Italy chaos hints at Irish blueprint for France showdown

The opening Six Nations weekend provided drama, upsets and the high quality test matches that we anticipated before kick-off.

Ireland and France will face off this weekend in what is already considered to be the decider in this year's hunt for a Grand Slam, although there is a long way to go in this tournament and there will be many twists and turns between now and the conclusion of the competition.

Scotland beating England in Twickenham has thrown the cat among the pigeons for England’s hopes of success, while Wales had an awful opening half against Ireland which underlined the mountain of work that they must go through in the next few months.

The Irish and French continuity from last year means that they are the real contenders; nothing that we didn’t know before the tournament.

Italy are bound to cause an upset, although other nations will now prepare even harder for them, knowing the potential upset that they could cause. Scotland will believe that they are genuine contenders, but we have been here before and they will need to beat Wales in the next round before they are considered real challengers to Ireland and France.

It’s the first time ever that the first and second ranked teams in the world will go against each other in a Six Nations tournament, and we’re hoping that the game will live up to the hype.

France were challenged more than expected by Italy. Italy played a fast and chaotic game, something that made the French a bit less comfortable than we’re used to seeing under defence coach Shaun Edwards.

Their defensive penalty count was astronomical as a result. France competed poorly at the breakdown and Matthew Carley pinged them repeatedly in the first half.

Ireland will play a fast attacking game, similar to the