Here's my weekly round-up for the first round of the 2018 Six Nations tournament;
Hope you enjoy!
Wales (14) 34
Tries: G Davies, Halfpenny x2, S Evans
Cons: Halfpenny x4
Pens: Halfpenny x2
Scotland (0) 7
Tries: P Horne
Cons: Russell
A dream start for the Welsh, and a nightmare start for Scotland. I think it's fair to say that absolutely no-one saw this coming - Wales were littered with injuries, and Scotland only had a weakened front-row.
Scotland were 'to-nil' for almost the entirety of the game, with Peter Horne managing to go over in the 79th minute to give them a late consolation try. We definitely did not see the Scotland from the Autumn Internationals and will hope that they will improve next weekend.
This win will undoubtedly spur on Wales in their future games, and if they can ruthlessly beat a very promising Scotland side then they can beat anyone this year. Aaron Shingler was absolutely superb at 6, and Ross Moriarty (even though he's been struggling with injury for the past 3/4 months) was decent; Rhys Patchell also looked very strong at Fly-Half, and I wouldn't have guessed that Dan Biggar wasn't there. The Scarlets' contingent really showed up on Saturday, and Wales are definitely the 'dark horses' of this tournament now.
The only positive I'd be taking is I was Gregor Townsend was that the scrum didn't underperform. Discipline, laziness and a loss of focus was what cost Scotland - and all of those will be relatively easy to improve. Their Six Nations is far from over too, so it will be interesting to see where they can end up finishing now.
France (3) 13
Tries: Thomas
Cons: Belleau
Pens: Machenaud x2
Ireland (9) 15
Pens: Sexton x4
Drop-Goal: Sexton
Ireland managed to snatch a late victory against the French in Paris thanks to a superb long-range Johnny Sexton drop-goal at the end of the game.
Ireland led for the majority of the game, but couldn't seem to put the game to bed at all - something that will potentially hurt them in future matches. Ireland came close to scoring tries multiple times but never did, and with bonus points now in-play in the Six Nations, if Wales, Scotland or England can pick up a bonus-point win against the French, then it will have cost Ireland dearly.
Sexton did control the game very, very well, and comparing him to the French starting 10 (which is a little bit unfair as he's only 19) they were acres apart. And to land a kick from that distance to take the win just shows how much he means to the Irish side.
France would have won the game if it wasn't for their extremely poor discipline. Their lock, Sebastien Vahaamahina, gave away 4 of 10 and was extremely lucky to end the match without being sent to the sin-bin.
The good news for Brunel is that, other than the costly discipline, France played well and the somewhat experimental 15 he fielded played well. I initially ruled out France as contender's, but I think they'll have more to say in this year's tournament.
Italy (10) 15
Tries: Benvenuti, Bellini
Cons: Allan
Pens: Allan
England (17) 46
Tries: Watson x2, Farrell, Simmonds x2, Ford, Nowell
Cons: Farrell x4
Pens: Farrell
A huge performance from both, surprisingly, Italy and England, and Italy will feel hard done by to be beaten by 46-15 with the efforts they put into the game and how close it was for most.
Sam Simmonds, a player I had called out to keep an eye on this tournament, made his dream Six Nations debut - scoring two brilliant tries; Watson also scored a brace, along with tries from Farrell, Ford, and fellow Exeter Chief Jack Nowell.
A 13th consecutive Six Nations defeat for Italy, but it showed massive amounts of improvement. Italy used to crumple in the last 20 minutes of the game, but they showed up for the entire 80 minutes. Conor O'Shea definitely picked the strongest side that he could, and even without my pick of Jake Polledri, Sebastian Negri gave a huge performance for the Azzuri.
Last year England started slowly against Italy, and their clever breakdown and offside tactics stopped England from really pressing into the game. Unlike last year, England accelarted straight into the game and looked like a side that wanted to win a grand slam. England will undoubtedly only improve, and if I had to put my money on someone after Round 1, it would be England.
Give me your thoughts below!