After a compelling opening round of matches in which the average winning margin was a mere 4.7 points, the Women's Six Nations continues this weekend with one match on Saturday and two on Sunday.

France and Italy kick-off the round at Stade Beaublanc in Limoges with Les Bleues hoping to bounce from their defeat to England, while Italy go in search of a second consecutive victory following their 19-15 win over Wales in Cardiff.

Defending Grand Slam champions England will be fancied to make it eight Women's Six Nations wins on the bounce when they take on 2019 wooden spoon recipients Scotland at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow in the first of the Sunday fixtures. A rare win for Scotland could see them make rankings history.

In the other encounter, Ireland have a chance to avenge last year's 24-5 loss to Wales when the sides meet at Donnybrook in Dublin.

WOMEN'S SIX NATIONS

FRANCE (4) v ITALY (5) (Saturday)
Head-to-head
Played: 21 – France leads 17-4
Points for: France 604 / Italy 201
Average score: France 29-10 Italy
First meeting: 17 May, 1987 – Italy 4-16 France
Last meeting: 17 March, 2019 – Italy 31-12 France – Stadio Plebiscito, Padova

Team news

Valentina Ruzza wins her 30th cap in the second row as Andrea Di Giandomenico makes just the one change to his matchday squad for the match in Limoges. Giordana Duca drops out of the starting XV to accommodate the arrival of Ruzza but is named among the replacements. 

The Menager twin sisters, Romane and Marine, feature in a new-look Les Bleues line-up showing seven changes of personnel and two positional. Number eight Romane is one of only three players to retain their place in the pack, along with Audrey Forlani, who moves from number four to five, and blindside flanker Celine Ferer. An entirely new front row sees Maylis Traore and Clara Joyeux pack down either side of hooker Caroline Thomas, while Safi N’Diaye is promoted from the bench and captains the side from the second row. Julie Annery replaces Gaelle Hermet at openside. In the backs, there are starts for wing Marine Menager and centres Morgane Peyronnet and Nassira Jonde and Cyrielle Banet moves to the right wing having worn the number 11 jersey in last week's defeat to England.

In brief

  • Following their loss to England, France have suffered back-to-back home defeats for the first time since 2001. The last time they lost three in a row at home was between 1997-98
  • Winners over Wales in round one, Italy have only managed back-to-back wins at the start of a Championship once before, in 2013
  • France have lost four of their last five fixtures – all to England
  • Italy have never won a test in France before but beat Les Bleues 31-12 in last year in Padova

Rankings predictor

  • Neither side can improve their position, even with an emphatic victory
  • The most France can gain with victory on home soil is 0.06 rating points
  • Italy could slash their deficit to France from 6.85 rating points to just seven-tenths with a victory by more than 15 points

SCOTLAND (11) v ENGLAND (2) (Sunday)
Head-to-head
Played: 28 – England leads 26-2
Points for: Scotland 137 / England 1,163
Average score: Scotland 5-42 England
First meeting: 21 March, 1998 – Scotland 8-5 England
Last meeting: 16 March, 2019 – England 80-0 Scotland – Twickenham

Team news

Scotland head coach Philip Doyle has made three changes from the starting team that faced Ireland in the opening match of the Six Nations last weekend in Dublin, with Hannah Smith and Megan Gaffney having both been ruled out of this match through injury. Rachel Law is the only uncapped player to be named in the match-day squad. Her sister, Sarah Law, is promoted from the bench to start at 10 with Helen Nelson moving to inside centre. Evie Tonkin is selected on the wing to replace Megan Gaffney. The forward pack remains unchanged

Fresh from earning her 50th cap off the bench against France, Vickii Cornborough starts in the front row alongside Lark Davies and Sarah Bern as Simon Middleton names a starting XV showing five changes from last week. After impressing from the bench against France, Amber Reed starts at 12, Zoe Harrison moves to fly-half while Emily Scott comes in at full-back. Claudia MacDonald returns to the squad and is among the replacements.

In brief

  • England's last defeat in the Championship was in March 2018 when they lost 18-17 to France in Grenoble. They have won their seven games since then
  • By contrast, Scotland have lost their last seven games in the Championship, a run stretching back to their 15-12 win away to Ireland, on the same weekend England lost to France in 2018
  • Scotland won two of their first three tests against England but none since then – a 21-game losing streak 
  • England have kept Scotland scoreless in eight of the last 10 fixtures
  • England won 43-8 on their last visit to Scotstoun

Rankings predictor

  • England cannot improve their rating with victory due to the 23.98 rating points separating the sides before home weighting is factored in
  • A first win for Scotland for 21 years would only result in them breaking into the top 10 for the first time if Ireland are beaten at home to Wales or they beat England by more than 15 points
  • The Red Roses cannot fall from second place even with an emphatic loss

IRELAND (10) v WALES (8) (Sunday)
Head-to-head
Played: 26 – Wales leads 16-10
Points for: Ireland 332 / Wales 358
Average score: Ireland 13-14 Wales
First meeting: 22 March, 1998 – Ireland 10-27 Wales – Old Crescent, Limerick
Last meeting: 10 November, 2019 – Ireland 13-15 Wales – UCD Bowl, Dublin

Team news

Ireland have yet to announce their team.

Flankers Manon Johnes and Alisha Butchers are promoted from the bench to replace Alex Callender and Beth Lewis respectively in Wales' starting back row. Callender and Lewis take their place amongst the replacements. There are no other changes from the 19-15 loss to the Azzurre in round one.

In brief

  • The 18-14 win over Scotland last weekend was Ireland's first on home soil since February 2018
  • Wales have only lost one of their last five away matches
  • Wales won 15-13 on their last visit to Dublin in November
  • Both sides have found points hard to come by in recent times, Ireland averaging 14.5 points per game over their last 10 fixtures to Wales' 13.2

Rankings predictor

  • Ireland will climb above Spain into ninth with any margin of victory
  • They cannot overhaul Wales, even if they win by more than 15 points – although the difference between the two would be down to mere thousandths of a rating point
  • Wales cannot improve their position as they trail USA by more than three points

The World Rugby Women's Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 GMT.