Will England continue their march towards the Grand Slam? Can a renewed Scotland hold out a resurgent Wales at Edinburgh? Do France have what it takes to win in Dublin?

SCOTLAND vs WALES
Saturday, March 9, 14:30 GMT, Edinburgh

Amazingly both sides remain in contention to win the tournament despite getting off to inauspicious starts and showing indifferent form thus far. Scotland have made two changes to the side that scraped through Ireland, recalling Euan Murray at tighthead and handing Duncan Weir his first test start in the no10 jersey. Back row Ryan Wilson is in line to win his first cap from the bench in place of an injured David Denton.

As expected Wales have recalled Alun Wyn Jones and Sam Warburton to the side, though Ryan Jones retains the captaincy. Paul James replaces an injured Gethin Jenkins at loosehead to give the tight five a distinct Ospreys flavour, while new props Ryan Bevington and Scott Andrews are included in the reserves.

Expect this to be a stodgy affair, with Scotland’s defense featuring yet again. Wales have more firepower out wide than Ireland, however, and should be capable of moving the gainline with more ruthless efficiency. Expect the big ball carriers to wear down the defense enough to score some points later in the game, with Wales setting up a championship showdown with England via a 12 point victory.

SCOTLAND
Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Euan Murray; Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton; Robert Harley, Kelly Brown (capt.), Johnnie Beattie. RES: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Max Evans.

WALES
Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North; Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones; Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans; Ryan Jones (capt.), Sam Warburton, Toby Faletau. RES: Ken Owens, Ryan Bevington, Scott Andrews, Andrew Coombs, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, James Hook, Scott Williams.

IRELAND vs FRANCE
Saturday, March 9, 17:00 GMT, Dublin

A distracted and depressed Irish side limp back to Dublin with few cards in their favour against France aside from home field advantage. Mike McCarthy has recovered enough to reclaim his second row spot, but Craig Gilroy is a new casualty giving way to Fergus McFadden on the wing. Paddy Jackson reprises his flyhalf role after a mixed performance at Murrayfield, with both Stephen Archer and Ian Madigan set to make their test debuts off the bench.

Philippe Saint-Andre will not be getting any Christmas cards from Francois Trinh-Duc after recalling out of form Freddie Michalak to the no10 jersey. Mathieu Bastareaud is benched in favour of Florian Fritz, and Maxime Medard completes an all-Toulouse back three at the expense of Benjamin Fall. The reserves see Guilhem Guirado and Sebastien Vaha’amahina replace injured Dimitri Szarzewski and discarded Jocelino Suta respectively.

Both of these sides are very much on the rack, with France losing an uncharacteristic three matches in a row. Michalak is a true mystery, and the game likely rests in his gifted but unbalanced hands. If he can reclaim some of the form he showed in the autumn, France can trot to victory. If not, Ireland might sneak a win. Expect the result to be somewhere in the middle. France to take this in a close battle by 3.

IRELAND
Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Marshall, Keith Earls; Paddy Jackson, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Mike McCarthy, Donnacha Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip (capt.). RES: Sean Cronin, David Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Donncha O’Callaghan, Iain Henderson, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Luke Fitzgerald.

FRANCE
Yoann Huget; Vincent Clerc, Florian Fritz, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard; Frederic Michalak, Morgan Parra; Thomas Domingo, Benjamin Kayser, Nicolas Mas; Christophe Samson, Yoann Maestri; Yannick Nyanga, Thierry Dusautoir (capt.), Louis Picamoles. RES: Guilhem Guirado, Vincent Debaty, Luc Ducalcon, Sebastien Vaha’amahina, Antonie Claassen, Maxime Machenaud, Francois Trinh-Duc, Mathieu Bastareaud.

ENGLAND vs ITALY
Sunday, March 10, 15:00 GMT, London

A week ago this match looked like an absolute gimme as the Azzurri were due to be without their star Sergio Parisse, but he has returned early from suspension and with further reinforcements his side looks much more formidable. Lilliputian second rowers Francesco Minto and Antonio Pavanello have been benched in favour of big lumps in Quintin Geldenhuys and Joshua Furno, and powerful Robert Barbieri returns at last to the no7 jersey. Andrea Lo Cicero will have to be patient to become Italy’s most capped player as he loses his run on position to Alberto de Marchi. Luciano Orquera returns at flyhalf, and Tommaso Benvenuti is strangely dropped in favour of Gonzalo Garcia.

England have opted to hand a challenging first test start to Mako Vunipola, and give halfbacks Danny Care and Toby Flood a run out. Tom Youngs swaps with Dylan Hartley, with the latter now firmly second choice behind the Leicester hooker. James Haskell returns from illness at the blindside, and the familiar but distant name of Tom Croft makes his first England appearance in over a year after recovering from neck surgery.

Italy should prove a tougher test than expected, but England at home is a challenge beyond their capability. A lack of creativity in the Italian midfield will cause little trouble, and this English side are too professional to be derailed by a brute force attack. England win this comfortably by 24 points.

ENGLAND
Alex Goode; Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Mike Brown; Toby Flood, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling; James Haskell, Chris Robshaw (capt.), Tom Wood. RES: Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, David Wilson, Courtney Lawes, Tom Croft, Ben Youngs, Freddie Burns, Billy Twelvetrees.

ITALY
Andrea Masi; Giovanbattista Venditti, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Luke McLean; Luciano Orquera, Edoardo Gori; Alberto de Marchi, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni; Quintin Geldenhuys, Joshua Furno; Alessandro Zanni, Robert Barbieri, Sergio Parisse (capt.). RES: Davide Giazzon, Andrea Lo Cicero, Lorenzo Cittadini, Antonio Pavanello, Francesco Minto, Simone Favaro, Tobias Botes, Tommaso Benvenuti.