Six Nations 2024: What’s happening after Ireland, England and Scotland wins

Ireland got their bid for back-to-back Grand Slams off to a flying start, England ended their opening match curse and Scotland continued to thwart Wales’ stunning come-from-behind victory.

The opening weekend of the 2024 Six Nations featured everything from record wins to thrilling comebacks.

So what are the key takeaways from the contest opener?

No team has ever won back-to-back Grand Slam titles in the Six Nations.

Andy Farrell’s side put on a near-perfect performance, eradicating any possible World Cup hangover after suffering a crushing quarter-final defeat to New Zealand in Marseille.

Leinster’s Joe McCarthy won the man of the match award on his Six Nations debut and declared himself one of the most physical locks in the world.

The 22-year-old made three dominant tackles and crossed the gain line on 83% of his carries.

“Every team in world rugby needs an enforcer in the pack, and Courtney Lawes is the epitome for England,” former Wales captain Sam Warburton told Six Nations Rugby Special. Ta.

“McCarthy could be a revelation for Ireland.”

Favorable draws in Dublin and the next three matches in Italy move Ireland into pole position and set to make more history under Farrell.

However, facing a rampant Ireland side in Dublin is a very different prospect and could hamper their progress after a strong start in the Championship.

The announcement that Antoine Dupont would be skipping the Six Nations to pursue his ambitions of playing for the France Sevens team at the Olympics came as a shock to everyone.

Their captain, their most creative and best player, he is at the heart of everything that is good about French rugby.

The 27-year-old played at fly-half for Toulouse this weekend before heading to Sevens camp. Two excellent try assists showed how much he missed in France’s loss to Ireland.

“Most people focus on his breaking, passing and support lines, but the fundamentals of Dupont’s game are at a much higher level than an international standard player,” said former England winger Chris Ashton on the Rugby podcast. Union Daily” said.

“He’s very capable and gets us out of tight spots.”

His replacement, Maxime Luk, struggled to replicate Dupont’s unpredictability at Marseille, raising questions about whether France could cope without their star player.

France, who played much of the game against Ireland with 14 men after lock Paul Willemse was sent off for two yellow cards, will aim to bounce back against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

When Steve Borthwick took over as head coach, Kevin Sinfield was in charge of England’s defence.

The rugby league legend has had mixed results and Irishman Felix Jones has now taken over the role.

Jones, 36, has already participated in two successful World Cups with South Africa, shaping and fine-tuning a successful blitz defense.

England played with the high line speed necessary for a blitz defense, but Italy took advantage of their lack of familiarity with the system and scored three goals.

Former England fly-half Paul Grayson said on the Rugby Union Daily podcast: “I’ve coached and played in changing systems and it takes time to become instinctive.” Told.

“There’s nothing wrong with this system. We just have enough mileage and at the same time know the players well enough to instinctively do the same thing.”

World Cup-winning South Africa coach Jack Nienaber said when he took over in 2018 that it took the Springboks 14 games to adapt to the system.

During that time, they lost 50% of their matches. However, South Africa only lost once in 2019 and won the World Cup.

England will need new defensive reinforcements when they host Wales on Saturday, who scored four tries against Scotland and proved their ability to exploit wide channels.

The game appeared to be over in Cardiff when Duane van der Merwe ran around Tomos Williams and scored Scotland’s third unanswered try.

The key difference was that coach Warren Gatland was moving away from the traditional direct, physical “Warren Ball” that had been used with great success over the past 20 years.

Instead, it was all about running rugby, with replacement halfbacks Williams and Yoan Lloyd injecting pace in their second-half comeback.

“It’s more about strategy than selection,” former Wales international Philippa Touthiet said on the Rugby Union Daily podcast.

“In the second half, we saw more of a game plan that suited our young players and you could see them taking advantage of that and growing in confidence.”

Wales travel to Twickenham on Saturday and need to get off to the kind of start they got against Scotland.

He calls himself the Lionel Messi of rugby.

As Scotland join the Six Nations, Finn Russell will be at the heart of it all. The Bath fly-half assisted Van der Merwe with two tries, helping the Scots lead 27-0 just after half-time.

The first was a loop play, the second a great offload – Russell was in complete control. In addition to his perfect performance off the tee, he was having fun in Cardiff.

“Finn Russell was in a flow state, just floating around, manning spaces and playing all over the pitch,” former Scotland international Andy Nicol said on the Rugby Union Daily podcast.

However, Scotland’s new captain was disappointed with his team’s discipline in the second half, with two players sent off to the sin bin when the visiting side lost control.

Wales conceded four penalties in the entire match, the last coming in the 26th minute, while Scotland awarded 14 consecutive penalties.

“It’s good when Scotland are good, but it’s okay if they are undisciplined.”

Gregor Townsend’s side started last season with two wins from their opening game and will aim to repeat the same result against France on Saturday.

A prominent second-rower in Ireland’s win over France, McCarthy topped the statistics for most meters per carry, gainline successes, dominant tackles and defenders brought down.