Ciarán Frawley’s drop goals clinched a 25-24 win for Ireland over world champions South Africa, while Duhan van der Merwe notched a record-equalling 27th Scotland try as they overpowered the USA 42-7.
Italy bounced back with a 36-14 win over Tonga, while England missed out at Eden Park, losing 24-17 to the All Blacks.
Wales also lost their Test series 2-0, going down 36-28 to the Wallabies, and France saw Argentina draw level in their clash thanks to a 33-25 success.
This is what we learned:
Frawley shows big game temperament
At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in May, Ciarán Frawley was just off-target with a drop-goal attempt that would have clinched the Investec Champions Cup for Leinster against Toulouse.
The French side went onto claim the trophy in extra-time, but that disappointment clearly has not fazed Frawley.
Coming off the bench in Durban, he nailed two long-range drop goals, the second of which was for victory.
What was clear on both occasion is that he has impressive distance on his kicks, and under the biggest pressure, he absolutely nailed his chance.
This game also served as a reminder that Ireland remain perhaps the best team of the lot on goal-line drop-outs. Conor Murray scored late on from one last week, and did so again this time for the opening try against the Springboks.
Joe Schmidt used to be famous for his strike moves, but even five years removed from his regime, Ireland are still setting the standard in that area.
Duhan on the brink of history
Ian Smith had held the record for the most tries for Scotland for 88 years when Stuart Hogg went over for his 25th try for the country in 2021.
Just three years later, Duhan van der Merwe has pulled level with his former captain, and will fancy his chances of taking the record outright in the next fortnight.
As the Scots eased to a comfortable win in Washington DC, Van der Merwe needed just six minutes to get on the scoresheet for his 27th try, matching Hogg.
He did not add another, but has two more chances against Uruguay and Chile on this tour.
Instead, Ewan Ashman grabbed a first-half hat-trick and Scotland hookers continue to make a case for a starting role following George Turner’s departure to Japan.
First, it was Dylan Richardson’s double last week, but now Ashman has gone one better as he helped make the game secure for Gregor Townsend’s side by half-time.
Italian width pays dividends
Italy’s lineout was an issue a week ago in Samoa, and they flagged down the stretch in that defeat.
But they were much more clinical in Tonga in their second game of the summer, and were never in danger of slipping up.
Up against a powerful home outfit, Gonzalo Quesada’s team made the conscious decision to get the ball wide as often as possible, and that paid off with tries for wingers Jacopo Trulla and Monty Ioane – albeit the second was from a set play off a scrum.
Michele Lamaro finished off perhaps the pick of the tries, with wonderful exchanges of passing seeing the skipper cross from an attack that began from Paolo Garbisi claiming a mark in his own 22.
The Italian scrum also made a big impact, no mean feat when you consider that Ben Tameifuna was packing down for Tonga, a promising sign for Quesada and his coaching team.
Aerial threat once more from England
As was the case a week ago in Dunedin, England led in the second half of their clash with New Zealand, only to see the All Blacks seize momentum in the final 20 minutes.
Steve Borthwick will have plenty of positives to take away from this tour however, with his side putting New Zealand under immense pressure in both matches.
One area where they were particularly dangerous at Eden Park was in the aerial battle. It was clearly something that had been spotted as Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and then Tommy Freeman both got on the end of cross-kicks from Marcus Smith to the right corner in the first half.
Smith has dazzling feet and a sharp turn of pace, but this showed just how difficult his kicking can be to defend as well.
The regrets for England will likely surround the third quarter of the game. Having opened up a 17-13 lead, they would have wanted to press home their advantage and stretch their lead.
Instead, the introduction of Beauden Barrett seemed to swing the game back to New Zealand, and they came away with the seven-point win, despite a late attacking maul from England that could have salvaged a draw.
Welsh learn lessons of Sydney
Speaking of mauls, Wales have clearly learned their lessons from a week ago against Australia.
In their first Test against the Wallabies, the crucial moment in the match was when they had a second-half try ruled out for obstruction at a maul, denying them the chance to level the scores.
In the second encounter in Melbourne, the Wallabies had raced into a 17-0 lead, but Wales used the power of their attacking drive to get right back into the match. Dewi Lake got over twice thanks to the good work of the rest of his forwards.
For a young side, Warren Gatland will be looking to build piece by piece. What this series has shown, despite the two losses, is that one area is clearly firing – the rolling maul.
Defeat for France as comeback falls short
France fought back from 11 points down to lead against Argentina in Buenos Aires, but could not see out the game as their series was shared.
For an inexperienced squad, missing the majority of first-team players, there was plenty for Fabien Galthié to learn from the game, with the game only really getting away from them in a sin-bin period in the second half which saw them down to 13 players due to uncontested scrums.
Prior to that, Baptiste Serin scored one try and almost made another in a fine first-half showing, the scrum-half seizing his opportunity in the absence of Antoine Dupont.
His try was a counter-attacking score, with Théo Attisogbé delivering the final pass. The Pau winger got a second try in as many Tests when he pounced on a fortuitous bounce from a grubber through to put France ahead.
Given he is still eligible for France U20s, Attisogbé has shown why he was given his opportunity with the senior team and will now be looking for more opportunities with Les Bleus.
Likewise, Mickael Guillard impressed on his Test debut, the Lyon lock playing a pivotal role in Serin’s opener.
