2024 Six Nations

[molman]

Round 1​

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Saturday 3 February 7:00 am AEDT – France v Ireland at Stade Velodrome​

France (15-1):Thomas Ramos; Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana; Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu; Gregory Alldritt (capt), Charles Ollivon, Francois Cros; Paul Willemse, Paul Gabrillagues; Uini Atonio, Peato Mauvaka, Cyril Baille

Replacements: Julien Marchand, Reda Wardi, Dorian Aldegheri, Cameron Woki, Posolo Tuilagi, Paul Boudehent, Nolann Le Garrec, Louis Bielle-Biarrey

Ireland (15-1): Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O'Mahony (capt); Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy; Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley

Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
ARs: Matthew Carley (Eng) & Jordan Way (Aus)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)

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Sunday 4 February 1:15 am AEDT – Italy v England at Stade Olimpico​

Italy (15-1): Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Garbisi; Lorenzo Cannone, Michele Lamaro (capt), Sebastian Negri; Federico Ruzza, Niccolo Cannone; Pietro Ceccarelli, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Danilo Fischetti

Replacements:Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi Andrea Zambonin, Edoardo Iachizzi, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Lorenzo Pani

England (15-1): Freddie Steward; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ethan Roots; Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje; Will Stuart, Jamie George (capt), Joe Marler

Replacements: Theo Dan, Ellis Genge, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Chandler Cunningham-South, Danny Care, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Referee: Paul Williams (NZ)
ARs: Nic Berry (Aus) & Pierre Brousset (Fra) Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Aus)

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Sunday 4 February 3:45 am AEDT – Wales v Scotland at Millennium Stadium​

Wales (15-1): Cameron Winnett; Josh Adams, Owen Watkin, Nick Tompkins, Rio Dyer; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Aaron Wainwright, Tommy Reffell, James Botham; Adam Beard, Dafydd Jenkins (capt); Leon Brown, Ryan Elias, Corey Domachowski

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Kemsley Mathias, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, Tomos Williams, Ioan Lloyd, Mason Grady

Scotland (15-1): Kyle Rowe; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell (capt) Ben White; Matt Fagerson, Jamie Ritchie, Luke Crosbie; Scott Cummings, Richie Gray; Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Jack Dempsey, George Horne, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)
ARs: James Doleman (NZ) & Angus Mabey (NZ)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZ)

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Streaming:

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Source: https://www.rugby.com.au/news/six-nations-2024-teams-schedule-fixtures-how-to-watch-202421
Source: https://rugbyreferee.net/2023/12/05...ations-referee-ar-tmo-appointments-announced/

 

[molman]

Impressive start from the boys from the emerald isles, especially with the change at 10. France really missed Dupont. Tadhg Beirne continues to be one of my favorite players for Ireland, great performance, though many great preformances across the park.

If the Wallabies can emulate/import any of the positive elements of the Irish setup they'd do well, such a cohesive well functioning team at the moment.

It will be interesting to see how the other nations fair in their games tomorrow morning.

 

[molman]

Round 1 Results

Spoiler: France - Ireland

17 - 38

Spoiler: Italy - England

24 - 27

Spoiler: Wales - Scotland

26 - 27

 

[molman]

With the Wallabies upcoming test matches against Wales I was keen to see how welsh would fair against the Scots.

All I can say is that (Wales - Scotland) was a true game of two halves and highlights why the Scots will likely continue to struggle against teams like the Irish. They need to be able to put in a 80 minute performance. That game will frustrate Townsend and the rest of the coaches because they weren't able to maintain their dominance. Russell continues to impress with some silky passes and generally see space well, but some of his kicking, especially short kicking game is still a little questionable at times. Both teams will have a lot of things to improve on before their next outing.

Hard to know where Wales are at with so much new blood were lacking some of the necessary cohesion and game day experience, but you can tell they'll only get better. They'll be a much better outfit by the end of this Six Nations up against the Wallabies who are very much back to square one in many ways.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Back to square one will certainly be an improvement. I'd say square one is where Dave Rennie left us and then Jones took us a long way down from there.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

While Wales aren't up to being world beaters it should serve as a nice reminder that with the right people and plan you can make good moves in the right direction in a short space of time. Yes they lost but from where they were heading 2 years ago this is a much better footing.

 

[wamberal99]

Wales played like a different team.

I suppose we let them absolutely dominate us.

 

[molman]

Round 2

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Scotland v France​

Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Andy Christie, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Grégory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchard, 17 Sébastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14:15 GMT (Sun 11/2/24 @ 1:15am AEST)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

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England v Wales​

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Danny Care, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Mason Grady

Venue: Twickenham Stadium
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT (Sun 11/2/24 @ 3:45am AEST)
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)

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Ireland v Italy​

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Caelan Doris (c), 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jordan Larmour

Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Michele Lamaro (c), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, Andrea Zambonin, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Martin Page-Relo, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Federico Mori

Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT (Mon 12/2/24 @ 2:00am AEST)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

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Source: https://www.planetrugby.com/news/si...announcements-match-officials-and-tv-coverage

 

[molman]

This week sees reasonably settled squads France and Scotland, not changes for England and a number of changes for Wales.

Wales:
A decent number of changes to that Wales squad, 7 in all I believe. George North returning is positive. Alex Mann being promoted to the starting squad not unexpected after his positive impact off the bench last game. It will be interesting to see how they decide to play. Will we get second half Wales from last week or the possession adverse high ball Wales that we often got when Dan Biggar was running things.

England:
Unchanged squad, which I rather like. The team needs some continuity and while I don't think they were overly impressive last week, this gives them another week to try and embed some things (and honestly this is probably not far off the best squad England can put together anyway - injuries aside).

France:
Also very settled squad. Paul Willemse obviously drops out due to his suspension from the Red card last week, but Cameron Woki is hardly a poor addition to the starting squad. Reda Wardi also drops out due to injury. I think Maxime Lucu will be feeling a bit of a spotlight on him this week after last week and in light of the Dupont hole his is trying to fill. I'd like to see Baptiste Couilloud given a run personally, but I understand the partnership with Matthieu Jalibert.

Scotland
Another reasonably settled squad with the positive additions of Rory Darge returning from injury and Grant Gilchrist who I believe was suspended. They loose Luke Crosbie and Richie Gray to injuries. Jamie Richie dropping out is a little sad, but he did seem off his best against Wales. Andy Christie comes into the squad. It's hard to know where Scotland are at after last week as Wales were very poor in that first half and then that string of penalties openned the door to let them back in. They'll need to be a lot better this week, but they have the potential to.

 

[molman]

Ireland
The Irish make a number of changes, six in total, obviously resting some players and continuing to deepen the experience of the collective squad. With Peter O'Mahony out Caelan Doris will captain. Craig Casey comes into scrumhalf. The forwards have a number of changes with Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan returning to the starting squad. Players like Tadhg Beirne, Tadhg Furlong, Bundee Aki etc being rested. I'm happy to see some of the Ulster lads in Tom O'Toole and Iain Henderson get a call up. Ireland operate as such a unit these days so I'm keen to seen how this latest assembly goes.

Italy
Italy are without Sebastian Negri & Lorenzo Cannone due to injury. Alessandro Izekor and Manuel Zuliani come into the back row and Michele Lamaro moves to number eight. I enjoyed Italy's fight last week, so I'll be interested to see how they go this week.

 

[Italophile]

Negri and Cannone are big losses. Italy U20 pushed Ireland U20 to the absolute limit last night. Big effort after last week's ordinary effort.

 

[molman]

Negri and Cannone are big losses. Italy U20 pushed Ireland U20 to the absolute limit last night. Big effort after last week's ordinary effort.

Yes, some of the Benetton boys have been playing some nice Rugby. It was always going to be a hard enough task coming against Ireland. Hopefully they make a good contest of it - even if I'll still be hoping for an Irish win

 

[Dctarget]

the poor Scots. What a loss. Think the TMO bottled it there but tbh think Berry fucked it in the first half with Duhan’s interception. Clearly never back onside so think that balances the end. Neither team stamped their authority on it. Would feel worse for the Scots if it wasn’t for the bleating of the two commentators.

 

[molman]

the poor Scots. What a loss. Think the TMO bottled it there but tbh think Berry fucked it in the first half with Duhan’s interception. Clearly never back onside so think that balances the end. Neither team stamped their authority on it. Would feel worse for the Scots if it wasn’t for the bleating of the two commentators.

They are going to feel hard done by, but some of it was of their own making with not converting opportunities like right before halftime. That was a clear try to my mind at the end, ball was on the ground when it shifted off the boot, though as you said van der Merwe was questionably onside early on. By and large they (Scots) were playing the better rugby for much of the game. I thought the young lad Harry Patterson had a brilliant game in particular, very solid out back. The forwards were carrying really well and they were often making excellent gainline. France looked rather uninspiring and that lineout of theirs was a right mess.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey doesn't show some individual flair and the French well and truely loose that one.

Anyway, very entertaining, not sure the deserving team won it, but that's how it goes sometimes.

 

[molman]

It's hard to like England. They have the assets and raw brut power that should have seen them comfortably beat Wales, but they just strike me as a bit dumb at times. They should have blown Wales away in that opening quarter but instead they end up with two players in the bin. Ford had some nice moments, that 50/22 in particular. Earl is so hard to contain. Their rush defence was often really solid to excellent with Wales making negative gainline at times. Their attack however is uninspiring with their up and under and propensity to bash their way up channel one. They always look like they're trying to bully their way through rather than manipulate the opposition defence with any finesse. I never feel like they are fully utilising their backs.

Wales I was impressed with for a team with so many changes and very much a work in process. I thought Alex Mann was solid and Tomos Williams controlled things well from 9. Rio Dyer was able to get himself much more involved in this game which was good to see. I actually thought he was hard done by to not get a penalty at the end when Ford just meanders into his line when jumping for the highball, pretty clear cut under the laws imho. They found space and gaps in England's line a number of times, especially when the game was in transition and motion. It was when England had, had time to set and they were just trying to bash their way up that they looked to struggle. I'm not sure those kick passes worked particularly well either and their scrum let England get out of a few situations.

Overall that was far from a convincing win for England with Wales a small margin away from winning that one.

As an aside, has anyone else noticed that the runners are often marginally in front of the kickers for some of those high balls. Maybe it's the camera angle, but it often looks like they are a stride or so in front before the balls been actually kicked.

 

[molman]

Round 2 Results

Spoiler: Scotland - France

16 - 20

Spoiler: England - Wales

16 - 14

Spoiler: Ireland - Italy

36 - 0

 

[Dctarget]

It's hard to like England. They have the assets and raw brut power that should have seen them comfortably beat Wales, but they just strike me as a bit dumb at times. They should have blown Wales away in that opening quarter but instead they end up with two players in the bin. Ford had some nice moments, that 50/22 in particular. Earl is so hard to contain. Their rush defence was often really solid to excellent with Wales making negative gainline at times. Their attack however is uninspiring with their up and under and propensity to bash their way up channel one. They always look like they're trying to bully their way through rather than manipulate the opposition defence with any finesse. I never feel like they are fully utilising their backs.

Wales I was impressed with for a team with so many changes and very much a work in process. I thought Alex Mann was solid and Tomos Williams controlled things well from 9. Rio Dyer was able to get himself much more involved in this game which was good to see. I actually thought he was hard done by to not get a penalty at the end when Ford just meanders into his line when jumping for the highball, pretty clear cut under the laws imho. They found space and gaps in England's line a number of times, especially when the game was in transition and motion. It was when England had, had time to set and they were just trying to bash their way up that they looked to struggle. I'm not sure those kick passes worked particularly well either and their scrum let England get out of a few situations.

Overall that was far from a convincing win for England with Wales a small margin away from winning that one.

As an aside, has anyone else noticed that the runners are often marginally in front of the kickers for some of those high balls. Maybe it's the camera angle, but it often looks like they are a stride or so in front before the balls been actually kicked.

Good write up. Similar thoughts about the players being offside on the kicks. The Scotland game was dire for the kicking, they need to fix that.

Surprised by Wales too, I like their blonde 8, he’s good. On that Dempsey was solid for Scotland too.

thought England have been gifted a brilliant opening two games to the 6N. Italy away then Wales at home. Momentum is so important so pretty lucky there.

 

[Italophile]

Offside on the kicks and miles in front of the kicker with restarts. On the ref's blindside but that's what assistants are for.

 

[molman]

Round 3​

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Sunday 25th February 1:15am AEDT – Ireland v Ireland at Wales​

Ireland: 15 Ciaran Frawley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Oli Jager, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

Date: Saturday, February 24
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14:15 GMT (1:15 am AEDT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

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Sunday 24th February 3:45 am AEDT – Scotland v England​

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Andy Christie, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath

England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Date: Saturday, February 24
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

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Monday 26th February 2:00 am AEDT – France v Italy​

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 François Cros, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Posolo Tuilagi, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Esteban Abadie, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Yoram Moefana

Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Andrea Zambonin, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin

Date: Sunday, February 25
Venue: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT (2:00am AEDT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

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[molman]

Ok, that England v. Scotland game was a fun watch. England actually starting to look a little more threatening in attack which was positive, but Scotland with a lucky bounce or two, some outstanding kicking from Russell and a big South African on the wing really put it to them.

For England I actually liked the look of the Exeter boy Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

The Ireland v. Wales game went to script. Wales have a lot of heart, but they're just not on the same level. The way they threw bodies at the line and then got held up was a little sad to watch. For Irelands part, I thought they were a little less clinical in this game than some of the others with some of their line out and defensive work being a little off.

I thought Ciaran Frawley played well in the absence of Hugo Keenan.