Ahead of the upcoming second round of the 2024 Six Nations, former Ulster and Ireland great Stephen Ferris gives his preview and predictions for every game this weekend.
A thrilling weekend is expected with intense matchups across the weekend. Ireland take on Italy at home this Sunday at 3pm, after their win over France last week. Scotland take on France on Saturday after their narrow victory over Wales last Saturday, while England take on Wales on Saturday evening.
Here are Stephen Ferris' previews for round two of the Six Nations:
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Scotland v France- Saturday 2:15pm- Murrayfield
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the first 10 minutes of the game is and see how that goes. Will Scotland be almost nervous about what happened in the second half against Wales? Will they have that cagey approach or will they go out and express themselves like they did in that first 40 minutes of that Welsh game?"
How are Scotland gonna react? First game at home. They got absolutely battered 2 years ago by France in Murrayfield, I think they conceded 37 points in that game. And you know, with this French team there's got to be a reaction. There has to be a reaction from the players.
What they put out in Marseille, in the Velodrome, just wasn't good enough and Gregor Townsend and the co-captain of Scotland Finn Russell know that this French side are going come with a completely different attitude. They'll be looking to go to Murrayfield and beat this Scotland team up, take them on physically try and dominate them in the collisions and then hopefully have a little bit of class to be able to get the job done.
But for me it just feels like Scotland at home with the 45 50 minutes they showed last week, that they do have the ability to create opportunities and they do have the match winners.
England v Wales- Saturday 4:45pm- Twickenham
I think England will be okay this weekend. The front 5 (Wales) doesn't fill me full of confidence that they can go away to Twickenham and draw the arm wrestle."
I think England will ready go after them up front and lay that foundation. We know that they kick the ball a hell of a lot, the kick chase is unbelievable, their line speed in defence at the minute is off the charts. Granted they do make some silly decisions also. They slipped off a number of tackles last week, the lowest completed tackle percentage in the competition last weekend against Italy with only 85 percent."
"I do fancy England to get two wins out of two to beat Wales. I don't think Wales have won there in the last 5 games that they've played. All the odds are stacked against them. Warren Gatland will just be looking for another performance that he can build upon for the next few weeks.
Obviously, leading forward with the squad he's picked there's absolutely no doubt that he doesn't have tunnel vision about finishing second, third or fourth in the Six Nations. This is about building a squad for the future."
Ireland v Italy- Sunday 3pm- Aviva Stadium
Look at all the stats. Look at the form that Italy have come into off the back of a really disappointing Rugby World Cup, nearly shipping a hundred points in one game or 60 even close to 70 points against France as well.
They've got ta new coaching set up, they played a lot better against England but this is an Ireland side that you would expect to get very close to that betting handicap I think it's around 32 points."
So I expect a good game because Italy like to throw it around as well. They play a good style a good brand of rugby so hopefully both teams come with that attacking mindset.
