We’re heading for the sharp end of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship, as the competing nations battle it out to be crowned kings of the Northern Hemisphere in the penultimate round of action.
A monster clash between England and Ireland lights up Saturday at Twickenham, while Wales eye an upset against flaky France in Cardiff on Sunday.
The weekend kicks off with the game between Italy and Scotland, with the hosts desperate to go one point better than their draw with the French a fortnight ago.
Italy vs Scotland – Saturday 9 March
Can Italy finally put a win on the board, as Scotland visit in the penultimate round of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship on Saturday?
The wooden spoon regulars have come close to springing an upset in two of their three games so far – and the width of a post away against France two weeks ago.
Paolo Garbisi struck the woodwork with his injury time penalty, to leave the Azzurri in agony albeit with a 13-13 draw with Les Bleus to their credit.
It was a far better outing for the Scots, who stormed to a 30-21 victory over Auld Enemy England.
A fourth successive Calcutta Cup success was a fine reward as wing Duhan van der Merwe ran in a hat-trick, putting Gregor Townsend’s men second in the Six Nations table.
Andy Christie, Cameron Redpath and George Horne are the trio of changes for Townsend, with all three starting having been among the replacements last time out.
The Azzurri hand a debut to Louis Lynagh on the wing, after the Treviso-born youngster returned home after previously representing England at youth level.
Italy Starting XV: 15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo; 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri; 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannon; 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Federico Mori.
Scotland Starting XV: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (captain), 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (captain), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turners, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Ali Price, 23 Kyle Row.
England vs Ireland – Saturday 9 March
An almighty clash between England and Ireland lights up the penultimate Saturday of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship.
Victory for the visitors at Twickenham will keep them bang on course for successive Grand Slam titles.
Andy Farrell’s men have seen off Wales, Italy and France so far, sealing bonus point victories on each occasion.
It all went wrong for Steve Borthwick and his English charges a fortnight ago, though.
A limp, confused and error-strewn performance at Murrayfield saw the Red Rose watch on as bitter rivals Scotland lifted the Calcutta Cup for the fourth time in a row.
It leaves them well off the Irish pace and with a trip to France still to come in next weekend’s final round of the competition.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso comes in for his first start in an England shirt, as Tommy Freeman switches wings to accommodate the youngster.
Veteran Danny Care misses out on a start for his 100th cap, as fit-again Alex Mitchell gets the nod at scrum-half.
Hugo Keenan returns to a settled Irish line-up, back from injury to play at full-back.
England Starting XV: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Elliot Daly.
Ireland Starting XV: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Ciaran Frawley.
Wales vs France – Sunday 10 March
An intriguing contest on Sunday sees Wales play France in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship in Cardiff.
With the famous home atmosphere behind them inside the Principality Stadium, the Welsh will fancy their chances of springing an upset against their illustrious visitors.
That notion owes much to the inconsistency of Les Bleus, who have so far failed to shrug off the disappointment of an early exit from their home Rugby World Cup last autumn.
A 13-13 draw with Italy two weeks ago would have been even worse, had Paolo Garbisi’s last-gasp penalty not struck the upright.
It followed a controversial victory thanks to the TMO’s intervention away to Scotland, not to mention an opening night loss at home to Ireland.
Warren Gatland’s side have lost three from three but will arguably come into this one the happier of the two camps.
A callow, regenerated squad were expected to struggle badly, but have instead pushed both Scotland and England all the way in an impressive display of fortitude against the odds.
Ryan Elias replaces Elliot Dee as one of a bundle of Welsh changes, as Gatland searches for the winning formula.
Les Bleus are nothing if not freshened up, with eight changes to their starting line up.
Leo Barre, Nicholas Depoortere and Emmanuel Meafou are all among them, as the trio make their international debuts in the Welsh capital.
Wales Starting XV: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alex Mann, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady.
France Starting XV: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrc, 8 Gregory Alldritt (captain), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana.
| Fixture | Country | Percentage | Predicted Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| England vs Ireland | England | 26% | 16 |
| Ireland | 72% | 23 | |
| Italy vs Scotland | Italy | 23% | 16 |
| Scotland | 76% | 23 | |
| Wales vs France | Wales | 33% | 22 |
| France | 65% | 24 |