A second weekend of entertaining Guinness Six Nations action is in the books with France now the only team left unbeaten.
Wales bounced back from their opening loss in Dublin to edge out Scotland before Les Bleus came out on top in a thriller against Ireland.
And then on Sunday England notched their first win of the campaign, earning all five points away in Rome.
Now it is time to pick out the Guinness Six Nations Player of the Round and we have four candidates from which to select.
Ryan Elias (Wales)
So much has been said about the absence of Wales’ experienced campaigners, with Ken Owens someone who has been there and done it all.
His Scarlets teammate Ryan Elias has been thrust into a starting role in his place, and the 20-17 win over Scotland was a coming of age for the hooker.
Wayne Pivac’s side seized control of the game up front against Scotland, with Elias leading the charge as he made 66 metres with ball in hand on 12 carries while also chipping in with ten tackles.
Just as crucially, when Wales chose to turn down three points and kick to the corner at the end of the first half, Elias hit his jumper to allow Tomas Francis to score the home side’s only try, on his way to being named Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match.
Grégory Alldritt (France)
France’s game against Ireland was always likely to come down to the performances of the respective packs, and no one was more influential than No.8 Grégory Alldritt.
His 57 metres made with ball in hand were the most of any French player, including the backs, while he did not miss a tackle all game.
More than that though, Alldritt was relentless at the breakdown, disrupting Ireland ball and ensuring that Andy Farrell’s side could not generate the quick ball that they had done a week earlier against Wales.
In typically modest fashion, Alldritt gave all the plaudits to his teammates when named Guinness Player of the Match, but he more than played his part in the 30-24 success.
Gabin Villière (France)
A week after becoming only the second Frenchman to score a Guinness Six Nations hat-trick, Gabin Villière might have produced an even better display in the win over Ireland.
This time around there were no tries, but instead Villière showed that he is among the most well-rounded players in the game.
He made a half-break in the build-up to France’s first try and then won the turnover penalty that allowed them to make it 10-0. That was one of two turnover penalties while Villière also hammered Bundee Aki backwards in one tackle before marching Hugo Keenan into touch.
Marcus Smith (England)
Ten minutes was all it took for Marcus Smith to stamp his mark on England’s trip to Italy, the Azzurri bamboozled by the hitch-kick and laser passing.
Smith’s one-two with Max Malins allowed the fly-half to make it two tries in as many Championship appearances and followed a passage in which he put forwards into position to break the gain line time and time again.
He added four conversions to his personal tally, put Elliot Daly in for the bonus-point try and racked up 120 metres with ball in hand in a sparkling display in the 33-0 success.
PLAY GUINNESS SIX NATIONS FANTASY RUGBY
