What a weekend of Six Nations action, after France blew the Championship wide open with a massive win over Ireland in Dublin.
England kept up their form with a convincing win against Italy, and a late Wales flourish couldn’t prevent another defeat against Scotland.
Les Bleus are now in pole position, but have the toughest game in the final round, facing Scotland in Paris.
Anything could happen, but first, here is Charlie Elliott’s Team of the Week after a great showcase of some of the best rugby played in the world.
Outside Backs
15- Blair Kinghorn (Scotland)
It was a very good week for fullbacks, with pretty much every one of the six countries having some form of contender for the spot.
The clear winner was Kinghorn, who made things happen throughout, in a variation of ways.
His deadliest attribute was his running, but he was aerially good, put in a few smart kicks and saved a try with a great tackle.
Oh, and opened the try scoring for his team after only five minutes.
14- Tommy Freeman (England)
Damian Penaud was a very worthy contender, but Freeman was a hugely threatening force on the wing for England.
Defensively he was outstanding and left Italy with hardly anything to work from, but offensively he was a different beast.
Continued to link up brilliantly with teammate Fin Smith, as the two have an almost telepathic understanding at times.
Went over for his side’s second try of the game.
11- Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France)
A strong contender for the player of the weekend, the young France speedster continues to make Test rugby look like a walk in the park.
It is not surprising that he scored twice, which also puts him joint top as the highest try scorer in a single Six Nations Championship, with a game to go.
Jacob Stockdale will have no shame in relinquishing his record to LBB, who is just a wonderful player to watch.
Les Bleus are in pole position now, and it is their tournament to lose.
Centres
13- Elliot Daly (England)
Fans could be forgiven for fearing the worse when Ollie Lawrence went off due to injury early on, but Daly was quality in the centre in his absence.
Fraser Dingwall kept things ticking, but Daly provided some great running and was the spark that the midfield partnership needed.
A couple of penalties given away weren’t amazing, but he can be forgiven.
12- Tom Jordan (Scotland)
Got a brace of tries and was involved across the park, the versatile back looked as comfortable in the midfield as in his native fly-half.
Was very close to a hat-trick and looked far superior to his opposite numbers, needs to stay in this position for Scotland to have any success.
A great player who has always had the quality, just needs a bit of help regarding team selection sometimes.
Halfbacks
10- Romain Ntamack (France)
Continuing the France theme is fly-half Ntamack, who returned with a bang after his ban for a red card in the first game against Wales.
Antoine Dupont suffered a terrible ACL injury, but up stepped his half-back partner, and his replacement (more on him later).
Sam Prendergast did not have his best game, thanks in large part to his opposite number giving a masterclass in the position.
Made nine tackles and was a great playmaker throughout.
Fin Smith and Finn Russell also had great games, but Ntamack makes it in.
9- Maxime Lucu (France)
Replacing Dupont was always going to mean Lucu had huge boots to fill (not literally) but he did it with aplomb.
Although he only had a very brief cameo before injury, Dupont had an outstanding 28 minutes and could well have made this team.
But Lucu’s performance meant that there wasn’t much of a change in tempo at all, despite the best player in the world being forced off, and for that he deserves huge credit.
Front Row
1- Jean-Baptiste Gros (France)
It is a France-heavy team, but that is understandable given the fact that they beat arguably the best team in the Championship, convincingly.
Ireland are praised for their physical play, but Le Bomb Squad nullified that, both before and after the changes were made.
One of those who was brilliant from the off was Gros, who made tackles and scrummaged brilliantly, before coming off after 48 minutes to make way for Cyril Baille.
2- Jamie George (England)
It wasn’t the best weekend for hookers, and Jamie George did well in his 100th cap, so it felt right to include him.
A tidy offload for Ollie Sleightholme’s try was the best it got for George, who was solid across his cameo.
3- Zander Fagerson (Scotland)
Finally, Fagerson has shown why he is so highly rated and put in a performance that put him back to his best.
Got involved in lots of action across the park and was solid enough from the scrum. After a tough few games, it was nice to see him do well.
Second Row
4- Thibaud Flament (France)
Again, France outmuscling Ireland is no mean feat, with their whole forward pack deserving credit for their role.
Flament was instrumental in it, with dominance from the lineout and 13 tackles made. Did everything a lock needs to, to perfection.
5- Ollie Chessum (England)
Lucu might get the headlines for being Dupont’s replacement, but Chessum filling the gap left behind by George Martin’s injury is arguably just as impressive.
Plenty of powerful runs to breach the Italian defensive line helped his side get much needed yards forward, he also stole a line out which sums up his great work on both sides of the ball.
Back Row
6- Jac Morgan (Wales)
Morgan is different class for Wales, and whoever ends up being their next head coach needs to build around him.
Yet again, despite defeat, he was amazing to watch and had a great battle with Jamie Ritchie, who had a good game himself.
In the first half Wales were terrible, but yet again one man stood above the rest and made things better than they could have been, which nearly resulted in a historic fightback.
7- Ben Earl (England)
It was a good weekend for back-rowers, with Early just about being picked ahead of Paul Boudenhent.
Both were try scorers and both were brilliant, but Earl’s 85 metres post contact sees him edge ahead of the Frenchman.
Earl also came back on after a blood injury, which earned him some extra points, as he kept going despite a setback.
8- Gregory Alldritt (France)
A special shout out to Caelan Doris and Talupe Faletau, who both kept battling to the end even after the game had well and truly gotten away from them.
But Alldritt was a deserved addition, after he put in a superb defensive shift, especially at the breakdown.
Not his best game going forward, but his team didn’t need that. A proper team player who did exactly what his role required.
READ MORE: Six Nations – Seven try England thump Italy at Twickenham
