Ireland vs Scotland

Kickoff: 2:10pm, Saturday 12th March

Venue: The Aviva Stadium

Watch on: ITV1

Prediction: Scotland win

Super Saturday will kick off with a game between two nations that could both win the Six Nations title. There are many permutations going into the final round but I'll just focus on the most likely ones. Scotland will clinch the title with a win over Ireland and a France draw/loss against England. They could also win the title even if France beat England; this is possible if Scotland earn their victory with more bonus points than France earn against England. If bonus points are equal, Scotland will have to overcome a 58-point points difference gap. Unlike Scotland, Ireland cannot win the title if France beat England. They can win if France draw and fail to secure more bonus points than Ireland but that's an unlikely scenario. Realistically, they will have to rely on England to do them a favour by beating the French in Paris. If that happens, a bonus-point win earns Ireland the title. A win without a bonus point complicates things but would still be enough if both of Scotland and France fail to pick up 2 bonus points in their defeats. 

So, how do Ireland line-up to continue their home winning streak against Scotland? The props are unchanged but Dan Sheehan is back in at hooker with Joe McCarthy Coming into the second row in place of James Ryan who is unable to play due to a calf injury. Darragh Murray, who only has 2 caps so far, will take the remaining lock spot on the bench in this huge game. There is some good injury news for Ireland with Finlay Bealham deemed fit to be on the bench. Andy Farrell has continued with his bulky back row, keeping both Conan and Doris in the starting XV. The only change is Nick Timoney dropping to the bench and Josh van der Flier going from the bench to the starting team.

Ireland's back line is fairly settled. The only change is Tommy O'Brien, who was unlucky to miss out last week, replaces Jacob Stockdale on the left wing, The only other changes come on the bench where Craig Casey returns to replace Nathan Doak and Bundee Aki replaces Tom Farrell. Aki is a bit fortunate to have been given a chance in this competition so he'll have to bring back some of his old form in the second half.

Gregor Townsend is yet to beat Ireland as the head coach of Scotland; this would be impeccable timing for his first triumph over the Irish. He has made 3 changes to his pack. Zander Fagerson is back in the starting team with D'Arcy Rae dropping to the bench. The changes in the second row have been enforced. Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings are both out with hamstring injuries. That means that Max Williams and Grant Gilchrist start instead with Alex Craig set to earn his 7th cap. The back row is unchanged, as is the back line as a whole.

This is the biggest game that Scotland have played in more than two decades and it is definitely winnable. Ireland were incredible against England but haven't been infallible outside of that. They were somewhat lucky against Italy and barely beat Wales. Scotland will like their chances despite their awful record against the men in green.

Team news

Ireland

Starting XV

1.Tom O'Toole 2.Dan Sheehan 3.Tadhg Furlong 4.Joe McCarthy 5.Tadhg Beirne

6.Jack Conan 7.Josh van der Flier 8.Caelan Doris(C) 9.Jamison Gibson-Park 10.Jack Crowley

11.Tommy O'Brien 12.Stuart McCloskey 13.Garry Ringrose 14.Robert Baloucoune 15.Jamie Osborne

Bench

16.Ronan Kelleher 17.Michael Milne 18.Finlay Bealham 19.Darragh Murray

20.Nick Timoney 21.Craig Casey 22.Ciaran Frawley 23.Bundee Aki

Scotland

Starting XV

1.Pierre Schoeman 2.George Turner 3.Zander Fagerson 4.Max Williamson 5.Grant Gilchrist

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

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

Bench

16.Ewan Ashman 17.Rory Sutherland 18.D'Arcy Rae 19.Alex Craig

20.Magnus Bradbury 21.George Horne 22.Kyle Rowe 23.Tom Jordan

Wales vs Italy

Kickoff: 4:40pm, Saturday 14th March

Venue: The Principality Stadium

Watch on: BBC ONE

Prediction: Wales win

Unlike the other games this weekend, there is no title on the line in this one. But that doesn't mean that this game isn't important. A win for Italy would give them their best ever Six Nations finish whilst Wales have shown some big improvements but are still without a win. A Welsh win could also relegate England to the ignominy of the Wooden Spoon position, something that I'm sure every other country would relish. 

A clear sign that Wales are beginning to successfully build a cohesive team is Steve Tandy not making a single change to the starting XV, and only one on the bench where Blair Murray replaces Louie Hennessey. This game will be a real test of the progress that has been made by the Welsh pack in recent games. Italy have had the standout pack throughout the tournament and will undoubtedly highlight any hidden weaknesses within the Welsh side. Wales fans will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Dan Edwards who has been very inconsistent in his time with the national team. He is a young, talented player who needs time to grow into the position. There were rumours that Jac Morgan could've been fit for this game but he is training with the Ospreys instead. If Wales were really struggling we could've seen him pushed back into the side out of desperation. There is plenty of optimism about this side but they really could do with a big win — particularly at home.

As for Italy, they are dealing with a couple of new injuries to their forward group. Simone Ferrari is out with a neck injury and has been replaced by Muhamad Hasa in the front row. Andrea Zambonin is also out and has been replaced by Federico Ruzza in the second row. These changes mean that Zilocchi and Odiase find themselves on the bench. Alessandro Garbisi has been dropped from the squad entirely due to the return of Stephen Varney whilst Alessandro Fusco is back in the starting XV. This game could represent Italy's biggest test. This team has broken records and won some big games, but one thing it isn't used to is being the favourite. This game represents a rare, but increasingly common, scenario in which Italy are expected to win and their opponent has more of a free swing. It will be interesting to see how they handle a different type of pressure.

Team news

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.Blair Murray

Italy

Starting XV
1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Giacomo Nicotera 3.Muhamad Hasa 4.Niccolo Cannone 5.Federico Ruzza

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

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

Bench

16.Tommaso Di Bartolemo 17.Mirco Spagnolo 18.Giosue Zilocchi 19.Riccardo Favretto

20.David Odiase 21.Stephen Varney 22.Leonardo Marin 23.Tommaso Allan

France vs England

Kickoff: 8:10pm, Saturday 14th March

Venue: Stade de France

Watch on: ITV1

Prediction: France win

The 2026 Six Nations Championship will conclude in Paris on Saturday evening when France host England with the title on the line. Last week's defeat to Scotland will have caught the French off guard and they now enter the final round without the title wrapped up as it could've been if they had won at Murrayfield. Their opponents also had a difficult defeat away from home last weekend. The difference for England is that their defeat to Italy marked their 3rd loss in a row. It's never a good sign when the men in suits feel the need to release a statement backing their head coach. Last time RFU Chairman Bill Sweeney released a statement of this sort he sacked Eddie Jones 6 months later. His statement only backed Borthwick until the end of the summer, so all is not lost for the current regime. Although, they could really do with a win in Paris given that their next fixture is an away game against the Springboks. 

Fabien Galthie has made a few changes to the team that found itself shell-shocked in Edinburgh. The front row is unchanged but the locks have been switched. Last week France tried to match Scotland at their own game by selecting two agile second rows (Guillard and Ollivon) but now Galthie is going with power to take on England. Meafou and Flament have been given the first crack at the visitors. Ollivon, meanwhile, has moved to his more regular position of no.8. Francois Cros retains his place in the team but Jelonch and Jegou both drop out; Jelonch is injured whilst Jegou has been suspended for an eye gouge on Ewan Ashman. The only change in the centres is Barassi, who came on in the 45th minute against Scotland, starts whilst Depoortere drops out of the team. There are several more changes on the bench after Galthie used the ridiculous amount of depth at his disposal to drop several players who disappointed against Scotland.

Despite suffering another loss last week, Steve Borthwick has backed his players to turn things around in Paris. The only change in the pack is Ollie Chessum swapping places with Sam Underhill to start in the back row with Guy Pepper and Ben Earl. England have lacked punch in the back row recently so the addition of Ollie Chessum is a welcome one that could significantly improve England's chances. It could also help solidify a creaky line-out that wasn't as good last week as the basic stats would suggest. There are no other changes which should allow players to gain some more familiarity with one another and hopefully perform better as a result. This game could go any number of ways. France winning is the likely outcome but England could pull off an upset. Anything from a French destruction of England to a French implosion under pressure could happen on Saturday. Whatever does take place, it's sure to be dramatic.

Team news

France

Starting XV

1.Jean-Baptiste Gros 2.Julien Marchand 3.Dorian Aldegheri 4.Thibaud Flament 5.Emmanuel Meafou

6.Francois Cros 7.Temo Matiu 8.Charles Ollivon 9.Antoine Dupont(C) 10.Mattieu Jalibert

11.Louis Bielle-Biarrey 12.Yoram Moefana 13.Pierre-Louis Barrassi 14.Theo Attissogbe 15.Thomas Ramos

Bench

16.Peato Mauvaka 17.Rodrigue Neti 18.Demba Bamba 19.Hugo Auradou 

20.Mickael Guillard 21.Joshua Brennan 22.Baptiste Serin 23.Emilien Gailleton

England

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

6.Ollie Chessum 7.Guy Pepper 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.Chandler Cunningham-South

20.Sam Underhill 21.Henry Pollock 22.Jack van Poortvliet 23.Marcus Smith