A thrilling weekend of Six Nations action shook up the championship chase as Ireland and Scotland bounced back with victories.
Things were far from straightforward for Andy Farrell’s side in Dublin but they emerged with a vital victory, despite another strong showing from an Italy side most definitely on the up.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, Scotland again raised their game for the Calcutta Cup, playing an error-prone England off the park to snap the visitors’ 12-match winning run.
It leaves France looking ever stronger in their position as tournament favourites, particularly after producing a predictably sizeable scoreline against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday.
Which players impressed in round two? Here are The Independent’s picks for our Six Nations team of the week:
Loosehead prop: Danilo Fischetti/Mirco Spagnolo, Italy
It was a strange scrummaging weekend, with the top of the props tending to come from the losing side. Much like Ireland, we can’t split Fischetti and Spagnolo for what they provided as a one-two punch on the loosehead for Italy - it’s tough to recall Tadhg Furlong ever being folded in the manner he was, while Fischetti was his usual busy self in the loose.
Hooker: Julien Marchand, France
A maul score capped a complete performance from Marchand, so comfortable slotting in as a ball-handler in France’s free-wheeling attack. The hooker was taken off early with his, and France’s, job very much done.
Tighthead prop: Simone Ferrari, Italy
Perhaps no player has been better across the first two rounds of the tournament than Ferrari. The Italy tighthead again led a statement scrummaging performance as Ireland were bent and buckled this way and that, while also landing two colossal hits on Garry Ringrose and Dan Sheehan in the first half.
Lock: Gregor Brown, Scotland
A coming force in the back five of the Scottish pack, the selection of Brown ahead of Grant Gilchrist for the Calcutta Cup perhaps suggested a changing of the guard in the engine room. Brown was tireless and titanic at Murrayfield, all while dealing with a stinger.
Lock: Charles Ollivon, France
17 tackles, eight carries and plenty more fun touches from Ollivon, who adds such dynamism to the back five of the French pack and went the full 80 minutes. To have Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament as a bench locking duo, as France do, is a tiny bit frightening.
Blindside flanker: Oscar Jegou, France
Forgive a little bit of positional quirkiness here, but we are taking after the French and using a more flexible approach on the flanker to squeeze in the continuously impressive Jegou. Just 22, he now looks a fixture
Openside flanker: Rory Darge, Scotland
Scotland’s top tackler, Darge also bedevilled England on the floor with the hosts much better at the breakdown throughout. Manuel Zuliani runs him close after another very good outing for Italy.
No 8: Ben Earl, England
Positives were relatively few and far between for England after their Murrayfield horror show, though the scrum and Earl emerged in credit. The No 8 had to shoulder a mighty carrying burden for his side, as always, yet made metres almost every time.
Scrum half: Antoine Dupont, France
There were excellent showings from Ben White and Jamison Gibson-Park for Scotland and Ireland respectively, yet Dupont remains a level above. It was his moment of daring, devilry and dexterity down the blindside that got France going in Cardiff, and there were plenty more delightful touches, too.
Fly half: Finn Russell, Scotland
How wonderful it was to see Russell back to his illustrative, instinctive best. It felt like the fly half had been short of a bit of form and flow for Bath in recent months, but England were torn to shreds by his broad range of skills as carrier, kicker and passer.
Left wing: James Lowe, Ireland
Louis Bielle-Biarrey was once again superb but let’s give the nod on the left wing to James Lowe after something of a statement showing. Left out in Paris, Lowe showed his enduring class with a strong all-round performance, even if his top-end speed is starting to go.
Inside centre: Stuart McCloskey, Ireland
It felt like McCloskey was keeping Ireland in their game with Italy almost single-handedly at times. The centre matched a few trademark tonks on the carry with subtler skills, a delicate backdoor offload setting up a first-half score before an unorthodox quarterback toss to Robert Balocoune teed up a telling try.
Outside centre: Huw Jones, Scotland
It is now eight tries in the Calcutta Cup for Jones, England’s scourge for so long and sterling again. He pips Tommaso Menoncello to the post – even in the absence of regular running mate Juan Ignacio Brex, the Italian centre showed just what a force he has become. Eddie James showed promise, too.
Right wing: Kyle Steyn, Scotland
Scotland’s supreme air traffic controller was close to faultless under the high ball, providing the platforms from which his side could play. It helped, of course, that England were short of a winger for 30 of the first 50 minutes, yet one could argue that was down to Steyn’s superiority over Henry Arundell, too.
Full-back: Thomas Ramos, France
Jamie Osborne can consider himself unfortunate but the manner in which France’s playmaking spine orchestrated their all-singing, all-dancing performance was lovely to watch. The growing understanding between Ramos, Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert will worry their rivals - there were 14 offloads between the trio, too, in a sign of the threats they pose.
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