The Six Nations weekend ended unsatisfactorily as Ireland walloped Italy in a game that would have left casual observers wondering what the heck was going on, but there were still highlights to savour from the three matches.
France provided most of those as they stylishly defeated Scotland 36-17 at Murrayfield, clinically taking their chances and playing with flair and confidence.
Wales rallied in the second half against England, scoring three tries, while the Irish continue to look powerful, even though it was hard to difficult to assess their performance in Dublin as the Azzurri were reduced to 13 men for an hour amid the bizarre law that saw the visitors lose two players after having one man sent off.
A top-quality team of the weekend can still be picked, though.
MARK ORDERS does the selecting.
Read next: The latest Six Nations headlines amid controversy
15. Michael Lowry (Ireland)
Ireland international Craig Gilroy reckons the 5ft 7in Lowry reminds him of Shane Williams. He may be a small man in a sport of giants, but he showed with two tries against Italy he could play. As debuts go, his was excellent.
14. Alex Cuthbert (Wales)
England couldn’t handle the Wales wing on his 50th cap, with updated stats suggesting Cuthbert’s 17 runs made 188 metres — more than the entire England threequarter-line put together.
Let's just say 'wow' and be done with it.
13. Gael Fickou (France)
Someone asked the question about whether there’s a more complete centre in world rugby right now? Lukhanyo Am would be there or thereabouts, but the fact there’s even a debate underlines how well Fickou is playing. Ran hard against Scotland, covered well and scored a memorable try.
12. Jonathan Danty (France)
Nick Tompkins went close to breaking productivity records for Wales with his work-rate against England, but Danty was unlucky not to be named man of the match at Murrayfield. Squat and muscular, the 5ft 11in, 17st 5lb La Rochelle player looks as if he’s been using a chest expander since his days in nursery school. The Scots struggled to handle him as he scored one try and set up another.
11. Damian Penaud (France)
Another Frenchman, and another outstanding performer in the 36-17 win over Scotland. The rangy and quick Penaud always seemed to have space as he strolled in for two touchdowns and created one more.
10. Romain Ntamack (France)
Doesn’t look as if he would hurry if crossing one of Paris’ busiest streets with a line of 2CVs roaring towards him. Everything is done at Ntamack’s pace. Ran the show calmly and classily against Scotland, crowning his performance with the sublimely executed cross-field kick for Penaud’s final try.
9. Antoine Dupont (France)
Tomos Williams performed well for Wales, but Dupont is operating in a different dimension these days.
The world player of the year in 2021 seems to do at least one brilliant thing in every game he plays. This week saw him fashion a score out of nothing by opting to run back a Finn Russell kick instead of lumping it into row z of the main Murrayfield stand. He’s a matchwinner but he’s also prepared to roll up his sleeves and graft, as shown by the 13 tackles he put in.
1. Cyril Baille (France)
A prop with the hands of an angel and the power of a steamroller, he set up a try with an offload, made 30 metres with his carrying and scrummaged solidly. Oh, and he didin’t miss a tackle in nine attempts.
2. Julien Marchand (France)
France’s replacement hooker Peato Mauvaka caused Scotland a lot of problems with his running, but their number one No. 2 Marchand won a couple of important turnovers when the match was still a contest and also dented the opposition defence.
3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
Not the greatest weekend for tightheads, and uncontested scrums affected matters in Dublin, but Furlong can be relied on to put in a shift and he nailed all his tackles and won the collisions.
4. Will Rowlands (Wales)
The man who's replaced the injured Alun Wyn Jones in the Wales team banged in another relentlessly hard-working effort, lit up by turnovers, 57 metres made with ball in hand, 11 tackles and not one England defender evading him.
Wales needed someone to step forward in the absence of the talismanic Jones, and Rowlands has done.
The Dragons player seems to improve with every Test he plays.
5. Maro Itoje (England)
His popularity in Wales may have plummeted after the lineout fun and games which proved so costly to Wales but were not acted upon by referee Mike Adamson and TMO Brian MacNeice, two men who, similarly, shouldn’t expect rose petals to be thrown their way the next time they venture into Wales.
Itoje got away with what appeared to be a shove on Adam Beard.
Still, he was excellent all game for England with his industry and nuisance value.
6. Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)
Italy’s Michele Lamaro is a tackling machine and weighed in with a prodigious 27 attempts against Ireland. There were eight misses in that tally, though, taking the sheen off his effort.
Let's face it: is unlikely his opposite number in Dublin will miss eight tackles over the whole campaign.
Peter O’Mahony distinguished himself again with hard-carrying, accuracy, a turnover and a try.
7. Rory Darge (Scotland)
A shining light on debut for Scotland. France may have scored six touchdowns but without Darge the hosts would have been in bigger trouble. Three turnovers and 76 metres with ball in hand were the highlights of a strong effort.
The youngster's efforts were used to highlight the stark difference with Finn Russell's perceived laziness as pundits ripped into his dereliction of defensive duty for France's first try. You can see the footage that has been branded "pathetic" here.
Former Ireland international Shane Horgan said: "You look at someone like Rory Darge killing himself around the field — turning ball over, making tackles, carries, scoring a try — and then you've got your best player performing like that."
8. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)
The position with the hottest competition as Caelan Doris, Alex Dombrandt and Gregory Alldritt all performed well. But none of them delivered quite like Faletau, arguably the Six Nations player of the weekend.
The bare and updated official figures involved 19 tackles and no misses, 61 metres from 13 carries and a possession steal.
Faletau also lasted 80 minutes just a game-and-half into his comeback after seven months out.
‘Extraordinary’ barely covers it.
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