Ireland vs Wales

Kickoff: 8:1opm, Friday 6th March

Venue: The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Watch on: ITV1

Prediction: Ireland win

Ireland and Wales will have enjoyed their weeks off and will both be looking at this fixture as a big opportunity. Wales have gone with a consistent team selection, only making enforced changes, after nearly beating Scotland at the Principality. Ireland, meanwhile, are buoyed after a huge win over England and Andy Farrell has given a few new players a chance to impress this weekend. After a difficult start to the tournament, Ireland's charge for glory is now back on track and a bonus-point victory against Wales would set them up nicely. Wales showed signs of progress against Scotland and will need to back it up again in order to convince fans that things could be changing on the pitch in Wales.

Andy Farrell has made four changes to his pack from the England game. Tadhg Furlong will continue to accrue some much-needed game-time. This week he'll be alongside Ronan Kelleher and Tom O'Toole. In the second row, McCarthy drops to the bench to make space for Tadhg Beirne who moves from the back row. Farrell has returned to the style of back row that took on Italy with both Conan and Doris starting together. Nick Timoney has been given a start after impressing when coming off the bench in recent weeks. Josh van der Flier impressed against England but Timoney gaining experience is crucial for Ireland to build some depth.

Only one change has been made to the group of backs; Jacob Stockdale replaces the injured James Lowe in the starting XV. Tommy O'Brien is within his rights to feel unlucky to miss out after playing well when he came off the bench to replace James Lowe against England. However, Farrell clearly believes in Stockdale and wants to give him a fair shot in the side despite his lacklustre performance against France. 

On the bench Stewart, Milne and Clarkson make up a relatively inexperienced trio on the Ireland bench. This is a good test of Ireland's depth at this spot. Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier will make up for that lack of experience when they come on in the second half. They are on the bench to ensure that there is no Irish drop-off in the latter period of the game. Nathan Doak will get his shot at scrum-half after impressing for his province for several years. Tom Farrell and Ciaran Frawley are the other options on the bench. Farrell is the presumptive back-up to Garry Ringrose so he will hopefully get some experience in game like this before the next World Cup. 

As for Wales, Steve Tandy has opted for consistency. He has made two changes to his starting team with Dan Edwards replacing the injured Sam Costelow and Ellis Mee replacing Gabriel Hamer-Webb on the right wing. Olly Cracknell is back on the bench with Louie Hennessey also getting another opportunity. He isn't yet a regular at Bath but he is obviously highly rated in Wales.

Team news

Ireland

Starting XV

1.Tom O'Toole 2.Ronan Kelleher 3.Tadhg Furlong 4.James Ryan 5.Tadhg Beirne

6.Jack Conan 7.Nick Timoney 8.Caelan Doris 9.Jamison Gibson-Park 10.Jack Crowley

11.Jacob Stockdale 12.Stuart McCloskey 13.Garry Ringrose 14.Robert Baloucoune 15.Jamie Osborne

Bench

16.Tom Stewart 17.Michael Milne 18.Tom Clarkson 19.Joe McCarthy

20.Josh van der Flier 21.Nathan Doak 22.Tom Farrell 23.Ciaran Frawley

Wales

Starting XV
1.Rhys Carre 2.Dewi Lake(C) 3.Tomas Francis 4.Dafydd Jenkins 5.Ben Carter

6.Alex Mann 7.James Botham 8.Aaron Wainwright 9.Tomos Williams 10.Dan Edwards

11.Josh Adams 12.Joe Hawkins 13.Eddie James 14.Ellis Mee 15.Louis Rees-Zammit

Bench

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

Kickoff: 2:10pm, Saturday 7th March

Venue: Scottish Gas Murrayfield

Watch on: BBC ONE

Prediction: France win

This is a huge game for both teams. Scotland vs France at Murrayfield is a fixture that has produced some absolute crackers and it's difficult to think of many of those games that have been more consequential than this one. Scotland need to win this in order to keep their title hopes alive whilst France will be looking to continue their dominance within this tournament.

Gregor Townsend has made several changes to the team that scraped past Wales. The entire front row has been changed with McBeth, Cherry and Fagerson being replaced by Schoeman, Turner and Rae. McBeth, Millar Mills and Cherry all drop out of the squad entirely with Ashman, Sutherland and Rae coming in. Ashman and Sutherland are joined by Fagerson on the bench in a move that has no doubt been made in order to combat France's depth in the second half. In the second row, Williamson drops out with Gregor Brown dropping in from the back row. That opens up space for Dempsey to return to no.8 with Fagerson moving to blindside flanker. Freddy Douglas and Josh Bayliss are on the bench to provide some athleticism in the second period. Both of them are exceptional athletes who need more time in a Scotland shirt.

There are no surprises in the backs. The only point of interest comes on the wing where Darcy Graham joins Kyle Steyn in a back three with Blair Kinghorn. Scotland's group is staying consistent with Tom Jordan seemingly taking advantage of his versatility to take the final spot on the bench once again. This is a defining game for Gregor Townsend and Scotland. A defeat would render this yet another disappointing Six Nations whilst a victory at home would set Scotland up for their biggest game against Ireland since the tournament was expanded to six teams.

Fabien Galthie has rotated his second row from France's game against Italy; Ollivon and Guillard are starting once again with Flament and Meafou on the bench. The starting duo are incredible athletes but Meafou and Flament are more traditional locks. Meafou, in particular, brings a level of physicality that Scotland simply don't. 

There is good news for France amongst the backs. Jalibert is back which allows Thomas Ramos to move back to his more regular position of fullback. That also means that Attissogbe is back on the right wing. Moefana and Depoortere are back in the centres to replace Brau-Boirie and Gailleton. This is obviously a huge France team that should have too much for Scotland.#

Team news

Scotland

Starting XV
1.Pierre Schoeman 2.George Turner 3.D'Arcy Rae 4.Gregor Brown 5.Scott Cummings

6.Matt Fagerson 7.Rory Darge 8.Jack Dempsey 9.Ben White 10.Finn Russell

11.Kyle Steyn 12.Sione Tuipulotu(C) 13.Huw Jones 14.Darcy Graham 15.Blair Kinghorn

Bench

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

1.Jean-Baptiste Gros 2.Julien Marchand 3.Dorian Aldegheri 4.Charles Ollivon 5.Mickael Guillard

6.Francois Cros 7.Oscar Jegou 8.Anthony Jelonch 9.Antoine Dupont(C) 10.Mattieu Jalibert

11.Louis Bielle-Biarrey 12.Yoram Moefana 13.Nicolas Depoortere 14.Theo Attisogbe 15.Thomas Ramos

Bench

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

Kickoff: 4:40pm, Saturday 7th March

Venue: Stadio Olimpico 

Watch on: ITV1

Prediction: Italy win

This is the biggest ever rugby match between these two nations. Italy will be confident of earning their first ever victory over England whilst the visitors are in flux after successive crushing defeats. Steve Borthwick has made several changes to his team that was embarrassed by Ireland and they'll need to find form quickly in order to avoid defeat in Rome.

Italy's pack has been the team's strength throughout the tournament and is unchanged once again. There are a few changes to the backs. Alessandro Garbisi swaps places with Fusco to join his brother at half-back. Juan Ignacio Brex is back in the starting XV which means that Menoncello moves back to inside centre and Marin drops out of the team. At fullback, Capuozzo is missing and Pani is back into the starting side. 

Steve Borthwick has been unsurprisingly brutal with his team selection for this game. Cowan-Dickie, Chessum and Pollock all miss in the pack. Jamie George is back into the starting team with Cowan-Dickie on the bench. Given how poor Cowan-Dickie has been, one must now wonder if Steve Borthwick has any confidence whatsoever in Theo Dan. If he can't get a game now, when will he? Ollie Chessum is somewhat unlucky to drop to the bench but he will make a big impact in the secomd half. In the back row, Guy Pepper replaces Henry Pollock to add a bit more heft to the unit. Pollock joins Sam Underhill on the bench.

Not a single back from the Ireland game remains in the starting team in the same position for this week. Mitchell's absence has been caused by injury but every other change is optional. Ben Spencer starts at scrum-half instead and he'll be next to Fin Smith. In the centres, Seb Atkinson will play his first game for England since he impressed on the summer tour. He has been given the start ahead of Max Ojomoh who isn't even in the squad anymore. Tommy Freeman starts outside him in what is a very inexperienced centre partnership. Brex and Menoncello are the backbone of the Italian team and will be looking at this as a huge opportunity to assert their dominance. Henry Arundell has now run out of chances for the moment and Cadan Murley is back again. He'll be hoping his second Six Nations experience is a little bit better than his first. Tom Roebuck is back on the right win despite being disappointing throughout this tournament. Elliot Daly is in at fullback to give the team a more creative edge. His experience should help to settle a relatively young group. 

This is a must-win game for England. Steve Borthwick's job status will be questioned relentlessly if he fails to earn a result here.  England's next two games after this are away against France and South Africa so things could get ugly very quickly for the Borthwick regime. There is also plenty of pressure on Italy for this one. They are still in contention for the competition and will rarely get a better opportunity to beat a team like England.

Team news

Italy

Starting XV

1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Giacomo Nicotera 3.Simone Ferrari 4.Niccolo Cannone 5.Andrea Zambonin

6.Michele Lamaro(C) 7.Manuel Zuliani 8.Lorenzo Cannone 9.Alessandro Garbisi 10.Paolo Garbisi

11.Monty Ioane 12.Tommaso Menoncello 13.Juan Ignacio Brex 14.Louis Lynagh 15.Lorenzo Pani

Bench

16.Tommaso Di Bartolemo 17.Mirco Spagnolo 18.Muhamed Hasa 19.Federico Ruzza

20.Riccardo Favretto 21.Alessandro Fusco 22.Leonardo Marin 23.Tommaso Allan

England

Starting XV

1.Ellis Genge 2.Jamie George 3.Joe Heyes 4.Maro Itoje(C) 5.Alex Coles

6.Guy Pepper 7.Tom Curry 8.Ben Earl 9.Ben Spencer 10.Fin Smith

11.Cadan Murley 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Tommy Freeman 14.Tom Roebuck 15.Elliot Daly

Bench

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