The 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship heads full throttle towards its climax, with round four coming off the back of this year’s only rest weekend.
Leaders France are in Edinburgh to take on Scotland on Saturday, in a game that pits the top two against each other, while chastened England hope for a reset as they face Italy away later in the day.
It all kicks off in Dublin on Friday night, with the battle between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland vs Wales – Friday 6 March
Ireland and Wales kick off the penultimate round of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship when they meet under the lights in Dublin on Friday night.
The pair have differing missions after contrasting campaigns so far.
There was no luck of the Irish involved as Andy Farrell’s men demolished England 42-21 at Twickenham a fortnight ago, building on their hard-fought home win over Italy that kickstarted their competition at the second attempt following opening night defeat away to France.
It puts them third in the standings and looking up rather than down, not least with a final round showdown with Scotland on the horizon.
Wales suffered an agonising defeat to the Scots in Cardiff last time out, going down 23-26 as a rare test victory slipped through their grasp.
Steve Tandy’s side are instead left with three defeats from three and in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
He makes a trio of changes for the weekend, as Ellis Mee comes in on the wing, while Dan Edwards earns a start at fly half and James Botham plays on the flank.
Jamison Gibson-Park brings up his 50th appearance for the Irish, while at the other end of the scale there will be a debut from the bench for Nathan Doak.
Ireland Starting XV: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Tom O’Toole.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Ciaran Frawley.
Wales Starting XV: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Louie Hennessey.
Scotland vs France – Saturday 7 March
An epic contest lights up round four of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship on Saturday, as top two Scotland and France go head-to-head in Edinburgh.
The Murrayfield clash could go a long way to deciding the winner of this year’s competition.
Les Bleus travel north boasting a perfect record and with the coveted Grand Slam within reach, having overpowered Italy 33-8 in Lille a fortnight ago.
It backed up strong performances away to callow Wales and at home to shellshocked Ireland at a raucous Stade de France on the opening night.
Scotland’s campaign looked to be over before it had even begun when they slipped to defeat away to the Italians in round one.
But they roared back with victory over auld enemy England in round two, before edging past Wales 26-23 in Cardiff two weeks ago to put themselves right in the frame for a long-awaited tilt at the title.
A brand new Scottish front row sees Pierre Schoeman and D’Arcy Rae pack down either side of hooker George Turner.
Jack Dempsey comes in at eighth man as he returns from injury.
Matthieu Jalibert, Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere all come in to add fresh backline legs for Les Bleus.
Scotland Starting XV: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Kyle Steyn; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Josh Bayliss, 22 George Horne, 23 Tom Jordan.
France Starting XV: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jégou, 6 François Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Charles Ollivon, 3 Dorian Aldergheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gross.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Thibaud Flament, 20 Emmanuel Meafou, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Italy vs England – Saturday 7 March
England go to Italy to complete round four of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship in Rome on Saturday.
There’s a great deal on the line, too, despite both nations languishing on five points apiece.
It’s a source of great discontent for the pair, who have floundered since starting the competition with victories.
The Red Rose were too much for the inexperience of Wales at Twickenham but it has rapidly unravelled since, thanks to a loss away to Scotland that preceded a 21-42 thrashing at the hands of Ireland.
A bright start from the Azzurri has also faded into memory, after opening up with a notable home win over Scotland.
They were right in the contest before slipping to defeat in Ireland in round two, before a 8-33 loss in France a fortnight ago left them scrambling to match their early promise with points on the board.
English coach Steve Borthwick has responded by ripping his squad to pieces, with nine changes in personnel.
Jamie George, Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Cadan Murley, Seb Atkinson, Tom Roebuck and Elliot Daly are all included as they attempt to wrestle back momentum amid their troubled campaign.
Lorenzo Pani starts at full back for the Italians, with Ange Capuozzo once again ruled out through injury.
Italy Starting XV: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro,5 Andrea Zambonin,4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan.
England Starting XV: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tommy Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Georgie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.
| Match | Date | Location | Team 1 | Win % | Score | Team 2 | Win % | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland vs Wales | Fri, 6 Mar | Dublin | Ireland | 95% | 40 | Wales | 2% | 8 | Backing Ireland |
| Scotland vs France | Sat, 7 Mar | Edinburgh | Scotland | 35% | 25 | France | 63% | 30 | Could go either way |
| Italy vs England | Sat, 7 Mar | Rome | Italy | 20% | 16 | England | 77% | 28 | Leaning England |