Italy vs France
Kickoff: 1pm Saturday
Stadium: Lani-Ranchi, Parma
Watch on: BBC Iplayer
Team news
Italy
1.Turani 2.Vecchini 3.Seye 4.Fedrighi 5.Duca
6.Veronese 7.Ranuccini 8.Giordano(C) 9.Bitonci 10.Madia
11.D'Inca 12.Mannini 13.Sillari 14.Muzzo 15.Ostuni Minuzzi
16.Spinelli 17.Stecca 18.Maris 19.Tounesi
20.Sgorbini 21.Stefan 22.Capomaggi 23.Rigoni
France
1.Brosseau 2.Bigot 3.Khalfaoui 4.M.Feleu 5.Fall Raglot
6.R.Menager 7.Okemba 8.T.Feleu 9.Bourdon Sansus 10.Arbez
11.Boulard 12.Vernier 13.M.Menager 14.Grisez 15.Bourgeois
16.Riffonneau 17.Mwayembe 18.Joyeux 19.Escudero
20.Berthoumieu 21.Champon 22.Chambon 23.Queyroi
The Italians will be welcoming their opponents to Parma whilst brimming with confidence on Saturday afternoon after a big away win against Scotland. Italy's level coming into this tournament was unclear but a win over Scotland and a second half, which was basically a stalemate, against England have shown that they are a serious competitor at this level. However, their opposition are still the strong favourites; France have won every match so far and are the big challengers to England with that fixture coming up after this week. France will likely be able to overpower their opponents and have the superior side to earn a comfortable victory. They also have Vernier back after a suspension so the inside centre will add even more quality to the French backs.
Prediction
Italy 13 vs 48 France
England vs Scotland
Kickoff: 4:45pm Saturday
Stadium: Welfrod Road, Leicester
Watch on: BBC 2
Team news
England
1.Clifford 2.Atkin-Davies 3.Bern 4.Galligan 5.Ward
6.Aldcroft(C) 7.Packer 8.Feaunati 9.Packer 10.Aitchison
11.MacDonald 12.Shekells 13.Jones 14.Dow 15.Kildunne
16.Campbell 17.Botterman 18.Muir 19.Talling
20.Mathews 21.Hunt 22.Rowland 23.Scarratt
Scotland
1.Young 2.Skeldon 3.Clarke 4.Boyd 5.Bonar
6.Gallagher 7.McLachlan 8.Konkel 9.Mattinson 10.Nelson(C)
11.McGhie 12.Thomson 13.Orr 14.LLoyd 15.Rollie
16.Martin 17.Bartlett 18.Poolman 19.Ferrie
20.Bell 21.Clarke 22.Philipps 23.Scott
England have had an almost perfect Six Nations up to this point having secured the maximum amount of available points in each of their first three games. Scotland, on the other hand, will be looking at their defeat to Italy last week as a disappointment from which they need to bounce back quickly. Unfortunately, they have to play England next so that will be a little tricky. Scotland have struggled to compete against the Red Roses and this year looks set to be the same. The likes of Gallagher and Bonar in the pack will have to be at their peak to give their side a chance against a rotated English side.
From England's point of view, the Ireland game ended well but only after a frustrating first half. Seemingly with that in mind, John Mitchell has made several changes to his 23 for a fixture in which he can rotate anyway without being overly concerned about the result being in jeopardy. Amongst those changes is Lucy Packer replacing Natasha Hunt at scrum-half, MacDonald replacing Breach on the wing and Shekells replacing Heard at inside centre. There is also a lot of change with the fly-halves as Zoe Harrison drops out of the side entirely and is replaced in the starting XV by Holly Aitchison who is backed up by Helena Rowland on the bench. Emily Scarratt is also back on the bench in the 23 jersey. This is still a very strong England side which should get the job done comfortably.
Wales vs Ireland
Kickoff: 3pm Sunday
Stadium: Rodney Parade
Watch on: BBC Iplayer
Team news
Wales
1.G.Pyrs 2.Jones 3.Scorle 4.Fleming 5.Evans
6.Williams 7.Lewis 8.Callendar 9.Bevan 10.Powell
11.Cox 12.Keight 13.H.Jones(C) 14.Neumann 15.Joyce
16.Phillips 17.Davies 18.Rose 19.John
20.A.Pyrs 21.S.Jones 22.George 23.Richards
Ireland
1.McCarthy 2.Jones 3.Djougang 4.Campbell 5.Wall
6.Hogan 7.McMahon(C) 8.Wafer 9.Scuffil-McCabe 10.O'Brien
11.Costigan 12.Breen 13.Dalton 14.McGann 15.Flood
16.Moloney 17.McGrath 18.Haney 19.Tuite
20.Boles 21.Lane 22.Higgins 23.Kinlan
Ireland will look back at the start of this tournament as a period in which they proved their ability to compete with the best but still left it with much frustration about the results. Against England, they matched the Red Roses in the first half but fell apart in the second and against France the Irish stayed in the game until the last fifteen minutes when the French were able to break away despite being a player down. This fixture against Wales is one they will expect to win and should do so fairly comfortably. Keep a look out for Costigan causing havoc on the wing - she is arguably the best finisher in this competition. At fly-half, O'Brien was excellent against England despite being just 21-years-old and looks set to continue that form in this match. With the likes of O'Brien, Wafer and others this Irish team looks set to only get better over the coming years which will excite everyone in the women's game. I think the Irish will win this one by a couple of scores despite a decent Welsh challenge.
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