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Six Nations XV of the Week - Round 2

Romain Ntamack was ruthless with the ball in hand against Italy. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The second weekend of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations offered a mixed bag of performances, as the relatively open match-up of Ireland versus Wales made way for the wet, windy and bedraggled contest between Scotland and England in Edinburgh.

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The round came to a conclusion on Sunday in an entertaining affair between France and Italy in Paris, where Les Bleus emerged victorious in a 35-22 win over their mainland rivals. The results leave just Ireland and France hunting a Grand Slam this season, with the two set to lock horns in the final round of the tournament.

We have selected our 15 most impressive performers from the weekend’s rugby below, but do you agree with our calls?

  1. Jayden Hayward, Italy

Perhaps a surprising inclusion given Jordan Larmour’s second strong game in as many weeks for Ireland, although the Italian full-back was one of the few Azzurri players to be unlucky to be on the losing side in Paris. Hayward’s counter-attacking, territorial kicking and aerial receipts were all extremely consistent, and he distinguished himself in a losing effort.

Continue reading below…

Watch: Don’t Mess with Jim – Jim discusses England’s selection dilemmas

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  1. Jonny May, England

A very solid outing from May in extremely challenging conditions. After spilling the first ball of the game, the Leicester Tigers wing went on to excel with the aerial contests and given how much kicking dominated the Calcutta Cup clash, that was absolutely vital to England lifting the trophy for the first time in three seasons.

  1. Arthur Vincent, France

A tough competition with Robbie Henshaw, where either man could have come out on top, although the French youngster looked remarkably competent at this level in just his first start in international rugby. His defensive decision-making was notably impressive, as well as providing some go forward outside of Gaël Fickou.

  1. Owen Farrell, England

It was a captain’s knock from Farrell at BT Murrayfield, as he dealt with the conditions expertly. His kicking from hand was incisive and put the Scottish back three under pressure, as he kept his kicks low and avoided the worst of the gales, something England’s other players struggled with. The England captain also defended strongly and prospered with his decision-making, whilst a nod to Bundee Aki is deserved, too.

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  1. Jacob Stockdale, Ireland

The sizeable wing celebrated his new contract at Ulster and with the IRFU in good fashion in Dublin, as his ball-carrying helped propel Ireland towards a bonus point win over Wales. There aren’t too many players more exciting to see with the ball in hand in world rugby than Stockdale and we got another glimpse of that on Saturday. If weather conditions improve over the coming weeks, he looks in the sort of form to shake up the championship.

  1. Romain Ntamack, France

A couple of awry kicks aside, Ntamack pulled the strings exquisitely for France against Italy and was more than fair value for the 18 points he contributed through kicks, tries and assisted tries. Both Jonny Sexton and Dan Biggar went well in their respective matches and that’s the company that Ntamack is now keeping on a weekly basis for France.

  1. Conor Murray, Ireland

With John Cooney breathing down his neck, Saturday’s win over Wales was a timely reminder of what Murray offers at half-back. His array of passing in Dublin was exemplary and there are few other nines in world rugby who can match the accuracy, tempo and variety of Murray’s distribution. He’s done enough to ward off Cooney’s ambitions on the jersey for now, as well as the excellent Antoine Dupont for a place in this XV.

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  1. Cyril Baille, France

In addition to providing France with a solid set-piece platform against Italy, the Toulouse loosehead also went to work as a ball-handler. He can carry up and over the gain-line when he wants to, although he was also able to bring into play those around him with his sophisticated passing and offloading skills.

  1. Rob Herring, Ireland

France’s Julien Marchand had a strong first half and Jamie George battled valiantly and successfully against the conditions in Edinburgh, though for overall positive impact, this spot just goes to Herring. The Ulster hooker gave Ireland a foundation at the set-piece and his contributions in the loose were also noteworthy, as Ireland put the squeeze on Wales and were able to move through the gears and open up their game plan.

  1. Tadhg Furlong, Ireland

An honourable mention for Kyle Sinckler, who was impressive against Scotland, though a try to his name tips the scales ever so slightly in Furlong’s favour. The Irishman’s brutish physicality was on display as he grabbed that try, whilst his work in the tight was typically excellent. Between Furlong and Sinckler, the British and Irish Lions options at tighthead are looking in particularly good health.

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  1. Maro Itoje, England

Itoje was an aggressive pest to Scotland on Saturday, with his defensive work at the lineout, contact area and in the tackle consistently forcing Gregor Townsend’s side into errors, from which England were able to capitalise. In a game that was dictated by the set-piece, defensive pressure and turnovers, Itoje reigned supreme.

  1. Alun Wyn Jones, Wales

The veteran lock has won plenty of battles on the pitch over his gloried career, although the one he is currently winning against Father Time might be the most impressive of them all. He put in a remarkable defensive shift at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon and though Wales were well beaten come the 80th minute, that was not down to a lack of impact from Jones. He just shades this spot from Paul Willemse.

  1. Jake Polledri, Italy

Another standout display for Polledri in the Italian pack, as the Gloucester flanker enjoyed success as a ball-carrier and a defender. The physicality he generates in contact on both sides of the ball sees him invariably win the collisions and although Italy aren’t currently able to turn that into points due to other deficiencies in their side, it’s a position of strength for them to build from.

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https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1226480865410256897?s=20

  1. Sam Underhill, England

A brutally physical performance from one half of England’s ‘Kamikaze Kids’ duo, who just sees off yet another strong showing from Wales’ Justin Tipuric. With the wind and rain the wrong side of torrential in Edinburgh, Underhill’s textbook and punishing tackling helped keep the Scots at bay and he was crucial to England’s game plan of kicking possession away and forcing Scotland into errors with ball in hand.

  1. Gregory Alldritt, France

A peerless performance from Alldritt, who excelled in all facets of the game against Italy in Paris. His ball-carrying was incisive, his kick receptions were clean and effective, and he was also able to shift the point of contact with an adept passing and offloading game on the gain-line. The No 8 has been a real success story of this new-look French side.

Watch: Andy Farrell and Jonny Sexton react to the win over Wales in Dublin

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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