ESPNscrum Fantasy Rugby - Round Four
France setting the standard
Scrum.com
March 18, 2010
France's Marc Andreu celebrates scoring a try, France v Italy, Six Nations, Stade de France, March 14, 2010
Marc Andreu celebrate his maiden Test try © Getty Images
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France's rampage against Italy at the Stade de France last weekend set up their tilt at a Grand Slam and also stole the headlines in the penultimate week of ESPNscrum's Fantasy Rugby.

Away from the champagne rugby in Paris there was a clinical win for Ireland over Wales at Croke Park and England travelled to Scotland where there was plenty of effort but little quality.

Ireland's 27-12 victory over Wales kicked off the round and kept the reigning champions' Triple Crown hopes alive. The heroes were Keith Earls, who finished with a well-taken brace, and scrum-half Tomas O'Leary. The Munster No.9 ripped through the Welsh defence for an individual try and also picked up the Man of the Match award.

With Scotland the visitors to Croker this weekend it would be hard to bet against Earls continuing his try-scoring form, while Player of the Tournament nominee Tommy Bowe is also worth a punt.

Scotland failed to regain the Calcutta Cup in a 15-15 draw with England at Murrayfield, which was a notable for the amount of time it took for the scrums to settle and little else. Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood shared England's points from the kicking tee while Scotland's Dan Parks weighed in with four penalties and a drop-goal.

Flood has a chance to build on his cameo this weekend after being given the nod to face France - but surely all English eyes with be on Northampton's flyers Chris Ashton and Ben Foden, who have finally been given a chance in the back-three.

France gave their fans something to smile about on Sunday as they swept aside Italy 46-20. The Azzurri were powerless to stop the rampaging home side, shipping six tries.

Imanol Harinordoquy, Yannick Jauzion, Alexandre Lapandry and Marc Andreu all crossed while Perpignan's David Marty ended up with a brace. Morgan Parra continued his excellent tournament with 16 points from the boot. With Marty axed for the Grand Slam decider in favour of Mathieu Bastareaud France have shown their intent to go at England hard - but the silky skills of Man of the Match Clement Poitrenaud as well as the exciting Andreu, Parra and Alexis Palisson would be worth remembering when selecting your final team of the tournament.

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