Scotland vs. Wales
Kick Off: 14:25
Both sides know that this is an encounter that will make or break their championship aspirations. Scotland lost in Paris in the last game, while Wales lost at home to England and another defeat will signal the end of their title challenge.
Scotland have started to turn promise into results and their quality attack is sure to test the stern Welsh defence. Losing captain Greig Laidlaw for the rest of the tournament is a blow though, but the expectation will be that the team rallies around and that leadership comes from elsewhere.
Following a difficult past 12 months, Wales have shown signs of life in the tournament so far, but the loss to England will have hurt them. They will have learned from that defeat and their hopes now will be to win the tournament at England’s expense.
Teams
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Alistair Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay, 7 John Hardie, 8 Ryan Wilson
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Sam Warburton, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Ross Moriarty
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts
Key Stats
- Scotland have not beaten Wales for a decade, losing all nine of their encounters since 2007.
- Ross Ford is the only member of the Scotland squad to have beaten Wales.
- Wales have scored 104 points on their last four visits to Murrayfield, an average of 26 points per match.
Odds
Ireland vs. France
Kick Off: 16:50
The build up to this match has been dominated by questions regarding the fitness of Ireland fly half Johnny Sexton. His calf injury suffered in January caused him to miss the first two games of the Six Nations and Paddy Jackson has performed well in his absence.
France have shown that they’ve returned to the Gallic flair of old under Guy Noves, but have failed to produce results to show for their efforts. They’re also struggling to find the try line, scoring just twice so far in the tournament. They’re still a work in progress and it’s unlikely that they’ll beat Ireland away from home.
Teams
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Garry Ringrose, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Devin Toner, 6 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Trimble
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Remi Lamerat, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin; 1 Curil Baille, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Bernard Le Roux, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Charles Ollivon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Henry Chavancy, 23 Djibril Camara
Key Stats
- Ireland head into this fixture on the back of their biggest ever victory and the most points they’ve ever scored in a Championship match.
- Ireland’s only defeat in their last six games at home was against New Zealand in the autumn. They haven’t lost at home in the Six Nations since losing to England in 2013.
- France’s 10-9 victory over Ireland last year ended a five game winless run against Ireland, their worst sequence since the 1920s.
Odds
England vs. Italy
Kick Off: 15:00
England head into this game at Twickenham with 16 wins on the bounce and you’d be very brave to bet against them making it 17. Complacency will be the biggest obstacle for Eddie Jones’ side in this match and he’s made four changes to the side that played against Wales.
Italy were woeful last time out against Ireland and the coaching team of Conor O’Shea, Mike Catt and Brendan Venter will be hurting from it. They’ll want to put things right at Twickenham, but the Italians have never beaten England in their history.
Teams
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 James Haskell, 8 Nathan Hughes
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell
Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 6 Abraham Steyn, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Sergio Parisse
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti
Key Stats
- England have won their last 12 Six Nations matches at Twickenham. Their last defeat was against Wales in 2012.
- Italy have won just one of their last 17 Six Nations matches when they beat Scotland 22-19 in 2015.
- England are the only opponent in the tournament who Italy are yet to beat.
