Six Nations Super Saturday: Teams, fixtures, kick-off times, TV coverage, permutations and more
Ireland's Joe McCarthy, Wales' Alex Mann and France's Emmanuel Meafou.
Super Saturday is here as the 2026 Six Nations goes right down to the wire and the final match.
The day’s action gets underway in Dublin, where Ireland and Scotland battle it out with both nations mathematically in the running for the title, though the visitors’ path is far more direct.
The attention then turns to Cardiff, where Wooden Spoon-bound Wales host Italy, with the Azzurri enjoying an unprecedented winning streak over the men in red.
It all concludes at the iconic Stade de France, where the Championship winner will be decided. England go to the French capital playing for pride and the mission to avoid their joint-worst-ever finish in the Six Nations, whilst the hosts have the opportunity to defend their title – and will know precisely what is required of them before the first whistle sounds.
Team news round-up
Andy Farrell has made four alterations to his starting Ireland team for the final round of Rugby’s Greatest Championship, with one change in the backs and three in the pack. Tommy O’Brien starts on the wing in the place of James Lowe, whilst Dan Sheehan is recalled to the run-on team and is joined by Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier in returning to the starting lineup. There are further changes on the bench, most notably being the return of ref-bashing centre Bundee Aki.
Meanwhile, Scotland have been bolstered by the fitness of Kyle Steyn, whose outing against France was cut short due to injury. The in-form winger starts in an unchanged back-three but Gregor Townsend has made three alterations to the starting XV that stunned Les Bleus. Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings are ruled out due to injury and are replaced by Max Williamson and Grant Gilchrist. Zander Fagerson also returns to the run-on team with D’arcy Rae dropping to the replacements.
Six Nations 2026: What Ireland, France and Scotland need to win the title
Steve Tandy has rewarded the efforts of the Welsh stars who made life tough for Ireland last week, naming an unchanged starting XV to tackle a confident Azzurri outfit. In fact, the only change to the matchday 23 sees Blair Murray take over from Louie Hennessey on the bench.
After claiming a historic first-ever victory over England, Italy’s team shows three changes for the final round of the Championship. Federico Ruzza replaces the injured Andrea Zambonin in the second row, while Muhamed Hasa takes over from the sidelined Simone Ferrari. The only unforced change to the run-on team is at scrum-half, with Alessandro Fusco taking over from Alessandro Garbisi, which means that Stephen Varney is named on the bench.
France’s gorgeous jersey to create an unwatchable kit clash against England on Super Saturday
Steve Borthwick hasn’t acted reactively after the defeat to Italy as the England boss has named the exact same starting backline for the trip across the Channel to tackle Les Bleus. In fact, the only change to the starting team sees Ollie Chessum start in the number six jumper. That means that Sam Underhill is included on the bench after being a late inclusion in the starting team last week.
Meanwhile, Fabien Galthie has been forced into making changes due to injury and suspension. Pierre-Louis Barassi starts in the centres with Nicolas Depoortère ruled out in the sole change to the backline. Further changes occur in the forward pack. Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament are drafted into the locks behind an unchanged front row, Charles Ollivon starts at number eight, while there is a Test debut for Bordeaux back-rower Temo Matiu.
Round Five
Ireland v Scotland
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Tommy O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Tom O’Toole
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 George Horne, 22 Kyle Rowe, 23 Tom Jordan
Date: Saturday, 14 March, 2026
Kick-off: 14:10 GMT
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
TV: ITV, Virgin Media, TF1, SuperSport, Sky Italia, Sky NZ, Stan Sports, Peacock
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (RA), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
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Wales v Italy
Wales:15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10. Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray
Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (c), 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 David Odiase, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan
Date: Saturday, 14 March, 2026
Kick-off: 16:40 GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
TV: BBC, Premier Sports, RTE Sport, S4C, France Télévisions, SuperSport, Sky Italia, Sky NZ, Stan Sports, Peacock
Referee: Christophe Ridley (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
Opinion: Maro Itoje is not the problem, he is one of the very few things that isn’t
France v England
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Charles Ollivon, 7 Temo Matiu, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Joshua Brennan, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Emilien Gailleton
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith
Date: Saturday, 14 March, 2026
Kick-off: 21:10 local time (20:10 GMT)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
TV: ITV, RTE Sport, France Télévisions, SuperSport, Sky Italia, Sky NZ, Stan Sports, Peacock
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (SRU), Andrew Brace (IRFU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)