Days like Round 4 Saturday showed exactly why we love the Guinness Six Nations.
Maro Itoje’s late try steered England to victory over France in a Twickenham thriller, while Wales kept their hopes of a second Grand Slam title in three years alive with an emphatic triumph in Rome.
Both stadiums in London and the Italian capital remained filled with the sound of silence – but how did social media react on a day Guinness Six Nations fans will not be forgetting in a hurry?
England bounced back from recent defeats against Scotland and Wales as a rare try from second row Itoje clinched a heart-thumping duel against France 23-20.
Anthony Watson – celebrating his 50th international appearance – also crossed for the hosts and, while Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud scored for Les Bleus, Itoje had the final say to thwart France’s Grand Slam hopes.
And some of rugby’s most eminent faces wasted no time having their say after 80 minutes that captured the imagination of fans far and wide.
Former Red Rose wing Ugo Monye did his best to sum up how Itoje may have felt after emerging as England’s unlikely hero at the eleventh hour.
And here was the man himself with his post-match social media reflections, swapping rugby for rapping with this humorous post.
A few eagle-eyed onlookers spotted a slip in Eddie Jones’ post-match press conference – you played Wales in Round 3, Eddie!
Former England flanker James Haskell was impressed with what he saw at Twickenham – but called for calm heads as Jones’ men got back on track.
Pivac’s Wales continue to look the Guinness Six Nations team to beat as a 48-7 triumph over Italy kept their hopes of a clean sweep alive.
Josh Adams, Taulupe Faletau, George North, Callum Sheedy, Louis Rees-Zammit and an unexpected Ken Owens double fired them to four wins from four and teed up a titanic clash with France in Paris next weekend.
It’s not a bad time to be a Wales fan – and former scrum-half Mike Phillips is daring to dream.
Owens had only scored three tries in his previous 80 Wales appearances – but fans, and World Rugby, revelled in his surprisingly prolific exploits as he got the ball rolling with a fine first-half double.
And fellow Wales try-scorer North took to Twitter to hail his team’s rock-solid performance – but knows it’s all about next week and the eagerly-anticipated Stade de France showdown.
