5 things we learned from the Six Nations weekend

Jonny May is almost the finished article

Speed-demon wing May used to startle and infuriate in equal measure in his younger days at Gloucester. The fleet-footed flyer would think nothing of breaking every rugby rule, running sideways, backwards and often a combination of the two in hunting any kind of space. At first his raw speed caught opponents out, but then teams would swarm him and deny him those chances to strike. Surely and steadily though, the now-Leicester star has rounded out his approach. And England exploited his top-line speed in some style as he bagged a first-half hat-trick against the stunned French at Twickenham on Sunday.

Just how much punishment can Johnny Sexton take?

Ireland's talisman fly-half Johnny Sexton lasted just 24 minutes of Saturday's 22-13 victory in Scotland. The British and Irish Lions playmaker failed a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) after copping a string of borderline hits from the hosts. Scotland were the latest in a decade-and-longer line of foes queuing up to unsettle the accomplished conductor through unremitting physicality. Ireland boss Joe Schmidt insisted Scotland's approach fell within the laws of the game, and big, snarling forwards hunting down fly-halves is certainly stock rugby fare. Ireland and Sexton seem relatively content for the 33-year-old to keep enticing defenders in his direction to create space elsewhere, and the tactic often succeeds. Ireland may at some point though explore ways for Sexton to direct phase-play traffic from slightly wider channels, in a bid to lessen the onslaught.

Scotland still shy of that next step

Greig Laidlaw insisted victory over Ireland on Saturday could have elevated Scotland to a new level under Gregor Townsend. That win never came to pass however, as Ireland ground home, shutting down the Scots' eye-catching attacking elan. Whatever the finesse of Finn Russell and the pacy threats of wide runners like Stuart Hogg and Blair Kinghorn, Scotland must still add further steel to their armoury to offer a genuine challenge to the Test game's true elite.

Italy still off the Six Nations pace

When Wales made 10 changes to face Italy in 2018, former Azzurri scrum-half Paul Griffen branded the blanket rotation "disrespectful". The Italy camp rejected those assertions, and the idea frustrated Wales boss Warren Gatland – who was quite right to take an opportunity to hand fringe players chances to shine. Wales won 38-14 in Cardiff, leaving precious few dissenting voices around their starting line-up. Fast forward 12 months, with Wales again making 10 changes, and once more Gatland's men prevailed. The 26-15 victory in Rome hardly set many style pointers, but Wales have won two from two. And as with last year Gatland has seen the bulk of his squad in Test match action. Italy can ill afford to complain if opponents field rotated line-ups against them. To do that Conor O'Shea's side must start scalping the tournaments big boys again. Right now Italy are lagging behind the group.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Nick Purewal, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '8f670dad-e4df-41c7-8b0c-1fb195927244');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:rugby-union');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': '5 things we learned from the Six Nations weekend'});