After round three of the Six Nations, Ireland are the only team still capable of winning the Grand Slam.
Scotland suffered their first defeat of the tournament, coming close but ultimately falling short in France.
In Cardiff, England claimed their first win at the Principality since 2017 as they ground out victory against Wales.
Here are six talking points from the weekend.
‘Dreamy’ Ireland
Few would have expected to see Italy leading Ireland this Six Nations but that was the situation after seven minutes in Rome.
The Azzurri challenged the world number one team, but Ireland showed what has now become their trademark composure and attacking guile to pull away for a 34-20 victory and keep their Grand Slam ambitions on track.
Despite a slight stumble, former England scrum-half Matt Dawson said the chance to win all five matches in the competition is “absolutely” Ireland’s.
“Notoriously in Grand Slam bids you have that game where there is a little wobble,” Dawson said on Rugby Union Daily.
“Back in my day, we played against Scotland in the third or fourth game. We played OK and got through the game.
“It was the game we knew we could and should win but sort of just got through. Ireland were probably of that mentality. They look dreamy at the moment.”
‘Sloppy’ Scotland
Unlike Ireland, Scotland’s Grand Slam hopes crumbled as France held on for a 32-21 victory in Paris.
Gregor Townsend’s team did incredibly well to fight back from 19-0 down after 20 minutes but made mistakes they could not afford against such a strong team.
Scotland made 17 handling errors to France’s two and John Barclay described his former side as “sloppy and careless”.
“Scotland had that game to win,” Barclay said on BBC Two’s Six Nations Rugby Special.
“You felt momentum was with them and they couldn’t quite grab hold of it. I think they will be frustrated to leave with no bonus points as well. That could be costly.”
But Barclay also believes Scotland could be “in with a shout” against Ireland in the next round and claiming victory against the table-toppers “would be one of the biggest wins they have ever had in this competition”.
Farrell’s lack of ‘spark’
England showed improvement in a 20-10 win against Wales with some well-constructed attack leading to three tries.
However, captain Owen Farrell did not do much to ignite that attack and missed two penalties and two conversions.
Across England’s first three Six Nations matches, Farrell’s kicking success rate is down at 44.3%.
Discussing a period where Wales regained some momentum in the second half, Dawson said Farrell “didn’t seem to spark up” in response.
“He didn’t think it was the moment to find all the spaces and put his team into the right positions,” Dawson added.
“It felt like it needed that moment from an England fly-half to really grab it.”
Wales’ wayward selection
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has used the Six Nations so far to experiment with his team selection.
After defeat by Ireland, he left out Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric for the loss in Scotland, suggesting a changing of the guard.
But Gatland brought the trio back in as he made nine changes for England, which included a first start at 10 for Owen Williams and a debut for centre Mason Grady.
“I kind of saw this coming,” former Wales captain Sam Warburton said on Rugby Union Daily.
“When you could see that the most recent coaching regime was sticking with more senior players, I remember thinking it would get to the point where the older players aren’t having the impact they had.
“Now, there are youngsters like Mason Grady getting his debut seven months out from a World Cup. That is not ideal. Right now we are in a discovery phase to find our best starting XV.”
Will Wales lose to Italy?
Italy came within five points against France and after their performance against Ireland, Warburton puts them as favourites to beat Wales in the next round.
The Azzurri have been especially strong at home so it could be a tough day in Rome for Gatland’s men, who lost to Italy at home in last year’s tournament.
“Italy have backed up their win in Cardiff – it wasn’t a one off,” former Wales player Philippa Tuttiett said. “Now they are troubling the big teams.”
France’s lack of props
France tight-head prop Uini Atonio is already serving a ban for a dangerous tackle and Mohamed Haouas – who plays in the same position – received a red card against Scotland.
That means France will likely have to turn to their third choice in that position – Sipili Falatea – and Ugo Monye pointed out that that would benefit their next opponents, England.
“They will be starting that game with a third-choice tight-head prop against an England scrum that is starting to find its feet,” said the former England player.
“I think England will start to fancy themselves.”
