Two countries continue to dominate proceedings
It is not every weekend that Ireland defeat France and the country does not get lost in the clouds. Wins over Les Bleus are far from common but, as a nation, we are coming to expect more from Joe Schmidt and his dogged troops.
Here is our team of the weekend – a stark contrast to the Francophile or, rather, Rory Kockophile musings of BBC pundit Jeremy Guscott.
Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
Has been in superb form for his country ever since he was red-carded against the Welsh last March. Ran in a great try and was the Scots biggest attacking weapon all day.
Anthony Watson (England)
Keeping Chris Ashton out of the England team and, at present, fully deserving of his place. Probed the Italian defence all afternoon and made ground. Needs to address tackling deficiencies ahead of Ireland game, however.
Luca Morisi (Italy)
Pure class in a losing cause. Italy may finally have found a guy who can regularly break lines and score tries.
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Has turned a corner at Racing Métro and brought that club form into the tournament. Got his team over the gainline on countless occasions and put colleagues into space.
Jonathan Joseph (England)
Shifted to the wing after 12 minutes due to Mike Brown’s game-ending injury. Destroyed Italy’s best defensive plans through sheer power and pace. Scored two tries to augment a great performance.
Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
Welcome back. His opening 50 minutes – before his trip to the blood bin – was near faultless. Goal-kicking at 100%, tactical kicks had France in tatters and ran a number of swift backline plays. Stood up, and then some, to Bastareaud & co.
Rhys Webb (Wales)
Close call with Ben Youngs but the Welshman edges it. Did not always have the benefit of a pack going forward yet goaded and cajoled his men forward and made a couple of good snipes. Scored another try.
Joe Marler (England)
May face some competition from Cian Healy, now that the Irishman is back, but, for now, he is the tournament’s outstanding loose-head. Held up his side of the scrum, caused Italy some palpitations and contributed 11 tackles. French sub Vincent Debaty did very well in his 30-minute stint.
Dylan Hartley (England)
Solid again. Continues to go under the radar yet find his lineout jumpers and contribute in the scrum. Benjamin Kayser (France) improved his side’s fortunes, after coming off the bench, and Ross Ford looked steady again.
Mike Ross (Ireland)
Continues to slog away and hold up his end of the scrummaging bargain. Pushed hard for selection, here, by Aaron Jarvis on Wales who did extremely well against the Scots.
Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales)
Asked to wear our No.4 jersey but we are sure he won’t mind. So vital to Welsh hopes and was shovelling away, again, at the furnace against the Scots. We must mention Devin Toner and his 14 tackles against the French. Close call.
Yoann Maestri (France)
One of the few, starting French players to emerge with credit from a bruising encounter with Ireland. Tackled demonically and was key in disrupting the home side’s attacking mauls. Along with Bernard Le Roux, Maestri made the most tackles [15].
Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)
The Irish back row were muted in attack – hard-yard carries rather than line breaks – but they did their job in defence. O’Mahony put in a serious shift and was responsible
Chris Robshaw (England)
For the second weekend running, the England captain led the tackle count. Has now landed an insane 44 tackles in two matches. Does the dirty work to free up James Haskell and Billy Vunipola.
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
This was a tight, tight call. Billy Vunipola put in one of his typical, rampaging performances for England against Italy but the Azzurri wilted in the second-half. Heaslip’s attacking stats don’t stack up but his presence was vital in Ireland’s win. Made line-out claims, choke tackle turnovers and was impressive at the breakdown.
Sergio Parisse was another great 8 at the weekend.
