Loose Pass on the Six Nations permutations, Currie Cup desperation and Toulouse’s woes

So far, there is mostly France. Yet anyone can win probably, bar Italy.

That will change this weekend without a doubt. One of England or Wales will surely be out of the Six Nations running – both if they draw – while should Scotland become the latest to succumb to the combination of Shaun Edwards’ defence and Fabien Galthie’s strategies, Scotland are probably done too.

It would undoubtedly be good for the neutral if England and Scotland win, leaving Le Crunch on the final weekend in Paris very much a Le Absolutement Crunch. That said, if France win and then beat Wales, it will be a different sort of Absolutement the French will be seeking: the first Grand Chelem in a dozen years: the 2010 edition.

Interestingly, that was the year before the French set sail for a World Cup in New Zealand, whereupon the coach opted to put a scrum-half at fly-half, then found himself subject to all but total mutiny after the team had lost to Tonga. The team then took said coach all the way to the final where they came within a whisker of upsetting the same New Zealand team that had shellacked them 37-17 in the pool stages without breaking a lot of sweat.

This potential Grand Slam – it’s hard not to see them doing it at the moment – bears only the direct similarity of a final weekend match against England. Most of the teams back then were very much in the pre-World Cup tweaking phase; Scotland were still firmly in the doldrums, Wales undergoing one of their lean years under Warren Gatland, England trying to rediscover the spirit of 2003 and Ireland looking a little shallow. France won it well, but the lurching direction of the team became all too apparent later on (a year later they lost to Italy).

This time the direction of all the teams