It was a good week for predictions, but not a great one for excitement, at least in the northern hemisphere. A dramatic match on Sunday saved an otherwise ordinary weekend.

ITALY 9 vs 26 WALES
Saturday, February 23, 14:30 GMT, Rome

Jacques Brunel’s gamble of fielding a lightweight second row failed miserably as the Italian pack was decimated at the scrum and outmuscled in the tight. The wet weather in Rome meant that much of the match was spent watching tactical kicking and set pieces, with little adventure risked by either side. Italy managed to stay competitive for the first forty minutes, but Jonathan Davies scored an opportunistic try just after the break to kill off any hope of a comeback.

Wales now move on to Scotland in two weeks time with both teams still in the championship running. Italy have little to look forward to as they face in-form England at Twickenham, and without their captain Sergio Parisse the outlook for the rest of the tournament looks very dim.

SCORING
Italy – K. Burton 3p
Wales – L. Halfpenny 2c 4p, J. Davies 1t, A. Cuthbert 1t

CARDS
Italy – M. Castrogiovanni yellow

ITALY
A. Masi; G. Venditti, T. Benvenuti, G. Canale (G. Garcia 63), L. McLean; K. Burton, E. Gori (T. Botes 65); A. Lo Cicero (A. de Marchi 55), L. Ghiraldini (D. Giazzon 55), M. Castrogiovanni (capt.) (L. Cittadini 71); A. Pavanello, F. Minto (Q. Geldenhuys 55); A. Zanni, S. Favaro (P. Derbyshire 69), M. Vosawai (L. Cittadini 65-69).

WALES
L. Halfpenny; A. Cuthbert, J. Davies, J. Roberts (S. Williams 71), G. North; D. Biggar (J. Hook 69), M. Phillips (L. Williams 63); G. Jenkins (P. James 49), R. Hibbard (K. Owens 49), A. Jones (C. Mitchell 74); A. Coombs (A.W. Jones 49), I. Evans; R. Jones (capt.) (S. Warburton 69), J. Tipuric, T. Faletau.

ENGLAND 23 vs 13 FRANCE
Saturday, February 23, 17:00 GMT, London

Les Bleus looked a much better side in the first half, playing a power game with Louis Picamoles at the fore. A scintillating individual try by Wesley Fofana gave them the lead at the half, but only just as Owen Farrell’s accurate boot kept England within a point.

Despite Farrell’s fourth penalty goal restoring the advantage to his side, France were still very much in the match. Philippe Saint-Andre inexplicably replaced Francois Trinh-Duc, who was playing well, with Frederic Michalak and his team went to pieces. Manu Tuilagi scored barely a minute later and England showed their character to close out the game. With Italy and Wales yet to beat, the grand slam is very much in the sights now of outstanding captain Chris Robshaw.

SCORING
England – O. Farrell 4p, T. Flood 2p, M. Tuilagi 1t
France – M. Parra 1c 1p, F. Michalak 1p, W. Fofana 1t

CARDS
England – D. Cole yellow

ENGLAND
A. Goode; C. Ashton, M. Tuilagi, B. Barritt, M. Brown; O. Farrell (T. Flood 61), B. Youngs (D. Care 59); J. Marler (M. Vunipola 51), D. Hartley (T. Youngs 51), D. Cole; J. Launchbury, G. Parling; C. Lawes (J. Haskell 51), C. Robshaw (capt.), T. Wood.

FRANCE
Y. Huget; V. Clerc, M. Bastareaud (F. Fritz 76), W. Fofana, B. Fall; F. Trinh-Duc (F. Michalak 53), M. Parra (M. Machenaud 66); T. Domingo (V. Debaty 55), B. Kayser (D. Szarzewski 55), N. Mas (L. Ducalcon 64); C. Samson (J. Suta 64), Y. Maestri; Y. Nyanga (A. Claassen 69), T. Dusautoir (capt.), L. Picamoles.

SCOTLAND 12 vs 8 IRELAND
Sunday, February 24, 14:00 GMT, Edinburgh

A low-scoring but engaging match at Murrayfield saw Ireland squander multiple scoring chances and eighty percent of possession in the first half to come away with only three points. Scotland conceded multiple penalties and spent almost the entire forty minutes defending in their own end. Two line breaks by debutant Luke Marshall seemed certain tries only to be botched at the last moment.

After the intermission it looked as though Ireland would finally break the damn as Craig Gilroy shook through three defenders to score. Scotland never gave up, however, and after some back and forth action the Irish penalties began to rack up giving Greig Laidlaw opportunities to put points on the board, which he duly converted one after another. Ronan O’Gara made a comical error late in the game that effectively put Scotland out of reach, a moment that could signal the end of his international career.

It wasn’t pretty but it was a gutsy performance that will give the Scots huge confidence for their critical match against Wales. Ireland will take heart from some performances, but shake their heads at others, and will need to regroup quickly as France will no doubt be looking to break out of their slump in a fortnight.

SCORING
Scotland – G. Laidlaw 4p
Ireland – P. Jackson 1p, C. Gilroy 1t

CARDS
Scotland – R. Grant yellow

SCOTLAND
S. Hogg; S. Maitland, S. Lamont, M. Scott, T. Visser; R. Jackson (D. Weir 60), G. Laidlaw; R. Grant, R. Ford (D. Hall 46), G. Cross (M. Low 73); R. Gray, J. Hamilton (A. Kellock 62); R. Harley (M. Low 18-25), K. Brown (capt.) (D. Denton 46-50), J. Beattie (D. Denton 72).

IRELAND
R. Kearney; C. Gilroy (L. Fitzgerald 60), B. O’Driscoll, L. Marshall, K. Earls; P. Jackson (R. O’Gara 64), C. Murray (E. Reddan 69); T. Court (D. Kilcoyne 58), R. Best, M. Ross; D. O’Callaghan (D. Toner 72), D. Ryan; P. O’Mahony (I. Henderson 72), S. O’Brien, J. Heaslip (capt.).