A vintage Six Nations weekend has thrown the championship back open after shock wins for England and Italy in the penultimate round of fixtures.
Steve Borthwick’s side produced perhaps their best performance under the head coach to stun Ireland at Twickenham, with their power game to the fore as the visitors grand slam dreams were derailed.
In Rome, meanwhile, Scotland could not sustain a strong start as the Azzurri came roaring back in a performance of real confidence and composure to secure their first victory under Gonzalo Quesada.
There was plenty of action in Sunday’s clash between Wales and France, with the sheer size and skill of the travelling team eventually too much for Warren Gatland’s men, who remain winless in the competion.
Which players sparkled across the three games? Here,The Independent’s rugby writers pick our team of the weekend.
Loosehead prop: Ellis Genge (England)
A return to form for Ellis Genge, carrying with the spite and strength of old early on to set the tone for England’s physically dominant performance. Good at scrum-time, too, though one clearout on Tadhg Furlong may be looked at by the citing commisioner. Cyril Baillewas prominent for France, too.
Hooker: George Turner (Scotland)
Italy’s Giacomo Nicotera and England captain Jamie George weren’t far away but Turner gets the nod at hooker after continuing his rock solid tournament with a busy and effective outing in Rome.
Tighthead prop: Georges-Henri Colombe (France)
It feels strange that there is not more French representation in our pack given how they took control of the contest up front, but Georges-Henri Colombe merits inclusion after an outstanding debut off the bench. Colombe turned the screw at the set piece and provided plenty of carrying theat around the fringes.
Lock: Maro Itoje (England)
A good weekend for lock play, with France’s trio all mightily impressive in Cardiff, Federico Ruzza a key cog in Italy’s win and Tadhg Beirne impressive in defeat for Ireland. But it was England’s ability to knock the grand slam chasers off their game that we will remember from round four, and Itoje deserves credit for his role within that, harrying around the breakdown, disrupting in the air and calling England’s own lineout ball superbly, including a crucial Theo Dan throw to Sam Underhill at the tail late on.
Lock: George Martin (England)
Itoje, though, was probably the lesser of the locks for England — which is testament to just how well Martin played. In his last two starts for his country, Martin has gone head-to-head with two of the best second row partnerships in the world and come out firmly in credit. His punch in the tackle is quite something, and marries with excellent technique.
Blindside flanker: Dafydd Jenkins (Wales)
A first start at six at senior level for Jenkins and a close to faultless fulfilling of the brief – 26/26 tackles and some good lineout work to provide what Warren Gatland wanted as Wales bravely stuck in it for 65 minutes in Cardiff.
Openside flanker: Michele Lamaro (Italy)
An inspiration. After a subdued World Cup, Lamaro has been on it each and every week for Italy in this campaign, a tireless tackler again topping the charts for his side in round four. But he is in as much for his leadership — Italy have not won many games of late but were comfortably the calmer side in the crunch.
