LONDON (AP) — The northern hemisphere’s top nations begin their preparations for the Rugby World Cup in earnest on Saturday with the first batch of warmup matches ahead of the tournament in France starting Sept. 8.
Wales will give a 100th cap to fullback Leigh Halfpenny in its match against England in Cardiff, while flanker Jac Morgan will captain the Welsh for the first time with Ken Owens out.
Owens was ruled out of at least the World Cup’s pool stage because of a back injury.
Scotland will also have a new captain, in Finn Russell, for its match against France at Murrayfield with regular skipper Jamie Ritchie missing through injury.
Scotland has already played one warmup match, a 25-13 win over Italy on Saturday.
Italy is also playing again this weekend with a trip to Six Nations champion and Grand Slam winner Ireland.
Ireland will be without star flyhalf Johnny Sexton for its entire warmup campaign after he was handed a three-game ban for misconduct. He will, however, be available for the start of the World Cup.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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