England host Italy in this week’s opening fixture and will be looking to improve on their dismal defeat by Scotland last weekend.
Eddie Jones has made five changes going into Saturday as George Ford, Courtney Lawes, Kyle Sinckler, Mako Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie come into the starting XV.
Captain Owen Farrell moves into inside-centre as Jones calls upon the experienced partnership of Ford and his skipper.
Sinckler and Vunipola, who makes his return after being out with a calf and Achilles problem since late November, make up a completely new front row.
Meanwhile, Cowan-Dickie is set to make his Six Nations debut as he replaces Jamie George at hooker.
England’s poor start to their title defence, losing in the Calcutta Cup, means they need a strong reaction against Italy.
Fortunately for Jones’ side, they play against a team who haven’t won in this competition for 28 games.
Twickenham will be eerily empty again but England will be expecting to put on a show as they look to get their title charge back on track.
Elsewhere, Scotland host Wales as both teams look to follow up their impressive opening weekend wins.
However, the immense efforts of both sides seem to have taken their toll as they both have numerous players out injured.
George North, who was set to make his 100th appearance in a Wales shirt, has been ruled out of the tie at Murrayfield.
Wayne Pivac’s team face an injury crisis at centre with Johnny Williams and Jonathan Davies still sidelined so Owen Watkins will start at outside-centre, alongside Nick Tompkins at inside-centre.
Flanker Dan Lydiate has left the squad due to an ACL injury he picked up during their 21-16 victory over Ireland.
However, Scotland also have an injury crisis themselves as they’ve been forced into making three changes to the side that beat England.
Flanker Jamie Ritchie, winger Sean Maitland and their rising star Cameron Redpath all miss out.
Blade Thomson, James Lang and Darcy Graham replace the absent trio as they aspire to win their fourth grand slam title.
Both teams will be confident when they walk out at Murrayfield on Saturday evening and it is sure to be another physical test for both teams.
Finally, Ireland will aim to blow the tournament wide open as they chase a victory at home to the now favourites France.
Andy Farrell’s side can take positives from their loss to Wales as, for most of the game, they were down a man and still created opportunities to win the game.
Yet, Fabien Galthie’s decision to inject his team with youth has been an excellent piece of management.
Consistency has always been a mystery to France but they have recently kept a similar squad and results have started to show.
If Ireland are to win, they will need to stop the in-form Antoine Dupont, who dominated in their win over Italy.
With potential grand slams at stake, this weekend is yet again going to be an intriguing watch as the competition already begins to heat up.
FIXTURES
England vs Italy – KO: 14:15pm; Saturday, February 13
Scotland vs Wales – KO: 16:45pm; Saturday, February 13
Ireland vs France – KO: 3pm; Sunday, February 14
