Social media was full of praise for Maro Itoje despite the England man finishing on the losing side at Twickenham after Ireland kept their hopes of winning the Guinness Six Nations alive with a thrilling 32-15 victory.
Andy Farrell’s team can still win the Championship heading into the final round next week after making the most of a numerical advantage on Saturday, after Charlie Ewels was shown a red card with just 82 seconds on the clock.
But it was Itoje who had clearly made an impact on the rugby public with a towering performance that was the talk of social media after the game.
The lock was only passed fit to play late in the day after suffering with a bout of illness during the week, but returned to play
The popular rugby analyst Squidge Rugby perhaps put it best.
According to Mick Clearly his performance alone went along way to eroding the numerical disadvantage his England team faced.
England put in a valiant effort in the second half to set up a thrilling finish, but Ireland went onto to eventually pull through, with Jack Conan clinching the game.
Sir Brian Moore felt the returning Johnny Sexton was vital to the visitors’ win, after much of the pre-match talk was dominated by the battle between him and his opposite number Marcus Smith.
And just look at what the win and try meant to Finlay Bealham, watched from the stands by his parents.
Despite their defeat it was a brave battle from England team, with former fly-half Andy Goode praising the workrate of Eddie Jones’ side.
Hooker Jamie George perhaps best summed up the effort of himself and his teammates.
Whilst home supporters were disappointed at the early red card, it led to plenty of conversation on social media, although ITV Rugby pundit and World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward was in no doubt the officials made the right call.
Meanwhile, earlier on Saturday Scotland recovered from consecutive defeats to claim The Cuttitta Cup – named in honour of Massimo Cuttitta – and a Championship bonus point, beating Italy 33-22 in Rome.
Two Chris Harris tries laid the groundwork, with Darcy Graham, Stuart Hogg and Sam Johnson also crossing.
But one of the best scores came from an Italian debutant with Ange Capuozzo providing a moment of genuine class.
Italy already had one stunning try in the bag courtesy of this offload from Pierre Bruno.
And on Friday night, Wales hosted France with the visitors needing to win to keep alive their Grand Slam hopes.
Despite a second-half onslaught from the Welsh roared on by a capacity Cardiff crowd, Les Bleus hung on for a precious 13-9 win.
Perhaps the best post of the night came from French superstar Antoine Dupont, who found some fans keen to imitate his GQ magazine shoot from earlier in the year.
He thanked ‘the bathrobe team’ the morning after a huge win.
The game was played in a raucous atmosphere, as former captain Sam Warburton pointed out on social following full-time.
On the other hand it was joy from the France team, who are now just one win away from making history against England in Paris next week.
The team account posted a brilliant behind-the-scenes clip of the bench celebrating at full-time.
And let’s give the final word to Cameron Woki who loved celebrating with the travelling army of fans from over the channel.
