Ireland, Scotland and Italy have all been forced to alter their squads ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations fixtures due to injuries.

James Lowe added to Ireland squad:
Leinster wing James Lowe has been added to the Ireland squad after a stunning return this past weekend.

Lowe missed the games against Wales and France due to injury, but came off the bench to score a brilliant try for Leinster in their 29-7 URC victory over the Ospreys at the RDS on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Leinster teammate Jimmy O’Brien has also been rewarded for his recent good performances with a call-up.

The 14 players who were released to play with their provinces over the weekend return to the Ireland squad.

Scotland call up six players as injuries mount:
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has been forced into a reshuffle of his squad as the injury list grows longer.

After Jamie Ritchie was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury against England, Cam Redpath, Scott Cummings, Rory Sutherland and Jonny Gray have all returned to their clubs to deal with injuries.

Locks Gray and Gilchrist have been ruled out of the France match with ankle and knee injuries, respectively, while centre Redpath also misses out.

All three will continue to be assessed in the coming weeks ahead of the remaining two games against Italy and Ireland.

Sutherland sustained a rib injury in the loss to Wales and is undergoing rehab.

Scarlets prop Javan Sebastian will also stay in west Wales, with Glasgow Warriors tighthead prop Simon Berghan replacing him as one of six call-ups ahead of the clash with France.

Prop Oli Kebble, uncapped pair Ollie Smith and Kiran McDonald, second rower Marshall Sykes, centre James Lang and back rower Josh Bayliss are the other players to join up with the squad.

Italy suffer injury blows:
Italy are facing a growing injury list as they aim to end a seven-year wait for a Six Nations victory.

A clash with Ireland in Dublin hardly seems the likeliest place for that elusive victory to come after 34 consecutive defeats, but matters are made harder with Kieran Crowley suffering more injury blows within his squad.

Benetton wing Ratuva Tavuyara and uncapped Grenoble fullback Ange Capuozzo have not returned to camp this week after picking up injuries while playing for their clubs over the weekend.

While neither has featured in the tournament yet, they leave Crowley short of back-three options having already lost 19-year-old wing Tommaso Menoncello to injury.

Italy are also without a big group of forwards – Sebastian Negri, Marco Fuser, Jake Polledri, Marco Riccioni, Riccardo Favretto, Simone Ferrari and Johan Meyer just some of the names missing – as well as experienced centre Luca Morisi for the clash with Ireland.

Crowley has invited three uncapped backs – Filippo Di Marco, Alessandro Forcucci and Ludovico Vaccari – from Italian club side Fiamme Oro Rugby to train with his squad this week.

© Agence France-Presse