It’s on like Donkey Kong in the Six Nations!

It all comes down to this! Months of preparations, the seemingly unbearable weight of expectation and four weeks of thrilling crunch clashes have all been building up to this moment as this year’s Six Nations draws to what promises to be a gripping conclusion this weekend.

Of course, the question that’s on everyone’s lips is - who will be crowned champions? Will the luck of the Irish continue to strike gold and land Andy Farrell’s men a Grand Slam? Or will France pull off a famous upset to snatch that hallowed silverware from their rivals at the very last moment?

Whatever happens, you can bet your bottom dollar that we’re in for a rollercoaster ride this weekend!

Ireland vs England

We kick things off by taking a look at the favourites to bring home the bacon, Ireland. The aim of the game for Andy Farrell’s men couldn’t be simpler heading into their date with destiny against fierce rivals England as all they need to do is avoid defeat and the Six Nations will be theirs. 

What’s more, given their current rich vein of form, the World No.1s will no doubt fancy their chances of not only avoiding defeat, but making it 5 wins on the bounce to pick up a historic Grand Slam. 

Andy Farrell’s men overcame a seemingly never-ending sequence of obstacles against Scotland at the weekend. The first half proved to be a brutal, cagey affair for the Irish in which they lost key men Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, as well as Iain Henderson, within the opening 24 minutes, and in which they only managed to best their opponents by a single point.

What’s more Sheehan’s replacement, Ronan Kelleher was also nursing a shoulder issue and Farrell said that the half-time break was “organised chaos” as neither him, nor his team, knew if Kelleher would be fit to play in the second half until the very last minute.

In the end, Kelleher went off 8 minutes after the restart, Farrell’s men rejigged things and powered their way to victory once again to make it 4 wins in 4 in this year’s Six Nations, meaning a historic Grand Slam is now very much on the cards.

On paper, the hosts should have no problem giving the home fans yet more cause for celebration on this St. Patrick’s Day weekend as their opponents, England, are in dire straits at the moment. The glory days of 2020’s Six Nations triumph are but a fading memory for the visitors now, who’ve endured a torrid campaign this year as they struggled to adapt in the wake of former coach Eddie Jones’ departure.

Steve Borthwick’s men were on the wrong end of a 53-10 drubbing against France last week and have won just 2 of their 4 matches in this tournament so far. What’s more, Ireland ran out comfortable winners in both of the last two meetings between these sides and, given the visible gulf in class between the two teams, it would take nerves of steel to bet against an Irish win here.

France vs Wales

One team who will be hoping that England can throw a cat amongst the pigeons is France, as they need their neighbours to do them a huge favour if they’re going to retain their Six Nations trophy. Much like the Irish, losing is not an option for Les Bleus. However, unlike their rivals, France’s fate isn’t in their hands as they need Ireland not only to lose, but fail to pick up a bonus point and to close the points difference gap, which, at the time of writing is +20 in Ireland’s favour.

Whilst their hopes of being crowned champions are slim, the hosts are strong favourites heading into this clash after ruthlessly sweeping England aside at the weekend to steamroll their way to a 53-10 win, which is a record home defeat for the English. With 7 tries scored in a truly devastating performance, it’s no surprise that the French have attracted so many plaudits for last weekend’s success in the English capital. One player who’s been singled out for praise is captain fantastic, Antoine Dupont, with one pundit describing his spellbinding display as like Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane and Terminator rolled into one.

In theory, they should have absolutely no problem picking up a win here. Whilst last weekend’s win over Italy will have lifted Wales’ spirits somewhat, as they should be safe from the dubious honour of picking up this year’s Wooden Spoon, the visitors have looked like a shadow of the team which triumphed in his competition just 2 years ago, here suffering 3 defeats from 4 games.

That being said, Wales will no doubt be eager to salvage some pride from what has been a dismal Six Nations campaign so far and will be in no mood to do their opponents any favours.

Can they upset the apple cart here or will the French prove too strong for them? Whatever happens, this clash is bound to have us on the edge of our seats.