LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Billy Twelvetrees has spent a lifetime talking about his unlikely surname but now he is about to win his first England cap he will hope the novelty fades and he will become notable for his performances in test rugby.

Even on the day he was named in an England team for the first time, reporters at England’s training base on Thursday could not help asking if it was true that the 24-year-old Gloucester centre’s father really was a tree surgeon.

BAGSHOT, England (Reuters) – Billy Twelvetrees will make his debut when England play Scotland in their opening Six Nations game at Twickenham on Saturday after coach Stuart Lancaster rewarded him for a flying first half of the season for Gloucester.

The 24-year-old centre has only just been promoted to the senior squad but goes straight into the starting team in place of Manu Tuilagi, who has an ankle injury.

BAGSHOT, England, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Billy Twelvetrees will make his debut when England play Scotland in their opening Six Nations game at Twickenham on Saturday after coach Stuart Lancaster rewarded him for a flying first half of the season for Gloucester.

The 24-year-old centre has only just been promoted to the senior squad but goes straight into the starting team in place of Manu Tuilagi, who has an ankle injury.

LONDON (Reuters) – Multi-world and Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 meters champion Tirunesh Dibaba, arguably the greatest women’s distance runner of all time, will make her marathon debut in London in April, race organizers said on Friday.

Fellow Ethiopian and 2012 Olympic women’s marathon champion Tiki Gelana and runner up Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya will also return to the city’s streets alongside a men’s field that boasts no fewer than 11 athletes who have run under two hours, six minutes, but all eyes will be on Dibaba.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – One year ago Stuart Lancaster sat as the interim England coach at the launch of the Six Nations championship and articulated his radical plan to overhaul not only the playing staff but the entire culture of his squad.

True to his word he ditched many of the old faces associated with England’s World Cup failures on and off the pitch and blooded seven new caps in his first game against Scotland, which England narrowly won.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The dangling carrot of British and Irish Lions squad places provides the backdrop to this year’s Six Nations championship in which England and France vie for favouritism and Wales seek to retain their title off the back of seven successive defeats.

At Wednesday’s official tournament launch in London coaches and captains took turns to stress how form counts for little in the annual northern hemisphere set-to and Wales will certainly hope that is the case after a dismal and somewhat mystifying run that followed their third grand slam in eight years.

LONDON (Reuters) – Mike Blair, former Scotland captain and the country’s most-capped scrumhalf, has retired from international rugby, the 31-year-old now playing for French club Brive announced on Monday.

Blair won 85 caps – 36 of them off the bench – captained Scotland 14 times and is the only Scottish player to be nominated for the International Rugby Board World Player of the Year title (in 2008).

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Mike Blair, former Scotland captain and the country’s most-capped scrumhalf, has retired from international rugby, the 31-year-old now playing for French club Brive announced on Monday.

Blair won 85 caps – 36 of them off the bench – captained Scotland 14 times and is the only Scottish player to be nominated for the International Rugby Board World Player of the Year title (in 2008).

LONDON (Reuters) – Robin van Persie’s decision to join Manchester United instead of Manchester City is proving the difference in the race to the Premier League title, according to City manager Roberto Mancini.

The Dutch striker joined United from Arsenal for a reported 24 million pounds ($39 million) last August and his 14 goals in 20 league games have helped Alex Ferguson’s team open a seven-point Premier League lead over defending champions City.

LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Robin van Persie’s decision to join Manchester United instead of Manchester City is proving the difference in the race to the Premier League title, according to City manager Roberto Mancini.

The Dutch striker joined United from Arsenal for a reported 24 million pounds ($39 million) last August and his 14 goals in 20 league games have helped Alex Ferguson’s team open a seven-point Premier League lead over defending champions City.