England will be hard pressed to build on their 15-game winning streak when they face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, writes JON CARDINELLI.
WALES vs ENGLAND
England have won their last 15 Test matches. Four more victories, and they will claim their second-consecutive Grand Slam title as well as the tier-one Test record for the most wins in succession (19).
Eddie Jones' side may struggle to get past Wales this Saturday, though. England battled at the collisions in the opening game against France. Tom Wood's struggle with injury means that England will face Wales with an inexperienced starting back row.
Wales will have the added benefit of hosting this grudge match at the Millennium Stadium. The Dragons are coming off a 33-7 win against Italy. While their performance in Rome wasn't convincing, they finished round one at the top of the Six Nations log.
Rob Howely's men appear well placed to strike a blow to England's Grand Slam hopes. The key to victory could be Howley's management of the bench, and subsequently the performance of the substitutes in the dying stages.
England got this right at Twickenham last week. The bench made all the difference in the fourth quarter, and ultimately swung the game in England's favour.
This will give England some confidence going forward. They know how to win ugly, and will back themselves to prevail if the game is in the balance in the last 20 minutes.
Wales – 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans.
Subs: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts.
England – 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jack CLifford, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler.
Subs: 16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jonny May.
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ITALY vs IRELAND
Italy dominated the first half of last week's clash against Wales, defending fiercely and scoring a try from close range. In the second stanza, however, their accuracy and discipline left a lot to be desired. They allowed Wales back into the game, and then faded in the dying stages.
Ireland will view this fixture as an opportunity to get their campaign back on track. Scotland scored a big upset against one of the Six Nations title favourites last Saturday. This week, Ireland need to win the forward battles and make the most of their scoring chances in the first half.
If Ireland manage to neutralise Italy's forwards, they could well go on to claim the first try-scoring bonus point in the history of the Six Nations.
Italy – 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke Mclean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Maxime Mbanda, 5 Andries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Subs: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro.
Ireland – Ireland – 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Subs: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Craig Gilroy.
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FRANCE vs SCOTLAND
Last week, France dominated England at the collisions and breakdowns. The half-time scoreline of 9-9 was not a true reflection of the contest. If anything, it highlighted France's inability to translate forward dominance into points.
They should be favourites to down Scotland in Paris this Sunday. However, they will note how Vern Cotter's charges upset Ireland in round one. The defence fired, and Scotland were good enough to score from the counter-attack. Later in the contest, Scotland maintained their efforts at the gain line and played in the right areas of the field.
France were not at their best against England as far as kicking and the drive for territory was concerned. They also battled to live with the pace and intensity of the English in the fourth quarter.
If Scotland can stay in the contest until the final 20 minutes, they will be in with a shout. But if France build some early momentum, and if the partisan crowd at the Stade de France plays its part, Les Bleus could storm to a convincing victory.
France – 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille.
Subs: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Yoann Huget.
Scotland – 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell.
Subs: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
