PREDICTIONS SIX NATIONS WEEK 2

Bit late but France by 3, Wales by 7, England by 7

THREE CHANGES TO ENGLAND STARTING TEAM

England has made three changes to its starting XV for the Italy game on Sunday. Ben Youngs replaces Care, Mako Vunipola replaces Marler and Courtney Lawes replaces Launchbury. All three drop to the bench, and will be joined by Maro Itoje, who is poised to make his international debut. England has never lost to Italy in 21 contests, although has come close a few times, and Parisse, running out of years, will be desperate to add an England scalp before he retires.

Itoje set to make his full international debut on Sunday

England starting team to face Italy:

Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins); Anthony Watson (Bath), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs); George Ford (Bath), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); Mako Vunipola (Saracens); Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers); Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), George Kruis (Saracens); Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), James Haskell (Wasps), Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens).

Replacements: Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Paul Hill (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens).

BIGGAR FIT FOR WALES

Surprisingly, Dan "Lazarus" Biggar is fit to play for Wales against Scotland at the Principality Stadium (yes, the new name for the Millennium), having injured his ankle right at the start of the Ireland game last Sunday. Rhys Priestland is named on the bench as cover, so it will be interesting to see how long Biggar will last. Surely the Scottish back row will seek to test that ankle early on. Biggar and Scotland have form as Stuart Hogg was controversially sent off in this fixture a few years back, when Lazarus threw himself into the aerial contest for the ball recklessly making inevitable contact with Hogg during his (uncontrolled) descent.

Spot the ball

Wales name an unchanged side, with Scotland making one change at inside centre, with Matt Scott being replaced by Duncan Taylor, the Saracen, whose 6 foot 3 inch frame will be needed to repel Jamie Roberts. Sean Lamont comes onto the bench to cover following Taylor's promotion.

Wales team: Liam Williams (Scarlets); George North (Northampton Saints), Jonathan Davies (ASM Clermont), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Tom James (Cardiff Blues); Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets); Rob Evans (Scarlets), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, Capt), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues).

Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Mark Bennett, Duncan Taylor, Tommy Seymour; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (captain); Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, WP Nel, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, John Hardie, 8-David Denton

Replacements:Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Blair Cowan, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Duncan Weir, Sean Lamont.

Warren "Tricky" Gatland, the Wales coach is up to more mind games, moaning on about having to share the decision with the opposition during the Six Nations for whether the roof is closed or not. Tricky forgets that the stadium included Millennium in its original name because the Millennium Commission contributed £46m of the £121m total cost, so it is not "just" Wales' home ground. Scotland, quite rightly, have said they will delay the decision until the last possible minute. Gatland always tries to unsettle his opponents, as evidenced last week by Liam Williams last minute replacement of Gareth Anscombe at full back for the Ireland game. Joe "Ice" Schmidt, his fellow Kiwi counterpart for Ireland, was not fooled, and certainly Vern "Stern" Cotter, another gnarly old Kiwi will not be bothered either by this gamesmanship.

Tricky does Churchill impression...

ENGLAND'S ACCURACY MAKES DIFFERENCE

Report from Paul Renucci.

A competitive first half saw both teams look dangerous in possession and provided the most entertaining  40 mins of Calcutta cup action for many years. The half ended finely balanced at 6-7, two laidlaw penalties against a converted Kruis try.
In the second half however there was a much more familiar feeling for the large and expectant Scottish support.
The back line failed to make headway against a suffocatingly effective English defence. The forwards struggled to defend the rolling maul within the laws and the scrummage advantage from the first half disappeared. The stand out forward was England's no 8 Vunipola who seemed to always advance with ease even from a standing start. Scotland also made more errors than England, perhaps due to the  pressure of England's surging defence, a decision not to pass to Hogg after an interception could potentially have changed the outcome of the game.
Ultimately the defining moment of the match belonged to England. In an increasingly dour second half some quick ruck ball was spun wide to Nowell to finish a fine score. Scotland kept in contention through with another penalty but the game ended with England again controlling possession and territory and in the end there can be no complaints about the old cup heading homeward with Eddies army - it's Scotland that need to think again before Cardiff next week. Final score 9-15.

SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Scotland U20's beat their English counterparts 24 - 6 last night for the first time at this level.

SCORE PREDICTIONS FOR 6N WEEK 1

France by 10, England by 7, Wales by 5

All matches will be tight, and what odds on Italy sneaking a win against a poor France, and Scotland and Ireland using home advantage to beat England and Wales respectively.

CALCUTTA LINE UPS ANNOUNCED

England and Scotland have announced their starting XV's for Saturday's Calcutta Cup, the oldest international fixture. Both teams go for experience, with a sprinkling of youth on the bench.

England favour Marler over Vunipola in front row, and Care over Youngs at scrum half. Debutants, Paul Hill, Jack Clifford and Ollie Devoto should get their first cap off the bench. With Mike Brown, Danny Care, Owen Farrell, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell on the pitch, England will be feisty and not take a step backwards, but whether this is applied intelligently is another matter.

England: Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell, George Ford, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley (captain), Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, George Kruis, Chris Robshaw, James Haskell and Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Paul Hill, Courtney Lawes, Jack Clifford, Ben Youngs, Alex Goode and Ollie Devoto.

Toulon flanker Steffon Armitage has questioned England's decision not to select Maro Itoje and Elliot Daly in the matchday squad, but there time will come, probably against Italy in next match.

Scotland have a settled look about them, with the front five, half backs and back three remaining from RWC 2016. They have replaced the injured, Peter Horne, with Matt Scott, who has over 30 caps, and John Barclay is back from the wilderness, replacing Blair Cowan. He was arguably the star of the Killer B's Scottish back row of a few years ago (Beattie, Brown, Barclay), and has been playing well for Scarlets in the Pro 12, but whether he can adapt to the step up in international rugby remains to be seen. On the bench, Zander Fagerson, the 20 year old prop, is set to win his first cap, with Duncan Taylor plus Stuart McNally, the converted hooker (from back row) returning from injury.

The old guy John Barclay returns ... okay he is only 29

Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Tommy Seymour, Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); Al Dickinson, Ross Ford, WP Nel, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, John Hardie, David Denton.

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Gordon Reid, Zander Fagerson, Tim Swinson, Blair Cowan, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Duncan Weir, Duncan Taylor.

As ever, the battle will be decided up front, with two huge packs going at it tooth and nail. WP Nel had a great RWC, and helped Scotland gain parity with Australia up front in the QF, whereas England's scrum struggled (Marler especially) against both Wales and Australia. Each team has three jumpers in the lineout, and England, with Hartley, now have someone who can throw it straight.