Five things we learned from the third round of Six Nations action

England and France produced victories in Saturday’s round-three matches in the Six Nations while Ireland swept aside Italy at the Aviva Stadium.

Here, the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the games.

The biggest winner from Saturday’s action was France as they crushed Scotland 36-17 with ominous ease. It was an accomplished victory that matched brute strength with artistry as they target a first title for 12 years. Wales in Cardiff is their next assignment before they complete their seemingly unstoppable march towards the Grand Slam when they host England in the climax to the tournament. And while Scotland played a role in making them look unstoppable, it is clear France have frightening talent overseen by their scrum-half magician Antoine Dupont.

England have fought their way back into title contention admirably following their opening-day defeat to Scotland, producing a bonus-point win in Rome and averting disaster in the face of a determined Wales fightback. Yet they head into the final two matches against Ireland and France, who will provide stiffer tests than those encountered so far, in urgent need of an identity. Their pack has been resolute and resilience runs throughout the team, but beyond Marcus Smith they rarely fire a shot in attack. Eddie Jones reasonably enough talks of a young side in transition, but the additional picture emerging from Twickenham on Saturday is of a group missing a collective sense of purpose.

As Taulupe Faletau produced a towering display in defiance of having been limited to only 144 minutes of rugby this season because of an ankle injury, Wales fans will wonder what might have been as their team’s title defence ended with two rounds to spare. Faletau was magnificent