The Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship crests the halfway mark this weekend, as the competing nations leave it all on the line ahead of this year’s only break next week.
Shellshocked England need to gather their composure quickly when they host Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday, before Wales take on Scotland in Cardiff.
Then we turn to the continent on Sunday, where tournament favourites France host improving Italy in Paris.
England vs Ireland – Saturday 21 February
England and Ireland kick off round three of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship on Saturday.
And there’s little room for error for either side at Twickenham, with both having already suffered defeat to kill off their respective Grand Slam dreams early on.
It had started swimmingly for the English on home turf a fortnight ago, cruising to victory over sorry Wales.
They were full of confidence heading up to Edinburgh but came unstuck in losing the Calcutta Cup to Scotland, who celebrated a seismic 31-20 win over the auld enemy.
For the Irish it has been a story of recovery so far.
A chastening opening night loss to favourites France under the lights in Paris left them needing to right the ship – and they did so last weekend thanks to a hard-fought 20-13 success against battling Italy in Dublin.
Red Rose coach Steve Borthwick has responded to defeat by pressing P for Pollock, with young tyro Henry called up to make his first Test start at eighth man.
Tom Curry joins him in the back row, while there’s also a start for Ollie Lawrence in the capital.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell calls up Jack Crowley to take on the fly half duties, with Sam Prendergast not included in the matchday squad.
England Starting XV: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Sam Underhill, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.
Ireland Starting XV: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Tommy O’Brien.
Wales vs Scotland – Saturday 21 February
Wales and Scotland go head-to-head when they meet in round three of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship in Cardiff on Saturday.
The British nations come into the clash in starkly contrasting moods.
Gregor Townsend’s Scots roared back from their opening defeat away to Italy, reclaiming the Calcutta Cup in Edinburgh last weekend thanks to a 31-20 beating of auld enemy England.
It sets them up nicely for a run at a side that is well and truly down in the dumps.
The Welsh have already shipped an alarming 102 points in losses to England and then at home to competition favourites France, leaving them staring at the wooden spoon once again as attendances and enthusiasm take a tumble.
Coach Steve Tandy shuffles his pack with four changes for this one, including a debut for Gabriel Hamer-Webb and the return of Sam Costelow at fly half.
Ben Carter replaces Adam Beard in the locks, as Taine Plumtree comes in on the flank.
Townsend makes five changes to his team, with Blair Kinghorn making a return at full back and Duhan van der Merwe on the wing.
Matt Fagerson earns a start at eighth man, while hooker Dave Cherry is also back in the run on side.
Wales Starting XV: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 James Botham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray.
Scotland Starting XV: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne. 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Darcy Graham.
France vs Italy – Sunday 22 February
A fascintating match up sees France set out to make it three wins from three in the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship, with Italy the visitors to Paris on Sunday.
Les Bleus have lived up to their favourites tag in style so far, kicking off the tournament with an opening night dismantling of Ireland at the Stade de France.
They were even more dominant last weekend, battering sorry Wales 54-12 in Cardiff to set themselves up for a tilt at the Grand Slam.
The Azzurri have plenty of grounds for optimism leading into their sternest task, too, having risen to beat Scotland in Rome in round one.
Ireland had the better of them at the Aviva Stadium but only just, coming from behind to edge them out 20-13.
Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou have been brought into the French pack, adding some heft from kick off.
The visitors make a single change with the welcome return of Ange Capuozzo at full back, after he missed the opening two weekends through injury.
France Starting XV: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey; 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Oscar Jegou, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Lenni Nouchi, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Italy Starting XV: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (captain), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu.
England v Ireland
| Forecast | England |
| England win probability | 64% |
| Ireland win probability | 34% |
| Expected score | England 28 – Ireland 22 |
Wales v Scotland
| Forecast | Scotland |
| Wales win probability | 16% |
| Scotland win probability | 82% |
| Expected score | Wales 13 – Scotland 32 |
France v Italy
| Forecast | France |
| France win probability | 92% |
| Italy win probability | 6% |
| Expected score | France 39 – Italy 15 |