Niall Scannell
After a forgettable outing last weekend, Ireland came roaring out of the blocks In Rome and didn't let up the whole match, it was raining tries at the Stadio Olympico. Nine in total, all converted by Paddy Jackson, picking up where he left off last weekend. The CJ Stander award for the man of the match went to...CJ Stander! Try hogs Stander and Gilroy grabbed three tries each, while Earls got two - surely they should have been scoring them in order of number of caps? Gary Ringose completed the rout, strolling through the Italians untouched. the Italians were pretty abysmal in fairness, but we got all we wanted out of that match, a bonus point win and big positive points difference. Niall Scannell made a fine, fine debut, in an afternoon of superlatives for the Irish team. We are poised nicely in second place, not peaking too early like some of the teams!
Cardiff's colossal Millenium Stadium was a suitable venue for the clash of biblical proportions between Wales and England. This was not a feast of running rugby, it was 80 minutes of bone breaking collisions, with England just about left standing at the end. Like last week, they had to come from behind to win, and again they managed to win without playing that well. Wales visibly ran out of steam in the last 15 minutes. They're not out of yet, but it won't get any easier against France, Ireland or Scotland. England extend their winning run to 16 - will it all come to tears when they visit Dublin?
Finally, Scotland traveled to Paris to round off the weekend. It was an exciting but messy game, with the Scots suffering a series of injuries that ultimately deflated their challenge. France made hard hard work of that win though, they had dominance in most areas of the game but couldn't close the deal. ' L'Ecosse, ne savez pas quand ils beaten'. Scotland are still likely to be in the running when Italy come to town in the final round.
Sunday 12th February
France 22 16 Scotland FT
Saturday 11th February
Italy 10 63 Ireland FT
Wales 16 21 England
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