Six Nations 2022: Round Five predictions - Wales and Ireland to win comfortably, France to secure Grand Slam

The 2022 Six Nations Championship comes to an end with Round Five this weekend and it’s all to play for ahead of Super Saturday.

Following our Round Four predictions, we are 10 for 12 in our forecasting of results and are looking to end on a high with another clean sweep.

France were given their toughest test of the tournament yet in Cardiff, but managed to overcome Wales; Scotland won in Rome but the Italians refused to make it comfortable for them, and Ireland claimed victory at Twickenham against a resilient England side who were reduced to 14 men early on.

The final round of fixtures throws up two matches with outcomes likely to be straightforward, ahead of a titanic battle in Paris to finish off what has been an excellent Championship.

Here are our predictions for the Super Saturday matches:

Wales v Italy

• Date: Saturday, March 19
• Kick off: 14:15
• Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
• Odds: Wales 1/100, Italy 19/1

Wales have improved match after match in this tournament and could have been in with a real shout of title contention in Round Five, had they boasted a full strength pool of players to choose from in week one.

They will be bolstered even further this Saturday as the indomitable Alun Wyn Jones returns to the squad to play a part in the Championship.

Wayne Pivac’s side were brilliant in frustrating France last weekend and preventing them from getting into their full stride, but this weekend they will have a chance to spread their own wings when they bow out at the Principality Stadium against Italy.

The Italians, like Wales, were at their best in the tournament so far in Round Four and scored more points against Scotland than they had in their previous three matches combined.

However, it says a lot that they were still convincingly beaten at home despite such improvement, and it looks like they will be in for another hard 80 minutes in Cardiff.

It’s difficult to see the Italians having any real chance of signing off with what would be a huge upset and Wales will want to put as many points past them as possible, knowing they still have a chance of a third place finish this year.

Our prediction: Wales to win by a 28+ point margin

Ireland v Scotland

• Date: Saturday, March 19
• Kick off: 16:45
• Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
• Odds: Ireland 1/10, Scotland 6/1

Ireland can still win the title but that isn't in their own hands, all they can try and do is beat Scotland as convincingly as possible and hope England do them a favour in Paris.

There is still the Triple Crown to be claimed though and Andy Farrell will be keen to see his side lift that trophy with a win in Dublin.

As for Scotland, they have pride on the line, and although that might not seem like a lot after the tournament that promised so much early on it, is still important that they give a good account of themselves.

If Wales have become progressively better in this competition then it would also be fair to say Scotland, in certain areas, have regressed terribly.

Their defence, which has gained a reputation as one of the strongest areas of their game, was cut open far too easily by the Italians last weekend.

It has to be worrying for Scotland fans to think what kind of score Ireland might be capable of if they don’t sort that out.

Ireland have won the past six editions of this fixture, so victory for Gregor Townsend and his players would probably be enough to appease a fan base who rightfully expected more than just wins at home to England and away to Italy.

Unfortunately for them, this will probably be their toughest test of the tournament and all the evidence of the past four rounds point towards Ireland winning convincingly.

Our prediction:Ireland to win by a 10 to 20 point margin

France v England

• Date: Saturday, March 19
• Kick off: 20:00
• Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis (Paris)
• Odds: France 4/11, England 23/10

This one is massive and should be as thrilling an 80 minutes of rugby as the Six Nations has seen in some years.

England were excellent against Ireland last weekend as they managed to dominate large spells of the match despite being reduced to 14 men, after Charlie Ewels recieved a red card inside two minutes.

They earned more praise in defeat than they did in victory over Wales and a win in Paris to deny France the Grand Slam (and possibly the Championship title) would be some way to cap off a tournament that began with such a disappointing result in Edinburgh.

There is still plenty to work on though and, as evidenced by that red card, disciplinary issues continue to plague Eddie Jones’ side. However, they will show up hell-bent on spoiling the French party and are more than capable of doing that.

France’s weaknesses were exposed at last by Wales in Round Four as the kicking game brought on to them by Dan Biggar and Liam Williams prevented Les Bleus from getting into full flow.

Despite that, they still managed to grind out victory and will no doubt have worked hard on the training pitch this week to improve in the areas that Wales were able to exploit.

It’s incredible to think that this could be all or nothing for France, win and it’s the Grand Slam and the Six Nations title, but a loss could mean they finish with nothing at all.

The significance of the match cannot be understated and, even considering last weekend's performances, it still feels like this is France’s time to make history.

Our prediction:France to win by a 9 to 19 point margin

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