Despite Ireland's heartbreaking loss, it was a better weekend of rugby than most. The quality of Saturday's games surpassed any that had taken place in this championship so far, and there were a number of stand-out performances.
15. Stuart Hogg
An outstanding performance. Made three try saving tackles and is the Scottish attack. He is very close to being the best full back in the northern hemisphere and is certainly the best attacking fullback in this region of world rugby.
14. Jack Nowell
One of a number of impressive English backs. The Scottish front line defense could not handle the young Exeter flier. Two clean breaks and three defenders beaten. He should have created more English tries, but looks so threatening.
13. Mark Bennett
The England v Scotland team featured the two best outside centres in the competition so far. Jonathan Joseph turned up after an anonymous performance against Ireland, but he was second best in this contest as Mark Bennett continued his outstanding Six Nations and along with Hogg is the central figure of this side. A future Lion.
12. Jamie Roberts
Ireland kept the ball in tight to the ruck, which meant that they targeted Dan Biggar's channel at lot. 14 tackles is a big return in a normal game. He was also threatening with the small possession that Wales actually had.
11. Leigh Halfpenny
It's hard to leave Leigh Halfpenny out of any side when he played as well as he did, I couldn't leave him out after his kicking display and his aerial show against Ireland that contributed to a famous Welsh win.
10. George Ford
His calmness and composure for one so young should scare any rugby fan that isn't English. It's hard not to like Ford, and he plays the game in the right way. England never looked like they would lose despite Scotland's big performance, and Ford guided them into a winning position.
9. Ben Youngs
His sniping was the foundation for the English win, and he outperformed the competition at scrumhalf.
1. Jack McGrath
Was outstanding in the scrum, and can leave Cardiff with his head held high. The most dominant prop performance of the weekend.
2. Scott Baldwin
His lineout functioned very well, and he made 20 tackles. That's quite an outing, Wales have found a good hooker.
3. Aaron Jarvis
No tighthead stood out, which isn't surprising. No tighthead was dominant in the scrum. Aaron Jarvis wasn't as under pressure from Jack McGrath as Samson Lee was, and with his 14 tackles contributing to a massive Welsh defensive effort, he gets the spot.
4. Luke Charteris
There have been two different figures (37 and 31) bandied around for Luke Charteris' tackle count. Either way, it was a phenomenal display both in defense and out of touch.
5. Paul O'Connell
Any man who gets the rating that we gave him (8) makes the team of the weekend. Two linebreaks stood out and he was the leader that Ireland needed, but not the one they deserved.
6. Rob Harley
Harley's performance was a big reason why Scotland were leading England 13-10 after a 7-0 deficit. Scotland may not select Kelly Brown, but Harley and Blair Cowan are doing extremely well in Cotter's team.
7. Sam Warburton
The official man of the match against Ireland, and Warburton was outstanding. A huge tackle count and a nuisance at the breakdown, he was a big reason for the Welsh win.
8. Sergio Parisse
Italy have been disappointingly poor in this Six Nations, even for their standards. The same can not be said of their talisman though. Italy would be better off if they invested in cloning their number 8.
