Three away wins on the opening weekend of the Six Nations, two home wins in round two. And yet, for all that, the 2024 championship already has a consistent theme. Five teams struggling for sustained rhythm and a fizzing Ireland on another level entirely, demonstrating to the rest of the field how it could and should be done.
Even the brilliant young Irish anthem singer was a cut above in comparison to the two games on Saturday, both of them modest in terms of overall quality. Scotland really should have put away a sluggish – again – France, and England could not have complained too loudly had a callow Wales hung on at Twickenham. The abiding memory will be the slimness of the final margins rather than the superlative standard of play.
