5 Bold Predictions: Nations Championship Round 2 - England end losing streak

Round One of the competition saw a sextet of sensational test matches take over the sporting weekend, with New Zealand kicking off the action with a hard-fought win over France. Les Bleus pushed the All Blacks to their very limit in the first ever Nations Championship match, before a late Will Jordan try sealed the 34-32 win upon Dave Rennie's first match at the All Blacks helm.

The action then jetted over to the Land of the Rising Sun, as Japan triumphed 27-10 over an impressive Italian outfit. Whilst it was by no means the giant-killing of the 2026 Six Nations for the Azzurri, Gonzalo Quesada's side fought head-to-head with the Brave Blossoms, with Japan marking a historic first Nations Championship victory for a team outside of the traditional Tier One nations.

All eyes then turned to the land down under, as Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell were reunited across opposing coaching boxes for the Wallabies clash with Ireland. It went right down to the wire at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, with replacement Irish prop Tom Clarkson bagging a 77th minute try to put the teams level. Sam Prendergast's conversion edged Ireland 33-31 ahead, before a finallate penalty was sliced by Wallabies' Ben Donaldson, as the ex-pat Irish supporters had a sigh of relief in New South Wales.

Fiji then 'hosted' Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium for the fourth match of the day, as the Pacific Islanders push towards home-soil competition for the 2028 Nations Championship. Steve Tandy's men secured to 39-24 'away' win, as Wales recorded back-to-back wins following their Six Nations closer against Italy. England then took on South Africa at the formidable Ellis Park fortess, with a hot Springboks start setting the precedence despite English flourishes throughout the 45-21 Boks win. Scotland closed out round one with a 47-38 win over Argentina, in a statement making win for Gregor Townsend's side in Cordoba.

After a solid effort at predicting the outcomes of the opening round of the Nations Championship, we've dusted off the crystal ball ahead of round two. A bonus prediction for the weekend sees the All Blacks pick up a one-sided win over Italy (by 20 points), as Rennie's men continue to build momentum as they put their Eden Park streak on the line against Ireland in a fortnight's time.

Our first bold prediction of this weekend's incoming Nations Championship matches, comes within a must-win match for both France and Australia. With Les Bleus and the Wallabies both on the losing end of the score-sheet last time out, Fabien Galthie and Joe Schmidt's men are setting out to turn their fortunes around in this upcoming battle in Brisbane. Suncorp Stadium is set to host a tense encounter between the two sides, and we can see France just edging past the hosts to return to winning form.

Much like France's first round defeat to New Zealand, and Australia's agonising loss to Ireland, it is once again going to come down to the wire in the Nations Championship. We see just two points seperating the two sides come the final whistle, with a late Matthieu Jalibert penalty expected to split the difference between the two battered and bruised squads.

Despite France looking rather undermanned with the likes of Antoine Dupont, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos missing the All Blacks clash, Galthie's men were excellent to a man, and countered the star-power of the favoured Kiwi icons. Australia would feel hard done by to have let the win slip, through both Thomas Clarkson's late Ireland try and the missed penalty attempt from Ben Donaldson last week. Last week we correctly predicted the narrow defeats to France and Australia, but unfortunately for the Wallabies, we see another narrow loss in their near future.

Having navigated the absolute chaos of the Nations Championship opening round match against Australia, to come away from Sydney with the hard-fought win - Andy Farrell will likley unleash some fresh faces upon Japan for the second round of this newly minted competition. Farrell initially named three uncapped hopefuls within his squad for the Summer, in the form of Connacht trio Billy Bohan, Sean Jansen and Sam Illo. Farrell then uncapped Ulster brothers Bryn and Zac Ward following the end of the URC season, as Caelan Doris and Tommy O'Brien withdrew from the tour.

Whilst Ireland will by no means be underestimating the intensity of taking on the Brave Blossoms, there is no denying that the men in green have bigger fish to fry in the near future. Ireland take on New Zealand in a fortnight's time, with Andy Farrell expected to rotate his squad for the trip to Newcastle, as an expected win is on the cards against Eddie Jones' side.We can see real potential in Jansen starting at number eight, with Billy Bohan all-but a shoe-in to debut given the concussion stand-down to loose-head prop Jeremy Loughman.

For the match itself, Japan will certainly be looking to spoil the party as the Brave Blossoms hunt for back-to-back wins in their Nations Championship campaign. Ireland last took on Japan in the Autumn of 2025, and after a slow start at the Aviva Stadium, Ireland avoided an uncharacteristic upset with a second half surge. Whilst we expect a typically tight first quarter that could even see an early Japan lead - this is a very different Ireland team that lost to Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup back in Shizuoka.

The next bold prediction makes for much more pleasant reading for England fans, to that of last week's assessment that expected the beat-down from the World Champion Springboks. Having endured a rotten run of form since the turn of the new year, we can see England bringing an end to their five-match losing streak as Steve Borthwick's men take on Fiji on Merseyside.

With Fiji yet again playing hosts throughout the 'Southern Series', England have taken their show away from Twickenham, for this clash at the Hill Dickinson Stadium - the home of Everton FC. England fans will be hoping for a sweeter result at the home of the Toffees, to that of their heavy defeat to South Africa last weekend in Johannesburg. England will have to navigate a brutal travel schedule for the second round of the Nations Championship, but we back Borthwick's team to get the job done against Fiji.

In the Summer of 2023, Fiji shocked the global rugby landscape by handing England 30-22 defeat at Twickenham in the lead up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. This marked the first time a Tier Two rugby nation had beaten England at home, in what was a first ever win for the Pacific Islanders as well. However, since then England got their revenge at the 2023 RWC, and also defeated the Flying Fijians last November during their stunning run of winning form. We expect England to make it three wins on the bounce against the Pacific Islanders this Saturday, yet Senirusi Seruvakula's men will not back down by any means.

With no disrespect to Scotland fans, this is arguably the most straight-forward prediction of the weekend. South Africa reminded the rugby world as to why they hold the mantle as the very best team on the planet, as Rassie Erasmus' men dropped the hammer down on England this past Saturday in Johannesburg. Whilst the argument of altitude caused plenty of debate, the Springboks certainly came out of the gate hotter, as the men in green and gold ran in three early tries to build an unassailable lead.

Despite the impressive comeback efforts from Steve Borthwick's side, South Africa held their own with repeated trips across the whitewash for an emphatic final score-line. Whilst we anticipate a similarly gutsy performance from the Scots upon their own trip down to the land of the Springboks, we see this incoming clash in Loftus Versfeld going once again to the hosts. With back-to-back Rugby World Cup and Rugby Championship silverware in the Springbok trophy cabinet, you would find someone to hedge their bets against the sensational South Africans.

Scotland have been handed just a two per cent chance of winning from the official Nations Championship website - which makes this prediction a little less bold, and a lot more popular. Nonetheless, Scotland will only relish in this underdog tag, with Gregor Townsend's men handed the keys to play without pressure should they be 'written off' in the pre-match build. Scotland were epic upon their latest trip to Cordoba, but triumphing in an end-to-end frenzy over Argentina and defeating the Springboks in Pretoria are too very different beasts indeed.

We close out our five bold predictions for round two of the Nations Championship, with a return to winning ways for Los Pumas this weekend. Wales face a hectic travel schedule to make their way out to Argentina and take on the men in blue and white within a week of battling Fiji in Cardiff, with the hectic format of the tournament only set to favour the hosts down in South America.

Argentina fought tooth and nail against Scotland upon the closing match of round one, and proved that they have a vast weaponry of arsenal to run in the tries. However, what let down Felipe Contepomi's side was their frequent defensive errors, and when lined up against the fire-power of the full-flight Scottish back-line, Tuipulotu, Steyn, Rowe and co had their pick of the gaps to run through as the try-scoring yo-yoed between the visitors and hosts.

Wales arrive in Argentina with less fire-power on the attacking foot, to that of Scotland from this past weekend. Whilst the likes of Joe Hawkins and Aaron Wainwright continue to impress, and Jac Morgan proving excellent once again upon his try contributions, Argentina are the favourites ahead of this battle in San Juan. With the Nations Championship website handing the South Americans the 88% advantage, we can see Wales' three-match winning streak coming to an abrupt end this Saturday.