George North seals Welsh comeback against France in thrilling Six Nations opener

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of France vs Wales in the 2019 Six Nations.

Join us from 7pm when we will begin building up to this year's curtain-raiser.

Bonjour, noswaith dda and welcome to the 2019 Six Nations.

It is a Rugby World Cup year, and though eyes are peering around the corner at Japan, the importance of rugby's great annual competition has not been diminished.

There will be thrills, spills and much, much more over six weeks of high-quality action, and it all begins on the outskirts of Paris at the Stade de France

France are rugby's great enigma, capable of the gorgeous and the grotesque, often simultaneously. Jacques Brunel's side are coming off an embarrassing defeat to Fiji that ended an awful Autumn international series, and have lost six of their last seven against their opponents tonight.

Warren Gatland's Wales head to Paris confident that a victory could set them on their way towards the Six Nations title. They host Ireland and England later in the tournament, and with more favourable trips to Edinburgh and Rome to come, things might just be lining up nicely for a Grand Slam.

But that is far too hasty. And first, they'll have to get past a remodelled, rebuilt French side ready to return to the international stage...

TEAM NEWS - French forwards

It is a French team built on the principles that have sparked Toulouse's resurgent form this season. A mammoth pack contrasts a lighter, more dynamic backline marshalled by a pair of typically silky halfbacks. 

There is no forward more monstrous than Uini Atonio, the 152-kilogram behemoth who will man the tighthead alongside captain Guilhem Guirado and Jefferson Poirot in a front row who will pack a punch at scrum-time.

Behind them, physical South African-born lock Paul Willemse debuts for his adopted nation, partnering Sebastien Vahaamahina in a sizeable second row. Arthur Iturria and Wenceslas Lauret are deployed on the flanks to add height, with both capable of slipping into the second row if need be, while Louis Picamoles is a ball-carrying bastion at Number Eight.

TEAM NEWS - French backs

Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez partner at international level for just the second time, but the pair have dovetailed beautifully at Clermont for several years and Jacques Brunel will be glad to finally have his first-choice pairing at nine and ten.

Romain Ntamack (more on him later) is the other debutant in the French side, with Wesley Fofana (in his final year as an international) providing experience at outside him in the centres. Damian Penaud gets the nod over Gael Fickou in terms of converted centres competing for a wing slot, while Yoann Huget and Maxime Medard are players reborn at France and will look to recapture their international form of yesteryear.

TEAM NEWS - Welsh forwards

Injuries leave Wales without a number of key forwards, though Warren Gatland's assembled eight remains a very effective unit.

Rob Evans and Tomas Francis will provide plenty of steel and experience at prop, while Ken Owens is back amongst things at hooker after a stint moonlighting at the back of the scrum with the Scarlets. 

Alun Wyn Jones will be a key figure and leads the side alongside the developing presence of Adam Beard in the second row.

Injuries to Ellis Jenkins, Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau leave Wales short of three potential back-row starters, but the country's freakish production line at the position means Gatland can still select an uber-athletic, balanced trio of Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty and Justin Tipuric.

TEAM NEWS - Welsh backs

Tomos Williams earns the nod over Gareth Davies with Rhys Webb now plying his trade in France, partly due to his scintillating club form, partly due to his relationship with Gatland's chosen ten.

Gareth Anscombe is the coming force at fly-half with Dan Biggar struggling to fully find his feet with Northampton, and the New Zealand-born playmaker starts tonight. Hadleigh Parkes and Jonathan Davies are a fearsome centre duo and also teammates at club level.

There is no Leigh Halfpenny with the diminutive full-back struggling with concussion, but if anything his absence only adds to the attacking threat of the back three. The power of George North and flying feet of Josh Adams will test opposition wingers in different ways, and Liam Williams will capitalise on any French loose kicking with his counter-attacking game.

ROMAIN EMPIRE

Romain Ntamack debuts for France tonight, following in father Emile's footsteps in the French side. Only 19, Ntamack is a converted fly-half who has knitted everything together at Toulouse this season, showing nous beyond his tender years. Jacques Brunel has boldly dropped the elephant-not-in-the-room, Mathieu Bastareaud, with Toulon rather in crisis and the powerful centre failing to find his form from last year's Six Nations.

Ntamack was a star of last summer's U20 Championships as France stormed to a magnificent home victory. Another of that crop in precocious prop Demba Bamba is primed to impact from the bench, and is a sizeable figure to watch out for as the game wanes.

There is no natural fly-half cover on the French bench, so if Camille Lopez does pick up an injury, Ntamack may shift to ten, though both Morgan Parra and replacement scrum-half Baptiste Serin are capable at the position as only French nines are.

Paul Willlemse is France's other debutant at the Stade de France this evening, a controversial newly-qualified South African lock who has done some good things at Montpellier over the last couple of seasons. There are doubts about his ability to get around the pitch, particularly at international level, and there are plenty of French fans who have concerns around the fitness of the gargantuan pack generally.

And yes, Willemse plays exactly as he looks. Hard-nosed...

TINY TOMOS

Tomos Williams is at the other end of the size scale but is a player with the chance to be a breakout star of the Championships.

His all-round game has come on leaps and bounds in the last 18 months or so, and it is a mark of his form that Williams has displaced Gareth Davies, who has done little wrong in a red jersey since Rhys Webb signed for Toulon.

He'll reform his Cardiff Blues partnership with Gareth Anscombe in the halves, and France cannot afford to give either any space.