Who’s hot and who’s not: Marcus Smith, Wales’ centurions, Scotland, Toulouse and Italy

Marcus Smith: There’s been plenty said and written about the England fly-half in recent weeks and despite plenty of pressure on his shoulders, Smith has done well after two rounds of action in the Six Nations. The playmaker, who turns 23 today, impressed in England’s tournament opener against Scotland before inexplicably being replaced in the latter stages of that game. And without him on the field the Red Rose lost their way before suffering a 20-17 defeat. There was no chance of England head coach Eddie Jones repeating that mistake in their next match against Italy and Smith delivered an excellent all-round display during an 80-minute spell on the field. Smith shone on attack, gaining 148 metres from 12 runs which included seven offloads, a try assist and a 13-point contribution courtesy of a try and four conversions.

Your #GuinnessSixNations Player of the Match, @EnglandRugby's @MarcuSmith10 #ITAvENG pic.twitter.com/IDNwQzqqgV

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 13, 2022

Saturday saw two Welsh rugby icons – Dan Biggar and Jonathan Davies – reach triple figure international caps at the Principality Stadium in their win over Scotland. They’ve joined Alun Wyn Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Stephen Jones, George North, Martyn Williams, Gareth Thomas, Adam Jones and Leigh Halfpenny in their country’s centurion club. Biggar, 32, led the Welsh superbly against Scotland as he hobbled under the duress of injury to get the job done as Wales showed real tenacity to bounce back from their Round One loss to Ireland and beat a Scotland side full of confidence coming into the game. Hats off to Wayne Pivac’s charges.

Just look at what it means to Dan Biggar! #WALvSCO #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/tUNwE9sWZT

— Guinness