England

England’s last-gasp defeat by France will have their fans discussing certain moments for years to come, but their indiscipline throughout the Six Nations came to the fore once again – particularly at the end of both halves in Paris.

Leading 27-17 with half-time looming, Ellis Genge was sin-binned after referee Nika Amashukeli ruled the prop had dragged down a maul, soon after two quick penalties had handed momentum back to France.

“After those three penalties in less than two minutes, England then conceded 21 points including that penalty try,” former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton said on BBC Rugby Special.

“Then with 14 men they conceded another 14 points, so that is 21 points in that period. It was a really crucial two minutes that they got wrong.”

Then in the dying moments of normal time with England 46-45 ahead, the referee gave France the option of a penalty kick from either of two positions, following infringements by Trevor Davison and Maro Itoje.

Thomas Ramos made no mistake to secure the title for France. Speaking on Rugby Special, former Scotland captain John Barclay said that short spell will be one England will regret.

“In the final two minutes after Tommy Freeman scored, France had a player in the sin-bin. When England look at how they managed this period, they had the game in their hands and threw it away.

“It was a really disappointing end for England. It will be a really tough debriefing on how they manage those crucial moments in the final bit of the game.

“Across the championship they are the top for penalties conceded, with eight yellows and one red, and the damage it did to them – they conceded 63 points with a player off the pitch.”

The tournament opened with Italy shocking Scotland in Rome to put Gregor Townsend under pressure.

His side then delivered an emphatic win over England at Murrayfield to end their rivals’ 12-game unbeaten run.

The pressure then mounted on Borthwick as his side were outclassed by Ireland at Allianz Stadium.

While all that was happening, France cruised past Ireland, Wales and Italy to start a narrative that anything other than a Grand Slam would be a failure.

Scotland then blew away Galthie’s side, before conceding a late flurry of tries, to head into the final round with a genuine shot of a first Six Nations title.

To add more drama into the mix, Italy overcame England in Rome to mount further pressure on Borthwick.

Wales may have lost their opening four games, but they improved as the championship went on, producing an impressive bonus-point win over Italy to end the tournament.

They finished with a third consecutive Wooden Spoon – but a first win in the championship since 2023 offered huge relief.

Despite an improved display in Paris, England finished the tournament with four defeats – their worst-ever campaign.

“It was one of the most captivating Six Nations in history, fitting it came down to one final moment of drama,” BBC rugby correspondent Chris Jones said.

The 2015 Six Nations has been regarded as the greatest tournament for entertainment because of the three-team Super Saturday title race.

It similarly went right down to the wire.

However, this year’s competition delivered from round one right to the final kick, with each nation having their own story – and surely leaps to the top of the list.

“England were blistering – their pace, their skill, their intensity, their physicality and they had a genuine chance of winning,” said former England scrum-half Matt Dawson on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I feel for the players because they are going to be down, but I want them to be super, super positive because if they carry on playing like that for the next 18 months they are going to challenge in big tournaments and big games, and they are going to win big games.”

And yet. When the adrenaline levels drop, questions will also be raised.

Should England have made victory stick?

With the restart regathered by Chessum, the ball safely at the base, Sam Underhill, Henry Pollock and Chandler Cunningham-South on their feet as a potential pod, and only two minutes left on the clock, could England have kept ball in hand and run down the clock?

Instead, Jack van Poortvliet, who had brought some zip off the bench, opted to kick the ball away and infield. Matthieu Jalibert, a broken-field fiend, accepted the invite to run back and England were back under the pump.

Closing out victories was a repeated failing in a series of close defeats in autumn 2024. It is a habit that England don’t want to reacquire.

One they definitely haven’t kicked yet is indiscipline. Only one of the 162 team campaigns in Six Nations history – Italy 2002 – has picked up more cards than England have this year.

Eight yellows, two of which combined to make Henry Arundell’s 20-minute red against Scotland, have hobbled England throughout.

Ellis Genge was dispatched to the sin-bin seat of shame in Paris, adjudged to have cynically dragged down a France driving maul that was destined for the line.

It may have been a marginal call, but, backed up to their own line, England knew the stakes were high and the punishment for any infringement would be heavy.

France raced back into the lead in the prop’s absence.

Wood has been plagued by injuries during his career – including multiple knee and elbow operations – which have robbed England for periods of one of their finest strike bowlers.

He spent seven months rehabilitating his knee in order to be fit for the Ashes and lamented not being able to play some games for his county before heading to Australia for the series.

“I tried to get back at certain points but my knee wasn’t quite ready,” he said.

“It’s easy in hindsight, even if I was at 80% then at least the game would have given us an indicator of where I was.”

He was thought to have been close to a return in the home summer, but ultimately did not take the field until England’s only Ashes warm-up game against the Lions at Lilac Hill in November.

He bowled eight overs but was only cleared to play in the first Test following a hamstring scan.

For now, although focused on his recovery, Wood said he has been thinking about life after cricket: “I’ve started thinking about other things, doing podcasts, doing my coaching badges.

“I’ve now started to try and think for the first time about what I should do if this doesn’t go well.”

Wood – regarded as one of the fastest bowlers to play for England – has taken 119 wickets in 38 Tests since making his debut in 2015.

He was part of the 2015 Ashes-winning side, lifted the 2019 50-over World Cup and won the T20 World Cup in 2022.

A video out of RAF Fairford in England shows American B-1Bs getting prepped for a strike mission against Iran. In addition to the staple AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles being readied for loading onto the ‘Bones,’ we see GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) equipped with BLU-109 2,000-lb bunker buster warheads. We can also see the revolving weapons rack being extracted from the B-1’s weapons bay. The move from cruise missiles to JDAMs, at least for some targets, is a sign that air supremacy over Iran is becoming more assured, at least in some areas. You can read all about how the U.S. and Israel had not achieved air supremacy last week in our report linked here.

The videos were posted on X by journalist Richard Gaisford and can be seen below:

The bomber force at RAF Fairford has expanded even larger over the last couple of days. There were nine American bombers at Fairford — three B-52s and six B-1s — as of the start of this week. Now there are 15 total — three B-52s and 12 B-1Bs.

Bomber aircraft can achieve far greater and more varied effects if they are allowed to directly strike targets instead of relying on cruise missiles fired at standoff ranges. This is especially true for delivering withering assaults on large target areas via a belly full of JDAMs. It also allows the aircraft to do this against targets that require bunker-buster capabilities. So far, we only know of the B-2 that has executed large-scale bunker buster attacks in Iran, using its stealth capabilities, as well as support from the total force, to ensure it can safely return from the mission. Fighters have been able to deliver much smaller numbers of these weapons onto targets deeper in Iran. Opening up these same target sets to forward-deployed B-1s and B-52s would help change the pace and impact of the air campaign.

Potential targets include large industrial complexes used for long-range weapons production and development, command and control bunkers, nuclear-program related sites, and, maybe most likely, keeping Iran’s underground ‘missile cities’ entombed by bombing their entrances so that the weapons that are housed inside can not be put to use.

B-1s first mission to Iran out of RAF Fairford UK

Still, B-1s and B-52s will likely operate over western Iran, where degradation of enemy air defenses has been the focus for nearly two weeks. Venturing into the eastern part of the country, which has seen far less attention, probably remains too risky. This is underscored by the map below, which the Pentagon released yesterday, showing the distribution of strikes across Iran during the first 10 days of the conflict (February 28 to March 9).

We still don’t know if the U.S. military will activate Diego Garcia as another forward operating location for its bombers. The U.K. government approved the use of both Fairford and Diego Garcia last week after denying that access leading up to the war. We have seen some heavy transport movements in satellite imagery to the remote island outpost in the Indian Ocean, and KC-135 tankers and force protection F-16s are still there, so it’s possible this could occur or has already happened. Cloud cover has kept the island obscured in satellite imagery for the last few days. Of course, such a deployment all depends on how long this campaign will actually last, with conflicting signals from the Trump administration as to its planned duration and exit strategy.

Regardless, it looks like the B-1s are going to be using their extremely large payload capacity to directly attack hardened Iranian targets in the very near future.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

THE top 50 cities to visit in 2026 have been revealed, and the UK hasn’t done too badly.

Time Out has teamed up with Intrepid for its annual Best Cities of 2026, speaking to 24,000 people living in cities around the world.

A panel of 100 Time Out city experts were also asked about the most exciting cities in the world, looking at data from 44 different criteria.

This includes food and drink, green spaces, culture, sense of community and Gen Z appeal.

While Melbourne came out on top, Edinburgh came in third, followed by London in fourth.

Edinburgh was praised for its famous Fringe Festival, as well as its “cherry-blossom-lined parks, cobbled alleyways and distinctive neighbourhoods that offer hours of exploration”.

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It was also one of the happiest cities in the survey, with it highly rated for both food and green spaces.

When it comes to London, its the new attractions that were praised such as the Museum of London in Smithfield.

And 99 per cent of Londoners praised its art and culture.

Bath snuck into the full top 50 at number 26, praised for its new hotels, good community feel and the celebration of 20 years of the Thermae Bath Spa.

Time Out Travel Editor Grace Beard said: “Every year, we survey locals in cities all over the planet to create our definitive annual ranking.

“Now in its tenth anniversary year. Time Out’s Best Cities with Intrepid Travel is not only a global snapshot of city living, but a celebration of the fun, culture and community that defines urban life.

“For 2026, we expanded our survey to reach 150 cities and added questions that dig deeper into the everyday lives of locals, including new categories for love, romance and community feel.

“The result is a truly diverse and exciting list of destinations, deeply informed by local insight and Time Out expertise, with smaller and second cities slotted between the world’s major metropolises.”

Outside of the UK, the highest rated city in mainland Europe was Zurich, coming in 11th place.

This was followed by Copenhagen (13), Krakow (16) and Porto (17).

The Spanish cities of Madrid and Valencia snuck into the top in 19th and 20th, respectively.

For long-haul destinations, New York, Bangkok and Tokyo all made the top 10.

Shanghai was praised for being easier to travel to this year, following the scrapping of visas until the end of 2026, while Seoul was one of the most popular with Time Out staff.

Another study named the 100 best cities in Europe, featuring 17 in the UK – here’s the full list.

The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor has been to more than 100 cities around the world and has named her favourite ways to do it on a budget.

And London was even named the world’s best city by Tripadvisor so we rounded up all of our top things to do in the capital.

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All times GMT

Round 1

Ireland v England – Friday 5 February (20:10)

Scotland v Italy – Saturday 6 February (14:10)

France v Wales – Saturday 6 February (16:40)

Round 2

Italy v Ireland – Saturday 13 February (14:10)

Scotland v Wales – Saturday 13 February (16:40)

England v France – Sunday 14 February (15:10)

Round 3

Wales v Ireland – Saturday 20 February (14:10)

England v Italy – Saturday 20 February (16:40)

France v Scotland – Sunday 21 February (15:10)

Round 4

Scotland v Ireland – Friday 5 March (20:10)

Italy v France – Saturday 6 March (14:10)

Wales v England – Saturday 6 March (16:40)

Round 5

Italy v Wales – Saturday 13 March (14:10)

England v Scotland – Saturday 13 March (16:40)

Ireland v France – Saturday 13 March (20:10)

Steve Borthwick’s boss has given the England coach his backing, but says there will be a full examination of the woeful Six Nations campaign after the team’s final-round match against France on Saturday.

England are fifth in the table and well out of the title running after successive defeats by Scotland, Ireland and Italy – which was the first ever loss to the Azzurri – ruined their ambitions and prompted questions over Borthwick’s future.

“After a 12-match winning run, these past three results have been hugely disappointing, and we feel that just as much as everyone else,” said Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney.

“Steve and his coaching team are working tirelessly to make improvements, and we remain fully committed to supporting them and the players as they face France this weekend and then look ahead to the Nations Championship.

“Part of that support is being open about what hasn’t gone right during this Six Nations and making sure everyone has a clear sense of how we move through those challenges together. That’s something we’ll be talking through and working on in the days and weeks ahead.

“We will work together to understand and rectify why we have been unable to meet the expectations and anticipation going into these games.

“England fans rightly expect a team that learns and grows through adversity, and we’re confident this group will do everything they can to deliver that.”

Borthwick defended his record and the direction of the team after Italy, who had lost their previous 32 games against England, ran out 23-18 winners in Rome.

“Absolutely,” replied the 46-year-old when asked if he was the right man for the job.

“Right now this is a tough period, but what we will do is learn from it and make sure we are stronger going forward.

“It is tough right now and we are not hiding away from the fact it is tough.”

More to follow.

In the build-up to the match, Borthwick had urged his side to chance their arm and throw one more pass. But Italy looked quicker witted and more ambitious throughout.

A pair of clever kicks from fly-half Paolo Garbisi – the second, a well-weighted sideways nudge to release Ioane – set up the field position from which the fly-half kicked the first points of the match on 21 minutes.

An accurate long line-out throw and an Earl rumble gave England the momentum to put Tommy Freeman in for his ninth Test try, although Smith pushed the kickable conversion wide and Italy lurked dangerously as England continued to splutter.

Five minutes before the break, Menoncello – Italy’s leading metre-maker, clean-breaker and defender-beater so far in the championship – made good on the threat.

The 23-year-old carved past a startled Heyes on the fringe of a breakdown and galloped over to put Italy 10-5 in front.

England recovered. Albeit briefly.

A smart kick from Smith switched play to Tom Roebuck, and the Sale wing showed deft footwork to scamper in on the stroke of half-time.

A pair of Smith penalties after the break stretched England’s lead out to 18-10 and England seemed to be turning the tide of the contest, with Underhill and Itoje both burrowing deep for turnovers.

However, with 25 minutes to go and the match seemingly there for the taking, England’s contrived to hand the initiative back to Italy.

Underhill and Itoje watched on grimly from the sidelines as first Garbisi’s boot and then their backline’s all-court brilliance – Ioane stepping Roebuck in a sliver of space, Menoncello bullocking on and Marin gleefully scampering in – wrenched the contest out of their grasp.

England found some late urgency as they vainly chased the game. Ollie Chessum bust a hole to spin the Italian defence, but the scramble snuffed out the danger.

England looked dazed and at the end of days, as the clock went red, the ball went dead and the Stadio Olimpico lit up and leapt to its feet around them.

Defeat by France in Paris next weekend would mark only the third time in the 115-year history of the Five and Six Nations that England have lost four games in a single campaign.

One UK village is known for its strict preservation rules managed by the Fitzwilliam Wentworth Amenity Trust, which dictate everything from the colour of front doors to banning takeaways

For those who enjoy putting their personal stamp on their home decor, England’s ‘strictest’ village might not be the ideal place to settle down. In this locale, creativity takes a backseat as virtually everything is painted in a uniform shade of green. Fast food lovers and supermarket shoppers might also want to give the Yorkshire village of Wentworth a wide berth, as both takeaways and supermarkets are strictly off-limits.

The historic estate village is renowned for its stringent conservation rules, overseen by the Fitzwilliam Wentworth Amenity Trust. Takeaways, supermarkets, and ‘flashing neon signs’ are all prohibited in an effort to maintain the village’s traditional charm.

Instead, dining options are confined to a handful of classic establishments such as the Rockingham Arms, the George and Dragon pub, and the Village Tearooms.

Every front door in the village must adhere to a specific hue known as “Wentworth Green” (alternatively referred to as Hollybush Green or BS 14C39). Drainpipes and gates typically need to match this colour, whilst window frames should be painted off-white.

The majority of the village’s buildings boast external walls constructed from local sandstone, and any alterations must receive the trust’s approval.

Influencer Robbie Thompson, who boasts a following of 87,500 on Instagram, recently posted a reel about the village, dubbing it the “strictest village in England”.

In his video, he revealed that the village’s pubs, shops, and restaurants exclusively serve British cuisine and that a traffic and tourism steering group keeps a close eye on parking and traffic levels.

Robbie, who bills himself as a ‘champion of British food’, also revealed the village shop – fittingly called The Village Shop – stocks English jams, chutneys, teacakes, black pudding pork pies and what he describes as an “incredibly good” steak and ale pie served with mushy peas, mint sauce and gravy.

Over at the tea room (simplu named The Village Tea Room), Robbie insists proprietor Jane whips up the “lightest lemon sponge you’ll ever eat”.

As for the local pubs, you’ll discover more British staples including Scotch Eggs and Sticky Toffee puddings, the influencer reports.

He further notes you’ll come across honesty boxes scattered throughout the village flogging locally-sourced honey and eggs.

The post proved a massive hit, clocking up over 53,000 likes, with one person gushing: “Love this.”

Someone else commented: “That steak pie with mushy peas looked real legit though.”

A third person weighed in: “I’m Filipino and I love visiting villages like this. I always say British people should be proud their culture.”

Though one viewer couldn’t resist joking: “Looks like they could do with a kebab shop.”

“I’m enjoying the role across all formats and I’d love to carry that on,” added McCullum.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to be in this position over the past three and a half years. I feel like we’ve made some significant improvements across the various formats.

“Yes, we’ve missed some opportunities, but I think this team has a real opportunity over the coming years to continue to improve and hopefully finish what we started. I’d love to be a part of that.”

Key backed McCullum during the Ashes, but neither ECB chief executive Richard Gould nor chair Richard Thompson have publicly spoken on his future.

At the end of the Ashes, McCullum also received support from Test skipper Ben Stokes, while the relationship between McCullum and Brook has blossomed during the T20 World Cup.

Asked after the semi-final defeat if McCullum should stay in charge, Brook said: “125%. I’ve said plenty of times he’s the best coach I’ve ever had.

“The way he speaks to everybody, he’s got an aura in the dressing room, and everybody looks up to him. The things he’s done over the four years since he took over has changed English cricket for hopefully the best.

“Our partnership has been good throughout the competition and since I’ve taken over. Long may it continue.”

Failures in away Ashes tours have often signalled change in the management of England teams.

Speaking on Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain said the ECB has to guard against repeating the mistakes of the past, while not ignoring the failures of this latest defeat in Australia.

“What you have to get away from is going to the Ashes, you lose, you get rid of the coach and captain, and you start all over again. I’m never a fan of that,” said Hussain.

“But I’m also not keen on, a couple of months later, forgetting what happened in the Ashes, and how poor England were on and off the field – all the mistakes that were made.

“There is a feeling Brook and McCullum are aligned, but there is a suggestion there was a divergence during the Ashes and that is a concern.

“They’ve made good decisions in the white-ball game that they didn’t in the Ashes. They missed an opportunity there and you can’t just brush over that.”

Sanju Samson hit 89 for India as they posted 253-6 and beat England by 7 runs in second semifinal of cricket’s 2026 T20 World Cup.

Defending champions India edged one of the all-time great T20 World Cup matches to beat England by seven runs in their semifinal in Mumbai.

Sanju Samson appeared to put the tournament co-hosts in a near-unassailable position with a total of 253-6 on Thursday, but a century for Jacob Bethell put England on the verge of a historic run chase.

Having found themselves 64-3 inside the powerplay, England were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat at Wankhede Stadium.

A cameo of 17 from 5 balls by Tom Banton ignited the chase, however, and Will Jacks’s 35 from 20 aided matter in a partnership of 77 in 6.3 overs with Bethell.

When the latter fell – run out in the final over – with 105 from 48 balls, the game was up and India were on their way to the final as England finished on 246-7

Suryakumar Yadav’s side will now seek a record third T20 World Cup title when they take on New Zealand on Sunday.

Earlier, England decided to field upon winning the toss, but saw Samson’s scintillating 89 off 42 balls lay the platform for India to pile up a massive total.

The in-form opener, who made 97 not out against the West Indies in the previous match, hit seven sixes and eight fours to thrill a raucous home crowd.

The hosts flayed England’s attack to all parts of the ground, hitting 19 sixes and 18 fours, meaning Harry Brook’s side needed a T20 World Cup record chase of 254 to reach the final.

Samson signalled his intent with a four and six off Jofra Archer’s first over after Brook won the toss and decided to bowl.

Jacks took the second over and struck a blow for England when Abhishek Sharma (9) lifted the off-spinner to Phil Salt at deep mid-wicket.

Samson was given a life on 15 when Brook dropped a simple chance at mid-off off Archer.

It proved a costly mistake as, helped by some ill-disciplined bowling, Samson raced to his half-century off 26 balls with another huge six as Liam Dawson’s first over was pummelled for 19 runs.

Ishan Kishan put on 97 from 48 balls with Samson for the second wicket before the left-hander holed out to Jacks off Adil Rashid in the 10th over to make it 117-2.

Samson powered on until Jacks returned to have him caught by Salt in the deep in the 14th over, at which point India were 160-3.

Shivam Dube continued the onslaught with 43 off 25 balls with four sixes before being run out by Brook’s direct hit.

Hardik Pandya hit 27 off 12 balls late on and Tilak Varma 21 off seven balls to take India past the 250 mark.

Jacks was the pick of the England bowlers with 2-40 but the wayward Archer was plundered, taking 1-61 off his four overs.

New Zealand beat South Africa in a comprehensive victory on Wednesday and await in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad.

WHEN you think of beautiful attractions to go to on holiday, toilets are rarely top of the list.

But a shopping centre’s bogs have been called the most beautiful in the world – and they hardly look like the ones in Westfield.

The toilets are on the sixth floor of the Deji Plaza Mall in Nanjing in China.

Dubbed the world’s most beautiful bathroom by Architectural Digest, they opened back in 2022 and were designed by X+Living, a Shanghai-based architecture firm.

Inside, are seven relaxation areas as well as male and female toilets.

Visitors enter through what is known as the ‘Experience Hall’ with dark greens and nods to insects and plant life.

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For example, black and white tiles on the floor mimic butterfly wings with touches of gold meant resemble bees.

There’s even a lounge between the men’s and women’s loos, with plush pink sofas designed to look like a ‘flower blooming’.

Guests can make use of glowing vanities too, as well as wireless charging points, with a dressing room per loo.

For mums there is a nursery room and in case of an incident, there is a medical room as well.

The same shopping mall has more themed toilets on other floors.

For example, on the second floor the toilets have a retro style, on the third floor the theme is futuristic.

The fourth floor has a Japanese theme and on the fifth floor the design is ‘extravagant’ and even features a piano.

The sixth floor toilets have several viral videos on social media with people commenting: “That’s a toilet? It looks so much better than most hotels.”

Another person said: “It’s an experience, so much outfit of the day spots.”

A third person commented: “Never thought toilets would be a public attraction but those toilets are very beautiful.”

While nowhere near as grand, London‘s has new loos as well.

New public toilets were unveiled at the Grade-II listed, Piccadilly Circus Tube Station this week, described as “London’s newest tourist attraction”, according to The Standard.

Inside the loos, visitors are greeted by bold blue, pink and yellow tiles.

Murals have been designed by London-based artist James Lambert, with each tile hand-painted and hand-made.

The design of the toilets is inspired by Anteros, the god of requited love and features winged-figures and an arrow motif, meant to show “energy, spectacle, and connection”.

The motif of different lines and shapes is meant to reflect the Art Deco history of the area.

This includes the redesign of the underground station in the 1920s by Charles Holden.

Other venues nearby that feature an Art Deco design include Brasserie Zedel, which has gilded columns and a lavish American cocktail bar.

To see the toilets (or actually use them) at Piccadilly Circus Tube Station, you’ll need to pay the 80p entrance fee.

The toilets are part of a £12.7million council project to upgrade a total of eight public toilets in London including at Green Park, Covent Garden and Leicester Square.

For more toilet-based tourist destinations, last year a Victorian public toilet was turned into a hotel – in the middle of a historic city.

Plus, Tripadvisor’s top-ranked UK toilet is in Scots seaside town and even has its own visitors’ book.

Follow our live build up, with full toss and team news coverage, ahead of our live text commentary stream.

With England needing 43 from the last 18 balls to beat New Zealand on Friday, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed put on an unbeaten partnership of 44 from 16 balls to secure the win.

In the previous two games, England made a below-par 146-9 against Sri Lanka only to dismiss their co-hosts for 95 to secure victory, and were 58-4 against Pakistan before Brook himself hit a stunning century.

Those three victories followed a group stage where England struggled to beat Nepal, Scotland and Italy and were beaten by West Indies.

Their success also follows the dismal Ashes tour of Australia in Test cricket.

“I don’t believe we need a perfect game to win the competition,” said Brook, who is leading England for the first time at a World Cup.

“We’ve won those tight games which in World Cups prove to be very important and we’ve got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game.

“We’ve got a lot of competitive lads. Everybody wants to win, which is a given really, but even off the field when we’re playing golf, playing cards, whatever, everybody is always really competitive and they always have that slight edge and they take it out into the cricket as well.”

Brook said he expects Thursday’s atmosphere to be “awesome”, with the match to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in front of 33,000 spectators.

England resisted naming an XI before the toss, but seam-bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton appears likely to replace leg-spinner Ahmed.

India were the overwhelming pre-tournament favourites but have also stuttered at times in the competition.

They were given a scare by the United States in the group stage and were well beaten by South Africa in the Super 8s.

“I said the other day there’s a lot of pressure on both sides, potentially more on them going into here with the crowd and the disappointment they had against South Africa as well,” Brook said.

“But we’re just going to go out there, stick to what we know and assess conditions as quickly as possible and give it real good fight.”

It was a new-look England as Wiegman is managing the return of several key players from injury, while rewarding those in form.

Manchester City’s Laura Blindkilde Brown was handed a rare start, while London City Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson made her debut in the second half.

The back four in the starting XI had fewer than 100 caps combined – with captain Leah Williamson earning 65 of them – as Maya Le Tissier was at right-back over Lucy Bronze, while Taylor Hinds started her third game in four matches at left-back.

In-form Jess Park was playing out wide, as she has done for Manchester United so impressively this season, rather than in midfield where Wiegman has often used her.

It was uncharacteristically experimental from Wiegman considering this was their first competitive fixture since Euro 2025 and it took time to take shape.

England had 40 touches in the opposition box and 85% of the possession in the first half, but failed to score from their 15 efforts on goal.

The tempo had dropped, Ukraine were defending well and England’s hopes of flying out of the blocks had not materialised.

“They didn’t quite figure it out in the first half. They were a little bit stunned about what to do,” ex-England midfielder Fran Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live Extra.

“Ukraine defended really well. They were really tight between the lines and they made it very difficult for England.

“They needed to have a little bit more composure in the box instead of crossing it for the sake of crossing it.

“The second half showed that they learned from the first half in terms of what wasn’t working.”

With a side stacked full of quality, the two-time European champions responded in the second half.

Arsenal striker Alessia Russo netted two goals in four minutes to put England in control, before a double from Georgia Stanway took them out of Ukraine’s reach.

Wiegman’s “clear win” was confirmed when Park also scored twice later on.

“I think it took us the first half to break them down. We were still very good in the first half. They were defensively solid,” said Russo afterwards.

“When the spaces opened, we took our chances. I wouldn’t say it was relief [when we scored]. We knew we had the quality in us and it was just executing it.

“It was finding the final moment, the final pass and the final shot. You saw that in the second half.”

After reaching the final of the 2023 World Cup, England will hope to go one better at the 2027 edition, which will be hosted by Brazil.

To celebrate the start of their World Cup journey, which begins with qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland, we’re looking back at a historic night in Doncaster.

In November 2021, they recorded their largest ever competitive victory, beating 102nd-ranked Latvia 20-0 in a World Cup qualifier at the Keepmoat Stadium.

It was a game which ended with a stonking 10 names on the scoresheet – including four who bagged hat-tricks, one who had never scored a senior goal for England before, and one who broke a national record in the process.

But who were they? We’ve given the minute each goal went in as a clue.

Despite any talk of top-order frailties, India remain a frightening T20 team.

Yes, they were well beaten by South Africa and given a scare by USA but there is a reason they came into this tournament as overwhelming favourites.

Between the end of the last T20 World Cup in 2024 and the start of this, India won 33 of their 41 matches making them the most consistent team cricket’s most inconsistent format has seen.

With the bat, they started slowly in this tournament but gained momentum by scoring 256-4 against Zimbabwe in the penultimate match of the Super 8s.

They scored 69 runs in the final four overs that day – something that is becoming a clear strength.

India are only the 10th fastest-scoring team in the middle phase of an innings but have hit more boundaries than anyone else at the death. They have hit 57 boundaries in the last four overs compared to England’s 44.

And while India have not lost a T20 at the Wankhede since 2017, it is a ground with bad memories for England.

It is where they lost to West Indies in the group stage, were beaten by a record 150 runs by India last year – Abhishek scored 135 from 54 balls that day – and lost to South Africa in their largest one-day international defeat in terms of runs at the 2023 World Cup.

That day, England wilted in the Mumbai heat and temperatures are forecast to hit 39 degrees during the daylight hours on Thursday.

It will not be much cooler when the match begins at 19:00 local time.

Now 17, Westlake has been included in an England training camp in preparation for a warm-up match against France next month and April’s U18 Six Nations Festival in Vichy, France.

“England Rugby was always a massive thing for me growing up,” says Westlake, looking back.

“I just loved England and I’m very patriotic.

“I remember getting into the tunnel and asking Chris Robshaw if he was ready.

“Then we cracked on, went out and I think I thought I was going to play!

“You see me walking out and almost staring everyone down.

“Before it, my mum had said to me, ‘Make sure you sing it loud and sing it proud’.

“So I just thought, ‘All right, I’ll do that’.”

Westlake was playing for Devonport Services under-7s at the time, but already had his eyes on the big stage, with plans to become England fly-half or centre.

That part probably won’t come to pass.

Westlake, who plays in Exeter’s academy, is now a hard-running back row, channelling the energy and drive of Ben Earl and Henry Pollock, even if he does cite childhood hero Owen Farrell as the embodiment of the mentality he aspires to.

Westlake has already had to show resilience to keep pursuing his dream.

“Rugby has always been the focus, even if the ride hasn’t necessarily been as smooth as it could have been,” he says.

Westlake has Crohn’s disease, a chronic gut inflammation.

“I’m on medication which I take every eight weeks, which sort of ticks me over and gets me through,” he explains.

“There was a two, three, four-year period where it was pretty tough, but we’re getting through it now.

“It affects energy levels so for two or three days before my medication is due, I’ll struggle and then a day after I’ll struggle as well.”

Harry’s anthem moment was not his even his first experience meeting the England squad.

After using an image of Harry on father Kevin’s shoulders at a match the previous year in publicity material, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) had brought both into the team hotel to meet the players and coach Stuart Lancaster.

The most drastic option also appears the least likely.

Buttler, who signed a new two-year central contract last year, has been a mainstay of England’s white-ball teams for more than a decade. Could they really leave him out entirely for a World Cup semi-final?

That encounter may be at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, where Buttler has made scores of 94 not out, 89 and 116 in the IPL.

Ben Duckett is the spare batter in England’s squad – another man struggling for form.

Duckett is averaging 18.88 across 12 matches this winter across all formats and was out for a first-ball duck in his most recent innings at the start of the month.

Leg-spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed would be a left-field replacement. That would be a massive call.

Perhaps Friday’s match against New Zealand, effectively a dead rubber for England given they are already through, is the perfect, pressure-free opportunity for Buttler to help make the hierarchy’s decision an easy one.

“Who is writing Jos Buttler off?,” said former England spinner Alex Hartley.

“If you are, get a grip. He is one of those players where it takes one shot crunched through the covers and he will be back.

“It would be a worry if England were not winning games. I have no doubt when push comes to shove Jos Buttler will be OK.”