England and Ireland's points battle, the return of Jones and France's Springboks clash

The second weekend of Nations Championship Tests brings an England-Ireland points battle, Eddie Jones’ return to Twickenham and an injury-hit France facing the Springboks.

Points race for England and Ireland

Heading into the fifth weekend of six Nations Championship rounds - split between July in the southern hemisphere and November in Europe - England and Ireland have near-identical records.

Even with bonus points in play, Steve Borthwick's side and Andy Farrell's Ireland are set for a close finish, with their final standings potentially determining who reaches the title decider.

Both currently sit on 15 competition points, but England are 42 points better off in terms of points difference at the moment, owing to the fact they beat Fiji 73-8 in July, and added to that with a handsome 45-22 home success over Australia last week.

• Eddie Jones: Japan aiming to 'make Twickenham sky fall in on distracted England'
• Beirne captains strong Ireland selection vs Fiji as Gibson-Park returns
• England's unique Pollock, impressive pack, concerning injuries, remaining issues
• Nations Championship: Schedule, results as inaugural tournament gears up for finals
• Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW

In July, Ireland edged a high-scoring win over Australia to claim a bonus point, followed it up with another bonus-point victory over Japan (despite winning by just 16 points), before losing to the All Blacks at Eden Park without securing a bonus point for either a narrow defeat or scoring four tries

On home soil, Ireland then dispatched of Argentina 42-12 last week, but failed to score a point in the final quarter of the Test, which they may yet pay for.

For England, they lost to South Africa at Ellis Park without banking any losing bonus points, then annihilated Fiji in Liverpool and held on to win in Argentina with a crucial bonus point.

Last week's morale-boosting win over Australia has now given England a great chance of at least finishing second and facing one of South Africa or New Zealand on finals weekend at Twickenham.

For Ireland to overtake England, they must outperform them across the final two rounds. That means beating South Africa in Dublin while hoping New Zealand defeat England at Twickenham, or securing more bonus points in defeat to the Springboks than England manage against the All Blacks.

With comfortable wins expected for England and Ireland against Japan and Fiji respectively this Saturday, the Irish are unlikely to make significant inroads into England's substantial points-difference advantage.

Instead, it is likely to come down to bonus points.

Jones stoking the flames on his return as Japan seek huge shock

Former England head coach Eddie Jones is plotting a historic upset, backing Japan to stun England at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

The Brave Blossoms have lost all six previous Tests against England and are 40-1 outsiders to pull off a seismic Nations Championship shock.

But Jones, who coached England from 2016 to 2022, is preparing a few surprises for his former side.

"It's a big week for Japanese rugby," Jones said this week. "We realise England are a nation we've never been able to beat.

"Everyone knows the record and we want to do something a bit different this week and we've trained like that, so I'm really pleased with the team.

"We've had really good training to prepare us for the game we are expecting against England.

"We had two days of very settled and pretty training but Wednesday was quite dirty. We had to adapt to certain situations and in the end we did it really well.

"I was really pleased with the players, really pleased with their effort, really pleased with the way they adapted to the situations.

"I'm looking forward to going to Twickenham with this young Japanese team that's going to play the house down."

Jones remains England's most successful coach by win rate, with 72 per cent, having won two Six Nations titles, including the 2016 Grand Slam. He also guided England to the 2019 World Cup final, but his tenure ended acrimoniously, with his side booed by fans in 2022.

"If you look at the stats, they stand the test of time," Jones said. "So there's no reason why I shouldn't be pleased to go back to Twickenham."

The 66-year-old has been doing the media rounds this week, also saying his Japan side are aiming to "make the Twickenham sky fall in on" Steve Borthwick's "distracted" charges in Saturday's Test.

Injury-hit France welcome Springboks to Paris in blockbuster

Two of the world's top sides go head-to-head on Friday as France host South Africa.

The Springboks insist they have no special plans to contain Antoine Dupont at fly-half, instead trusting their defence to limit the space available to the French playmaker.

With Romain Ntamack injured and Matthieu Jalibert already ruled out, Dupont will wear the No 10 jersey, with Maxime Lucu at scrum-half.

Both are more accustomed to playing at nine but have featured at fly-half for their clubs, and South Africa expect the pair to interchange positions during the match.

"He's [Dupont] played at 10 before for his ​club [Toulouse], and we saw the game where he played there. He was very good," captain Siya Kolisi told reporters on Thursday.

"I mean, he can play almost anywhere ​on the field, so I don't think it is a surprise to ⁠see him there.

"Obviously, nobody wants injuries, ⁠but every team experiences them and you have to adjust. He's a good enough player to do it. He's shown ‌that over the years."

Kolisi said the Springboks had no specific plan to stop Dupont at fly-half, insisting their defence would stick to its usual system regardless of the opposition or individuals they face.

"Our system doesn't change for any team we play against. We have a system that works and we've prepared for them," he added.

"We haven't done anything special for him individually just because he's ⁠playing at 10. We know Lucu has also played ​at 10 for Bordeaux, so it will be natural for ​them to swap positions.

"We know Antoine wants to be on ​the ball a lot and creates a lot, so for him to move ⁠to nine [during the game)] will also be natural."

Kolisi expects an intense atmosphere in Paris, the scene of the Springboks' epic 29-28 victory over France in the quarter-finals of ⁠the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

South Africa have ​won nine of their last 10 Tests against the French, the only ​blemish a 30-26 loss in Marseille in 2022.

They are unbeaten in their last five Tests in Paris, last losing in ‌the French capital in 2005.