Anthony Watson scored two sparkling tries in front of England boss Eddie Jones as Bath produced some champagne rugby to down French heavyweights Toulon.

Centre Jonathan Davies has claimed “it just didn’t seem right” after Wales’ RBS 6 Nations campaign ended in controversial and crushing fashion against France.

Wales 19 France 10: Wales moved to the top of the RBS 6 Nations by beating France 19-10 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

France resume their Pool D campaign at the Olympic Stadium against Romania tonight with Johnny Sexton declaring Philippe Saint-Andre’s side “the best they’ve looked in years”.

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has left out fly-half Francois Trinh-Ducfrom his 31-man World Cup squad, in favour of Frederic Michalak.

As a learning exercise, Saturday’s fraught encounter against Scotland was far more beneficial for Ireland than the rather benign Welsh clash the previous week. Put it this way: Joe Schmidt will have gleaned much and identified far more ‘work-ons’ to keep him busy over the next fortnight.

The pressure eased slightly on coach Fabien Galthie as Montpellier ended a run of seven successive defeats with a thrilling 23-20 victory over Toulouse in their Top 14 clash on Saturday.

France 30 Italy 10

France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre will abandon tradition and gladly settle for the most tedious of victories against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

France head coach Philippe Saint-André has dropped Francois Trinh-Duc for Saturday’s meeting with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium with the unpredictable Freddie Michalak returning to the number 10 jersey.

The absence of Johnny Sexton from the Irish ranks on Saturday may not be mourned by a France side looking for their first win of this Six Nations but his arrival at Racing Metro next season has been warmly welcomed by one of his new team-mates, Maxime Machenaud.

England 23 France 13

Jonathan Sexton received support from an unusual quarter yesterday, as France out-half Francois Trinh-Duc admitted he can empathise with the Leinster man’s struggles to make the Ireland number 10 jersey his own.

Scotland wing Rory Lamont suffered a suspected broken leg in the 23-17 RBS 6 Nations loss to France at Murrayfield yesterday.

Full-back Stuart Hogg will make his first Test start today as Scotland look to revive their RBS 6 Nations campaign against Rugby World Cup finalists France.

Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations clash with France was tonight given the go-ahead after the Stade de France passed a pitch inspection by referee Dave Pearson.

Centre Wesley Fofana will earn his first cap for France when they take on Italy in their RBS 6 Nations opener on Saturday.

FEW would have foreseen a scenario whereby Leinster — and Munster — would be hoping to emulate Brive when the Heineken Cup started last November but such is the rather strange way of things as the pool stages fade into memory.

LIKE so many Kiwis, Joe Schmidt has adapted effortlessly to life in Europe but there must be times when he and others from the southern hemisphere wonder about our peculiar ways.

IAN McGeechan believes the English RFU should take its time in appointing Martin Johnson’s successor as England manager.

Montpellier 16 Leinster 16

France 7 New Zealand 8

France 0 New Zealand 5

France 19 England 12

New Zealand 37 France 17

FRANCE coach Marc Lievremont was “satisfied” after seeing his side claim a second straight bonus-point win in Pool A with a 46-19 success over Canada in Napier.

ENGLAND prop Andrew Sheridan and French fly-half David Skrela hobbled home from the World Cup just as Samoa entered the fray with a resounding win and New Zealanders fretted about the back of prized asset Dan Carter.

France 47 Japan 21

Ireland 22 France 26

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont has thrown down the gauntlet to his players ahead of Saturday’s World Cup warm-up with Ireland in Bordeaux by declaring that Les Bleus are now in “competition mode”.

Biarritz forward Raphael Lakafia will make his France debut against Ireland in Bordeaux on Saturday.

France 28 Wales 9

1. The Tactical Battle

IRELAND have been warned that life in the Six Nations is not about to get any easier after a clinical French team made a winning start to the defence of their title in Paris.

France 34 Scotland 21

IF Martin Johnson needed any reassurance the anguish of developing a new England team can ultimately be worth it, he need only listen to Marc Lievremont.

France 12 England 10

FRANCE defence coach Dave Ellis was delighted with his side’s six-try show against Italy as Les Bleus remained on course for the Grand Slam.

FRANCE centre Mathieu Bastareaud believes a Grand Slam is now top of their agenda after Saturday’s 33-10 victory over Ireland in Paris.

France 33 Ireland 10

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont was reluctant to talk up comeback king Mathieu Bastareaud ahead of Ireland’s forthcoming trip to Paris, despite the Stade Francais man announcing his return to the international stage with a brace of tries yesterday.