Number nine, number nine, number nine . . . Whatever the musical tastes of coaches in the RBS 6 Nations Championship, it would seem that John Lennon’s bizarre riff from The Beatles’ White Album has been echoing through their collective subconscious over the past two weeks.

Four of the six teams in Saturday’s trio of matches have different starting scrum-halves to last time. Morgan Parra and Richard Wigglesworth wear the number nine shirts for France and England respectively at the Stade de France, while Dwayne Peel of Wales confronts Simon Picone of Italy at the Millennium Stadium.