Ireland and France remain on collision course for a Grand Slam shootout after maintaining their unbeaten status on the second weekend of the Six Nations, while England got back to winning ways by regaining the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2017.
The weekend got underway in Dublin where Ireland and Wales collided following their opening-round victories, where Storm Ciara remained at bay to allow an action-packed encounter to develop in the home side’s favour.
The Irish made a flying start through Jordan Larmour’s individual effort, though Wales hit back quickly as Tomos Williams finished a flowing team move. That only spurred Andy Farrell’s team on though, and they added further scores through Tadhg Furlong and Josh van der Flier, with Wales seeing a glorious chance to pull one back go begging as Hadleigh Parkes dropped the ball in the act of grounding it.
The home side eventually sealed victory with a bonus-point try from Andrew Conway, while Justin Tipuric’s consolation at the death was unable to salvage a losing bonus point.
Unfortunately, the fierce weather that dodged Dublin was not so kind on Edinburgh as the Calcutta Cup clash between Scotland and England was battered by torrential rain and strong winds, which resulted in an energy-sapping close-knit game that took Ellis Genge’s late try to decide.
France wrapped up the weekend by recording their second victory of the championship, with Teddy Thomas, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt, Romain Ntamack and Baptiste Serin all crossing to secure a bonus-point 35-22 victory over a much-improved Italy.
So who makes out team of the weekend? Click through the gallery above to see the four players retained and 11 new phases in the Team of Round Two.
