Third weekend of Six Nations saw an influx of Scots to Rome

The third installment of the annual Six Nations rugby tournament began on the night of Friday 21 February when Wales beat France in a convincing 27-6 defeat in Cardiff.

The next day Rome was a sea of kilts as thousands of Scottish rugby fans descended on a sunny Stadio Olimpico to face Italy. Scotland beat their hosts by the narrowest of margins after a last-minute drop goal by Duncan Weir sealed a Scottish victory of 21-20, leaving Italy staring at the dreaded "wooden spoon". However 24 hours later the Italian women's team took revenge by beating England 45-5 at Rome's Stadio Parco Urbano.

Arguably the biggest match of the weekend took place at Twickenham later on 22 February when England beat Ireland 13-10 in a thrilling dislay of rugby which ended Ireland's hopes of a Triple Crown.

In the tournament's second stage earlier in February Ireland hammered Wales 26-3 in Dublin, followed by England's unequivocal 20-0 victory over Scotland in Murrayfield, and France's 30-10 defeat over Italy in Paris. In the opening round at the beginning of February, Wales beat Italy 23-15 in Cardiff; France beat England 26-24 in Paris, and Ireland beat Scotland 28-6 in Dublin.

The next round of matches begins on 8 March when the Azzuri head to Dublin's Aviva Stadium to face Ireland. This is followed with the Scotland-France game in Murrayfield while the next day Wales meets England in Twickenham.

Currently Ireland is top of the league table, followed by England, Wales, France and Scotland, with Italy in bottom place.