Who’s hot and who’s not: ‘Sensational’ Dupont and ‘lethal’ Lowe shine in Six Nations victories as Wales’ ‘wretched luck’ continues

David Skippers
Split image of Antoine Dupont and Nick Tompkins.

Check who's hot and not following the week's on and off-field action.

It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.

THEY’RE ON FIRE!

Antoine Dupont: The Les Bleus captain hit the ground running upon his return to the Six Nations – after missing last year’s championship to focus on his sevens career and the Olympic Games in Paris – and was in the thick of the action as they cruised to a 43-0 win over Wales at the Stade de France. As usual, Dupont delivered a sensational all-round performance as he shone on attack and defence during his 50 minutes on the field and, in the end, France made an early statement of intent as they crossed for seven unanswered tries en route to victory.

Antoine Dupont hailed as ‘Maradona of rugby’ as he leaves fans gobsmacked by first-half masterclass

Simon Easterby: Ireland’s interim coach had big boots to fill as he replaced Andy Farrell, who is preparing for the British & Irish Lions’ upcoming tour of Australia. Despite being under pressure, Easterby deserves plenty of credit for guiding the defending Six Nations champions to victory in their tournament opener against England at the Aviva Stadium. England had an edge early on and although they held a 10-5 lead at half-time, Easterby’s charges did not panic as they raced to a 27-22 victory.

James Lowe: Ireland’s attack stuttered in the opening stages of the clash against England, but they finally found their way through thanks largely to their lethal winger, who racked up an impressive three try assists. It was a marvellous attacking display from the winger, who caused all kinds of havoc for the Red Rose.

Jack Crowley: The Munster playmaker was Ireland’s first-choice fly-half when they were crowned Six Nations champions last year but despite that achievement, he started Saturday’s clash on the replacements bench with Sam Prendergast preferred as the starting number 10. Things did not go according to plan as England dominated the early exchanges and when Crowley made his appearance in the 59th minute Ireland held a slender 13-10 lead. The champions finished stronger though with Crowley leading the way as they took charge of proceedings in the final quarter.

Huw Jones: The Glasgow Warriors outside centre was Scotland’s star during their 31-19 triumph over Italy in their Six Nations opener at Murrayfield on Saturday. The Scots suffered a setback when they lost the services of Sione Tuipulotu in the build-up to the championship but despite being without his centre partner, Jones was in fine form as he led the way with a hat-trick of tries against the Azzurri and put himself firmly in the picture for a British & Irish Lions call up later this year.

British and Irish Lions winners and losers: Andy Farrell ‘spoilt for choice’ but England duo ‘slip down pecking order’

Wild Knights continue their rampage: Over in Japan just one team remains unbeaten, Robbie Deans’ Wild Knights. This weekend, the action in the Japan Rugby League One resumed and the Knights’ perfect record this season continued as they ran in seven tries to thrash the Urayasu D-Rocks 53-26.

Georgia’s triple-digit statement: Ahead of the opening weekend of the Rugby Europe Championship, Georgia head coach Richard Cockerill called for the bigwigs to give Lelos ‘chance’ as they continually get snubbed for Six Nations and Nations Championship involvement and then his charges went about making a statement on the pitch. They emphatically hammered Switzerland 110-0 running in 16 tries in total – a record victory for them in the Rugby Europe Championship, beating their previous best of 93-3 against Czechia. Cockerill pleaded for ‘a fair chance’, but will his side ever get one?

?‘We’re not going away’ – Richard Cockerill’s message to Six Nations bosses as he pleads for Georgia ‘opportunity’

COLD AS ICE!

Warren Gatland: It was another bad day at the office for Wales’ head coach as his team’s wretched luck on the international stage continued with that defeat against Les Bleus in Paris on Saturday. That result means Wales’ poor form continued as they have now lost their last 13 Tests – a record which stretches back to 2023. Gatland is in his second spell as boss and he’s finding things very different this time around and has plenty of homework to do if he wants his side to return to winning ways against Italy in Rome on Saturday.

Wales: Although Gatland’s troops were competitive during the early stages of their clash with France in Paris on Friday night, it was only a matter of time before the home side took control of proceedings and in the end, Wales were like lambs to the slaughter. As the scoreline suggests, they failed to trouble the French defence and eventually conceded seven tries. Things can only get better when they return to action against the Azzurri at the weekend.?To rub further salt in Wales’ wounds, their U20s were smashed 63-19 in their opening Six Nations match against France. They put up a good fight in the first half, trailing 21-12, before the wheels came off in the last 40 minutes.

France v Wales: Five takeaways as ‘exquisite brilliance’ of Antoine Dupont dazzles but ‘grass roots of regeneration and growth’ for Wales

Romain Ntamack’s red card: Although France were deserved victors in that clash with Wales, Ntamack’s red card cast a shadow over proceedings after he made contact with Wales back Ben Thomas’ head in defence. Ntamack initially received a yellow card for the incident which occurred in the 70th minute but that was upgraded to red after it was reviewed by the Foul Player Review Bunker. He is now set to miss Le Crunch in Twickenham this weekend and perhaps even more of France’s Six Nations campaign.

Steve Borthwick and England’s slump: After making an impressive start to proceedings against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, England reverted to type and eventually suffered another defeat. The result means the Red Rose’s poor form continued and they only have a couple of wins over Japan as their only successes in their last nine Tests. England also lost seven out of 12 Tests in 2024 and there will be pressure on head coach Borthwick with another tricky assignment against an impressive France side at Twickenham on Saturday lying in wait.

READ MORE:?Six Nations Team of the Week: ‘Peerless’ Frenchman, ‘silky’ Scot and ‘a Lions certainty’ lead the way