Following the conclusion of round three of the 2026 Six Nations, we pick out the winners and losers from the weekend.
Ireland, Scotland and France emerged victorious this weekend and in doing so, remained in the running for the title as the competition pauses for a rest week before resuming for the final fortnight of action.
Taking stock of the entire weekend, here are those on the rise and those on the fall.
Winners
Gregor Townsend
Gregor Townsend continues to save face and quieten the persistent noise around his future and calls for his axing after his side secured a hard-fought 26-23 victory over Wales in Cardiff. He owes a lot of credit to the brilliance of individuals, namely, Finn Russell, Darcy Graham and Rory Darge.
The attacking stats of the Scots make for pretty reading: 148 carries, 22 defenders beaten for 453 running metres and 12 line breaks, but time and time again, they simply didn’t have the finishing touches as they were made to work incredibly hard for their four tries. The first came through an exploitation of a clear issue in the Welsh defensive structure, identified by France and again punished by the Scots through Kyle Steyn.
It took 26 phases for Russell to finally find a hole to exploit for the second, while Graham’s was a capitalisation on Wales switching off after scoring, and George Turner’s match-winner came courtesy of Welsh ill-discipline.
It was far from a polished or clean performance, particularly when measured against how others have put Wales to the sword, racking up at least 50 points.
The lineout faltered at times, they struggled to protect the ball at the breakdown with the hosts claiming nine turnovers, the penalty count (12) was higher than Wales (10) and they coughed the ball up on 15 occasions, also four times the amount of their opponents (4).
“That was some game. It would have been great for the neutrals. We left it late but I’m really proud of the effort in the second half. It’s not just a physical effort, it’s a mental effort too – finding solutions, staying together and riding momentum waves,” Townsend said after the match. “Wales started really well, played with real energy. Tactically they were excellent.”
The head coach can certainly be proud of the effort as winning when you are not playing well is a sign of a team that is pulling in one direction and Scotland really didn’t play well in Cardiff and were let off the hook by their hosts.
Next up is France and while the pitchforks will be lowered for now, they won’t be stowed away just yet. Townsend will survive the Six Nations but the next two rounds may well decide whether he will be house hunting in Newcastle this year or after the World Cup.
Andy Farrell
Vindication is becoming a theme of head coach Andy Farrell. Much was made of his selections during the British and Irish Lions as he backed the seemingly out-of-form Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne for the first Test against Australia and the duo put in blinder performances. A similar theme followed in round three of this Six Nations with Farrell backing the tried and tested to turn things around at Twickenham and boy did they.
Josh van der Flier, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy and Garry Ringrose were among those who were judged as being out of form heading to the home of English Rugby but the quartet were all central in the emphatic record victory over Steve Borthwick’s men.
Questions were raised whether Ireland’s dominance was starting to wither and the ageing squad was heading into a decline but the performance in London suggests that those claims and questions were at the very least premature.
Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley
Two players whose stocks rose exponentially by the victory at the Allianz Stadium were the starting Irish half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley.
When Gibson-Park fires, Ireland fires and that point was proven on Saturday with the number nine hitting his straps and the team benefited greatly from it. It was one of his finest displays since the 2023 Rugby World Cup as he was duly named man of the match.
Perhaps the player who benefited the most was fly-half Crowley, who conducted the attack wonderfully with a statement performance in his first start since Japan last November.
Only time will tell if Crowley has done enough to earn another start this Six Nations or if Farrell will revert back to Sam Prendergast, sparking the fly-half debate back into life.
Stuart McCloskey
After years and years of being overlooked, underappreciated and undervalued, Stuart McCloskey is getting his moment in the limelight.
The Ulsterman has quite frankly been the best Ireland player so far this Six Nations and has greatly benefited from the absence of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw.
He was unlucky to miss out on the man of the match award to Gibson-Park as he repeatedly got over the gain-line, wreaked havoc for the English defence and sensationally tracked down Marcus Smith with a cracking tackle. Farrell won’t forget that moment in particular.
McCloskey has so often stepped up to the mark for Ireland but dropped soon after but this time, it feels different. That number 12 jersey is fitting him better and better with each passing week.
James Botham
Steve Tandy’s men were fired up and far more effective against Scotland on Saturday and much of that was due to the performances of the loose forwards.
Aaron Wainwright was sublime, as per usual, Alex Mann terrorised the Scots in every single facet of the game, but the man who profited the most from the performance at the Principality Stadium was James Botham.
The 28-year-old was an early entry from the bench following Taine Plumtree’s injury and did not waste his opportunity to press his claim for more match minutes. He was outstanding at the breakdown, winning a pair of turnovers while he left bodies sprawling in his wake with his carries.
The grandson of the English cricketing legend has been in and out of the squad throughout his Test career but Saturday’s outing was the kind of shift can cement a player’s spot in the squad for the long haul.
Blair Kinghorn
Puzzlingly overlooked in the opening two rounds of the Six Nations, Blair Kinghorn returned to the Scotland starting XV against Wales and went about reclaiming the jersey for the remainder of the tournament.
In many ways he did just that with a lovely pass out to Steyn for the winger’s try. It was by no means a perfect outing from the Lions outside back but one where he flexed his strengths and reminded the staff of what he is capable of.
Azzurri front-row
Talking about flexing strengths and the Italian front-row continues to rival the Springboks for the most dominant scrum tag in international rugby. The Azzurri began that pursuit against South Africa last November and have only gathered momentum in the opening three rounds of the Six Nations.
Danilo Fischetti and Simone Ferrari are quickly becoming household names beyond just the scrum-loving homes as is Mirco Spagnolo. Scotland were first on their hit list, Ireland were then demolished and on Sunday, France fell victim to the Azzurri shunt.
Italy’s scrum has become a real weapon, and one of their remaining opponents must be ready to front or face the consequences.
Losers
Matthieu Jalibert
After masterminding the thrashings of Ireland and Wales, Matthieu Jalibert had to surrender the starting number 10 jersey for the clash against the Azzurri and watch on as Thomas Ramos took the reins.
When Romain Ntamack was absent for France last year, it was Ramos that Fabien Galthie turned to for the starting role. The clash in Lille was possibly the last chance that Jalibert had to maintain his grip on the starting role as Ntamack edges closer to a return.
Maro Itoje and England
Saturday at the Allianz Stadium was supposed to be a memorable occasion for Maro Itoje as he captained his country in his 100th appearance. A crowning moment for the former World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year which demanded a victory in front of a cheering home crowd.
However, such is life that we don’t always get what we think we deserve as Itoje and his charges were completely outplayed by their visitors, who were fired up and hellbent on issuing a statement of intent, which they did.
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Three tries in 10 minutes before the half-hour mark meant that any extra skip in the England players’ step inspired by the occasion of their captain’s 100th Test quickly turned into a limp to half-time and from there, they were never really able to recover.
Steve Borthwick
It was a crushing blow for Borthwick in particular as his Rugby World Cup plans took a mighty knock. His charges looked void of answers to what Ireland threw at them, while the ploy of lighter, athletic loose forwards able to double up as backline players blew up in his face as they lost the heft battle on the gain-line.
It was a perfect storm of everything going wrong except for the scrum which was evidently not enough for his men to rally back into the game.
It’s by no means a ripping up the plans and starting afresh but does send Borthwick and co. back to the drawing board looking for answers to the question that Ireland and Scotland posed.
A possible Grand Slam was predicted at the start of the Championship for England whose hopes of even just the title is in tatters unless something rather drastic happens in the final two weeks.
George Ford
The failure on the gain-line meant that George Ford was squarely on the backfoot and exposed to the Irish defence, who repeatedly peltered him backwards and put him under all sorts of pressure.
It was a torrid game all round for Ford who was so instrumental in the winning streak before falling Scotland as he the veteran fly-half had several unforced errors that a player of his pedigree simply shouldn’t be making.
Borthwick has quality alternatives at his disposal in the form of Fin and Marcus Smith but dropping Ford for either against Italy could be a sign of going against everything he has built to this point.
James Lowe
A gutting setback for the winger who was rewarded for his showing against Italy with a second start of the Championship versus England.
James Lowe has struggled for form this season with Leinster and was selected on pedigree and reputation, rewarding his head coach’s faith in him against the Azzurri.
The competition for wing spots in the Ireland squad is heating up and hopefully for Lowe’s sake, his injury is not a long-term setback.
The Welsh Rugby Union
Tandy’s men produced the best performance that the Principality Stadium has seen in years but it’s a real shame that a capacity crowd wasn’t there to witness it. It’s almost a given that a Wales’ Six Nations Test will sell-out or so the WRU thought but the resolve of the supporters can only last for so long, especially when they are being gouged by the prices to see their team be battered in a similar manner.
It certainly felt like the Welsh Rugby fans were being taken advantage of and are now letting their feet do the talking with the WRU feeling the pitch. It was a fairly substantial crowd that pitched up in the end, but one expects the Principality sell-out and it wasn’t.
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Hooked and injured
England were well below par on Saturday and Borthwick reacted swiftly, removing Freddie Steward and Luke Cowan-Dickie in an attempt to weather the storm. The duo have become regular starters in recent times but their stocks took a massive dive through their performances against the Irish.
Steward was yellow-carded and struggled in the air and to make any positive contribution to proceedings before he got the Shephard’s hook, while Cowan-Dickie was inaccurate at the set-pieces with Jamie George called on to attempt a rescue act.
To make matters worse, England’s first-choice scrum-half Alex Mitchell sustained an injury that ended his game in the early knockings.
Sam Prendergast
Farrell shielded his young rising star by removing his fly-half from the limelight for the trip to Twickenham after the relentless criticism during the opening two rounds of action.
That ploy certainly helped the youngster for this week but his stocks further fell as Crowley shone in his absence with an outstanding performance in the number 10 jersey.
Johnny Sexton states that Ireland will be further testing the depth of their fly-half stocks in the build-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup which could may well mean that Prendergast’s opportunities will be further limited.
READ MORE: Johnny Sexton: Ireland are learning from World Cup mistakes and are doing it ‘differently’ this time