Last weekend the Six Nations got off to a flier with a round of matches full of incident and talking points.
As we enter week two, France and Scotland will be hoping to get off the mark, Ireland will want a more convincing performance against Italy, and England v Wales could be a blockbuster.
Here are the key battles ahead of the fixtures.
IRELAND V ITALY
On the face of things this should be damage limitation for Italy, with Ireland far too strong for them despite not exactly impressing in France next week.
The only real hope Italy have is in trying to suppress Ireland’s superb territorial game. This will demand an intense shift from the forwards limiting the amount of clean ball for Conor Murray, and ultimately Jonny Sexton.
When the ball does come out, the Italians’ defence needs to be on point. The rush needs to be in place to limit time on the ball, with an umbrella defence in place to try and stop the ball going out wide and the game becoming stretched.
A tall order for 80 minutes.
ENGLAND V WALES
Wales winger Steff Evans finished his try superbly
It would be easy to point towards the two back rows in this one as that will be a battle of prodigious proportion. However, it is the clashes out wide that are likely to make or break things.
Anthony Watson and Jonny May versus Steff Evans and Josh Adams is one to make the mouth water to say the least. A brace from Watson in Rome and the evasive, languid running style of May helped England to a comfortable win against the Italians, and they will be a constant threat.
Watson is a superb all round athlete with stunning finishing power, while May has a genuine x-factor about him.
Evans and Adams may not have the caps of Watson and May, but they are the talk of the town in Wales. Evans has been lighting up the wings for Scarlets for the last couple of seasons and now, given his break, is showing the potential to do it on the international stage – his work-rate against Scotland was incredible, capped off by a picture-book try.
Adams may not have hit the same heights in Cardiff but is the top scorer in the Premiership and showed glimpses of the pace and power that has got him to that level. We know they can all attack, but it may just come down to those who can defend better on the day.
SCOTLAND V FRANCE
Scottish danger man Stuart Hogg was well contained by the Wales defence
On the back of disappointing losses for very different reasons, both sides will be looking to get their campaigns on track at Murrayfield.
Set-piece is going to be critical to securing clean ball, and this is particularly true at scrum time.
Scotland’s injury woes when it comes to props has been well documented, but in Cardiff it was not until late that Wales were able to really assert domination, which will have been heartening for Gregor Townsend on an otherwise grim day.
Facing them on Sunday is a tight-head that can be considered to be one of the best around in Rabah Slimani. If he can turn the screw in the scrum then it could be a very long afternoon for the Scots.
