Speaking of opportunities, Ireland have a big one this weekend. An 11th straight victory over Scotland would push the holders closer to a third straight title, wound a contender and bolster the momentum gained from beating England.

On Ireland's last visit to Murrayfield, in 2023, Ireland lost Sheehan and replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher to injury in a chaotic game that forced Cian Healy to scrummage as a hooker and Van der Flier to throw into the lineouts.

Last year, despite a stout defensive effort from Scotland in Dublin, Ireland retained their title on the final day of the tournament with a 17-13 win.

But Sheehan, who scored in Ireland's 2023 World Cup and 2024 Six Nations wins over Gregor Townsend's side, says the run of defeats will serve only to ramp up the Scots' motivation.

"I think we approach it like every other game but we have to be almost hyper aware of their motivation and if they're going to bring in an extra and their motivation of what they'll bring to the table," he said.

"We probably glance over it once or twice during the week about what we think they might bring or their mindset going into a game, but then it's straight back into what can we add to the game and how are we going to approach the game.

"I think you can get yourself down a rabbit hole a little bit if you think about too much what the opposition are going to do, but I think if we go out and perform like we know we can and improve on last week we should be good for a good day out."

Arundell, who will become eligible to play for England again on his return to the Premiership, has scored seven tries in his international career so far, including a joint-record of five in a single match on his World Cup debut against Chile in September 2023.

He began his career in London Irish's academy, and went on to score 10 tries in 23 senior appearances for the side before the club folded at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

"Henry has some world-class attributes, more specifically his speed and try-scoring ability," Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said.

"Henry made it very clear when we spoke that he wants to improve as a player and I believe that Bath is the club to do that.

"His willingness to learn, grow and become better fits in well with what we, as a group of players, coaches and staff are all working towards on our journey together."

Arundell becomes the second high-profile signing for Bath for next season in the space of two days, with Gloucester and Argentina full-back Santiago Carreras having also agreed terms to move to the Recreation Ground.

The current Premiership league leaders have also signed hooker Dan Frost from Exeter and scrum-half Bernard van der Linde from South African side Bulls.

Additionally, England centre Ollie Lawrence has recently agreed new terms to stay at the club, along with prop Beno Obano and second row Quinn Roux.

Such has been Antoine Dupont's impact since making his France debut in 2017, numbers alone do not get close to doing him justice.

The frame of a bull, the acceleration of a wing and technical skills from the gods - Dupont's skillset is otherworldly. A scrum-half who matches 20 try assists in the Six Nations with 20 turnovers simply is not normal.

It is not just in the XV-a-side game that Dupont has excelled. The prospect of representing his country at a home Olympics last year meant he missed the 2024 Six Nations to focus on sevens, and Dupont scored two tries as France beat favourites Fiji to win the gold medal at the Paris Games.

"The boys joke around and call him 'The Martian' as he is not from earth, he is an alien," said Toulouse lock Emmanuel Meafou before last year's Champions Cup final. "The stuff he does in games is only half of what he is capable of."

And yet that half is better than virtually anyone else. In France's 43-0 win against Wales on Friday, the 28-year-old's shift lasted barely 50 minutes and yet he became the first player to provide three try assists in two separate men's Six Nations matches.

The cross-field kick for Theo Attissogbe's opening score was so casual, it was almost offensive.

Dupont next visits Twickenham's Allianz Stadium, where he masterminded a record rout of seven tries in 2023. The England camp have been keen to stress this week that the 2022 Grand Slam-winning captain is only human, but his reputation is becoming anything but.

However, coach Fabien Galthie has more recently favoured Thomas Ramos, more usually a full-back, at 10.

Jalibert returned to his club side Bordeaux-Begles rather than act as back-up to Ramos during the autumn internationals, but Galthie has insisted that there was no lasting damage to their relationship.

"We need Matthieu Jalibert," he said in January.

"I prefer a player who verbally expresses his wishes rather than players who suffer."

England will name their team later on Thursday with Fin Smith expected to promoted to fly-half and usual 10 Marcus Smith dropping into the backfield to play full-back.

France: Ramos; Penaud, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Dupont (capt); Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio, Roumat, Meafou, Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.

Replacements: Marchand, Baille, Colombe, Auradou, Guillard, Jegou, Le Garrec, Gailleton.

Gatland's side face an Italian outfit that were beaten 31-19 by Scotland in Edinburgh in the opening round of matches.

Wales have not been beaten in Rome since 2007 and their last Six Nations victory was the away trip to Italy two years ago.

This has been followed by seven consecutive defeats in the tournament and defeat this week will leave Gatland's squad contemplating consecutive Wooden Spoons with home matches against Ireland and England and a trip to Scotland to come.

Another loss will also probably see Wales drop to a lowest position of 12th in the world rankings.

"This has been an important week with a lot of hard work put in during training," said Gatland.

"We want to be accurate and disciplined on Saturday. It's about our execution and how we manage the game.

"We know Italy are a quality side with physical players and are looking forward to a good contest. We're excited for the challenge on Saturday."

Wales: L Williams; Rogers, Tompkins, James, Adams; B Thomas, T Williams; G Thomas, Lloyd, H Thomas, Rowlands, Jenkins, Botham, Morgan (capt), Faletau.

Replacements: Dee, Smith, Assiratti, F Thomas, Wainwright, R Williams, Edwards, Murray.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks activated forward Craig Smith from injured reserve before Wednesday night's game against Edmonton.

Smith had been sidelined by a nagging back injury. He was in the lineup against the Oilers, playing on a line with Lukas Reichel and Pat Maroon.

The 35-year-old Smith has six goals and five assists in 30 games in his first season with Chicago.

The Blackhawks also assigned defenseman Artyom Levshunov and forward Colton Dach to Rockford of the American Hockey League.

The 19-year-old Levshunov was brought up on Monday to give him a chance to practice with the team during the AHL's All-Star break. The IceHogs' next game is Friday night at Texas.

Levshunov was the No. 2 overall pick in last year's NHL draft. He missed the start of the season because of a fractured right foot.

"We've had two good, spirited practices with a lot of pace and compete and that was a good learning experience for him to see," interim Blackhawks coach Anders Sorensen said. "Talking to him, he was kind of baffled how quick it was at times but that's good. That's how you realize where you need to be."

The 22-year-old Dach made his NHL debut on Jan. 3 against Montreal. The 6-foot-4 forward, a second-round pick in the 2021 draft, had one goal and three assists in 13 games with Chicago.

The Vancouver Canucks and newly acquired defenseman Marcus Pettersson reached agreement on a six-year contract extension worth $33 million, the team announced Wednesday night.

The deal comes just days after Pettersson was shipped to Vancouver along with forward Drew O'Connor in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend. Pettersson was set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

The Canucks have split their two games since Pettersson's arrival. He played a season-high 25:57 in his Vancouver debut in a 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit on Sunday. He followed it up with 23:03 of ice time in Vancouver's 3-0 win over Colorado on Tuesday.

"In just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership, poise and character that we want in a top four defenseman," general manager Patrik Allvin said in announcing the extension. "He has a calming influence on the ice, uses his long reach and hockey smarts to break up plays and has a good first pass to help us create more offensively. We are extremely happy to get this deal done and look forward to working with him in both the short term and long term."

Pettersson, 28, had been widely expected to be moved out of Pittsburgh after seven years with the team due to his expiring contract and the Penguins' retooling. A strong two-way defenseman, he has 18 points in 49 games this season and is a strong two-way defenseman.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

After nearly 12 years playing for two of the top teams in Europe and a brief stop in Saudi Arabia, Neymar is back playing professional football in his native Brazil.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain superstar came on as a substitute at the start of the second half for his boyhood club Santos in its Campeonato Paulista match against Botafogo SP on Wednesday at the Estádio Vila Belmiro.

Santos were leading the match 1-0 when Neymar took the field but conceded a second-half goal, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

"I love Santos. I have no words to describe what I felt tonight when I stepped again on this pitch," Neymar said after the game.

The Brazilian star, who was named the game's best player, acknowledged that he's not yet in peak physical condition, but he said he took positive feelings from his first match in over three months.

"I need minutes, games. I'm not at 100 percent. I didn't expect to run and dribble so much tonight. I think I'll feel better in four or five games," he added.

Neymar, who turned 33 on Wednesday, sealed the move back to Santos on Jan. 31, signing a six-month deal that the club said it hopes to extend through at least the 2026 World Cup.

He won six titles during his time at Santos, located in a beachfront city outside São Paulo, including a Copa Libertadores trophy in 2011.

Neymar, once hailed as one of the world's best players, left Santos for Barcelona in 2013 and then became the most expensive transfer in the history of the game when he moved to PSG for 222 million (then $262 million) in 2017.

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez has suffered a cruciate ligament injury, the club have confirmed.

Martínez was taken off on a stretcher during the second half of United's 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Argentina international will not play again this season and is likely to be out for more than six months.

A club statement issued on Thursday read: "Manchester United can confirm that Lisandro Martínez suffered an injury to his cruciate ligament in Sunday's game against Crystal Palace.

"Assessment of the injury is ongoing to determine the appropriate course of treatment and the timescale for his rehabilitation.

"Everyone at Manchester United wishes Lisandro Martínez strength for a successful recovery and we will be supporting him every step of the way."

Argentina's next games are World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil in March. The Albiceleste are top of the standings for the CONMEBOL zone, five points clear of Uruguay.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Real Madrid and Brazil defender Marcelo has announced his retirement in a video posted to social media on Thursday.

The left-back enjoyed one of football's most successful careers in terms of trophy hauls, picking up five Champions League titles and six LaLiga triumphs in a career that spanned 19 years.