Wales need a victory against France in Paris to reclaim the Six Nations crown, and complete a Grand Slam in the process.
Wayne Pivac's team have enjoyed a sensational turnaround in fortunes this year and last week's 48-7 thrashing of lowly Italy made it four wins from four.
With France subsequently losing to England at Twickenham, Wales will wrap up the title with a win on Saturday, while even a losing bonus point could be enough, though that may still leave the door open for Les Bleus to snatch glory should they win their postponed fixture against Scotland.
England are well out of the race, but their captain Owen Farrell is eyeing up a points landmark when the 2020 champions take on Ireland in Dublin.
Scotland, meanwhile, round off what will ultimately go down as a frustrating campaign against Italy.
We use Opta data to preview the round-five, Super Saturday encounters.
SCOTLAND V ITALY
FORM
Scotland have won their last five Six Nations games against Italy – the previous 10 clashes between the sides had seen them share five wins each.
Italy have lost 52 of 54 away games in the Six Nations, with their only two victories on the road coming in Scotland in 2007 and 2015.
That victory at Murrayfield in 2015 was Italy's last in the competition. Their losing streak now stands at 31 games, and they will pick up the wooden spoon for the 16th time in Six Nations history.
ONES TO WATCH
Scotland have the best tackle success rate (92 per cent) of any side in this year's competition. Hamish Watson leads the way in that regard, completing all 44 of his attempted tackles – he has made 133 consecutive tackles in the tournament without missing one, the second-longest such run in Six Nations history, behind Lionel Nallet's 154 for France.
Italy's Sebastian Negri has made 127 post-contact metres in the 2021 Six Nations, the most of any forward in the championship.
IRELAND V ENGLAND
FORM
England have won their last two meetings with Ireland in the Six Nations and could win three in a row against them for only the second time, after doing so between 2012 and 2014.
Ireland lost to France in their last home game, only once before have they suffered defeat in back-to-back home games in the Six Nations – in 2010 versus Scotland at Croke Park and 2011 versus France at the Aviva Stadium.
Jones' England have won their last four Tests against Ireland, preventing them from scoring any first-half points in their last two meetings and scoring an average of 4.3 tries per game in that run.
ONES TO WATCH
CJ Stander announced his retirement this week, with the 31-year-old set to hang up his boots at the end of the season. This will be his final appearance for Ireland, having won his 50th cap in the 27-24 win over Scotland in round four.
Owen Farrell, son of Ireland coach Andy, is the top scorer in the Six Nations this year (44) and is just six points away from 500 in the championship. Only Ronan O'Gara (557) has reached that milestone exclusively in the Six Nations (since 2000).
FRANCE V WALES
FORM
Wales are bidding to win a sixth Six Nations title (since 2000), only England (seven) have won the championship more often. If they win this match it would be their fifth
Grand Slam – no other side has more than three.
Recent history is on Wales' side heading to the Stade de France. They have won three of their last four away games against Les Bleus in the Six Nations (L1), triumphing in their last trip to Paris (24-19 in 2019) despite trailing by 16 points at half-time – the biggest comeback for a team in the competition.
Indeed, pre-tournament favourites France have won only two of their last nine Six Nations games against Wales (L7) after winning nine of the previous 12 (L3).
ONES TO WATCH
Antoine Dupont already has four try assists in this Six Nations, only five players have ever recorded more in an edition of the championship, with Frederic Michalak
(seven in 2006) the only Frenchman to do so.
Louis Rees-Zammit is the joint top try scorer in the 2021 Six Nations (four, level with England's Anthony Watson). Shane Williams (six in 2008) is the only Welsh player to score more than four in an edition of the tournament.
Ghulam stars on debut as Pakistan start strong
Pakistan's Kamran Ghulam was in a defiant mood on debut as he frustrated England on day one of the second Test.
After their collapse in the second innings following England's show of force with the bat in Multan last week, Pakistan were looking for a response on Tuesday.
And on the same pitch as the first Test, which offered even less for the seamers but some joy for the spinners, Ghulam starred with a sublime knock of 118 as Pakistan reached stumps on 259-5.
Abdullah Shafique went for seven in the eighth over before Ghulam put on a third-wicket partnership of 149 with Saim Ayub, who made 77 before he was sent packing by Matthew Potts.
Shan Masood fell to Jack Leach (2-92), while Brydon Carse (1-14) picked up the wicket of Saud Shakeel before Ghulam was eventually bowled by Shoaib Bashir (1-66).
England captain Ben Stokes bowled five overs on his return but will be hoping for more luck on day two, with Mohammad Rizwan (37 not out) and Salman Agha (five not out) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Pakistan bounce back
England are undefeated in eight Tests against Pakistan (W6 D2), while the hosts have lost their last six matches in the longest format.
Another loss would be their longest losing run in Tests, but with Ghulam leading the way, they have made a great start in avoiding that fate.
There is plenty of time to go for England, who are hunting their first back-to-back victories in away Test matches since February 2023.
It runs in the blood - Maldini's joy after Italy debut
Daniel Maldini, son of Italy great Paolo, made his international debut in their 4-1 win over Israel, becoming the third generation of his family to play for the Azzurri.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Mateo Retegui and Davide Frattesi scored the goals, ensuring they remained top of their Nations League group after four games.
Maldini came on as a 74th-minute substitute to replace Giacomo Raspadori on Monday, with his father, who earned 126 caps for the national team, watching from the stands.
It is the first time three generations of a family have played for Italy's national team, with Paolo Maldini's final match coming 22 years and 118 days ago, while Cesare Maldini, Daniel's grandfather, played for the last time 61 years and one day ago.
"I'm happy that my parents came here, we'll talk when I get home," Daniel Maldini, who also played for Milan like his father and grandfather, said after the match.
"It was a strong, positive emotion, I am very happy to have played and that the match went well.
"I hope to bring some quality, even if there is already too much. I try to help as much as I can."
Deschamps delighted with 'radiant' Kolo Muani
Didier Deschamps hailed a "radiant" Randal Kolo Muani after the forward's double helped France see off Belgium 2-1.
France made it three wins in a row in the Nations League on Monday, with Kolo Muani's goals doing the damage at Stade Roi Baudouin.
Kolo Muani converted a first-half penalty before heading home what proved to be the winner in the 62nd minute, after Lois Openda had restored parity.
Having also netted in the reverse fixture against Belgium last month, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is France's leading scorer in their Nations League campaign.
And with Kylian Mbappe absent, head coach Deschamps, who was handed an early birthday present by France's win, has been impressed by Kolo Muani's attitude and application.
Speaking to TF1, Deschamps said: "He's interesting, he's radiant.
"He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball has a presence. He is a good header [of the ball] and with us he is very often successful."
France have now won their last five matches against Belgium. Only against the Faroe Islands have Les Bleus had a longer winning streak (six games).
They had to do it the hard way, though, with stand-in captain Aurelien Tchouameni seeing red in the 76th minute.
Tchouameni became the first France player to be sent off since Jules Kounde in September 2021 (v Bosnia-Herzegovina), and the first as captain (from when the match kicked off) since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final.
Belgium finished with 20 shots to France's 14 and more expected goals (2.64xG to 1.49xG), yet the visitors got the job done to move onto nine points from their four matches.
"We were shaken for the first 20 to 25 minutes," explained Deschamps, who turned 56 on Tuesday.
"Belgium put in a lot of intensity, while we made a lot of technical errors.
"When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us.
"We had to shake the players up. It was mostly the mistakes, we had to calm down.
"We had to go forward and press well. Of course, they had chances, but so did we in the second half. We're happy to win this match, especially with 10 men."
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