England move up the World Rankings as Wales fall to record new low

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Steve Borthwick’s side secured a crucial win, climbing above Scotland into sixth place after gaining 1.32 ranking points. France, despite their narrow defeat, remain in fourth but have now lost significant ground on world champions South Africa, sitting 5.59 points adrift of the Springboks at the top.

Meanwhile, Italy’s impressive win over Wales on Friday also had ranking implications.

The Azzurri gained 0.26 points, while Warren Gatland’s struggling side slipped below Georgia into 12th place—another bitter blow in what has been a miserable Six Nations campaign for Wales.

Scotland vs Ireland – 17:00

England’s rise in the rankings will only fuel their confidence heading into the next round, while France will be left ruing a missed opportunity to stay in touching distance of the top three.

Rugby Pass 5/10: "By Antoine Dupont’s insuperable standards, this was not vintage. Controlled the game with both feet and mixed his kicking to keep Marcus Smith guessing. But he had a few sloppy passes in him, including a hospital pass to Alexandre Roumat. Looked to be in for a certain try soon after, but spilt a pass with the try line beckoning. Had the ball ripped from his clutches by Tom Curry just metres from England’s line early in the second 40. Not too bad by a normal player’s standards, but for Dupont, this was quite error-strewn. There were, of course, still moments of pure genius."

Mail Online 6/10: "He's human after all. Not immune to French tension and far from imperious best but arcing run set up one try and long passes helped create two others."

RUCK 3/10: "After hitting a milestone last timeout against France, Adams probably was looking for a much better performance than last week in Paris. He did have two opportunities from kicks in behind but, again, didn’t see much of the ball. The 29-year-old was also awarded a yellow card on 58 minutes for making contact with Paolo Garbisi’s head, perhaps he can count himself lucky that it wasn’t a red."

Planet Rugby 4/10: "Looked pretty threatening throughout, but just blew two huge opportunities that could have swung the game back to Wales, and you think he would have nabbed these a few years ago. Lucky to escape a red card too for his challenge on Paolo Garbisi."

Wales Online 4/10: "Butchered two try-scoring opportunity by spilling the ball forward with the line at his mercy, albeit in difficult conditions. Received a yellow card for a cynical high shot on Paolo Garbisi."

RUCK 5/10: "Though Smith is an excellent ball player, there’s still some room for improvement of knowing when to kick, or not to kick. Thanks to France errors, it's lucky they didn’t capitalise on all of the errors. His best aspect was watching the ball, and taking advantage when it was on the ground. But why does he find the need to kick the ball at almost every time, especially when the momentum is towards England. Also, watching in front of him – so he doesn’t kick the ball directly into the French legs. He also needs to have some confidence in taking the ball into tackles, don’t pass the ball when there’s no solid pass on. His confidence improved as the game went on, but it was still not the best performance from the superstar rugby player."

Evening Standard 5/10: "Struggled defensively and was lucky not to be at fault for a try when Bielle-Biarrey ripped the ball off him. Kicking off the tee was poor, too."

Express 5/10: "Would've been disappointed by his performance, even if he was playing slightly out of position. Missed the conversion for Freeman's try and was once again wide of the mark for a penalty kick a few minutes later. Was taken off kicking duty after Baxter's try."

Planet Rugby 4//10: "he reactions will be mixed on his performance ranging from dreadful to excellent but the ploy to push him to full-back was proven to be right. He covered the back-field well and kept England in the kicking duel while adding value on attack too. England have regularly deployed the dual playmaker – notably with George Ford and Owen Farrell – and today showed it can work. There were errors but that is to be expected. His kicking woes made things difficult."

Planet Rugby 3/10: "Put under some serious pressure in the scrum by the Italian pack, and came up with a few penalties as a result. Again, he’s not the long-term solution at tighthead."

Wales Online 4/10: "In Paris, the Scarlets tighthead was as solid as a rock but he conceded four scrum penalties in Rome and was replaced after 44 minutes. An afternoon to forget."

RUCK 3/10: "The Italian pack was strong, and after last week’s decent showing at scrum time, it must be said that it wasn’t the best of afternoon's for the front row. At times they were physically outmatched, with Thomas giving away a number of penalties."

Planet Rugby 4/10: " Steady around the pitch, as you’d expect, but the lineout misfired again during his stint as Italy got some decent change in this department. Couldn’t help his props much either"

Wales Online 4/10: "The lineout is a collective effort but Wales struggled to win much clean ball early on and it improved once Elliot Dee entered the fray. Offered himself as a carrier and does have potential but he remains a work in progress at this level."

RUCK 3/10: "He wasn't firing his arrows at the lineout, which ultimately let the 23-year-old down as the hosts used those errors as a catalyst to their attacking game. However, in attack and defence, he was solid."

Evening Standard 5/10: "A bit loose in the lineout, with England losing three of their six ones when he was on. "

Express 6/10: "Disappointing with his line-outs and Steve Borthwick made the right call to take him out of the game"

RUCK 5/10: "it wasn’t a fantastic game for hooker. His effort was there for sure, but a few handling errors led to silly penalties given to France which they took with gratitude."

The Six Nations Championship, Europe’s premier rugby tournament, has delivered unforgettable moments and showcased some of the game’s greatest players.

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