Andy Farrell will name his Irish side to face Italy next Saturday in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico at around 12.30pm today. Gerry Thornley expects Craig Casey and Ross Byrne to both be named to make their first Six Nations start. Rónan Kelleher, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan and Bundee Aki are also expected to come into the Ireland team. Wales’s Six Nations match against England in Cardiff on Saturday will go ahead after potential strike action from Welsh players over a contract dispute was averted, the Welsh Rugby Union has announced.

Manchester City and RB Leipzig will go into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash all square after last night’s 1-1 draw in Germany. It was another worrying display from City, with Leipzig emerging inspired in the second half. Roared on by a deafening home crowd, they deservedly equalised through Josip Gvardiol, and had chances enough to win it. Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to give Inter Milan a crucial first-leg lead over Porto in their bid to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

In the GAA pages this morning, Ciarán Murphy explains why new the GAA’s new president-elect Jarlath Burns has the perspective to finally tackle players’ issues head on: “He knows what it takes to be an intercounty footballer in 2023. He also knows what it’s like to be an administrator.”

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has asked American authorities for special permission to enter the United States to play tennis tournaments in California and Florida despite being unvaccinated against the coronavirus, the world number one said on Wednesday. Djokovic reached another milestone in his tennis career this week by tying German great Steffi Gaff with 377 weeks at the top of the world rankings.