Weekend Round-up: The Six Nations so good no one wanted it to end

The pick of the weekend’s matches as the Six Nations reached its thrilling and at times extremely weird conclusion.

Six Nations: Scotland vs Italy
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Scotland wanted to send outgoing coach Stern Vern Cotter off with a win to remember. And, in the opening match of the final weekend of the 2017 Six Nations, they delivered. This was the first time they had won three matches in the tournament since 2006. Their try tally of 14 was a new competition record, as was their points tally of 122. And it was the first time they had kept their Six Nations opponents scoreless since 1990. So, Vern heads off for a deserved break before taking over at Top 14 side Montpellier next season – and Gregor Townsend, who takes over after finishing the season with Glasgow, has big shoes to fill, and high expectations to meet.

Six Nations: France vs Wales
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The otherwise unassuming international that threatened to break social media – one of the most WTF Six Nations matches ever. Even before it ended, this 100-minute game had entered rugby’s ‘Most Notorious’ list. Within minutes, it had rocketed to number one. It had everything: reset scrums, advantages, penalties, a disputed HIA substitution, a yellow card, and a try. And that was just after it was supposed to have finished. When the clock ticked past the 80, Wales were five points ahead but had their backs to their tryline. No one could have guessed there would be still another 20 minutes to go. Truth be told, this was a mostly forgettable encounter, but the extended conclusion was crazy.

Six Nations: Ireland vs England
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If France vs Wales in Paris threatened to break social media, this tension-fuelled affair in Dublin risked melting the internet. England were chasing it all: a new winning run world record; the first back-to-back Grand Slam of the Six Nations era; and a triple-whammy of clean sweeps this year, after the women’s and under-20 sides had done their bit the day before. Ireland were once again cast as Slam-killers. And Joe Schmidt’s side were clearly up for the job, as every tackle was made with added ferocity, every break with 12% extra threat. If England had not realised they were in for a dogfight before the game, they would have been aware within 20 seconds of the kick off.

Super Rugby: Crusaders vs Blues
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Twice in as many weeks, the Crusaders overcame massive first half deficits to beat first the Highlanders then the Reds – would they do the same against the Blues? It was said half in jest before the game but when the scoreboard read 21-5 to the Blues at halftime it was all on. Is sleepwalking through the first half and blasting everyone off the park in the second 40 really a sustainable game plan? Maybe new coach Scott Robertson is onto something.

NRL: Panthers vs Roosters
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The Roosters bussed out to Pepper Stadium with a formidable first couple of rounds under their belts against the Titans and Bulldogs the city boys look like they’re well and truly back. But the Panthers are also hotly tipped as a Premiership contender this year, and would pose the toughest test yet for Trent Robinson’s side. That proved to be the case in a gripping 80-minute encounter which saw tries, no tries and more than one lead change.