Six Nations: Eire unbeaten, France upset by England and Italy dominates Wales in spherical 2

Solely Eire stays unbeaten after it swatted apart Scotland 32-18 at Murrayfield on Sunday.

England got here into title rivalry by surprising France 26-25 at Twickenham on Saturday evening.

The wood spoon was in all probability determined in wet Rome when Italy defeated Wales in successive matches for the primary time.

This is the ‘s takeaways from the second spherical. One other yr, one other Scotland defeat

Annual speak of this being one of the best Scotland aspect in years made Eire regard their match at Murrayfield as a possible banana pores and skin. Flyhalf Sam Prendergast, taking part in away from Dublin for the primary time, spoke about how emotional the anthems had been and the way keyed up the packed Murrayfield crowd was. That was snuffed out swiftly. Inside half-hour, Eire charged right into a 17-0 lead with two transformed tries. Two extra had been denied by being held up over the road. The Scots had been smashed and two of their finest backs, Finn Russell and Darcy Graham, collided heads and needed to depart the sector. The Irish performed like they had been going for his or her first win over Scotland, not their eleventh in succession. Their ruthless effectivity was obvious within the stats. Scotland had extra ball, carried 200 extra meters, compelled 80 extra tackles and broke extra tackles nevertheless it made no distinction. The ultimate rating flattered Scotland and took the air out of one other hyped Six Nations title bid. “There’s a feeling of satisfaction after that one,” Eire captain Caelan Doris mentioned. The defending two-time champion Irish journey to Wales in two weeks, and two weeks after that France visits Dublin within the possible title decider. England overcomes its demons

The roar at Twickenham that greeted England’s gorgeous upset of France was additionally the discharge of 11 months of frustration. England had misplaced seven straight to conventional foes and blown leads towards New Zealand , France and Australia. So, to English rugby followers, when France scored to steer 25-19 with lower than 5 minutes remaining, within the phrases of baseball immortal Yogi Berra, it was deja vu over again. However England did not collapse this time. It rallied the old style approach. Ben Earl jackaled Thomas Ramos and was adopted by a penalty, a lineout, a maul and a slick backline transfer. Heart Ollie Lawrence was the primary receiver, flyhalf Fin Smith took the backdoor go, and Elliot Daly, on the sector for 4 minutes, swung off his wing into a giant midfield gap simply 10 meters from the try-line. Whereas France threw away its benefit, England had demons to beat to nonetheless go and take the sport. It was a breakthrough evening for England’s closing-time confidence, its a lot maligned bench, and beginning a extra typical flyhalf. Smith and Smith

Marcus Smith was a Lion after his second England cap. He apprenticed for 3 years behind Owen Farrell and George Ford and the England 10 jersey was lastly his on the June 2024 tour of Japan and New Zealand. However after eight checks, seven of them losses, he could also be second selection once more after Fin Smith’s profitable efficiency towards France in his first take a look at begin. Fin paid his dues. He made his Premiership debut at age 17 and misplaced his first 10 matches. The following yr, Worcester folded and Northampton employed the Underneath-20 Six Nations Grand Slam winner. Fin helped the Saints win the Premiership final yr. Choosing Fin to start out for England forward of Marcus, who was moved to fullback, was a giant name. However Fin is extra of a standard 10 than Marcus, taking the ball to the road and getting the facilities extra concerned. He made early errors however nothing that value England and he grew extra comfy. Fin confirmed good judgement, assisted in two tries and kicked his two conversions together with the match-winner. “This,” he mentioned, “is cool for a primary begin.” Forza Italia

In the course of the 2022 Six Nations, match organizers despatched out a press release rejecting rumors of perennial struggler Italy being changed by world champion South Africa. Only a month later, Italy famously beat Wales in Cardiff with a last-gasp transformed strive that ended a seven-year, 36-test shedding streak within the match. Since then, an Italy group rotated by Kieran Crowley and blossoming underneath Gonzalo Quesada has develop into a revered, aggressive menace. The Azzurri gave their most mature efficiency but in beating Wales for the third time in 4 years. No last-minute heroics had been wanted in Rome. Italy led from the twentieth minute. Given the unusual tag of favourite, confronted with unrelenting rain that restricted attacking alternatives and a Wales lineup determined amid a 13-test shedding streak, Italy dealt with the strain and outsmarted Wales. Amongst standout efforts by Giacomo Nicotera, Sebastian Negri, Martin Web page-Relo, Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Allan, the brightest was No. 8 Lorenzo Cannone, who led everybody on the sector in carries, meters carried, tackles, dominant tackles and defenders overwhelmed. Two of his turnovers grew to become penalties kicked between the posts by Allan. Cannone mentioned, “The ultimate end result speaks for us.” Lions watch

In the one matchup of Lions nations, the Irish pack hammered the Scots so skillfully that rookie flyhalf Sam Prendergast appeared to have loads of time to make numerous good selections. He was voted participant of the match. Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe additionally loved a journey from the graft given by the likes of Caelan Doris, who put in a captain’s shift of a team-leading 10 carries and 80 meters plus 17 tackles. Even the supposedly fading Peter O’Mahony made a second-best 9 beneficial carries and two turnovers in his 51 minutes. Additionally, loosehead prop Andrew Porter, picked for the 2021 Lions however injured earlier than the tour, shaded reverse and 2021 Lion Zander Fagerson, and even added a chargedown. Scotland co-captain Rory Darge had 17 tackles however he additionally was subsumed by Eire’s supremacy. At Twickenham, Tom Curry was a workhorse once more on either side of the ball, and with Ben Earl on his shoulder.

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