France

Back in their heyday of the 1980's, Romania could list France, Wales and the 1984 Grand Slam winning Scotland side amongst their list of major scalps, while in 1981, they fell to the All Blacks by a mere 14 points to 6 in a game that also saw the 'Oaks' have two tries disallowed.

Saturday's Six Nations opener saw the continental clash of the tournament: les bleus versus l'azzuri, France vs Italy.

Philippe Saint-Andre's first game in charge saw France win comfortably against Italy 30-12 in front of the Paris crowd. The home side avenged last year's defeat to the Azzurri by dominating the game from start to finish.

So what did we learn from the first weekend of the 6 Nations. Some would say not much that we didn’t know on Friday but it was a weekend that gave us flashes of brilliance amongst the pragmatism and a couple of controversial refereeing decisions.

It is one of those things where you are envious because that guy is living your dream, but you would be too terrified to say anything if you were in his position.

The first game of this year's Six Nations tournament sees World Cup finalists France host Italy at the Stade de France.

Six Nations coaches and players chat to Talking Rugby

When I last wrote a Blog I was still in New Zealand enjoying what I can only describe as the best World Cup to have ever been played out!

Richie McCaw in his 100th test match, lead the All Blacks to an impressive 37-17 exorcising the demons of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Quarter Final defeat to France

The All Blacks vs France is the biggest match of the Rugby World Cup 2011 so far and the All Blacks will not lack motivation for winning this match

A hat-trick from Vincent Clerc and one from Damien Traille saved the blushes of Marc Lievremont's French side, as they held on 46-19 win against Canada.

Ringing the changes is not unusual for the French, but with a crunch match against New Zealand around the corner, a performance is vital.

Four years on from hosting the showpiece event themselves, the French are preparing for another assault on the Webb Ellis trophy.

Ireland put out the strongest team they could with regards to injuries, Stephen Ferris was on the bench after making his comeback from a troublesome knee injury.

Back rower and occasional second row Gorgodze is one of the increasing numbers of Georgian players plying their trade in France's Top 14 competition

Interview with Ollie Phillips

The national head coach has had a difficult reign in charge of Les Bleus since taking over in 2007 after the World Cup

Talking Rugby Union caught up with Toulon player Joe El-Abd

Having their star-studded core of Welsh talent combined with high-profile All Blacks, the Ospreys have been described as 'the Real Madrid of Wales'

Wales were outplayed by a very different French team to the one we saw in Rome last week. They picked up their tempo in the second half