Eddie Jones -- the soothsayer

PARIS -- Eddie Jones said in the run up to the France match that his team would be prepared for anything. This involved him predicting pre-match histrionics which would see his side rounding up stray cockerels on the Paris pitch.

While there were no liberated roosters and their warm-up by a marching band railroading itself through the team, he did predict two events correctly. Firstly, he foretold exactly how England would score their first try against France, as Danny Care revealed.

"I think he [Jones] must be a bit of a Mystic Meg because he said to me watch the little gap around the guard [at rucks] and just go for it," try-scorer Care said. "One opened up, I went for it and luckily there was no-one in the back field so I managed to get over for the try."

And he also prepared the team to deal with a scenario of their skipper Dylan Hartley sustaining an injury. Lo and behold, he was carted off in the 68th minute after sustaining a sickening blow to the head.

"We've worked on scenarios as a senior group and guys he sees as leaders of the future in certain positions," Mike Brown revealed. "The spine of the team have worked hard on certain scenarios and what-ifs. Like today when Dylan went down -- messages that the guys need to know. We planned for that so it's sods law it happened." -- Tom Hamilton

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Haskell's Lazarus-esque recovery

Eddie Jones was asked post-match if he had "resurrected" English rugby. He was a little baffled by this question: "Yeah...umm.. I hope we're not dead." While he downplayed his own role in England's journey from World Cup failures to Grand Slam champions, he did have a player in the squad who showed remarkable powers of recovery prior to the France match.

James Haskell sustained a back spasm in Thursday's training session. It could have forced him out of the match, lesser men would have buckled, and he did admit that there were a couple of "dark moments" on Thursday and Friday but Jones told him a hundred times he was going to be fit.

And that reiterated message along with all manner of treatments ensured he played 80 minutes against France. "The medical team were on red alert to try to get me fit so I was seeing every member of them, doing something with one of them, whether it was getting a massage, whether it was doing rehab, doing stretching. I also spent time sitting in a steam room, hot baths, wheat packs, movement, pool sessions, Pilates, everything and they managed to wheel me out."

While his back managed to hold out, he sustained some almighty damage to his face. "No-one was going to keep me off that field even after two minutes my face almost fell apart." But even that did not prevent him from sporting the widest grin possible post-match as shown in the photograph of him and Chris Robshaw sporting their six-and-a-half shirts, poking fun at the notion that neither of them were suitable to play seven. -- TH

Touchdown Ireland

DUBLIN -- They all count. No matter how you score them, they all count. CJ Stander, so impressive for Ireland in this year's Six Nations, summoned a bit of American improvisation to restore Ireland's lead against Scotland early in the first half in Dublin.

After Stuart Hogg's impressive score gave Vern Cotter's side an early lead at the Aviva Stadium, South African-born Stander produced a moment of magic with Scotland pinned on their own tryline. The back rower quickly took the ball from the back of the ruck and, with deft feet, dived over a sea of bodies to secure his second try in the emerald green.

"I got it down, I knew I got it down. I got a knock on the eye. I was bleeding and I didn't know what was going on. But I got back and got the try, so it's good on a personal note," Stander said after Ireland's 35-25 victory, their second successive win in this year's championship.

"I scored one, I think it was my second game for Munster against Glasgow, like that. It's not ideal because someone could just rip the ball out of your hands and it would be a knock on. I saw there was a few bodies flat in front of me so I thought why not and jump over almost like a NFL thing. I tried it and it worked, next time it probably won't.

"It was a physical match, we came out and played first 20 minutes with a lot of possession and we used that. They got back into the game but we ended on a good note. It was good to get the win in the end. It gives us a bit of a boost." -- Rob Bartlett

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Leaders in abundance

Much was made of Paul O'Connell's international retirement and how his loss would affect Ireland. However, according to Tommy O'Donnell, captain Rory Best has stepped up to the plate in supreme fashion.

"Rory has always been a natural leader in the squad, ever since I came in. There is a great abundance of leaders. Yes, Paul [O'Connell] was that talismanic leader there for a while but Rory was always one of those vice captains, he was always chipping in," O'Donnell said after Ireland's 35-25 victory over Scotland.

"He's just stepped up to that main role now. It's a good thing to have those leaders. It's great to have that depth."

And while Best, who played his 50th successive Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, is the spokesman for Ireland on the pitch, he admitted he is not alone when it comes to leadership around the dressing room.

"It's been a massive honour to captain Ireland. Here you're surrounded by leaders. Even someone like CJ Stander, who made his debut at the start of the Six Nations, captains Munster," Best said.

"It's not left to one person, everyone's contributing and we're always trying to be better." -- RB

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Dan doesn't want his head to get any Biggar

CARDIFF -- It is perhaps not surprising that a man who found fame during the Rugby World Cup as much for his rhythm kicking routine as his excellent marshalling of the Welsh back line, cares little for the opinion of others.

Dan Biggar did not quite toe the party line on Saturday when discussing the criticism that has been aimed Wales' way at times this spring.

His bosses might have bristled at some of the unflattering headlines -- particularly in the wake of the laboured win over France -- but for Biggar it's water off a duck's back.

"It doesn't bother me one bit. I'm sure you guys make plenty of mistakes in your day-to-day job it just doesn't get highlighted," he said. "That's the world we live in at the end of the day and especially in Wales in a goldfish bowl, it's magnified a lot more.

"For me, I almost find criticism better. I don't really like having nice things said about me because naturally you fall back into a little bit of a comfort zone and all of a sudden people are saying nice things about you and you think you're the best player in the world. It's far from it." -- Martyn Thomas

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Brunel reveals hidden talent on final day

For four and a half years as Italy coach Jacques Brunel answered questions only in Italian. After all, as the anglophone press were informed, he could not speak English.

Those reporters keen to obtain Brunel's thoughts have had to rely on the Italian federation's translator, but it seems the mustachioed tactician might have not have been as linguistically challenged as he has been letting on.

In the bowels of the Millennium Stadium on Saturday evening Italy's second successive nine-try defeat led inevitably to questions surrounding the Azzuri's place among the elite.

Brunel sat quietly as his captain Sergio Parisse launched into an emotional defence of Italy's recent record and questioned the logic of allowing promotion and relegation.

Once the colossal No.8 was done, the reporter asked Brunel for his thoughts on the issue, to which he replied in fairly decent English: "The same as him."

Admittedly not the most advanced sentence, but enough to catch Italy's translator off guard. "After five years, now you speak English?" -- MT