Scotland vs England

Kickoff: 1:30pm, Saturday 18th April

Venue: Murrayfield

Watch on: BBC ONE

Round 2 of the Six Nations will kick off with a repeat of a World Cup quarter-final from last year which England won comfortably. The outcome is expected to be the same this time but Scotland have the players to cause the 7-time defending Champions big problems. There is also plenty of familiarity between these sets of players as a result of how many Scotland players play their domestic rugby in England's PWR.

After impressing against Wales, Scotland will have a very similar team this weekend. The only change is one that was enforced as a result of an injury to Emma Orr in the second half of Wales vs Scotland at the Principality. Evie Wills is her replacement and will slot in alongside Meryl Smith. In some exciting news for Scotland fans, Francesca McGhie is on the bench and will be able to come on in the second half of this match. 

Scott Mitchell has elected to rotate his team that beat Ireland whilst also making a couple of enforced changes. It has been announced that Botterman, Campbell, Talling and Hunt have now been added to the list of Red Roses who are out for the tournament. Elsewhere, Muir swaps with Bern and comes into the starting line-up, Abi Burton and Demelza Short are the other additions to the pack. Burton will play in an unfamiliar second row position which tells us exactly what Scott Mitchell thinks of his other lock options. Alex Mathews is rested which allows Feaunati to move to no.8 after impressing at blindside flanker last weekend and Demelza Short will fill in at that spot. 

In the backs, Lucy Packer stays at scrum-half whilst Flo Robinson is on the bench after Hunt's injury. Zoe Harrison has replaced Holly Aitchison, who drops to the bench, at fly-half and she will play with Rowland and Jones in midfield. In the back three, Emma Sing plays at fullback which moves Ellie Kildunne to the left wing instead of Moloney-Macdonald. Mia Venner is on the bench as the other back three option. 

England should win this comfortably but, with a rotated squad, there are vulnerabilities Scotland could exploit.

Team news

Scotland

Starting XV

1.Leah Bartlett 2.Lana Skeldon 3.Elliann Clarke 4.Emma Wassell 5.Hollie Cunningham

6.Rachel Malcolm(C) 7.Alex Stewart 8.Emily Coughbrough 9.Leia Brebner-Holden 10.Helen Nelson

11.Shona Campbell 12.Meryl Smith 13.Evie Wills 14.Rhona Lloyd 15.Chloe Rollie

Bench

16.Elis Martin 17.Demi Swann 18.Molly Poolman 19.Holland Bogan 

20.Rachel McLachlan 21.Rianna Darroch 22.Lucia Scott 23.Francesca McGhie

England

Starting XV

1.Kelsey Clifford 2.Amy Cokayne 3.Maud Muir 4.Abi Burton 5.Lilli Ives Campion

6.Demelza Short 7.Sadia Kabeya 8.Maddie Feaunati 9.Lucy Packer 10.Zoe Harrison

11.Ellie Kildunne 12.Helena Rowland 13.Megan Jones(C) 14.Jess Breach 15.Emma Sing

Bench

16.Connie Powell 17.Mackenzie Carson 18.Sarah Bern 19.Haineala Lutui 

20.Marlie Packer 21.Flo Robinson 22.Holly Aitchison 23.Mia Venner

Wales vs France

Kickoff: 3:45pm, Saturday 18th April

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park

Watch on: BBC iPlayer

After losing a heart-breaker to Scotland at the Principality last weekend, Wales will host France next door at Cardiff Arms Park. Their visitors won against Italy last weekend but have much to work on after almost being held to a stalemate by Italy in the first half. In the second, France were able to make their quality count and pulled away but there was plenty for Wales to take encouragement from. 

Sean Lynn has opted for continuity from last weeks team making only 2 changes to last week's starting side. Those changes are: Joyce replacing Neumann on the left wing and Seren Lockwood replacing Keira Bevan at scrum-half. Wales will be hoping that their pack shows up like it did last weekend but with the addition of a functioning line-out which eluded them against Scotland. Wales are capable of matching France physically, but do they have the athletes to take the few chances they will get?

Like Wales, France have 2 alterations to their starting XV. Yllana Brosseau moves into the starting team with Mwayembe dropping to the bench and Grisez is replaced by Rousset. The injury to Grisez is an incredibly damaging one and leaves France potentially bereft of weapons out wide. Their pack will need to step up against Wales but this team has the quality to win this encounter quite comfortably.

France should win by a good margin but Wales will provide some strong opposition.

Team news

Wales 

Starting XV

1.Gwenllian Pyrs 2.Kelsey Jones 3.Sisilia Tuipulotu 4.Jorja Aionso 5.Gwen Crabb

6.Bethan Lewis 7.Kate Williams(C) 8.Bryonie King 9.Seren Lockwood 10.Lleucu George

11.Jasmine Joyce 12.Courtney Keight 13.Carys Cox 14.Seren Singleton 15.Kayleigh Powell

Bench

16.Molly Reardon 17.Maisie Davies 18.Donna Rose 19.Natalia John 

20.Branwen Metcalfe 21.Georgia Evans 22.Keira Bevan 23.Hannah Dallavalle

France

Starting XV

1.Yllana Brosseau 2.Mathilde Lazarko 3.Assia Khalfaoui 4.Kiara Zago 5.Madoussou Fall Raclot

6.Axelle Berthioumieu 7.Manae Feleu(C) 8.Lea Champon 9.Pauline Bourdon Sansus 10.Carla Arbez

11.Lea Murie 12.Gabrielle Vernier 13.Aubane Rousset 14.Anais Grando 15.Pauline Barratt

Bench

16.Elisa Riffonneau 17.Ambre Mwayembe 18.Annaelle Deshaye 19.Siobhan Soqeta

20.Charlotte Escudero 21.Alexandra Chambon 22.Lina Queyroi 23.Teani Feleu

Ireland vs Italy

Kickoff: 5:40pm, Saturday 18th April

Venue: Dexcom Stadium

Watch on: BBC iPlayer

This is a crucial game for both of these teams. They are ambitions sides that were well beaten by members of the "big two" last weekend, but both played one good half of rugby; Ireland drew their second half 12-12 whilst Italy only lost their first half 5-0. They are both looking upwards, but a loss in this game would be a huge setback to those ambitions. Ireland lead the recent head-to-head 3-2, and won last year's match 54-12, but that means very little heading into this game.

Scott Bemand has made 3 changes to his team that lost to England: Campbell replaces Wall, O'Connor replaces Kinlan and McGillivray replaces Higgins. McGillivray deserves her spot in the starting team after playing a big role in Ireland's second-half improvement when she replaced Higgins who struggled throughout her time on the pitch. Ireland need to secure their set-piece and keep this game structured. They are capable of doing so, and will be too much for Italy if they are able to make this game a true physical contest.

There are 5 changes to the Italy team that lost to France. Granzotto, Madia, Bitonci, Turani and Duca have been replaced by: Maris, Costantini, Stefan, Stevanin and Buso. After a strong first half against France, Italy could be looking to bring that strength in the second-half when it really counts. Stevanin and Stefan have been the incumbent half-back pairing and will want to prove a point after the way the game against France unfolded.

This could be a very tight game, but Ireland should have enough to get the job done.

Team news

Ireland

Starting XV

1.Ellena Perry 2.Cliodhna Moloney-Macdonald 3.Linda Djougang 4.Ruth Campbell 5.Fiona Tuite

6.Brittany Hogan 7.Erin King(C) 8.Aoife Wafer 9.Emily Lane 10.Dannah O'Brien 

11.Robyn O'Connor 12.Nancy McGillivray 13.Aoife Dalton 14.Beibhinn Parsons 15.Stacey Flood

Bench

16.Neve Jones 17.Niamh O'Dowd 18.Sadbh McGrath 19.Dorothy Wall 

20.Sam Monaghan 21.Katie Whelan 22.Eve Higgins 23.Anna McGann

Italy

Starting XV

1.Gaia Maris 2.Vittoria Vecchini 3.Alessia Pilani 4.Valeria Fedrighi 5.Elettra Costantini 

6.Francesca Sgorbini 7.Alissa Ranuccini 8.Elisa Giordano(C) 9.Sofia Stefan 10.Emma Stevanin

11.Aura Muzzo 12.Sara Mannini 13.Alyssa D'Inca 14.Gaia Buso 15.Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi

Bench

16.Chiara Cheli 17.Silvia Turani 18.Vittoria Zanette 19.Giordana Duca

20.Beatrice Veronese 21.Alia Bitonci 22.Veronica Madia 23.Michela Sillari