Ireland could secure successive Six Nations crowns with a game to spare as they travel to Twickenham to take on England in round four this weekend.

Andy Farrell’s side remain unbeaten in this year’s championship and will hope to make history as the first men’s team to secure back-to-back grand slams since the tournament’s expansion to six teams.

After taking on England on Saturday, Ireland host Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Super Saturday — but the title could be sewn up before then.

The defending champions currently top the standings by six points with two rounds to play.

The maximum tally that second-placed Scotland can reach with two bonus-point victories is 19.

Ireland will thus be crowned champions if they beat England and score four tries, taking five match points and their tournament tally to an unassailable 20.

Ireland will also win the title if they beat England without a bonus point and Scotland fail to take the full five match points against Italy in Rome.

The Six Nations adopted bonus points in 2017 with an added rule that a team achieving a grand slam would receive an extra three points. This was to prevent a scenario where a four-win team that had achieved a bonus point in every game pipped a team that had managed a clean sweep but not taken maximum points in each match.