Guinness Six Nations 2019 Round 2 Predictions

Last week the script was well and truly ripped up, and England downed the champs in Dublin. Scotland cruised to the top against Italy, and I don’t even need to begin to mention the France match without triggering flashbacks of carnage and chaos.

Week two, has a lot to live up to in terms of excitement and top quality rugby, but I think we could get pretty damn close to just that. Here are my predictions for round two of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations.

The Grand Slam winners have been badly wounded and are out on the path for revenge, but heading to Edinburgh to seek revenge isn’t the easiest of places to gain it. A dramatic loss to England exposed their flaws badly and showed a serious lack of a plan B; add the injury tally to that and then you’re in trouble against a Scottish side with flair, momentum and hunger. Joe Schmidt isn’t one for lying down however, and despite the two year rant about “Busgate”, the Kiwi looks set to go to war, knowing it’s do or die if he wants to retain the title.

CJ Stander, Devin Toner and most notably Garry Ringrose all picked up injuries, leaving Quinn Roux to fill the whole at lock, Jack Conan powering the back of the scrum, and Chris Farrell teaming up with Connacht partner Bundee Aki at centre. Instantly the Scots have an advantage as this is far from Ireland’s best XV, but their weakened front and back rows only level the playing field. WP Nel and Sam Skinner are notable absences from the side, but Fraser Brown, Jonny Gray and Pete Horne all find themselves back in the match day 23, as Scotland’s injury count continues to flutter back and forth.

Ireland should be the team I write below as my predicted winner, but I can genuinely see Scotland pulling off the shock of the weekend and bagging what would be a sensational result. Townsend’s side were clinical and ruthless last weekend until they last 15 minutes, but if they keep that performance going the whole time then what’s stopping them winning their first two matches for the first time in Six Nations history. How Blair Kinghorn only made the bench is beyond me, but he knows a thing or two about scoring against Ireland, as does Jacob Stockdale scoring against the dark blues. Finn Russell will need a big performance to outsmart Johnny Sexton, but if he can do that and control the game, then Saturday could be a difficult day for Ireland. Rocked confidence will do them no favours and if they can’t get over losing to England then there’s no point in them coming to Edinburgh, but ultimately Scotland are overdue an impressive Six Nations run, and this could well be the year.

Warren Gatland is a harsh man when it comes to team assessment, and I sure enough wouldn’t want to have been in that dressing room at half time in Paris, or in the review meetings during the week. He knows what went wrong, but ten changes to the line up seems rather dramatic and almost like an overreaction to a bad start. Some people failed to perform in France and needed to step aside, but others need to be preserved if Wales are to go all the way. Ross Moriarty, skipper Alun Wyn Jones and George North drop out of the starting XV, and Dan Biggar comes in to help bring a better attacking game for Wales.

For Wales, the fixtures have been kind, and trips to Paris and Rome back to back get the heavy mileage out the way, and their last three games will be the big fixtures which they’ll know they can win, but protecting the players who did well against France whilst still getting a crucial bonus point win in Rome is key. Italy however have a very different objective on their mind. Gatland might be viewed to be taking it easy by giving Jonah Holmes and Thomas Young deserved starts in their debut Six Nations campaigns, but Italy proved they can sting you when you least expect it.

Three tries late on at Murrayfield caught the Scots off guard, despite the result being confirmed after the hour. If Italy play the way they did at the end of that opening fixture, then this could be the undoing of the Welsh. Sick bug or not, there were fantastic performances last weekend from the Azzurri, and we all know they’re capable of big wins; the year 2007 won’t be one the Welsh fans want to hear. Ultimately, you can’t see this Welsh side going down and having their ten game winning run ended in Rome, but Conor O’Shea is moulding this team day by day and they’ll want to put in a big performance to build on last week.

Le Crunch is coming, and this for me could well be one of the games of the tournament. England were sensational last weekend and, in my opinion, played better than in their Grand Slam run in 2016. They closed Ireland down, thwarted their game plans, and capitalised on their mistakes, just like every top team should. France did the same for only 40 minutes, but both sides have a very good game plan going into this fixutre, the question is who can perfect theirs and maintain it for the longest to bag a crucial win?

Chris Ashton makes his first Six Nations start since 2013, Mathieu Bastareaud returns to the French set up, Courtney Lawes fills in for the injured Maro Itoje, and Yoann Huget retains his place despite last weekend’s howler. Is it just me who feels a classic coming on? The names in these team sheets take me back to some of the best matches between these two in the last five years. Who can forget the 55-35 showdown at Twickenham on Super Saturday, and who could forget last years encounter that gifted the title to Ireland? These two teams have a rivalry that is truly entertaining and as much as France had a horror show last weekend, they’ve got a point to prove and there’s probably a lot of Scots and Welsh fans praying they pull a big win out of the bag.

France could be in for a rough tournament if they’re not careful. Two consecutive losses, and they’re staring a wooden spoon in the face with Italy; how important that losing bonus will become should they lose this weekend. And Jacques Brunel has built a monstrous side, yet I can’t see this result going any way in France’s favour. England were ruthless and just too strong for Ireland, and if that’s how they were against the second best team in the world then what will they be like against a struggling French side? For England fans, they’re probably not asking if they’ll win, but by how much will they win. Don’t expect them running away with though, then again I said they would struggle in Dublin…