way and were put to the sword by their clinical hosts who ran out 30-21 winners.

Jamie George conceded England were “not good enough” in their Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland but the captain remained adamant they were heading in the right direction overall under Steve Borthwick.

The Red Rose lost 30-21 at Murrayfield on Saturday, bringing to an end their unbeaten start to this year’s Guinness Six Nations campaign after narrow wins away to Italy and at home to Wales.

England had arrived in Edinburgh having won eight of their previous nine matches, with their only setback in that run being the agonising World Cup semi-final defeat by eventual winners South Africa in October.

France had their captain’s run in Lille on Friday and are ready to go for today’s clash

Round two of the Six Nations featured a historic moment as Scotland hooker George Turner became the first player in the championship’s history to be removed after his smart mouthguard detected a collision which could have caused a concussion.

Turner was removed from the pitch during the first half of Scotland’s defeat to France for a head injury assessment after his mouthguard alerted medical staff of a significant head acceleration event after a tackle made on Charles Ollivon. The front rower passed his assessment and returned to the field.

Wales boss Warren Gatland backed Ireland to clinch back-to-back grand slam titles after his side suffered a 31-7 Six Nations defeat in Dublin.

Tries from Dan Sheehan, James Lowe, Ciaran Frawley and Tadhg Beirne kept Andy Farrell’s reigning champions on course to become the first team to achieve the feat in the Six Nations era.

Ireland travel to Twickenham to take on England on March 9 before hosting Scotland on the final weekend of the tournament. Gatland, who led Wales to three grand slams during his first spell in charge, believes Ireland’s ominous march towards another clean sweep will be difficult to stop.

“I think they’re definitely capable of doing it,” he said. “They’ve got the experience and the composure and players who can carry and get them on the front foot.

“I think they will be a hard team to knock over.”

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has shuffled the pack for the France clash as inside centre Federico Mori returns to the XV for the first time in nearly two years and scrum-half Martin Page-Relo makes his first Six Nations start.

Zebre second-rower Matteo Canali could make his debut from the bench, while Ross Vintcent and Riccardo Favretto are also handed their first Azzurri starts and Quesada is hoping Italy can “impose” their ideas.

He told the Italian Rugby Federation website: “I didn’t count how many changes I made in the line-up compared to the Ireland match. We are adapting to Sunday’s game and dealing with some injuries.

“The group is the same one that worked for three weeks together. I’m working hard to give maximum opportunities to the players we feel are ready – let’s try to maintain our commitment.

“France will want to bring a lot of physicality but we have to play our game and impose our game ideas.”

France assistant coach Laurent Sempere has praised Posolo Tuilagi for his energy as the lock prepares to make his first start for Les Bleus against Italy in the Six Nations.

The 19-year-old has been named in the starting XV for the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy clash at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.

After losing their opening game to Ireland, France bounced back with a dramatic victory against Scotland at Murrayfield, leaving them fourth in the table ahead of the third round of matches.

Tuilagi has featured from the bench in both games so far and co-coach Sempere was full of praise for the teenager.

He told the French Rugby Federation website: “Posolo is one of the players who brought a lot of energy at the end of the match in Scotland, which he had already done when he came on against Ireland.

“Today we decided that he should start the game against Italy. It was his performances during training with us, and at each of his appearances, that ensured that he won this starter jersey.”

Frustrated Steve Borthwick felt his work-in-progress England team were taught “a real painful lesson” by a Duhan Van Der Merwe-inspired Scotland after the Red Rose crashed to a fourth consecutive Calcutta Cup defeat at Murrayfield.

The visitors arrived in Edinburgh hoping to make it three Six Nations victories in a row and they made a bright start in which a George Furbank try helped them carve a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter of an hour. However, they lost their way and were put to the sword by their clinical hosts who ran out 30-21 winners.

Van Der Merwe – who scored a double in the Scots’ win at Twickenham last year – was again England’s tormentor-in-chief as he became the first man in a dark blue jersey to score a Calcutta Cup hat-trick.

“After a defeat and performance when you don’t think you’ve maximised your potential, it’s always disappointment,” said head coach Borthwick. “I don’t think the team maximised their potential today.

“When you make that number of handling errors at this level, it’s very difficult to win, especially against a team of Scotland’s quality. Ultimately we made it too easy for Scotland to score, but they were very clinical. It’s a huge lesson for our team as we develop. The number of turnovers made it very difficult to win.”