The Bath playmaker has not been picked on the bench for either of England’s opening two Six Nations games but will be named as Owen Farrell’s understudy by Stuart Lancaster tomorrow.

Scotland 0 England 20

Gloucester 23 Edinburgh 12

England head coach Stuart Lancaster claims his players already have their minds set on revenge after their narrow first Test loss to South Africa.

Paul O’Connell is back to boost Munster’s prospects of defeating Llanelli Scarlets in Wales tonight and keep his side ahead of the posse in the race for a RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final place.

Munster Academy prop Dave Kilcoyne will make his first competitive start for the province when Tony McGahan’s men take on the Scarlets in tomorrow evening’s RaboDirect PRO12 meeting in Llanelli (6.30pm).

Three Irish players are in contention for the ERC European Player of the Year Award.

David Strettle has returned to the England team for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations finale against Ireland in place of Charlie Sharples after recovering from a sternum injury.

England captain Chris Robshaw and full-back Ben Foden last night endorsed Stuart Lancaster’s bid to become the team’s full-time coach after a remarkable RBS 6 Nations triumph over France.

Ben Foden will always be indebted to France coach Philippe Saint-Andre for spotting his potential as an international full-back.

Superstitious Wales skipper Sam Warburton has banned himself from talking about the Grand Slam his World Cup semi-finalists are now favourites to achieve next month.

Fergus McFadden was the last-gasp hero for Leinster last night as he secured a tremendously hard-fought victory by nailing a long-distance penalty with the final kick of the game.

The 20-year-old landed four penalties and a tough conversion, following Charlie Hodgson’s second charge-down try in as many weeks, as England rallied from 15-6 down to claim their second win of the championship.

Chris Robshaw will captain an unchanged England team into Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

Stuart Lancaster confirmed he has applied for the full-time England coach’s job after joining his players in shedding blood in a physical Calcutta Cup win over Scotland on Saturday.

Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt and Phil Dowson will make their Test debuts in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Scotland as part of a new-look and inexperienced England team.

England’s interim head coach Stuart Lancaster will name at least eight uncapped players in his 22-man squad to face Scotland in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS are determined to complete their European revenge mission against Munster on Saturday after ending the Scarlets Heineken Cup hopes.

ULSTER coach Brian McLaughlin conceded his side have plenty to work on following their 24-17 loss to Scarlets on Saturday.

IRELAND winger Andrew Trimble hopes to vent his frustrations this afternoon when he lines-out against the Scarlets in Llanelli.

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt is worried their Heineken Cup qualification next year could be under threat unless they pick up sufficient results in the RaboDirect PRO12 while their frontline players are away.

AFTER an opening victory over Treviso, coach Eric Elwood says Connacht must raise the bar again today when they open their home season against the Scarlets in the Rabo Direct Pro12 at 3.15pm.

TO apply some context to this headline result in Fermoy on Saturday, one should underline that this is only the second Cork SFC game Nemo Rangers have lost over the past five years.

ULSTER temporarily moved second in the Magners League with a gritty but unconvincing victory over the Scarlets at Ravenhill.

BJ BOTHA and Ian Humphreys could not have staged a more appropriate return to the Ulster starting lineout when they face the Scarlets at Ravenhill tonight.

THAT’LL do. Leinster last night recorded a perfunctory win to keep their Magners League play-off hopes firmly on message while Jonathan Sexton came through a useful 80 minutes unscathed.

JONATHAN SEXTON returns to the number 10 jersey at the RDS tonight for Leinster’s Magners League clash against fellow play-off contenders the Scarlets (7.35pm).

St Brigid's (Roscommon) 0-13 Nemo Rangers (Cork) 1-8

WALES wing George North made a try-scoring return from injury as the Scarlets ended a run of six straight defeats in all competitions with a narrow Magners League victory at Parc y Scarlets.

ULSTER left it late to rekindle their hopes of reaching the Magners League play-offs, with Ruan Pienaar kicking an injury-time winner in Wales.

CONNACHT received a much needed boost with this victory on Saturday night, their first Magners League win since mid-September.

CONNACHT face second-placed Scarlets in tonight’s Magners League tie at the Sportgrounds (7.35pm).

LEINSTER stopped the Scarlets from going to the top of the Magners League as they staged an amazing fight-back in the final 10 minutes.

PAUL KERRIGAN scored 2-2 against his club as Cork beat Nemo Rangers by five goals in the GOAL Challenge at Páirc Uí Rinn last night.

NEMO Rangers five-in-a-row title dream ended when they crashed out of the Cork SFC at the quarter-final stage at the hands of West Cork divisional outfit Carbery in Bandon last night.

THE Cork County Premier IFC second round tie between Nemo Rangers and Glenville at Mayfield on Saturday was abandoned with two minutes to go after Glenville selector Liam Cahill collapsed while assisting one of his players.

NEMO RANGERS won the permanent tsb Cork County IFC title for the second time in two years at floodlit Páirc Uí Rinn yesterday.