Rugby Union Weekly

Is Noah Caluori ready for England? Have we entered a new era for try records? Can Bath topple the best club team in Europe? Chris Ashton, Danny Care and Chris Jones dissect the big talking points from the weekend, including another thriller between the Prem's top two, and look ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals. Plus, after Pat Lam criticised Newcastle's pitch, we discuss what it is really like to play on an artificial surface.

Sara is joined by World Cup winner Kat Merchant and former Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap to reflect on England's victory over Wales. Despite the Red Roses scoring 62 points, there were still plenty of positives for Wales who earned a try-bonus point as Alisha Joyce returns, Keira Bevan shines at nine and their lineout bamboozled England. Despite shipping four tries, the Red Roses completed a record-extending 36th consecutive Test win. Marlie Packer scored another two tries, Zoe Harrison's sensational form off the tee continued, and captain Meg Jones impressed again - is she now nailed on to be World Player of the Year?

The Women’s Six Nations is pulling in record crowds and viewing figures, but is the tournament itself keeping pace? Ugo, Sara and Philippa Tuttiett discuss whether there needs to be more emphasis on the rugby than the spectacle. Sean Lynn is still searching for a first Six Nations win as Wales boss and with the Red Roses up next, we look at how they should approach the match and what would constitute success. Ireland have revenge on their mind as they head to France this week. It's the first meeting since their controversial World Cup quarter-final. Anna Caplice joins us to debate how the Irish should be approaching a match full of emotion.

There was an astonishing 54 tries across the five Prem matches this weekend, but is it a positive when so many matches were one-sided? Is the Prem in danger of becoming a two-tiered league or are teams just in transition? Ugo, Danny and Chris try to make sense of a crazy weekend which saw Saracens’ Noah Calouri bag another five tries against Sale in a huge win on Sunday. How costly could that defeat be for Sale? Exeter put on a show for their potential new owners despite a late Northampton winner and Finn Russell has been snapped up by Eddie Hearn and joins Henry Pollock at Matchroom. Could more players follow suit and what would success look like?

Sara Orchard is joined by World Cup winner Katy Daley-McLean and former Scotland fly-half Lisa Martin as England beat Scotland 84-7.
A record-breaking crowd watched on at Murrayfield as England put 12 tries on Scotland to continue their charge for the grand slam. What do Scotland need to do to gain a greater depth of players? How differently does their model need to be, to compete with England? As for the Red Roses, how well have they adapted to forced changes? Plus, the team consider the next round. 
 
Timecodes:
0'45 Record breaking attendance at Murrayfield
5'30 Scotland's depth issues
9'40 Changing the Scotland model
14'39 England's pace
17'49 Next round of fixtures