France and Ireland face off at the Stade de France on Saturday in a contest that may well determine exactly where the Six Nations title ends up next month.
Pre-tournament favourites France kicked off their campaign with a routine victory over Italy, while a much-fancied Ireland proved far too strong for reigning champions Wales.
Both sides picked up bonus points to lead the way at the top, setting up a mouth-watering encounter in the French capital as Ireland aim to stretch their nine-match winning run.
Wales have a chance to respond to last week's disappointment when they host a Scotland side who should be full of confidence following their Calcutta Cup win over England last time out.
The final match of the weekend takes place in Rome as perennial whipping boys Italy take on England with the aim of ending their long-running losing streak in the competition.
Ahead of the second round of fixtures, Stats Perform previews each match with help from Opta.
WALES v SCOTLAND
FORM
Wales have lost just two of their 11 home matches against Scotland in the Six Nations, though one of those losses did come in the last such meeting two years ago at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli.
The last three encounters between the sides in the competition have been decided by a margin of seven points or fewer. Indeed, four of the last six clashes have seen the side losing at half-time come back to win the match.
Scotland are on their longest away winning streak in the championship, having won four on the spin – not since between 1925 and 1927 have they won five in a row on their travels. However, Wales have won nine of their last 11 Six Nations home matches.
ONES TO WATCH
Taine Basham was a rare shining light for Wales in their heavy loss to Ireland, the tournament debutant crossing over late on to prevent his side from losing to nil on a day to forget in Dublin. Basham also made 22 tackles, which is the most of any player on the opening weekend, missing none in the process.
A number of Scotland players impressed in the late win over England, not least Darcy Graham. The diminutive wing set up Ben White for the opening try, won the crucial turnover in injury time and beat six defenders – the most of any player in round one.
FRANCE v IRELAND
FORM
France and Ireland have played each other 100 times previously, with France victorious on 58 occasions, Ireland prevailing 35 times and seven games drawn. In the Six Nations, Les Blues edge the win record 11 to nine from their 22 previous encounters, the other two matches finishing level.
Ireland have lost their last two meetings with France in the competition, having been beaten in just one of the previous eight. Ireland's win rate of 41 per cent against Les Blues in the Six Nations is their lowest against any side.
After recovering to see off Italy last week, France are aiming to win their opening two Six Nations games for the third year in a row, this after managing it just twice in their previous eight campaigns.
ONES TO WATCH
France head coach Fabien Galthie, back involved after missing the Italy match with coronavirus, has put his faith in youth by handing Yoram Moefana his first Six Nations start. The 21-year-old impressed in his cameo role against Italy by playing a part in his side's last two tries.
Ireland will have to make do without injured skipper Johnny Sexton, who passed the 500-point mark in the Six Nations last week, so all eyes will be on Joey Carbery – the only change from the Wales game – at fly-half. The Munster number 10 is tasked with pulling the strings on his first tournament start.
ITALY v ENGLAND
FORM
England are the only side Italy have never managed to beat in the Six Nations, losing all 22 of their previous showdowns. England's 80-23 win in this fixture 21 years ago remains the most points scored and biggest winning margin in any fixture in the competition's history.
Italy have lost their last 33 matches in the competition – the longest losing streak by any team in the Five or Six Nations – in an unwanted run that stretches back to a win over Scotland in 2015.
Eddie Jones' visitors have lost their last two Six Nations matches, but only once over the last 15 editions have they lost three in a row, while not since 2005 have they lost their opening two games to a campaign.
ONES TO WATCH
Italy's Michele Lamaro (21 tackles) was one of just three players to make 20 or more tackles during the opening weekend, along with Basham (22) and Nick Tompkins (21). However, he also missed four tackles, which was the joint-most of any player, level with Dan Biggar.
Ben Youngs, who made the most kicks in play of any player in round one (17), is one of six players to make way for England. Should the experienced scrum-half make it off the bench, he will become England's joint-most capped player of all time alongside Jason Leonard with 114.
WRU governance to be 'improved irrevocably' after membership votes for change
Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of structural change to the governing body.
An extraordinary general meeting was called by the WRU on Sunday, with 282 clubs eligible to vote on proposals to reform how rugby union is run in Wales.
The EGM came after Wales players had threatened to strike ahead of their Six Nations match with England due to contractual disputes, while the organisation has also faced allegations of sexism and misogyny.
Those allegations resulted in the resignation of former chief executive Steve Phillips, with Nigel Walker stepping in on an interim basis.
Of the 252 votes cast at Sunday's EGM, 245 were in favour of the resolution to change the governing structure of the WRU.
Southgate: Balogun must be patient for England call-up
Gareth Southgate urged Folarin Balogun to be patient for an England call-up.
The 21-year-old striker has excelled on loan with Reims this season from Arsenal, scoring 17 Ligue 1 goals – only Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David (both 19) having netted more.
Balogun's international allegiances are up for grabs, with the New York-born striker eligible for the United States, as well as Nigeria, and visiting the US during the international break.
Southgate is not prepared to issue him a call-up in order to seal his international future, however, citing his lack of Premier League experience as a reason for him being overlooked.
"It is up to the player to weigh up where his heart feels. Is he prepared to wait a little bit for an opportunity if he backs himself and feels he can push his way into our squad?" he said.
"Because anybody who has followed us will know that we will give young players a chance. So, we cannot go and give first-team call-ups to someone just because we don't want them to go somewhere else.
"We like Flo. He has obviously not had an opportunity in the Premier League yet, so we have to weigh up those goals to Ivan [Toney], for example, or Ollie Watkins. Or Eddie Nketiah, who has done really well with the opportunity he has had at Arsenal.
"I know there are going to be offers as 80 per cent of our players can play for more than one country now, and we are not arrogant expecting everybody to want to come to play for England. We have to make them feel wanted and feel part of that.
"Ultimately, it does not matter what you say. If you cannot give them the opportunity now, then some people are patient and want to see it through and are prepared to wait a bit and others want it now and I can totally understand that."
'Special' Fullkrug can pull Germany along – Flick
Germany coach Hansi Flick credited Niclas Fullkrug with having the ability to "pull the team along" after the striker's double against Peru.
Fullkrug's two first-half goals ensured Euro 2024 hosts Germany claimed a routine 2-0 victory in their opening match of 2023.
Germany dominated Saturday's friendly in Mainz, and only a twist of the rules prevented Kai Havertz making it 3-0 in the second half, with the Chelsea forward's first-time finish on the rebound after he hit the post with a penalty disallowed as no other player had touched the ball.
Flick reserved special praise for Fullkrug, who has netted five goals in as many international games, and became the first Werder Bremen player to start for Germany since Serge Gnabry in 2016.
"Niclas is a player who is special, he is very confident, he wants to win and can pull the team along. He also gives the team a lot of positive energy," Flick told Sky Sport.
Sandro Wagner is the only other player this century to have scored five goals across his first five appearances for Germany.
However, there are elements for Fullkrug to work on, with Flick noting: "There were a few situations that I wasn’t happy with today.
"If we play forward, we have to have a certain seriousness about it.
"Niclas has also had one or two situations where he can be better, but he's still there for goals and he scored them."
Germany's game was their first since their disappointing showing at the World Cup, where they suffered a group-stage exit.
However, Germany are on a 13-game unbeaten run in friendlies (W8 D5) equalling their record, which was set between 1994 and 1996.
"I think you could see that the team played with a lot of dynamism, especially when it came to attacking," Flick said.
"A lot of things were good, but not yet at 100 per cent, although you couldn't expect because we didn't train very much.
"The team has never played together in this formation, but there were still a few situations that we played out well, where the last pass was missing.
"We scored two nice goals and kept a clean sheet, which was a focus for us this week."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
