What an interesting weekend! I didn’t expect Wales to do well this year with the amount of suspensions and injuries they have but at the end of the first half against England, I felt that they’d shown some tremendous spirit and great play and that they could be in with a chance. England came back to dominate though and the old warhorses were brought back into put Wales firmly into place. A shame really but I’m not going to write Wales off yet. They could still win the series!

However, despite some exceptional play, that match wasn’t even the highlight of the weekend. What about Scotland? They beat France for heaven’s sake. I think most people have written Scotland off and although I don’t think we’re about to see a resurgence of Scottish rugby this year, it would be nice if they shook off the whipping boy tag they’ve adopted in the last few years.

And what about Italy? Although Ireland would have my preference in most matches, the way Italy played, I was almost rooting for them to upset the home team at Landsdowne road. Great match but Ireland have got a lot of work to do if they’re going to challenge for the top spot.

So lots of suprises and after the first weekend of the six nations, all bets are off about who’s going to take the title. I get the impression that there may not be a grand slam this year though.