Round Two of the Guinness Six Nations was full of thrills and spills as England and Wales emerged as the early front runners.
On Saturday, Warren Gatland’s much-changed side had enough to see off Italy in Rome while Ireland got back to winning ways at BT Murrayfield against Scotland.
However, the performance of the round was undoubtedly on Sunday as England handed France a tough loss at Twickenham in Le Crunch.
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Tissot, the official timekeeper of the Guinness Six Nations, has invited some rugby experts and legends to share their views on the games and the teams throughout the Championship.
For round two, it is former Ireland and British & Irish Lions skipper Willie John McBride, who gave his view on the second weekend, picking out a Top Moment for each game.
Scotland 13-22 Ireland
That was a very important win for Ireland – they needed to bounce back from their Dublin defeat.
It was hard physical work against a well-drilled Scotland side but the Tissot Top Moment for me was certainly Jacob Stockdale’s first-half try.
Ireland under Joe Schmidt have become very good at these set plays and the way Sexton cut back to put Stockdale through a gap was fantastic.
Sexton is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and he has that vision and sleight of hand to put his winger into a hole.
It is not just about Stockdale’s pace, it is about his change of pace as well, once he has made the break to burst clear for the telling score.
A special mention too for Joey Carbery though. That took real character to bounce back from throwing that bad pass for Scotland’s try, break the line and produce a perfect pass for Keith Earls’ decisive second-half score.
Italy 15-26 Wales
Wales were made to work very hard in seeing off Italy in Rome in the second game on Saturday.
Credit to Italy, who played well and challenged Wales for large parts – they deserve real credit for the way that they continue to give their all.
It was only in the second half when Warren Gatland brought his experienced men on, guys like Alun Wyn Jones, that Wales managed to up the ante.
And the Tissot Top Moment would have to be Josh Adams’ score down the left wing.
Aled Davies made the initial break down the right but the score really belonged to Liam Williams.
The full-back did so well to hold on and time his offload to Adams and the winger did the rest and Wales were always going to win from that point on.
England 44-8 France
England are a team playing with real confidence and physicality.
Their forwards are taking the ball at pace and making ground with every carry, their kicking game is spot on and in Jonny May they have a finisher in fine form.
Like in Dublin in Round One, they came storming out of the blocks against France on Sunday and May’s opening score was certainly my Tissot Top Moment.
That set the tone for the rest of the game, and to be honest France never really recovered from that point forward.
England were all over them, they had all the momentum and it’s always hard to get it back once you have lost it.
Top Moment 1: Jacob Stockdale slices through on another Ireland strike play to put them on the road to victory against Scotland
Top Moment 2: Josh Adams gets on the end of Liam Williams’ nice offload to score the key second-half try in Rome
Top Moment 3: Jonny May continues his fast starting ways, touching down inside 70 seconds as England took care of France on Sunday
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