Six Nations Review: Scotland soar, England and Wales stutter, and it’s déjà vu for Italy

Top of the tree after week one, Wales still disappointed even in their comfortable 33-7 win over Italy. The back-line again failed to spark for much of the game, the forwards struggled to handle Italy’s intensity, and Rob Howley’s men were fortunate that Italy went down a man at exactly the point of the game when they typically tire. Missing out on the bonus point when they had Italy on the ropes could come back to haunt them too. But… next week will be a different matter entirely. It doesn’t matter if Wales aren’t silky smooth when England come to town. Cardiff is never a comfortable place for their neighbours to visit.

No more false dawns for Scotland, this talented squad are the real deal. Saturday’s victory over Ireland was the nation’s first win on an opening weekend in a decade, but Vern Cotter’s side were well worth it. The Gray brothers are a force of nature in the second row and deserve a mention before the headline-grabbing Stuart Hogg – who was brilliant again, underlining his status as the favourite for the Lions full-back jersey. Cotter has unlocked the potential of this talented back division – with more than a little help from Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell – while the forwards held on against Ireland’s brutal pack. France away next week will be another tough test, but win that and a first championship since 1999 is a distinct possibility.

England won, they’ve got that, but Saturday’s performance against France was disappointing. Being out-muscled by that giant French side isn’t a disgrace, but the misplaced passes and a lack of cohesion were pretty disappointing for a team aiming to win back-to-back championships. Eddie Jones won’t need telling that any repeat of that performance in Cardiff and the Grand Slam dream will be over. On the positive side, Elliot Daly showed he has international class (although in what position he’ll settle remains unclear), while the impact of the substitutes – particularly James Haskell – highlighted the squad’s strength in depth.

The loss will frustrate coach Guy Noves, but the performance certainly will not. If France maintain the level they showed against England then they will have a big say in this tournament. The power of the pack is second to none in the northern hemisphere, but it’s not just crash-bang-wallop with France any more… thanks to the Fijian-born flair of Noa Nakaitaci and Virimi Vakatawa. Scotland should be wary ahead of their trip to Paris, particularly as Vern Cotter’s side have already been out-muscled by Ireland – who are big, but not Uini Atonio big (24.6 stone!).

It’s hard to know what to make of Ireland’s bonus-point defeat to Scotland. Were Joe Schmidt’s side simply edged out of it in a match of the highest quality? Or was this loss an example of Ireland’s limitations. We probably won’t find out against Italy next up, but you’d hope Schmidt has some idea. The lack of subtlety of the running game was particularly disappointing, but the front row were a major positive and will fancy their chances of setting up a dominant platform in all four of the remaining matches.

Some things never change. A solid hour was followed by a fatigued final 20 minutes, with a sin-bin thrown in, to allow Wales to run away with a game that should have been far closer. This looked like being Italy’s big chance of an upset, so it’s going to be a tough tournament from here on in.