The 2023 Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship action continues!

With the opening two rounds of the Six Nations proving to be a tense and action-packed affair, can we expect more of the same from Round 3? 

Round 1 kicked off spectacularly with away wins for Ireland, Scotland and France. France themselves narrowly avoiding embarrassment after scraping a win against Italy with a less than impressive performance. After mentioning in one of our previous articles that Ireland are in top form and are contenders for taking the title, the team did not disappoint. In their first match, despite not unleashing their full potential, still thumped Wales 34-10, who have experienced a rocky start to their Six Nations campaign. It is clear that the team is past its sell by date and is in need of some big squad changes. Alun Wyn Jones and George North, despite being Welsh rugby legends, are no longer fit to play internationally. Will Gatland harness the power of youth for subsequent rounds? 

England, who entered the tournament with a renewed confidence, fell short in their opening game. England’s squad looked uncomfortable and really lacked the confidence to restrain their Scottish counterparts and go on to win. A shiny new coach may have looked good on paper, but the dissonance between Steve Borthwick’s ideas and England’s execution was more than evident.

In Round 2, normalcy returned to the Six Nations as the three home crowds, Ireland, Scotland and England witnessed wins, with Ireland and Scotland both bagging their second victory of the tournament. 

Once again, Ireland reigned supreme, this time against France and on home turf. The game was end to end and a real thrilling battle in which both teams were going all out to win. If we take a closer look at the game’s statistics, it’s clear to see why. The ball was in play for 46:10, the longest in-play time in a match involving a Tier 1 nation since 2018. As well as this, Ireland retained possession from the majority of their kicks, scored from 43% of their breaks and completed 41% of their rucks in under two seconds. 

However, to credit France, Les Bleus did beat more defenders and recorded a much higher 91% tackle success rate over Ireland. It’s clear that this was a hard fought game for both sides but only one could have the skill to come out on top.

Scotland have most definitely been the most clinical team this tournament. Their Round 2 match against Wales proved to be their greatest ever win in their history of the tournament. This is perfectly encapsulated by their 4 points per 22 entries, the highest so far this year. 

In England’s match against Italy, England did have the upper hand, but that didn’t stop Italy looking threatening on the ball, in fact England missed 41 tackles across the match. The team had not only a new coach but also some different players, with Owen Farrell returning to fly-half working with Jack van Poortvliet at scrum-half. England’s communication seemed lost and they made some very dangerous decisions, but in the end they did come out on top.

So what can we expect from the next three huge games in the tournament? Ireland and Scotland currently remain unbeaten and are going to be playing their next games away from home against Italy and France. England will travel to Cardiff where Wales will hope for their first win with their new head coach.

England do currently have more points on the board, but Wales will be backed by their home fans and by the anxiety that Warren Gatland feels about needing to secure a first win for the team. Similarly, Borthwick will be looking to take his first away win and prove himself. It is fair to say that neither side have been on top form, with defensive frailties, and the battle will certainly be a tough one.

Scotland have really been on the up this tournament, winning their first consecutive away matches against England since 1909 followed by their win over Wales. In fact, this is the first time they have won their opening two matches since 1996. Now in Round 3 they must go head-to-head with the champions on French soil. France themselves are still suffering from their defeat to Ireland and they desperately need to get back to their winning ways in order to have any hope of ranking high in the tournament.

The other Round 3 clash will be between Ireland and Italy, where the aforementioned world number one team will take on the Azzurri. So far in the tournament, Ireland have been sensational and completely on top of their game, and there is little doubt that Italy can do anything to turn their form on its head. However, this is the Six Nations and a shock defeat is not at all out of the question.

Which teams do you think will win this round? Do you think there will be any surprise wins?