6 nations - penultimate round

Ok, so it's a few days late.
This round, on paper, promised little. Unfortunately illness had struck the house, so alternative options were limited.

Italy v France
Spirited defence, and better ball control by the Italians kept them in the game. Not really sure what happened to the French, there were flashes of brilliance, but overall the forwards never really delivered a platform for Parra et al to attack from. Nothing very flashy by the Italians, but as mentioned, holding onto the ball makes a huge difference.
The Italians deserved to win, and without a recognised kicker, probably made it harder for themselves. Yay  Nick Mallett.

Wales v Ireland
Dull game. Very very dull. Neither team looked good, with the Welsh being sneaky enough to get away with blatant cheating (Richie would be proud). Neither will be a threat at world cup, the Irish are getting too old, and the Welsh have no organisation. Far too much kicking the ball away in the hope that the opposition will make a mistake. Again, you can't score with the ball. No, that's not a euphemism.

England v Scotland
I've well and truely given up on my, now over optimistic, support of Scotland. One of the commentators put their finger on it, a good team playing badly. But today, they played with more cohesion, and were equal to the increasingly well organised English team. Good commitment by the Scots forwards, including ball retention, meant that although they were starved of possession they weren't wasting it.
England are still confusing me, sure they are winning, and winning ugly - which is the sign of a good team, one who can change their style and still grind out victories. But they don't appear to have come across a good team playing well (France came close). They maybe a threat come world cup, but I'm not sure. I'd watched the 'Canes game on Sat morning, and what struck me was the hand speed, something that's still missing from the Northern Hemisphere game.

B