Scotland ended England’s unbeaten run, Ireland defeated an improving Italy, who else could stop France?
Here are the main talking points from an intriguing Six Nations second round clash.
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Scotland took the opportunity to “humiliate” England
Questions were asked of Scotland and head coach Gregor Townsend after their first-round defeat to Italy, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more potent fightback than their 31-20 victory over England.
Scotland started brightly and gave their all throughout, handing Steve Borthwick’s side their first defeat in 13 games and improving on their recent dominant record in Calcutta Cup competition, having now won six of their last nine games.
Former Scotland international Johnny Beattie told the Rugby League Weekly podcast: “It’s special. They were humiliated in Rome last weekend and this time we have the chance to humiliate England here and get through.”
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“Everything that went wrong last week has been rectified. We fought and fought hard for everything. It’s a fully deserved, comprehensive Calcutta Cup win.”
Beatty says Scotland are always capable of one-off wins against top teams but they need more consistency.
“They’ve had these seminal moments but haven’t shown a consistent performance that puts them in a position to compete for the title,” he added.
“The question is how do you consistently find a way to beat these top opponents and Scotland don’t have the answer yet. Can you get into the top three? There are some important games. We have to back it up.”
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‘Disjointed’ England team’s misfortune 13
England were looking to make it 13th consecutive win against Scotland and their first in Edinburgh since 2020, but were unable to cope with Scotland’s energy and intensity.
Their hat-trick hero last week, Henry Arundel, received an early yellow card that turned into a red card, and they threatened to comeback when George Ford’s shot attempt led to Huw Jones’ eighth try against England – the most by a player in the Six Nations era.
“Scotland were 20 points ahead, not 11. They were winners across the board,” former England half-back Matt Dawson told the Rugby League Weekly podcast.
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“England were held apart from the first minute to the 80th minute in the cold daylight. Scotland were much better.”
It was England’s fourth defeat in their past five Six Nations away games and Dawson raised questions about their tactics.
“For me, it’s not about kicking the ball. If that doesn’t work, what else can you do? Scotland have done their homework, the defense is ferocious and England are not getting any change from that, so what’s the tactic?” Dawson said.
“England didn’t adjust accordingly. It was a masterclass from the Scottish coaching staff because England were going nowhere.”
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Former England winger Chris Ashton told Rugby Special he felt England looked “disjointed” and there was a “snowball effect” as errors increased.
“A lot of it was an inability to handle the pressure. As soon as the game started, one thing happened after another. England lost every game,” he added.
Who can stop free movement in France?
France are the only team still capable of claiming a Grand Slam title and the unbeaten side produced another masterclass with a 54-12 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
France scored 10 times in the opening 20 minutes to reach their highest ever score against Wales, surpassing their 51-0 win at Wembley in 1998.
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A mobile team, coupled with a fantastic backline playing with total freedom, the blue shirts were like a blur, leaving Wales chasing shadows.
“You look at this France team and you think, who can stop them? They have it all,” former Scotland international backrow John Barclay told Rugby Special.
Ashton said France can “score at will” and singled out winger Louis Biller-Biare for praise.
“His all-round game is fantastic, he always looks so confident and does things that a lot of players can’t do,” he added. “He is the best choice for France.”
Wales lagging but ‘there are some positives’
It’s a tough time for Wales fans right now. It was the toughest moment in living memory for a generation who grew up with Six Nations success and a team filled with stars such as Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones.
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There are plenty of problems with Welsh rugby but recent results have been a complete horror show by any measure, with Sunday’s record defeat to France taking it to its 13th consecutive Six Nations defeat and 10th consecutive home defeat in the Championship.
It is 1,072 days since their last Six Nations victory against Italy in Rome in March 2023 and 1,464 days since their last title win at home against Scotland in February 2022.
It seems supporters are starting to vote with their feet. The match against France had an attendance of 57,744, the lowest attendance for a Six Nations match in Cardiff’s history.
But speaking to BBC One after the game, former captain Warburton was encouraged by certain parts of Wales’ game and said they needed to see where things were going well, such as the Moore defence, lineouts and Eddie James’ performance.
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“Some aspects of the game went quite well, they weren’t beaten, they were beaten on the ball. There are some positives to think about next week,” Warburton said.
“Look at those little wins, there’s no point in kicking them when they’re down. What we have to think about is how can we get better from this point? Which young players look like they have that mentality?
“We’re not going to try to fix this in one week, we’ve been doing this for a couple of years, so let’s all buckle up and look for small improvements every week and keep moving forward.”
“There are definitely green shoots,” Jones said.
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“The effort is there but this is international rugby and you will be judged on results but from an effort point of view it is there,” he added.
Former England captain Martin Johnson also offered words of encouragement.
“Wales can always come in and score tries, they have good rugby players so you’re never that far away and they can sit there and think they’ve been beaten at home by a very good French team. But in some of the next games they thought we could win this game.”
‘Don’t ignore them’ – can Ireland rediscover their spark?
After losing to France in the first round, Andy Farrell’s side survived an improving Italy side with a home win over Scotland.
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Ireland have won all 13 of their home games against Italy in the Six Nations but their 100% record is under serious threat.
Ashton told Rugby Special that Italy, who led at half-time, missed a golden opportunity to claim their first win in Ireland.
“It’s going to be a long 10 days for Ireland so Farrell will be delighted they got the win but Italy missed a lot of chances. They’ll be annoyed they didn’t get the win,” he told Rugby Special.
Farrell has a big decision to make ahead of Saturday’s trip to England after a difficult afternoon for starting half Sam Prendergast, who was replaced by Jack Crawley, with the Munster man impressing on the bench.
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“It’s difficult for Ireland at the moment, they’re in an interesting place. They always want to be successful but it’s going to be difficult for them at the Allianz Arena,” Ashton told Rugby Special.
Barclay added: “They’re not quite there yet but you can’t discount them. They’ve got an experienced British and Irish Lions squad that’s just missing a few tweaks.”