Six Nations Week 2: England and Ireland win again

Another thrilling weekend of Six Nations action has been and gone, with Ireland refusing to slow down in their pursuit of another Grand Slam. But England are hot on their tail, which could set up a mouth-watering clash when the pair meet in week four.

Meanwhile, Scotland were denied a second win a row after cruelly missing out on a match-winning try late on against France. Following an entertaining second round of matches, we’ve taken a look at all the key talking points.

Six Nations Table

England fight back to edge past Wales

Having scraped past Italy in an unconvincing performance last time out, there was pressure on England to step up as they welcomed Wales to Twickenham. It looked as though they were on their way to a limp defeat as they went into half-time 14-5 down, trailing at the break for the second game in a row.

Wales hadn’t won at Twickenham since 2015 and they were looking to bounce back after losing to Scotland the week before. But once again, Steve Borthwick’s half-time team talk seemed to work as England fought back to claim their second win in this year’s Six Nations.

George Ford’s first-half conversion attempt was run down and he then failed to convert Fraser Dingwall’s try after the break, leaving his side short. But the fly-half was ultimately the hero as his late penalty secured a narrow 16-14 win for England.

They’re now second in the table but they’ll need to step things up once again when they head up north to face Scotland on 24th February. Meanwhile, Wales face a daunting test against table-toppers Ireland, who they beat in this competition back in 2021.

Scotland denied famous win over France

After losing their opening match to Ireland, France got their Six Nations campaign up and running with a win over Scotland. They ran out 20-16 winners at Murrayfield on Saturday but it wasn’t without controversy.

The hosts thought they’d secured their fifth consecutive home victory when Sam Skinner looked to have planted the ball over the line at the death. But with the TMO unable to conclusively confirm the ball was grounded, Scotland were denied what would’ve been a match-winning try.

The Scots were understandably frustrated, particularly having played so well to get to that point. They led 13-10 at the break and perhaps should’ve been further ahead. But ultimately France showed just enough quality to win for the 10th time in their last 12 Six Nations outings.

Having lost out to Ireland, France are now a game behind in their hunt to come out on top and they’ll be hungry to build their momentum as they take on minnows Italy next week. Meanwhile, Scotland host old rivals England and they’ll be looking to beat them in the Six Nations for the fourth time in a row.

Ireland continue Grand Slam defence against Italy

Having got off to the best possible start by beating main challengers France in their opening game, Ireland continued their Grand Slam dream by brushing Italy aside with ease. The reigning champions are looking to become the first ever team to claim back-to-back Grand Slams and they were in full flow in Dublin.

Ireland ran out 36-0 winners and once again, new fly-half Jack Crowley grew into his role as the heir to Johnny Sexton. The 24-year-old scored a first-half try and recovered well from a poor early kick to convert twice.

Ireland also claimed another bonus point from Dan Sheehan’s second try which edged them clear at the top of the table. It was far from Ireland’s best performance and some of their sloppier play may have been punished by a stronger opponent.

However, they’ll learn from their mistakes going into the next round of fixtures where they face Wales. For Italy, it was always going to be a difficult day and things don’t get much easier next time out as they travel to France.

Week 3 fixtures

Ireland v Wales – Saturday 24th February, 14:15

Scotland v England – Saturday 24th February, 16:45

France v Italy – Sunday 25th February, 15:00

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