Nic Berry will not referee the France-England showdown on 14 March. The Australian has been replaced by Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli, who will be assisted by Ireland’s Andrew Brace and Scotland’s Hollie Davidson.

The former Racing 92 scrum-half will not take charge of Italy-England in Rome this Saturday either. Scotland’s Sam Grove-White steps in. The reason? The war in the Middle East and the air travel disruption that has followed. The Middle East is a major stopover on routes to Europe or Asia.