RBS 6 Nations – week 3 in numbers

Dramatic wins for England and Scotland, while Wales resurrected hopes of a third title in a row by thumping France.

Just another weekend of riveting, ravishing and resplendent rugby in the RBS 6 Nations.

We boil down some of the highlights and talking points from round three into an easily digestible numerical format:

221,192 – The total attendance for the three matches in Cardiff, Rome and London.

1931 – The last time Wales enjoyed a bigger margin of victory over the French than the 21-point difference on Friday. (Wales won 35-3 at St Helens in 1931)

376 – Minutes of rugby Scotland had played without scoring a try before centre Alex Dunbar crossed against Italy. They failed to register a try in their four previous matches against South Africa, Australia, Ireland and England.

139 – Brian O’Driscoll’s record-equalling number of international appearances. The eight he has won for the British & Irish Lions plus the 131 for Ireland mean he is now level with Australian scrum-half George Gregan.

104 – The number of caps Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni have won for Italy, now the joint-highest in the country’s history. Andrea Lo Cicero has 103.

88 – Metres ran with ball in hand by England’s Mike Brown – the most for anyone this weekend and a tournament-leading 271m in total for the increasingly influential full-back.

47 – Number of tackles made by England’s back row against Ireland – Chris Robshaw (22), Tom Wood, (10), Ben Morgan (14) and Billy Vunipola (1, before going off injured).

42 – Ireland’s points difference, which could prove crucial in the race for the title. It is presently double England’s, who are second in the table.

42 – Also the number of years since Wales last beat France three seasons in a row.

34 – England beat Ireland despite having only just over a third of the possession in the second half. Their overall percentage for the match was just 41%.

33 – The number of tackles in the tournament made by Billy Twelvetrees, the highest by a back.

28 – The tally of tries scored after three rounds of the 2014 RBS Six Nations – one more than in last season’s championship at the same stage.

18 – Seconds left on the clock when Duncan Weir swung his leg and struck Scotland’s match-winning drop goal against Italy.

11 – Danny Care’s points scored, the most by a player who is not his team’s designated kicker. The England scrum-half has scored in each game, crossing for a try and slotting two drop goals.

8 – A first Scotland victory in Rome in eight years.

4 – The number of scrums England lost at Twickenham. They won five, while Ireland won all nine of their put-ins. Maybe the game isn’t won or lost up front!

3 – Yellow cards in Cardiff flourished by referee Alain Rolland. He sent Nicolas Mas, Gethin Jenkins & Louis Picamoles to the sin bin in the second half.

1 – The margin by which Scotland claimed their first win on the road in the Championship since beating Ireland in 2010.

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