The Six Nations Championship concludes for another year, with Ireland in the driving seat to lift the coveted trophy for a second successive season.
The Irish face Scotland at the Aviva Stadium at 4.45 - who could lift the Triple Crown with victory after wins over Wales and England this year - after Wales take on Italy at the Principality Stadium to decide who will be left with the wooden spoon.
The final match of the tournament sees Steve Borthwick’s England travel to Lyon to face France, with the English looking to pounce on any Irish slip-up.
- Ireland to win by 1-12 points
- Duhan Van der Merwe anytime tryscorer
- Italy to win
- England to win
Ireland vs Scotland
Andy Farrell’s Ireland looked firmly on course for the Grand Slam after winning each of their opening three fixtures, but a drop goal in overtime from England fly-half Marcus Smith inflicted Ireland’s first defeat of the tournament - and just their second since 2022 - leaving the Irish with work to do on Saturday.
The Irish can afford to draw in their encounter and still be crowned champions but defeat to Scotland would open the door for England, who face France in Lyon in the late kick-off at 8pm.
Up until their last gasp defeat at Twickenham, Ireland had dispatched France, Italy and Wales with aplomb - winning each encounter by a minimum of 20 points (38-17, 36-0 and 31-7 respectively).
Head coach Farrell has decided against naming any changes to the starting fifteen from last weekend’s loss, with winger Calvin Nash being passed fit after a head injury assessment and James Lowe also starts as he looks to topple Scotland’s Duhan Van der Merwe as the top tryscorer in this year’s tournament.
The lack of tinkering in the starting line-up should see Ireland play with more fluidity and they will need to be at their best to claim the points against a Scotland side who could easily have been in the title picture.
The Scots have lost twice in this year’s tournament - with a combined losing margin of just six points - with these coming via a controversial decision to disallow their last minute try against France and against Italy, who picked up their first win in the competition since 2022.
Scotland have had a habit of staying in games right until the very end - their two victories also came via margin’s of under ten points - and with their first ever Six Nations Triple Crown on the line as well as the yearly Centenary Quaich, Gregor Townsend’s men should give the Irish real trouble in Dublin.
Their main threat will undoubtedly be Van der Merwe, who starts again on Saturday and currently leads the try charts with five this campaign. Although home advantage may eventually swing the result pendulum Ireland’s way, the 28-year old winger is sure to give the travelling fans something to cheer about.
IRELAND TO WIN BY 1-12 POINTS
DUHAN VAN DER MERWE ANYTIME TRYSCORER
Ireland vs Scotland Teams
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Bench: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Garry Ringrose
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Bench: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Kyle Rowe
Wales vs Italy
A testing campaign for Warren Gatland’s youthful and inexperienced Welsh side has seen the six time winners lose each of their opening four fixtures and a first wooden spoon since 2003 could well be in the offing.
Heavy defeats to Ireland and France in their most recent two fixtures has undone the early promise from their opening two defeats - agonisingly close losses to Scotland (27-26) and England (16-14), while Italy have avoided defeat in two consecutive Six Nations ties - a 13-all draw with France followed by a memorable 31-29 victory over Scotland.
Gatland spoke in an interview that he is “loving the pressure” of attempting to avoid his first ever wooden spoon with Wales in what is his 12th campaign in charge of the country, and the match is bound to be an emotionally-fuelled encounter after George North announced that he would retire from international rugby upon the tournament’ conclusion.
However, Italy look in good stead to spoil the party in Cardiff, with the perennial minnows of the competition having the potential to finish as high as third if results go their way. A tight encounter is expected but, after quashing Scotland’s title hopes last time out, Italy will be firmly in the belief that they can claim a victory to ensure their most successful Six Nations campaign ever.
ITALY TO WIN
Wales vs Italy Teams
Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Bench: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady
Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Bench: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Martin Page-Relo, 23 Leonardo Marin
France vs England
The absence of fly-half Romain Ntamack and scrum-half Antoine Dupont has been all too apparent for France this year, with Les Bleus largely underwhelming in this year’s tournament despite being pre-tournament favourites alongside Ireland.
Although they looked emphatic in their victory over Wales last time out, they have put out a number of sub-par performances. Fabien Galthie’s men were swept away in the opener against the Irish, held to a draw by Italy at home and were very fortunate to come away from Murrayfield with a victory against Scotland.
The French have not won at home all tournament and they look on course to go winless at home for the first time in their Six Nations history, with England potentially still in the title hunt come kick-off at 8pm.
If Ireland lose at home to Scotland, the door will be flown wide open for Steve Borthwick’s men who have looked hot and cold at times. With their last win coming back in 2016, England will be desperate to put recent troubles with France to bed and with the French looking a shell of the side that won last year’s tournament, a victory for England looks a very promising bet.
ENGLAND TO WIN
France vs England Teams
France: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Bench: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Bench: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ethan Roots, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Manu Tuilagi
