Scotland

Edinburgh Rugby today confirmed that highly-rated Northampton Saints back Greig Tonks is the latest player to commit to the exciting future being forged at the Murrayfield club.

It sounds like a strange Christmas cracker joke, yet this is the situation that has caused the Welsh and Scottish Unions to become embroiled in a power struggle over 20 year old Steven Shingler.

It seems that today Scotland have become a simple speed bump for the Welsh on their merry way to a Grand Slam

A gutsy win for England at the Stadio Olimpico saw them go top of the table running out 19-15 winners against Italy. England came from 15-6 down to scrape their second win of the championship.

Stuart Lancaster and his England side got their new era off to the perfect start on Saturday with a 13-6 over Scotland.

How's it going my rugby buddies! As the Six Nations swings by it's a great couple of months for all rugby fans in the Northern Hemisphere.

Six Nations: Week 2 Preview

In the immediate aftermath of Scotland losing to England I tried to refrain from rash comment on the game. Analysis, if it is to be done properly, means using facts.

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.

Scotland fly-half Dan Parks has retired from Test rugby with immediate effect, the Scottish Rugby Union has announced.

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.

Rarely has an England line-up lacked in caps as much as the one that will take on Scotland in the Calcutta Cup.

As Six Nations time swings by for another year, it's a great chance for myself and the other foreigners that play in the Northern Hemisphere to get out there and explore Europe.

When the news came in that Ross Ford was to be captain of Scotland there was a sense that Scotland's backroom team had flashed their intent. Everyone was moving on from that World Cup.

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!

Pressure can do funny things to a player. It can mess with your kick. It can force you to make silly calls. It can lead to that brazen mid-air collision that earns you a yellow card and lets the opposition get on top.