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Super Saturday: best of social media

Ben Youngs is presented with the Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match Award after the game 31/10/2020
15 tries, 125 points and permutations going down to the wire – Guinness Six Nations Super Saturday did not disappoint.

15 tries, 125 points and permutations going down to the wire – Guinness Six Nations Super Saturday did not disappoint.

The destination of the trophy was hanging in the balance until late in the evening but France’s entertaining 35-27 win over Ireland dashed the visitors’ hopes and ensured it was England, who beat Italy 34-5 earlier in the day, that claimed their first Championship title since 2017.

And there was further drama in Llanelli in the first game of Super Saturday as Scotland toppled Wales 14-10 thanks to Stuart McInally’s second-half try.

As always, the thrills and spills on the pitch were accompanied by social media fanfare and we picked out the best of the bunch after a scintillating Saturday to remember.

Eddie Jones’ team claimed the title but it was also a day of individual landmarks for the Red Rose, with scrum-half Ben Youngs celebrating a century of appearances for his country.

And he marked the occasion in style as a try double in Rome helped England secure the bonus-point victory required to maximise their hopes of glory.

Youngs, reared on the fields of Holt RFC and Gresham’s School, will never forget his Norfolk roots and England – along with all those who had helped him on his journey – paid tribute to the No.9 with this poignant passage.

And Youngs wasn’t the only England star with dual reason to celebrate on Saturday, with hooker Jamie George also marking his 50th cap with a try at the Stadio Olimpico.

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Ecstasy for England, agony for Ireland, but the Men in Green had every reason to be proud after a valiant performance in Paris and a promising first campaign under new boss Andy Farrell.

France star Romain Ntamack was a handful for the visitors all night at the Stade de France – scoring a try, brilliantly assisting another and notching 13 points from the tee – and the talismanic No.10 shared an insight into Les Bleus’ dressing room after the contest.

Wales succumbed to a narrow defeat at Parc y Scarlets but it was a day Guinness Six Nations stalwart Alun Wyn Jones will never forget.

The evergreen second row made his 149th Test appearance, combining his Wales and British & Irish Lions caps, usurping New Zealand’s Richie McCaw as international rugby’s most capped player and earning heartfelt recognition on both social media and beyond.

Wayne Pivac’s selection combined both youth and experience, however, with Cardiff Blues flanker Shane Lewis-Hughes earning his Wales debut and impressing in Llanelli.

Gregor Townsend’s Scotland put a dampener on Jones and Lewis-Hughes’ occasions, however, and man of the match Jamie Ritchie revelled in his team’s first win in Wales for 18 years.

And scrum-half Ali Price was similarly jubilant after Scotland made history in south Wales, with simplicity the name of the day in his ecstatic post.

Back over in Rome, it was also a landmark evening for Exeter Chiefs second row Jonny Hill.

Hill, fresh off the back of a Champions Cup and Premiership double, celebrated his England debut in style and kicked back with an ice-cold beverage while still donning his cap.

And the post-match celebrations were also firmly in flow for Ellis Genge, who scored the decisive try in England’s Round 2 win over Scotland and shined a further light on the scenes that unfolded in the Red Rose dressing room.

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And we end our round-up on this heartfelt note. Watch this in full – this is brilliant.

From one England debutant to another, Bath hooker Tom Dunn shows us all just how much it means to represent your country for the first time. Superb.