2026 Six Nations: Hutch's Round 2 Predictions

My dander is up after securing Grand Slam points in Round 1, courtesy of picking Italy to win in the rain in Rome. Hopefully another 3 out of 3 this weekend as they all look relatively clear cut.

Here are my Six Nations predictions for Round 1.

Ireland v Italy

This is a good opportunity for Ireland to rediscover themselves. They have looked rudderless and short of ideas in recent performances, which is a stark contrast to the clinical, well-drilled side we had become familiar with over the previous few years.

However, Italy won’t roll over and they’ll be targeting an upset here having kicked off their campaign with that win over Scotland. They are stronger than many people seem to think, with a powerful pack, a very strong midfield and some threatening options out wide, and if Ireland don’t get their act together, this could be a famous scalp for the Azzurri.

The home side are definitely favourites, however, but I’m not going for as big a margin as some people seem to think.

Prediction: Ireland by 9

Scotland v England

The Scots will also have been soul-searching this week after their failure in Rome. Whilst they are never short of motivation to beat England, and they have a good recent record in the Calcutta Cup, there seem to be too many things to fix in order to challenge such an in-form team.

They could hardly win a line out last weekend, they missed too many tackles and made too many errors, they lacked any intensity and the knives are out for coach Gregor Townsend. This weekend, motivation through historical rivalry will only take them so far, but if they lack a set-piece platform, how can they possibly compete with England, who have developed a ruthless edge in nearly every facet of the game?

I expect England to put in another imposing performance here, and if they display the same sort of attacking precision as they showed for most of the match against Wales, it ought to be relatively comfortable.

Prediction: England by 16

Wales v France

This one looks fairly straightforward to pick, with Wales in such disarray that I’m beginning to feel sorry for them. Their performance at Twickenham last weekend looked such a long way off the pace of international rugby, and now France are going to steamroller them in Cardiff.

The visitors were comfortable winners over Ireland in Paris, they’ve had 10 days to prepare for this game, and when you look at the lineups on paper, you wonder if it’s even fair for these teams to play each other.

France will be too powerful, too quick, too skilful, too well-coached and too good for Wales to stand a chance.

Prediction: France by 43

How do your predictions compare?