The Six Nations may not be a thriller in terms of number of tries, but it lacks nothing in drama as four teams go into the final round of games later on Saturday with a chance of securing the northern hemisphere’s rugby union crown.
Defending champions Ireland, who travel to Scotland, are bidding to win successive titles for only the second time (1948/49), while Wales, who play Italy in Rome first-up, are seeking to make it three crowns in four years and gain a boost heading into the World Cup later in the year.
England presently top that trio on six points because of a slightly better points difference and will know what is needed to be done if they are to win their first Six Nations title since 2011 as they host an under-performing France in the final match.
Even the French, who have not won at Twickenham since 2005, entertain slim hopes of clinching the title which would certainly raise eyebrows given another underwhelming campaign under embattled coach Philippe Saint-Andre.
However, the French would need to beat England and Wales and Ireland lose to have any chance of taking the crown.
With England playing France last coach Stuart Lancaster has decided to wait until half an hour before the kick-off to give his team talk so his players are clear as to what they need to do — apart from obviously beating the French.
“We firstly have to understand what will be the challenge. The Ireland match in Scotland will finish at about 4.25pm (also GMT) and we kick off at five,” said Lancaster, who since taking over after the 2011 World Cup debacle has guided his side to second on the past three occasions in the championship.
“We will have to make sure the players understand the objectives. It might be just to win the game, or it could be to win it by 10 or 20 points.
“It is certainly an unique situation where the end of the championship is decided with staggered times, with the teams playing last knowing there is a certain points differential to score.”
For his Wales counterpart Warren Gatland, whose side need a big win over Italy as their points difference (+12) is vastly inferior to England (+37) and Ireland’s (+33), the English have the advantage in playing last.
“I think we need to win by 40 points. Our message to the players is be patient,” Gatland told the BBC just prior to kick-off.
“Don’t panic. If we can break their spirit then maybe we can cut losse in the second-half.”
For the Irish, who saw their dream of only a third Grand Slam ended by Wales in a humdinger of a clash last weekend, it is a case of sticking with the solid no-frills strategy of coach Joe Schmidt which has served them well over the past two years but seen them score just four tries in this campaign.
“For us there’s big trust in what we’re doing,” said O’Connell, who will win his 101st Irish cap.
“That’s probably the biggest thing I see from a player point of view that’s different from other teams I’ve been involved in – there’s massive trust in what we’re doing.”