After two rounds played, things are a little clearer in the standings. The English and Irish are unbeaten. The French and Scots have a half-hearted performance, while the Welsh and Italians are winless. But if we do not count the matches of Ireland, who were convincing in both games, all the matches were extremely interesting, uncertain and with a small difference. We have exempted the Irish because they are playing incredible rugby at the moment, both offensively and defensively.
France leaves Edinburgh with all the candies
This game was ideal for the Scots to finally make a breakthrough in consistency and get good results in a row. They started well after an excellent action and developed a good attack already in the 6th minute after Ben White’s boxing kick. Jalibert was not followed in catching the ball, which quickly reached the Scots, who launched a lightning attack. What followed was some killer action from the offensive line in the backcourt, where first Paterson passed an offload to Jones, and he to White for the try. Finn Russell was safe in the shot to make it 7-0. Then the French through Ramos successfully converted the penalty for 7-3. Russell again increases the result from the penalty to 10-3, and soon to 13-3.
The French in 30th minute started an excellent attack in front of Scotland tryline. After several phases of the scrum, a quick ball went to the wing where the experienced Fickou got a good ball and had a lot of space in front of him, which he materialized without too much trouble. Ramos was confident in the shot for 13-10, which was the final score at halftime.
In the second part of the match, it seemed that Scotland would finally turn the match in their favor. Especially when Alldritt came off in the 49th minute due to injury. In 57th minute Russell hits a penalty and increases to 16-10. Then in 69th minute the French win their scrum, then attack the closed side, after one phase of the scrum, Le Garrec passes to Bielle-Biarrey who kicks and grabs the grab for the try. France reverses the score in the match after a successful shot by Ramos 17-16. Then Ramos hits a penalty to make it 20-16 in the 76th minutes . Then the end of the match when the Scots had two great chances, one when Kyle Rowe broke through the French defense line in the 78th. minute where the referee played the ball forward ten meters from the goal line. Immediately in the next attack, the French win their scrum, after the first phase, Finn Russell starts on Le Garrec, the ball goes a few meters back and the Scots manage to win it. Then the ball comes to Skinner who crash into trryline, both skips rejoice. The referee and TMO decide that there was insufficient evidence that the try was scored. France wins.
The English struggled, but eventually won
It was very interesting to see how the English would cope with a young and energetic Wales team. The start was definitely not promising because Chessum is in the 10th minute received a yellow card. Then in 16th minute, the Welsh make a great goal after a successful out and start to push the English, who knock down the same goal. The referee awards a penalty try and Ruth receives a yellow card. At that point the score was 7-0 to Wales with two men up. And then with two men down, England win their scrum a few meters from a Wales try, Ben Earl picks up the ball and runs through a couple of Wales players to score a try to make it 7-5. Then Ford makes a body movement and Dyer gets to the ball first. The referee rules that there is no shot for the English. Then in 37th minute Tommy Reffell breaks through and passes the ball with an offload to Williams, who is not a problem in a 2 on 1 situation, who assists Mann who scores an try. Lloyd successfully converted to make it 14-5 which was the score at half time.
In the second part of the match, only the English scored. First, Ford was accurate in 47th a minute from the penalty. Then in 63rd minute, the English develop an attack on the Welsh tryline, where the ball comes to Dingwall on the wing, who scores a try for 14-13. In 71st minute Ford was successful from the penalty for 16-14, which is also the final score at the end of the match.
Convincing Ireland does not stop
The Irish continued their good performances from last week. They didn’t even wait too long. Crowley is already in the 6th minute scored an try after a good solo breakthrough. The Italians were in a defensive position the whole match, where they only threatened from a penalty at the beginning, they had no chance to score points until the end. In 23rd minute Ireland started an excellent team action, the ball came to Sheehan with quick passes, who on the wing did not have too many problems to score. Crowley was safe in the conversion for 12-0. In 36th minute on Italy’s own goal line, Sheehen was about to take the ball and start a pick eng go, successfully concealed his intention and passed to Conan, who scores the third goal of the match. Crowley was safe for 19-0, which was the score at half-time.
In the second part of the match, there were not too many changes compared to the first half. The Irish are at 55th minute scored an try through Henshaw, but the referee disallowed it due to additional movement on the ground. In 67th minute Menoncello receives a yellow card for tripping Lowe. The Irish then develop an excellent attack in the 61st minute, where the ball comes on the wing to Lowe, who receives it in a full run at the height of Italy’s 22-meter line. He then cuts in and outlasts four players in contact to score a try. In 77th minute Nash scores another try for Ireland after quick action, Crowley successfully converts to make it 36-0. By the end of the match, Gibson-Park had an ideal opportunity to score an try, but the ball fell out, so the referee called the end of the match.
Table:
| Поз (Pos) | Екипа (Team) | У(GP) | П(W) | И(L) | Н(D) | ПФ(PF) | ПА(PA) | ПД(PD) | БП(BP) | Б(Pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ireland | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 144 | 60 | 84 | 4 | 20 |
| 2 |  France | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 128 | 122 | 6 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 |  England | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 118 | 123 | -5 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 |  Scotland | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 115 | 115 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 |  Italy | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 92 | 126 | -34 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 |  Wales | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 92 | 143 | -51 | 4 | 4 |
