Scrum-half Willi Heinz has been ruled out of England's Six Nations finale against Italy with a leg injury.

Uncapped Mitchell had been named in an earlier England training squad.

England could seal the Six Nations title with a win against Italy on Saturday if the result of France v Ireland goes their way.

"We'll see how he recovers this week," England defence coach said of Heinz's "soft-tissue injury".

"It's important that we get on top of it. Soft-tissue injuries can be very tricky so you can't afford to be too hasty."

Youngs, 31, is set to earn his 100th England cap on Saturday, while Robson will be hoping to win his third.

Gloucester's Heinz was a surprise inclusion in head coach Eddie Jones' 2019 World Cup squad but has since become an England regular.

The 33-year-old joins a growing list of unavailable players, with Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, club-mate Jack Nowell, Saracens' Elliot Daly, Leicester fly-half George Ford and Harlequins prop Joe Marler also out of the game in Rome.

Northampton lock Courtney Lawes and Sale centre Manu Tuilagi are long-term absentees.

Bath scrum-half Ben Spencer - who flew to Japan as injury cover for Heinz ahead of the World Cup final - continues to be overlooked by Jones despite his impressive recent Premiership performances.

Jones will name his team to face Italy on Thursday.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Sheldon Creed will start first for Friday night’s scheduled NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Creed earned the top spot on the grid thanks to NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula.

The NASCAR matrix factors in a driver’s lap speed ranking from the previous race, the last race finish for both driver and owner and the car’s current rank in the owner standings.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Driver and owner playoff-eligible entries are ranked at the front of the field based on their metric scores from lowest to highest, with all non-playoff entries lined up behind the playoff cars in similar fashion.

Creed will start first thanks to a metric score of 1.45, factoring in his win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the fourth-fastest lap from that event and his point-leading status.

His GMS Racing teammate, Zane Smith, will join him on the front row. Austin Hill and Brett Moffitt will start third and fourth, respectively, with Matt Crafton gridding in fifth place.

Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger fill out the playoff drivers in the first four rows, with Brandon Jones starting ninth in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51, which remains alive in the race for the owner championship.

Raphael Lessard starts highest among the non-playoff contenders in 10th.

To view the complete starting lineup and performance matrix breakdown, click here.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 is scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start Friday night, with live coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Should the rain-postponed NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway not run to its conclusion on Wednesday, that schedule could be subject to change, per NASCAR.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Hoping to win his way into the Championship 4, Austin Cindric will start from the pole for Saturday’s scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Cindric earned the top spot on the grid thanks to NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula.

The NASCAR matrix factors in a driver’s lap speed ranking from the previous race, the last race finish for both driver and owner and the car’s current rank in the owner standings.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Driver and owner playoff-eligible entries are ranked at the front of the field based on their metric scores from lowest to highest, with all non-playoff entries lined up behind the playoff cars in similar fashion.

Cindric earned the top spot with a metric score of 3.6, factoring in a fourth-place finish last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the sixth-fastest lap from that event and runner-up status in the current point standings.

Noah Gragson, who nearly won at Texas and likely still needs to win at Martinsville to make the Championship 4, will join Cindric on the front row. Kaulig Racing teammates Justin Haley and Ross Chastain will share the second row of the starting grid.

Chase Briscoe fills out the top five, followed by Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Ryan Sieg among the playoff contenders that still remain eligible for either the driver or owner titles.

Texas winner Harrison Burton starts best among the non-playoff drivers in 10th.

To view the complete starting lineup and performance matrix, click here.

The Draft Top 250, the first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville since 2006, is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET start on Saturday, with live coverage on NBC, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

If the rain-postponed NASCAR Cup Series race from Texas is not able to be completed on Wednesday, the Xfinity Series schedule at Martinsville is subject to change, per NASCAR.

WILMETTE, Ill. – Officials from the National Speedway Directory have announced that this year’s Race Track Business Conference VRTL will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

The ninth annual Race Track Business Conference will be returning this year with an online format. The event will be part of web-based programming activities for the PRI Trade Show.

RTBC 2020 VRTL will have four sessions and a keynote during the half-day format.

Additional information on topics and speakers will be announced over the next few weeks.

The cost to attend RTBC 2020 VRTL is $25. Additional information can be found at www.racetrackbusinessconference.com or by contacting Tim Frost at [email protected] or (847) 853-0294.

INDIANAPOLIS – Chip Ganassi Racing announced Wednesday that 30-year-old Swede Marcus Ericsson has signed a multi-year deal to continue driving the No. 8 Honda in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Partnership details will be announced in the off-season in preparation for the 2021 IndyCar season and beyond.

Ericsson is coming off his first year with Chip Ganassi Racing, finishing 12th in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series standings. He started 2020 with an entry that didn’t exist the year before, and piloted the No. 8 Honda to a season-best fourth-place finish at Road America.

His season-best qualifying result came in the first half of the Gateway doubleheader where he started fourth, and overall he scored nine top-10 finishes in the 14 races in his first year with the organization.

Prior to his rookie season in IndyCar in 2019, the Kumla, Sweden native most recently completed his fifth year in Formula 1 in 2018 with a total of 97 starts.

Ericsson is a two-time champion (Formula BMW UK, 2007; Japanese Formula Three, 2009), and has twice claimed the Swedish Junior Racer of the Year award (2007, 2009). Ericsson also previously competed in British Formula Three, GP2 Asia and GP2.

“I’m very happy to continue my relationship with Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda and HPD into 2021 and beyond,” said Ericsson. “I want to thank Chip and the whole CGR organization for their trust in me. Chip Ganassi Racing is one of the best teams in motorsports and I’m proud to be part of the team. The season we’ve just finished has been full of potential and I feel confident that with what we’ve learned together this year will help us succeed in 2021. I’m looking forward to getting back in the No. 8 Honda!”

“Marcus proved that he belongs here, and this season he contributed to the success of our team greatly. That includes being unselfish to his teammates, especially with Scott Dixon who won the IndyCar championship,” added Mike Hull, Managing Director, Chip Ganassi Racing. “He’s a great foundational piece of our overall program and he fits well within our group. That translates into success on the track, and we’re glad to have him continue to grow and move the team toward into the future.”

Benfica manager Jorge Jesus has criticised Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and labelled him "ungrateful" after the player claimed the club need a new president.

Silva, who worked under Jesus during his three-year spell at Benfica, wrote a lengthy statement on social media about the club's lack of ambition ahead of the presidential elections this week.

- Play English Soccer Pick 'Em with ESPN
- Stream FC Daily on ESPN+

Benfica have won five of the last six Portuguese league titles but only reached the Champions League quarterfinals once in that period.

"For many years I never wanted to talk about Bernardo Silva, because he also messed with me for many years. It's OK with me," Jesus told a news conference ahead of their Europa League game against Standard Liege.

"Now with the club president who helped him grow, who continues to provide great conditions for young people to go out to better clubs, as is the case with him. It is very ungrateful.

"There are many defects that a man can have, but the worst thing is to be ungrateful. You can have a different idea, but you can't be ungrateful.

"I was the one who added Bernardo Silva to the team. We went on tour several games and when we arrived in Portugal, he asked me: 'Mister, what are your ideas about me? I want to know if I will play.'

"I said: 'If you play, what do you mean? Explain it to me... Nico [Gaitan] comes out and you play? Does Salvio come out and you play? What do you want me to do?'

"Silva said: 'I have a contract to leave, I'm going to earn 20 times more, and I need to help my family. I need the coach to let me out.'

"'Then talk to the president, it's not me,' I replied. If he's listening to me, let him say that this is the truth, it wasn't because I put him on the left side.

"After all these years I'm telling you because he was ungrateful to the president of Benfica. I didn't know how to make up for what Benfica and what the president did for him."

Silva came on as a second-half substitute in City's 3-0 victory at Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has said that he was not motivated by previous criticism from manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho singled out Ndombele in the 1-1 draw at Burnley last season and omitted him from the matchday squad for the last three matches of the Premier League campaign.

- Play English Soccer Pick 'Em with ESPN
- Stream FC Daily on ESPN+
- Ogden: Kane, Son give Spurs old-school style

Sources told ESPN that Ndombele was so upset he didn't want to play for Mourinho again, but he has since bounced back and impressed with his performances this term.

"His words didn't hurt me," he told Sky Sports after Spurs' 1-0 victory at Burnley on Monday. "They didn't necessarily motivate me either.

"It was just something that I assimilated and took on board. Of course it's not something that you like to hear, those sort of words, but that was last season and we are looking to the future."

The club's record signing has featured in every league game this season and said his form has improved because he is playing regularly.

"I feel better," he added. "That comes from playing consecutive matches. it's good for a player to have a good rhythm like that and get into shape.

"Last year I didn't have that so much. This year I do so it's better for the team and it's better for me.

"Between France and England there's a real difference in the intensity of the matches. Last season my head just wasn't in the right place. This season it's going a lot better."

Spurs are in fifth position in the table after picking up their third consecutive away win at Turf Moor. Mourinho's side are two points off the top and Ndombele is confident they can challenge for the title.

"Our objective has always been to get into the top four," he said. "More than that? Why not? But nobody wins the league in six matches.

"Even if we were top of the league at this stage there'd still be 32 matches to play."

Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Rolling Report of the 48th game of IPL 2020, between the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The likes of Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya take on the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris and Yuzvendra Chahal in Abu Dhabi.

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore full scorecard.

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore ball-by-ball commentary.

If the blog doesn't load for you, refresh your page or click here.

A little less than two months ago the SCG Trust chairman, Tony Shepherd, discovered he had been thwarted in a quest to bring the AFL Grand Final to Sydney.

Football's decision to award the competition decider to Brisbane and the Gabba on September 1, left Shepherd looking towards Melbourne's other iconic day of the year, the Boxing Day Test, as a chance to step in amid an Australian sporting calendar challenged by Covid-19.

His first contact was Cricket Australia's chairman Earl Eddings, who gave the approach short shrift. Eddings, a staunch Victorian, was still hoping that Melbourne's coronavirus numbers would ease in enough time to allow the MCG to host a Test match, albeit with reduced capacity, a hope that has proven well founded. Equally, Brisbane seemed a more likely proposition to host India's arrival for the start of their tour, with white-ball matches likely to be shared between the Gabba and the Gold Coast.

In years gone by, this early September exchange between the Trust and cricket might have been a rare conversation amid a generally frosty link between the SCG's custodians and their oldest tenants. But as a result of significant relationship building between Shepherd, Eddings and the Cricket New South Wales chairman John Knox over the past two years, the dialogue was jovial, and soon to evolve into much more mutually beneficial territory.

ALSO READ: Brisbane's loss is new host Sydney's gain

"I really started going on this a while ago when I put the proposal forward that if the MCG can't host the Boxing Day Test then we would be happy to host it in their stead," Shepherd told ESPNcricinfo. "That wasn't an opportunity to knock out the MCG, we were just saying 'look it's a great tradition and they're a sister club of ours we like a lot, but if it's not possible to have it there then we could squeeze it into our schedule and host it at the SCG'.

"I spoke to Earl at that time and he said 'no, we're confident it will be at the MCG, it may have reduced numbers'. Then we heard they were looking at how they're going to handle the T20s and the one dayers with the Indian touring team, and I let Earl know we were very happy to help.

"If you look at it logically, Sydney is a great location, we've got one of the lowest infection rates in the world, we've freed up attendance at arenas quicker and better than anybody else, we've got the best tracking and tracing system probably in the world, and it's a lovely environment. The Indian diaspora in Sydney is bigger than any other city in Australia - whenever the Indians are playing a Test at the SCG, the whole ground's on fire, they're just wonderful spectators. I said 'this is the logical place to be'."

Initially, Eddings kept his counsel, but by the weekend of October 17-18 it had become increasingly clear that previously fruitful conversations with Queensland state government - which saw Allan Border Field host the women's series between Australia and New Zealand - had stumbled as the state's election crept ever closer. On the Sunday, it was not Shepherd reaching out in search of extra content for the SCG, but Eddings seeking a port of entry for the Indian touring party, and with it the six white-ball matches to be played before the Tests.

"Earl then rang me a couple of weeks ago and said 'look, it could be on, would you guys be happy to host it' and I said 'absolutely mate, I don't have to check with anybody, we'd be delighted to host it, it'd be a terrific opportunity for us, and we'll do anything we can to help out, but you'll obviously have to deal with the NSW government', which he did," Shepherd said. "I've got very close to Earl over the last few years, and I'd say our relationship with CA has never been as strong before as it is now."

This hasn't all simply been a matter of glad handing and amiable conversation in corporate boxes. The Trust's standing in the eyes of cricket administration has risen in accordance with its performance. The dual triumphs of getting results on a pair of rain blighted nights for the BBL final and then the pivotal women's T20 World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa (without which Meg Lanning's team would've missed the March 8 MCG final), generated a level of respect that had been in need of reinforcement.

"We've shown in those finals just exactly how good we can be," Shepherd said. "What could have been a disaster turned out to be a terrific couple of finals, albeit with some reduced time. It shows we can deliver. We've been doing it for 150 years so we should be getting good at it.

"We've struggled in the last year as you can imagine, we lose money with games played with reduced numbers, it actually costs us money. So this has been very hard for us financially in the last nine months, so we're looking to cricket to help us get back financially on our feet. Not just from an emotional point of view but a financial point of view it's important for us, and the role of this new merged sporting entity, is to grow events in NSW."

That shared entity to run all NSW stadiums, which has been nicknamed the "Super Trust", took a significant hit when the Gabba claimed the AFL decider. "We were disappointed the Grand Final went to Brisbane, we understand why it went there but we think we could've done a really good job here in Sydney and everyone would've been safe, but that's the AFL's decision," he said. "But that fired us up...we were going 'now listen, we've got to make sure this doesn't happen again'."

In some ways, the idea for an extra portion of India's tour in New South Wales had sat in Shepherd's mind well before Covid-19 hit, thanks to a chance meeting outside the SCG gates in February. "I was walking past the SCG just before the pandemic, eight or nine months ago and there was an Indian guy just standing at the gate, looking in at the ground. I said 'you right mate' and he said 'oh look, I booked for the tour but I missed the start point and I'm going back to India tomorrow and I just wanted to see the SCG before I went home'.

"I said 'oh alright, come with me' and I took him inside and walked around and we had a look and took him out onto the field and all that. He was knocked flat. It is just so special to them, they probably recognise the SCG and Lord's as equivalent grounds around the world."

Boxing Day, then, will remain at the MCG. By then, however, Sydney will have already played an indelible part in getting international cricket played down under in the time of coronavirus.

Gautam Gambhir believes that despite the Chennai Super Kings enduring its poorest season in IPL history this time in the UAE, the franchise will retain MS Dhoni as their captain in 2021 because of the "fabulous relationship" they share.