Rarely can a Calcutta Cup match have been so eagerly awaited as Saturday’s Six Nations meeting between the oldest of international rivals.

Not since their last victory at Twickenham in 1983, before any of the two sets of players were even born, can a Scotland team have travelled down with so much hope.

Vern Cotter’s side have climbed to an all-time high of fifth in the World Rugby Rankings on the back of wins over Ireland and Wales, with a narrow loss to France sandwiched in between. Victory could lift them into the top four for the first time with only Italy left to play before the Rugby World Cup 2019 pool draw takes place in May.

VIEW THE FULL RANKINGS >>

England, despite stretching their winning run to 17 matches, have struggled to put together a complete 80-minute performance en route to the top of the Six Nations table and their title credentials face the sternest of tests this weekend.

VIEW THE LATEST SIX NATIONS STANDINGS >>

By the time the first of Saturday’s matches between Italy and France kicks off in Rome, the Six Nations picture could be a whole lot clearer as defeat for Wales against Ireland in Cardiff the night before would signal an end to their title ambitions.

The introduction of bonus points, however, means that it is still possible for as many as five teams to be in with a shout of the title heading into the final round.

We take a brief look at the team news and all the key facts and figures ahead of this weekend's games.

WALES (7) v IRELAND (4)

Justin Tipuric wins his 50th cap for Wales as Rob Howley names an unchanged squad for Friday’s meeting at the Principality Stadium.

Howley becomes the first Welsh coach to pick an entirely unchanged starting XV and bench since Graham Henry did so for the two November internationals against South Africa and Argentina in 1998.

In fact, the only change of personnel to both the squads named last time out comes on the Ireland bench, where Tommy Bowe (pictured) will win only his second cap as a replacement if called upon. Bowe, who has sat out Ireland’s last two matches, replaces fellow Ulsterman Andrew Trimble.

In brief

  • All seven of the Friday matches in the Six Nations have featured Wales, of which they have won only two
  • Wales have slipped to defeats against England and Scotland and have not lost three in a row in the Six Nations since 2007
  • Wales have not been defeated in successive matches at the Principality Stadium in the same Championship season since 2003 
  • Ireland have played only three test matches before on a Friday, the last of which was against France during RWC 2007. The other two were in Samoa in 2003 and against Italy in Belfast in 2007    
  • Ireland’s only defeat in their last five Six Nations encounters was to Scotland at Murrayfield in round one 
  • Wales have won just one of their last four Six Nations matches against Ireland, 23-16 at Principality Stadium two years ago
  • Ireland’s overall record against Wales at the Principality Stadium is won six, lost three  

Rankings predictor

A win of more than 15 points for Wales combined with a defeat for Scotland by same margin, will see the Welsh climb two places to fifth and Scotland drop to sixth. However, if Wales lose by more than 15 points – and France beat Italy – they will drop out of the top eight and face the prospect of being in band three for the RWC 2019 pool draw.

Ireland could find themselves knocked out of the top four – and band one – even if they taste victory in Cardiff, although this would require Scotland to beat England by more than 15 points and the Irish to only beat Wales by a smaller margin. In that scenario, Ireland would slip to fifth by virtue of less than one hundredth of a rating point.   

ITALY (14) v FRANCE (8)

Carlo Canna is back in favour after dropping to the bench for Italy’s last outing against England at Twickenham, with Tommaso Benvenuti preferred to Tommaso Allan as cover on the bench.

Leonardo Ghiraldini had to pull out of the England match at the 11th hour due to a minor foot injury, but returns at hooker for this encounter at the Stadico Olimpico. The other change made by Azzurri coach Conor O'Shea is Angelo Esposito in place of Giulio Bisegni on the wing.

France coach Guy Novès has made four changes – split evenly between backs and forwards – as Les Bleus look for their second win of the campaign.

Pacey full-back Brice Dulin and winger Virimi Vakatawa come into the side for Scott Spedding and Yoann Huget respectively, while in the forwards Julien Le Devedec gets the nod ahead of Sébastien Vahaamahina in the second row and Fabien Sanconnie will make his test debut in place of Bernard le Roux on the flank.

In brief

  • Italy have lost their last four test matches since beating South Africa in Florence in November 
  • The Azzurri have lost their last 10 Six Nations matches since beating Scotland at Murrayfield in 2015
  • Italy have scored a try in each of their last 10 test matches – their best run for four years
  • France’s only victory in their last five test matches was 22-16 against Scotland in Paris in round two
  • France have won just once away from home in the Six Nations since 2014, 29-0 over Italy in Rome in 2015
  • Italy have beaten France just twice since 1997, both in Rome during the 2011 and 2012 Six Nations
  • Italy have won the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, awarded annually to the winners of the Italy v France match, just twice since its inception in 2007

Rankings predictor

Italy, if they defeat, will move above Tonga into 13th place in the World Rugby Rankings. They could climb as high as 12th at Georgia’s expense if a win or a draw for the Azzurri is accompanied by a shock defeat for the Lelos at home to Russia on Sunday.

If France win, they will overtake a beaten Wales and move into seventh place. If France win well and Wales only draw, they will still move above them by five hundredths, but they can climb no higher than seventh. On the other hand, defeat will be costly for Les Bleus as they would drop below Argentina into ninth place, which would mean a band three seeding for the pool draw.

ENGLAND (2) v SCOTLAND (5)

Eddie Jones has made three changes to the starting XV that beat Italy in the round three to maintain England's unbeaten start to the Championship. In the backs, Jonathan Joseph is reinstated at outside-centre, Jack Nowell is named on the right wing and Ben Youngs starts at scrum-half.

Anthony Watson and Billy Vunipola return to an England match-day 23 for the first time in 2017 having both returned from injury. They are joined by Danny Care and Ben Te'o in the only other changes to the bench.

For Scotland, Edinburgh back-rower Hamish Watson returns to the starting line-up after an impressive performance off the bench in place of the injured John Hardie in the win over Wales.

Hardie has not recovered from the knee injury which forced him off after 25 minutes and Watson’s uncapped Edinburgh Rugby team-mate Cornell du Preez takes the vacant spot on the bench.

In brief

  • England have won their last 17 test matches – another win would equal the world record of 18 successive test victories held by New Zealand and Lithuania 
  • England’s victory over Italy last time out tied their all-time record of 10 successive Championship wins also achieved between 1882-86 and 1922-25
  • England have won their last 13 Six Nations matches at Twickenham, their record at the venue is 14, set between 1998-2003 
  • Scotland have the chance to win a Triple Crown for the first time since 1990. The last three such opportunities have all been against England and all were thwarted, in 1993, 1995 and 1996 
  • Scotland’s only defeat in their last five test matches was to France in Paris in round two
  • England have won their last seven matches against Scotland since a 15-15 draw at Murrayfield in 2010 
  • Scotland are winless in their last 17 visits to Twickenham (including the RWC 2015 quarter-final defeat to Australia) since beating England 22-12 there in 1983

Rankings predictor

If Scotland win or draw and Ireland lose, Cotter's men will move into the top four of the World Rugby Rankings at their expense. Scotland can still climb to their highest ever ranking since they were introduced in October 2003 should Ireland narrowly beat Wales, albeit only if they win by more than 15 points.

England, ranked second, cannot improve their rating with any margin of victory by virtue of the 8.84 points separating the teams before the home advantage weighting is added. A defeat, however, could cost them as many as three rating points and leave them a fraction under three points better off than the Auld Enemy.

The fourth round of the Rugby Europe Championship takes place this weekend with two matches on Saturday – Spain's visit to Germany and Belgium's hosting of Romania – followed by Sunday's meeting between defending champions and table-toppers Georgia and Russia.

VIEW THE RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS >>

GERMANY (22) v SPAIN (21)

Cologne is the venue for two buoyant sides whose RWC 2019 qualification hopes were given a big boost when they recorded shock opening round wins over higher-ranked opponents.

Since their 41-38 win over Romania, Germany have lost to Georgia but then picked up four more precious RWC qualifying points in last weekend's 34-29 win over Belgium. Spain, meanwhile, have fallen short in attempts to back up their 16-6 win over Russia, losing narrowly to Romania and Georgia in the next two rounds.

Germany head coach Kobus Potgieter makes four changes – two in the forwards and two in the backs – to the team that started against the Black Devils. 

At hooker, Michail Tyumenev takes over from Dasch Barber, while Eric Marcs has a new second-row partner in Timo Vollenkemper. In the backs, Jamie Murphy replaces Clemens von Grumbkow at inside-centre and winger Bastien Himmer returns to test rugby for the first time in five years.

Jaime Nava returns to captain Spain from number eight in a Los Leones pack that has been completely overhauled by head coach Santiago Santos.

While all eight of his starting forwards are different from the team that lost at home to Georgia in round three, Santos opts for continuity in the backs with just the one change in the midfield. Thibault Alvarez drops to the bench to make way for Fabien Perrin to come in at outside-centre, which means Dan Snee shifts to 12.

In brief

  • Spain have won seven to Germany’s three and there has been one draw (17-17 in February 2016) in the 11 previous meetings between the two teams
  • Spain are the joint lowest try (two) and lowest points (29) scorers in the Rugby Europe Championship but they have the second-best defence (only three tries and 39 points conceded)
  • Germany have conceded more tries (13) than any of their rivals in the first three rounds

Rankings predictor

Spain will replace Uruguay in the top 20 if they win in Germany. It is possible for them to climb as high as 18th if they win well and Russia are soundly beaten by Georgia. Germany stand to gain 0.71 points if they win, taking them up to a new high of 20th. If they win well and Russia are beaten, 19th place is possible.

BELGIUM (27) v ROMANIA (16)

Florin Vlaicu wins his 100th cap for Romania after being named at fly-half in a starting line-up showing only two changes from the one that defeated Russia 30-10 in Sochi in round three.

Vlaicu continues his half-back partnership with Valentin Calafeteanu, while Sione Fakaosilea and Jack Umaga pair up again in midfield, with Catalin Fercu named at full-back.

Madalin Lemnaru, one of Romania’s try scorers against Russia, shifts to the right wing to accommodate the arrival of test debutant Jack Cobden.

In the only change to the pack, Marian Capatina comes in at hooker for Otar Turashvili.

Romania have bounced back from their opening round loss to Germany with wins over Spain and Russia, while Belgium have given their all in defeats to Russia, Georgia and Germany, picking up two losing bonus points along the way.

The Williams brothers, Kevin and Alan, team up at half-back for Belgium in a side showing five changes of personnel and one positional from last week's starting line-up.

The front five remain the same but Black Devils' coach Guillaume Ajac has rejigged his back row, with Bertrand Billi and Breiuc Corradi replacing Baptiste Lescarboura and Thomas Demulder at openside flanker and number eight respectively.

Kevin Williams captains the side at scrum-half, in place of Julien Berger, while Craig Dowsett is named on the wing and Florian Piron makes his first appearance of the season at full-back. Charles Reynaert, who was the last line of defence against Germany, switches to the right wing, with Louis Debaty dropping out of the match-day 23 altogether.

In brief

  • Belgium have never beaten Romania in five previous matches
  • The teams had to wait for another 39 years to play each other again after first meeting in 1957
  • Romania have twice scored 83 points in a match against Belgium, in 1996 and 1997, scoring 13 tries in each – two short of their all-time match record
  • Belgium have yet to win since being promoted to the Rugby Europe Championship
  • Romania’s shock opening round loss to Germany is their only defeat in their last eight test matches

Rankings predictor

Romania will not gain any points in victory due to the 13-point difference between the teams. A win for Belgium will take them above Hong Kong into 26th place and bring them to within a fraction of Portugal’s total.

GEORGIA (12) v RUSSIA (19)

Mamuka Gordgoze captains Georgia from openside flanker in his first international appearance of the season.

Gordgoze's last run out for the Lelos was the 43-16 defeat to Scotland in Kilmarnock back in November, his 69th cap. Giorgi Tsutskiridze shifts to the blindside flank to accommodate the return of the Lelos' talisman, while namesake Beka Gordgodze comes in at number eight in a new-look back-row.

While the second-row pairing of Giorgi Nemasdze and Konstantine Mikautadze remains intact, Lelos head coach Milton Haig has chosen to field an all new front-row, with Mikheil Nariashvili and Lasha Tabidze packing down at prop alongside hooker Jaba Bregvadze.

The two changes in the backs see Giorgi Koshadze come into the side at outside centre, with David Kacharava, on the occasion of his 98th cap, shifting inside one position to No.12, while Irakli Svanidze is preferred to Ioseb Matiashvili on the right wing.

There are only two survivors in the Russian pack from the 30-10 defeat at home to Romania - lock Elgin Evgeny and flanker Viktor Gresev, but the backline is virtually the same. The only change comes on the right wing where Igor Kurashov replaces Igor Galinoskiy.

In brief

  • Russia defeated Georgia in the first match between the two teams in 1993 but have not won in the 19 games played since. They did manage a 12-12 draw in Tbilisi in 2002
  • Georgia have scored exactly 500 points in tests against Russia
  • Georgia’s record score against Russia is 46 points, which they have achieved twice, in 2006 and 2012
  • Russia are currently second from bottom in the Rugby Europe Championship table but have only finished outside of the top three once in the last four years

Rankings predictor

A Georgian victory will not have any impact on their ranking due to the 12.39 points between the two neighbours before the home weighting is factored in. However, Georgia can fall as low as 15th if they suffer a heavy defeat to Russia. The Bears will climb above Namibia into 18th in that scenario.

RUGBY EUROPE TROPHY

PORTUGAL (25) v MOLDOVA(35)

In brief

  • Portugal will open up a nine-point lead at the top of the Rugby Europe trophy table if they take maximum points from the game
  • Moldova are third in the table on six points after one win and two losses
  • This is the first-ever international between the sides
  • Portugal have only conceded three tries in their opening three games

Rankings predictor

Portugal cannot gain any rating points due to the seven-and-a-half points difference between the teams. If Portugal lose narrowly, they’ll hang on to 25th place – unless Belgium beat Romania. It is possible for a victorious Moldova to climb as many as six places and into the world’s top 30 depending on the margin of victory.

SWITZERLAND (33) v UKRAINE (36)

In brief

  • The bottom two teams come up against each other in Geneva for what is the first international between the sides
  • Ukraine have lost all three of their opening fixtures, conceding an average of 43 points per game, while Switzerland have won one and lost one.

Rankings predictor

The Swiss need to win by more than 15 points to move above the Czech Republic and into 32nd place. Ukraine could climb as many as five places to 31st if they win well and other results go their way.

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