By Lucky Vince Pienaar
• Ireland had to battle from behind to overcome a spirited England in Dublin on Saturday.
• Scotland had to fight to beat Italy in Edinburgh while France ran riot over Wales in Paris.
On paper the match between Ireland and England played out as predicted, but on the pitch it was not nearly as simple.
Ireland is clearly still the stronger side, but England are now better than they’ve ever been under coach Steve Borthwick.
England were full value for the money, particularly with their loose forwards, particularly Ben Curry and his infamous brother Tom, keeping Ireland on the backfoot and leading 10-5 at halftime.
In the second half Ireland showed their class. They kept their hopes alive for an unprecedented three grand slam victories in a row, scoring three tries through Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan and the match appeared all but over. England came back with two late tries through Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman, that made the match look closer than it was, however Ireland still won by five points.
➤ Italy were always fighting a losing battle after Scotland scored two early tries in their match in Edinburgh. Scotland outscored the Azzuri by five tries to one and it looked like they could have done more damage. Scotland will be very happy with the match.
➤ France looked like they never broke into a sweat as they ran in seven tries against Wales while Wales didn’t manage a single score. This was the mismatch of the Six Nations but Wales are still in for some serious punishment against England, Ireland and Scotland.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has a number of ready excuses (he has had a lot of practice in that department), but Wales cannot carry on staggering from one humiliating defeat to the next.
France 43-0 Wales
Scotland 31-19 Italy
Ireland 27-22 England
Pictured above: Scotland scored five tries, including a hattrick for Huw Jones, on their way to a convincing win against Italy
Source: SA RugbyMag