Sky Sports weighs up the key talking points going into the second round of the 2026 Six Nations…
Itoje’s return
Captain Maro Itoje will make an emotional return to the first XV when England take on Scotland on Saturday.
Itoje missed some of England’s pre-tournament training camp in order to attend the funeral of his mother Florence in Nigeria. He was limited to a supporting role at Allianz Stadium last weekend for his side’s victory over Wales.
“It’s been great being back with the team,” Itoje said. “It’s been great being with my team-mates and the coaching and support staff in this environment, which I love so much.
“Throwing yourself into a tournament like this is perhaps one of the best ways to get your mind off things.
“My mum was a huge influence in my life. There’s not a part of my life that her hand hasn’t been on. She will be sorely missed.”
England are targeting a 13th successive victory and Itoje said: “I’m massively excited. The Calcutta Cup is a historic fixture. It’s a game I’ve loved playing in.
“It’s always a game that’s hotly contested and it’s lovely to be here in sunny Edinburgh for the fixture.
“Scotland and England are close neighbours. We’re fierce competitors. We know each other pretty well. That brings a competitive spirit in and of itself.
“It’s a game that’s full of pride, full of passion, full of edge. It’s one that we really want win to make sure we take the Calcutta Cup home with us.
“It’s an opportunity for us as this England team to create a new narrative. It’s an opportunity for us as a team to write a new chapter in our book.
“I very much welcome the challenge. I welcome playing at Murrayfield. I welcome being a part of this team and I welcome the opportunity at hand.
“We’ve continued to grow and continued to get better and the proof will be in the pudding, but I feel we’re in a good position to get the job done.”
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James Cole looks ahead to England’s Six Nations clash with Scotland in the Calcutta Cup
Townsend’s future
Scotland’s head coach Gregor Townsend has a fight for survival of his own after his side’s loss to Italy in Rome.
Townsend has dismissed any notion of stepping down but will want to continue Scotland’s winning run against England at Murrayfield. It’s been six years since England managed to beat Scotland in Edinburgh.
Townsend does have a good record against England. They have lifted the Calcutta Cup in six of the last eight years.
“It’s our biggest game of the season,” he said. “It’s even more important on the back of a disappointing defeat.
“But we’ve been really proud of the performances over the years. Even last year [a 16-15 defeat at Twickenham], I thought was arguably up there with 2023’s performance [a 29-23 win at Twickenham].”
Wales in crisis
The permacrisis of the Welsh rugby team could continue when they play France in Cardiff on Sunday.
Wales will be looking for their first Six Nations win since 2023, but will be hard-pressed against France.
France are the reigning champions and looked dominant as they handled Ireland to win 36-14 in the opening match of this year’s tournament.
Wales in contrast looked eminently fragile when being demolished 48-7 by England in their first match of the championship.
This will be their first home match in the 2026 Six Nations and they will hope to take inspiration from the Principality Stadium crowd.
“We had four games [there] in the autumn and the crowd was incredible,” coach Steve Tandy said.
“I know I’ve spoken a lot about the New Zealand game – the crowd, the energy it brought and the response from players.
“The supporters mean a huge amount to us and they do inspire the players. Our aim on the weekend is to inspire the fans too.”
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Sky Sports News’ James Cole and Jack Wilkinson review England’s crushing 48-7 win over Wales in the Six Nations
Wounded Ireland
Ireland will be looking to bounce back with a statement win when they host Italy on Saturday.
The loss to France in their opening match was chastening to a team that won the tournament in 2023 and 2024.
“As you can imagine, because of the good people we’ve got in the environment, there was a lot of honesty and a bit of soul-searching for reasons why,” coach Andy Farrell said.
“We’ve addressed all that and got back on the horse, put the boots back on and had a couple of training sessions and got to the business end of the week now and we’re ready to put a performance on that we should be proud of.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
