After the Blues’ demonstration on Thursday evening, the English and the Scottish are logically favorites, respectively against the Welsh and the Italians.
After the improved victory of the French XV against Ireland (36-14) on Thursday, for the opening of the 2026 Six Nations Tournament, England and Scotland will try to follow the pace set by the Blues, respectively in London against the Welsh and in Rome against Italy. And if the duel seems unbalanced at Twickenham between a XV de la Rose on a series of 11 victories and the very harmless Dragons, with only two successes on the clock in their last 23 matches (against Japan…), the trip could be a little more complicated for the Scots against an ambitious Nazionale.
Unbalanced duel at Twickenham
Full of confidence with 11 consecutive victories, including a prestigious success against the New Zealand All Blacks in the fall (33-19), Steve Borthwick’s men should make short work of a very weakened Leek XV, deprived of its captain Jac Morgan and his old curmudgeon Taulupe Faletau in the third line. Complete or almost complete, the England XV will want to start with a bang, in front of their Twickenham crowd (5:40 p.m.), with their sights set on a possible “final” in March at the Stade de France, for a first victory in the Tournament since 2020.
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“On March 14 in Paris, we want to be in a position, at kick-off, to achieve what we are all aiming for”said Steve Borthwick on Tuesday when announcing his starting XV, without uttering the word Grand Slam, a performance after which the English have been chasing since 2016.
Faced with the English armada, boosted by the good results of the Premiership clubs in the Champions Cup, with seven qualified out of eight, Steve Tandy’s men will count on their
After a failed attempt at American football in the NFL for a year and a half, the Welsh winger returned to the XV this season with the English club Bristol Bears, immediately joining the Leek selection. And at 25 years old, he has lost none of his speed qualities, with eight tries in 14 matches.
Scottish weekend in Rome
On paper, Scotland are big favorites against Gonzalo Quesada’s team on Saturday at the Stadio Olimpico (3:10 p.m.), with only one victory for the Nazionale in the last 15 clashes between the two teams. But that was only two years ago, with Italy winning 31-29. Beware of overconfidence for the Chardon XV, which will arrive pumped up in the wake of the 20 out of 20 signed in the Champions Cup by Glasgow, also at the top of the United Rugby Championship.
Within a starting XV largely built on the Warriors (9 out of 15), coach Gregor Townsend made strong choices, excluding the two best try scorers in Scottish rugby, Duhan van der Merwe (32) and Darcy Graham (31), and the Stade Toulouse fullback Blair Kinghorn.
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On the Italian side, the Azurri will be deprived of Ange Capuozzo, their Toulouse dynamiter, their two usual scrum halves, Martin Page-Relo and Stephen Varney, and the Perpignan fly-half Tommaso Allan, injured. But Gonzalo Quesada will count on the experience of his players, and in particular his captain Michele Lamaro and Toulon players Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi, who will all reach the milestone of 50 caps on Saturday.
Accustomed to one-day exploits but unable to confirm over time, the Scots want to show that they are capable of striving for victory in the Tournament, even though they have never done better than 3rd since Italy’s arrival in the event in 2000, after a last trophy in 1999.
