A try from Gael Fickou in the 76th minute gave France a come from behind victory over England and a positive start to their Six Nations campaign. It looked like France wouldn't need to come from behind early on as Yoann Huget scored a try on a nice chip and chase just seconds into the match. Jean-Marc Doussain and Owen Farrell would then trade penalties before Huget picked up his second try in the 17th minute. But England fought back and a Mike Brown try in the 36th minute made the score 16-8 to France at the half. Farrell hit another penalty just after the break and then a Luther Burrell try and Danny Care drop goal gave England a 21-16 lead with 25 minutes left. Maxime Machenaud and Alex Goode would trade penalties before Fickou scored his try to give France the win.
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Ireland had the easiest time over the weekend with a 28-6 victory over a hapless Scotland. It took a half for the try scoring to get started but when Andrew Trimble dotted down just before halftime Ireland were in firm control 11-3. In the second half Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney scored tries. Jonathan Sexton had three penalties on the day while Greig Laidlaw scored all of Scotland's points with two penalties. Ireland now lead in the table based on point differential.
Just behind them in the table are Wales, who beat Italy 23-15. It was a bright start for the Welsh as Alex Cuthbert scored in the 3rd minute. Italy had their chances in the first half, including an apparent try by Sergio Parisse but he was judged to have knocked on the ball before scoring. Scott Williams would extend Wales's lead to 17-3 at the break with a late try. However, Italy showed resilience and two second half tries from Michele Campagnaro gave them life. Still, the lead was a little to insurmountable thanks to Leigh Halfpenny's boot.
LV= Cup
The semi-finals of the LV= Cup are set with Northampton, Saracens, Bath, and Exeter all advancing. In a cross pool match Northampton beat Saracens 20-16 thanks to two tries from Samu Manoa and another from James Wilson. For the Saints that was easily enough to put them in first place in Pool 4. For Saracens, they did enough despite Gloucester beating London Wasps 36-5. Bath were already assured qualification but still beat Leicester 35-17. The only team that had to sweat was Exeter. They beat Worcester 42-3 and finished two points ahead of Sale who fell to the Ospreys 37-36. Cardiff were the other team to have a chance in Pool 2. They beat Harlequins 35-5 but didn't get help elsewhere. In other scores, London Irish beat Scarlets 29-10 and Newcastle beat the Dragons 29-0.
Top 14
The Top 14 had the weekend off.
RFU Championship
Rotherham are the new leaders in the RFU Championship after they downed Moseley 16-6 and Plymouth Albion beat London Welsh 36-15. However, both Leeds and Bristol are only five points back. Leeds beat Bedford 50-6 and Bristol beat Jersey 54-14. London Scottish continue to fall off the pace with a 15-3 loss to Nottingham. Lastly, Ealing and Cornish Pirates played to a 18-18 draw.
Pro D2
The Pro D2 had the weekend off.
Eccellenza
Rovigo have opened up a 10 points advantage in the Eccellenza thanks to their 40-5 win over Capitolina. However, Calvisano have a game in hand after their match against Petrarca was postponed. Other weekend winners include Cavalieri 28-10 over Reggio and San Dora 16-6 over Lazio. Viadana and Mogliano played to a 13-13 draw.