The Guinness Six Nations has entered it’s final round and while there are still fixtures to played after today due to covid rescheduling, we could still see Wales be crowned Grand Slam champions, however a loss for Wales today and a bonus point win for France and the Les Bleus could still be in the running for a championship, they also can’t allow Wales to get a bonus point. So let’s run through the action today
Scotland v Italy
Scotland will be looking for their second win of the competition, they started in fine form beating England on the opening weekend in tight affair that finished 11-6, however the Scots form has slipped off since that opening game with that being their only win of the competition, both of the losses since came at a max 3 point winning margin.
With Finn Russell unavailable Exeter Chief fullback Stuart Hogg slots in at fly-half, Dave Cherry earns his first start, there’s also a new second row combination with Sam Skinner and Grant Gilchrist coming together in the pack and Zander Fagerson returns to the starting fold after his red card in the Wales game kept him out of the last two fixtures.
Italy will be hoping to gain a win in a fixture which has proved fruitful for them over the years, they’ll want to avoid a winless wooden spoon desperately. Both teams will be wanting to fight for pride over anything else, however with the quality they have it’s hard to look past Scotland in this game.
Ireland v England
In previous years this fixture would’ve represented two contenders facing in a deciding game for the competition however this year, the game is for nothing but pride. Two teams that have massively underachieved and two teams that will be looking forward to putting this tournament behind them.
Charlie Ewels will continue his run in the second row with Elliot Daly also coming back into the starting fold at outside centre. Connor Murray returns to the Irish starting line-up for the first time since open weekend loss the Wales, both Bundee Aki and Jacob Stockdale return to starting positions as the Irish look to go strong in their final game.
Eddie Jones would’ve hoped this six nations would continue England’s fine run of form however a consistent lack of game time to the Saracens players in the Championship means unfit starting players has hindered the team and taken time to bring the squad back up to fitness.
France v Wales
The Championship decider, Wales will be hounding after the Grand Slam but will have to travel away to face a young French squad that are also still in with an unlikely chance to win the competition. With both teams having the chance to win it all, it’s bound to be a stand out fixture.
Wales only have one change to the starting line-up with Adam Beard coming into the second row, and France have announced an unchanged line-up from the side that narrowly lost to England at Twickenham.
Wayne Pivac will be desperate to secure some silverware with Wales having had a shaky first year under his tutelage, with France also remaining in a rebuilding phase with the squads core being made up of young players, it could be a big ask to win with a bonus point and limiting Wales to not secure a bonus point, however, France have finally overcome Covid issues within the squad and they have the talent their to secure the big win to move onto Scotland next weekend, It’s certainly not out of the realms of possibility to see a big France win.
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