Sir Clive Woodward and RUCK make their Six Nations predictions

Writing in his column for the Mail Online, the World Cup-winning coach made his predictions for this weekend's three matches

Read on to see how he Six Nations predictions compares to RUCK writer Oliver Roby.

Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:15 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Ben Blain (Scotland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

England endured an underwhelming start to their Six Nations campaign with a disappointing 11-6 home defeat by Scotland but should have all the tools to bounce back this weekend.

That result was Scotland's first win on England's home turf in 38 years and the reigning Six Nations champions have responded by making five changes to their starting 15 to take on Italy on Saturday.

An all-new front row sees Kyle Sinckler and Mako Vunipola come back from suspension and injury, while Exeter's Luke Cowan-Dickie is preferred to Jamie George at hooker.

Courtney Lawes has been brought in for Mark Wilson in the back row, George Ford comes in at fly-half, while Owen Farrell shifts to centre. Ollie Lawrence drops out of the squad.

England paid for a lack of discipline as they were felled by the Scots but don't see that defeat as the end of their six Nations title hopes - they bounced back from defeat to France in the opening weekend to win the title in 2020.

In the opposite camp, Italy have failed to win a Six Nations match since 2015 - a 28-game losing streak. There is an undoubted gulf in class between the two teams and England should stroll to success on paper, but they need to be wary as the visitors look to snap that unwanted streak.

Six Nations Prediction - England vs Italy: England by 34 (42-8).

Sir Clive Woodward: "I still believe England will be Six Nations champions but they must win four games while picking up bonus points and a big points difference. Now is the time for England to put in a strong display. I would have been tempted to start with new personnel but Eddie is trusting his favourites."

Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gauzere (France), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Karl Dickson (England)

Scotland will be in buoyant mood after their success over England last week and, with Wales not at full strength, all the ingredients are there for a comfortable Scotland win.

Though we think they will get the job done, Scotland should be wary of any complacency.

Scotland only earned their first win over Wales in 18 years three months ago as the Coronavirus-affected when the sides met in a delayed final game of last season's competition.

As Scotland were seeing off England, in the process becoming the only side not to concede a try in the opening round of the 2021 competition, Wales overcame Ireland 21-16 in Cardiff, so both sides come into the clash with reason to be cheerful, however, the way Stuart Hogg and co. are playing, they have a great chance to make it back-to-back wins over the Welsh in Saturday's second fixture.

The team news sees Scotland's Jamie Ritchie, Sean Maitland and Cameron Redpath ruled out through injury. Blade Thomson, James Lang and Darcy Graham take their places.

For Wales, George North and Johnny Williams are amongst five players who are unavailable through injury, so a new midfield pairing is set to take the stage tomorrow i nthe form of Nick Tompkins and Owen Watkin.

Liam Williams will replace Hallam Amos on the wing, and Gareth Davies comes in for Tomos Williams at scrum-half, while Aaron Wainwright takes the number six jersey in place of Josh Navidi.

Six Nations Predictions - Scotland vs Wales: Scotland by 3 (9-6).

Sir Clive Woodward: "If last week's Calcutta Cup game against England was huge for Scotland, this evening's match against Wales is even bigger. If Scotland replicate their 80 minutes excellence of last week, I think Wales are there for the taking."

Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)

ohnny Sexton's absence after a head knock, picked up during last week's 21-16 reverse in Wales, takes the pre-game headlines, an injury that hands an opportunity to Billy Burns for his first Six Nations start.

Burns, 26, came on as a replacement last week but will have the chance to dictate from the outset on Sunday.

Iain Henderson is named as captain in Sexton's place - replacing the injured James Ryan - and Rhys Ruddock will play in place of Peter O'Mahoney, who picked up a three match ban for the first-half red card he collected as his side were beaten in Cardiff.

Despite being without four senior stars, Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell is upbeat about his side's chances against the competition favourites,

However, France come into this tie in red hot form. They hammered Italy 50-10 on Saturday afternoon and it could be said they hardly reached top gear.

French boss Fabien Galthie has opted for just two changes from the line-up from last time out; Damien Penaud comes in for Teddy Thomas on the wing, as Anthony Jelonch replaces blindside flanker Dylan Cretin.

The continued absence of star man Romain Ntamak has given Matthieu Jalibert a chance to shine, but it is his halfback partner Antoine Dupoint who has stood out and is the man Ireland need to keep quiet should they pull off an upset in Dublin

Six Nations Predictions - France vs Ireland: France by 7 (13-20)

Sir Clive Woodward: "This is going to be a cracker. Team of the moment and tournament favourites France against an Ireland side fighting to stay relevant in this season's tournament. The absence of half-backs Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton is a blow but Ireland will enjoy the underdog tag and can still be extremely competitive. You still have to fancy France though."