Nigel Owens column: Wales v Scotland ref has my support after character assassination and I expect us to win

It wasn't the best opening weekend of the Six Nations if you're Welsh, but the juices are certainly flowing ahead of a massive second round of action.

In terms of refereeing, the area that naturally catches my eye, there were no real controversies around officiating on the first weekend.

There were some complaints about Scotland's penalty try, but there's no debate there.

As weekends go, it was pretty below the radar - which is exactly what you want as a referee.

Read more: Ther latest Six Nations headlines for today's games

However, there'll be a step up in intensity this weekend. Wales need to improve against a confident Scotland, England travel to face an Italy side who look to have improved weekend and then there's the massive clash between the two favourites, France and Ireland.

Expect things to go up a level this weekend in terms of spectacle and physicality. In turn, that makes things more difficult for referees.

But I have to say I'm really looking forward to this weekend's action.

I was in Edinburgh working on the Calcutta Cup on the opening weekend of the Six Nations. It was an enjoyable game - exciting and close.

The results on the opening weekend went the way I thought they would. I thought it would be tough to win in Dublin and that Ireland wouldn't give us much.

We didn't get a penalty until after the game was effectively over. But Wales will find another level this week. They'll all be disappointed and I expect them to bounce back and beat Scotland.

Scotland played well against England but I thought England were the better side until the penalty try. They looked like the side in control and looked like the side who were going to win that game.

They are probably kicking themselves they didn't. In fact, the