Five things we learned from the opening round of Six Nations matches

We head into round two of the 2016 RBS Six Nations this weekend, but what have we actually learned from the victories claimed by England and France as well as the draw between Ireland and Wales?
Before the tournament had even started, Bettingpro.com had backed England to win the tournament – do they still agree after week one?
England are the only team that can win the Triple Crown
The 2016 Six Nations campaign is very crucial for England after their disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign, but they couldn’t have asked for a better start. Victory over Scotland saw them claim maximum points and the draw between Ireland and Wales ensured that the Red Rose team are the only one capable of winning the Triple Crown.
For those not in the know, the Triple Crown consists of the Home Nations – England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland – if any of these teams defeats all three other teams, then they will be crowned Triple Crown champions.
The Grand Slam is now England’s to lose
By winning the Grand Slam, England will need to win every single game and they got off to a dream start with their 15-9 success over Scotland at Murrayfield. Winning your first game doesn’t always mean you will go on and win the tournament, never mind the Grand Slam, but other results at the weekend made us believe that 2016 will be England’s year.
Ireland and Wales played out a 16-16 draw in Dublin and France were less than impressive in their 23-21 victory over Italy, England now need to be patience and not rush things and over play their games, if they do that then that first Grand Slam success since 2003.
France will not win the Six Nations
It is not the norm to slag off a team after just one game, even if that team had won, but France were less than impressive in their 23-21 win over Italy in Paris and no-one would have been that surprised if the Azzurri managed to claim the win.
Actually, they should have collected the two competition points as Sergio Parisse’s late drop-goal attempt sailed wide. Had that gone over, Italy would have won and it would have forced France national coach Guy Noves to answer some embarrassing questions.
Three teams battling it out for the Wooden Spoon
After week one, we believe that the Six Nations title will be one by England, Wales or Ireland and that the other three of Scotland, Italy and France will be fighting it out for last place.
Scotland and Italy were not disgraced in their defeats last weekend, while France were quite poor even in victory. We are just going to put it out there, France will not win another game in the 2016 Six Nations.
If we are correct with that claim, that means they will end up with two points and makes Italy’s home clash with Scotland in week three very important because all three could end up on the same number of points making points difference very crucial indeed.
England need to be more of an attacking threat
England won their opening game, and after their dismal showing in the 2015 Rugby World Cup that was all they were looking for from their visit to Murrayfield.
Now the dust has settled and the euphoria of beating the Auld Enemy has settled down, let’s break down how well they actually did. They did manage to score two tries through Jack Nowell and George Kruis, but they very rarely caused the Scots any problems.
If they are to beat the likes of Ireland and Wales then they need to start throwing the ball around and let their outside backs cause problems on the flanks.
Special praise has to go out to their defence, as they looked in fine form by keeping Scotland to just three penalty scores, but they really need to work on their attack if Eddie Jones and his men are to make a mark on the tournament and be deemed a success.