Three things we learned from the Six Nations

Ireland dispelled talk of being a team in decline with a stunning record rout of England at Twickenham.

Wales bounced back from two drubbings to give Scotland a mighty scare in Cardiff, but still lost a 14th straight match in the Six Nations.

AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from another enthralling weekend of rugby:

Ominously brilliant

France were not at their best in their 33-8 victory over Italy, but still managed to run in five tries to take their tournament tally to 18 from three matches.

At an average of six per game, they are on course to match last season's record haul of 30.

And what is most ominous for the rest, is that France were largely blunted by an impressive Italy side, but still produced the razzle-dazzle they needed to earn a comfortable victory -- on the scoreboard, at least.

"It's interesting to win with a game that is less flamboyant, but no less effective," said captain Antoine Dupont.

"We scored from moments of brilliance, from turnovers, but we struggled to play our game."

Italy dominated large spells of the match, yet the result never looked in doubt.

"France were unbelievably good at taking their opportunities," lamented Italy captain Michele Lamaro.

It has been the case throughout the tournament so far, and neither Scotland nor England -- their final two opponents -- have shown any signs of being the team to stop the Bleus juggernaut.

McCloskey a marvel

Stuart McCloskey has been something of an understudy figure during a successful Ireland era, where the likes of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose have monopolised the midfield positions.

And, on the face of it, looking to the 33-year-old McCloskey for a fresh injection of dynamism may seem like an odd choice.

But there was no denying the Ulster inside centre's superb all-round display at Twickenham as he starred in both attack and defence, making 15 carries, completing 14 tackles and beating five players.

It was McCloskey's scything run deep into England's 22 that created the second of Ireland's five tries for wing Robert Baloucoune.

And with the game long since over as a contest, McCloskey –- winning his 26th cap -- chased down Marcus Smith to deny the England replacement what seemed a certain try, having earlier put in a crunching tackle on Ollie Lawrence.

Resurrection song for Wales

It was another defeat -- the 14th in a row in the Six Nations and the 24th in their last 26 Tests -- but Wales can take great heart from their 26-23 loss to Scotland in Cardiff.

For the first time in a long time, they played like an international team, and several players put their hands up: Sam Costelow was excellent at fly-half before hobbling off in the 55th minute, Dewi Lake led the team from the front, and Eddie James announced himself as a midfield force.

"I know people don't like the word 'journey', but we're at the start of something," said coach Steve Tandy.

"It's incremental growth. We're nowhere near the team we want to be ... (but) there's large parts of that game where if we keep growing and adapting, we'll be in the fight."

The bad news is that Wales need to take that form to Dublin to face a revitalised Ireland -- possibly without Costelow -- before closing with a home game against Italy.