England and Wales will meet at 4.45 pm on Saturday, whereas Scotland host France earlier within the day at 2.15 pm
We check out among the key speaking factors forward of England, Wales and Scotland’s Six Nations match in opposition to France on Saturday, together with the must-win Twickenham take a look at, returning key gamers, Scotland’s accidents…
Table of Contents
A should meet at Twickenham
With England and Wales each approaching the Six Nations match on Saturday on the again of a win and a defeat from two video games to date, neither can afford to lose if they’ve to take care of their hopes of staying within the title battle.
Defending champion Wales misplaced 29-7 in Dublin within the opening weekend, whereas England misplaced 20-17 to Scotland in Edinburgh.
Wales recovered to beat Scotland 20-17 in Cardiff within the second spherical, whereas England recorded a routine 33-0 win over Italy in Rome that very same weekend.
A second defeat for both of them would finish their marketing campaign halfway by, and consequently, Eddie Jones, Wayne Bivac and their groups enter the confrontation beneath nice stress.
Wales haven’t gained English rugby on the Six Nations since 2012, though they famously did win the 2015 Rugby World Cup at Twickenham on a day once they struggled with accidents – simply as on this one. Championship of the yr.
Clashes between the 2 sides, irrespective of the place, have been much more so not too long ago, with three wins every from their final six Checks.
Guinness Six Nations – Spherical Three Matches
| Saturday at 2.15 pm | Scotland vs France |
|---|---|
| Saturday at 4.45 pm | England vs Wales |
| Sunday at 3 pm | eire vs italy |
A brand new assault plan was wanted as Tuilagi was as soon as once more dominated out for England
England have not seemed nice within the event to date and have been in poor form within the 2023 Six Nations Championship.
Head coach Eddie Jones had hoped Manu Tuilagi’s return from a hamstring harm had made all of the distinction – solely for the same sickness to rule him out hours after he was known as as much as the fifteenth session.
The 30-year-old is a wrecking ball for a midfielder and adjustments England to Jones every time he is on the facet along with his large physique and highly effective ahead drive.
“Manu offers us a unique approach to assault within the again,” Jones stated Thursday, earlier than the harm was introduced. “It is a pay-line assembler. It is frequently profitable the incomes line and attracting defenders to it, creating area for different choices.
“He does it higher than anybody else on this planet when he is on the extremes of the mile,” Jones famous. “We plan for him to be at full capability on Saturday.” England will want a Plan B once more.
England had hoped Manu Tuilagi would return to face Wales – however one other hamstring harm dominated him out
Jones’ drawback is that he hasn’t seen sufficient of Twilagy, who has missed 50 of the 71 video games Jones has been chargeable for, a quantity that may rise once more on Saturday.
Tuilagi’s continued absence may be felt intensely at Twickenham with the stats making for a tremendous learn. In his final 17 matches with England, they’ve gained 14 of them and misplaced solely three. With out him, they’ve misplaced three of their final seven matches.
Legal guidelines, Valletao – Key gamers coming back from either side
Nevertheless, England do have one key participant again, within the type of Courtney Loews, who’s again within the again row and again as captain.
The foundations are ample sufficient to start out over as a result of England have handed return to play protocols for concussions.
🏴 captain 🤝 captain 🏴
For the primary time in our 142-year historical past, two saints will face off as captains of their international locations 😇 pic.twitter.com/GDkHXJbVOb
– Northampton Saints 😇 (SaintsRugby) February 24 2023
Lawes offers an enormous materials part to his performances that advantages England immensely, whereas additionally offering defensive toughness and unwavering expertise.
Towards Wales, England’s focus is more likely to be on outsmarting and overpowering their opponents in entrance of outright home help.
Welles, who continues to be denied a tryout for Alon Wayne Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tiburek, Josh Navidi, Lee Halfpenny and George North, welcomed No. 8 Taulupe Valitau.
Taulupe Faletau will return to Wales in opposition to England
The British and Irish five-time Lion Take a look at groups had 86 caps for Wales, and when he was at his degree – as he was within the fall of 2020 and Six Nations final yr – their two groups have constantly gained.
Getting back from a seven-month ankle harm, resisting England at Twickenham, is a really troublesome first job.
Staff information
England fifteenth: (Eddie Jones will now title his group on match day after Tuilagi’s harm)
Fifteenth Wales: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Josh Adams, 10. Dan Biggar (captain), 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Wayne Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Thomas Francis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Hen, 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Tyne Basham, 8. Tulube Valletau.
Options: 16. Dewey Lake, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Seb Davies, 20. Jack Morgan, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Gareth Anscombe, 23. Jonathan Davis.
The Six Guinness Nations – Desk
| recreation | Wins | I drew | Loss | BP | ll | factors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2. England | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 3. Eire | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 4. Scotland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 5. Wales | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 6. Italy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scottish accidents hinder the probabilities of difficult France?
After beginning the event with a confidence-boosting victory over England at Murrayfield, Scotland’s hopes collapsed after their defeat in Wales per week later.
Scotland’s final two Six Nations campaigns have seen large wins – already vital sufficient to generate title hopes – earlier than dropping different matches to get them out of the combination.
Victories over France and Wales in 2020 had been dwarfed by defeats in Eire and at residence to England, whereas final yr’s history-making victories at Twickenham (for the primary time since 1984) and in Paris (for the primary time since 1999) adopted together with defeats at residence to Wales. and Eire.
The loss at residence to France on Saturday won’t rely as one other promising begin to the event when it comes to titles once more, and the problem has been made harder by accidents.
Johnny Grey has been changed by fellow Exeter Chiefs Sam Skinner within the Scottish squad
Key forwards Rory Sutherland (free brace, rib harm) and Johnny Grey (2nd row, ankle harm) had been ignored with two large hits, becoming a member of already injured Jimmy Ritchie (again row, hamstring) on the sidelines.
Cam Redbath middle (neck) and Scott Cummings (knee) additionally returned to their golf equipment on account of harm, whereas No. 8 Matt Fagerson – man of the match in England’s win over England – was not chosen within the squad to face France.
“Whereas it’s disappointing to lose two gamers to harm forward of the France recreation, it is a implausible alternative for brand spanking new gamers to impress the gamers and make their approach into the match day squad,” Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend stated.
“The draining nature of the Six Nations implies that adjustments are sometimes made to the group all through the event and it’s a problem we’re higher ready to sort out given the depth of the present group.”
Scotland’s job in opposition to a really gifted France was troublesome anyway. Accidents make it harder.
Les Bleus is trying ahead to beating their final ghost group
Jonathan Dante returns to fifteenth place in France on their journey to Scotland
Scotland could face off on Saturday, however the French nationwide group heads to the Scottish capital figuring out they must face their very own ghost group up to now few years.
France performed the most effective rugby within the Six Nations for the previous two seasons general, however did not get the titles. The explanation for each years was the defeat to the Scots.
In each 2020 and 2023, France did not take the trophy regardless of beating the eventual winner (England, 2020), (Wales, 2023), as a 28-17 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield in 2020 allowed England to slide away on factors. Whereas dropping 27-23 to Scotland in Paris ended their probabilities final yr.
Extra so, France has truly misplaced within the final three of the six international locations’ visits to Murrayfield: 29-18 in 2016, 32-26 2018, and the aforementioned 28-17 in 2020.
France oversaw its first large hurdle of 2023, by defeating qualifying Eire in Paris final week. They need to now show they’ll accomplish that on the highway with journeys to Murrayfield and the Principality sooner or later.
A Grand Slam is the objective of Fabian Galletti and his cohorts, however after ready 22 years to win the Six Nations title, they should get previous the hurdles they fell into in earlier years to make it occur.
Staff information
Scotland XV: 15. Stuart Hogg, 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Sionni Tuipoloto, 11. Dohan van der Merwe, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ali Value, 1. Pierre Schumann, 2. Stuart McKinally, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Sam Skinner, 5. Grant Gilchrist (Vice Captain), 6. Rory Darg, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Magnus Bradbury.
Options: 16. George Turner, 17. Olly Cable, 18. WP Nel, 19. Jimmy Hodgson, 20. Nick Heining, 21. Ben White, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Mark Bennett.
France fifteenth: 15. Melvin Jamnett, 14. Damien Benaud, 13. Gail Fico, 12. Jonathan Dante, 11. Yoram Movana, 10. Roman Ntamak. 9. Antoine Dupont, 1. Cyril Bell, 2. Julian Marchand, 3. Oweny Attonio, 4. Cameron Wauke, 5. Paul Willemsey, 6. François Croce, 7. Anthony Gillonch, 8. Gregory Alderet.
options: 16. Beto Mufaka, 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18. Demba Pampa, 19. Roman Tauvivenoua, 20. Thiboud Flament, 21. Dylan Cretin, 22. Maxime Loko, 23. Thomas Ramos.
