What the Premier League could learn from ski racers

What we have learned in the past few weeks:

1) Don’t play rugby in a howling gale, even though for the Scots that was a balmy early spring day and they really should have beaten England — who, whisper it, are beginning to have a scrum-half problem. Dare we say that Willi Heinz needs more variety to his game? Not 57 different ones, but more breaks and switching direction of play would be welcome. Though I imagine he has heard that gag before.

2) England should scour inner-city schools for raw rugby talent. Ellis Genge, a star of last Saturday’s game, was raised on a Bristol housing estate and has a similar background to Kyle Sinckler, his fellow denizen of the front row. Genge’s put-down of England’s detractors — ‘You have a lot of sausages saying whatever comes into their heads’ — was, with his try, the silver lining to the angry clouds scudding across the Edinburgh sky.

3) Nicola Sturgeon should forget about Brexit and independence for the moment and turn her attention to the more pressing issue of reuniting Finn Russell and Gregor Townsend. From afar, they look like two good blokes who should have a drink together (though something soft might be wise).

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4) Have France changed all that much? After the first half against England, it looked as though they had. But there have been two second halves since then, and they have been unconvincing in both, especially against Italy. They should still

win the Six Nations, but not without losing one game.

5) Set, set and set yet again. How long was the clock actually running in the Ireland/Wales game while the two packs were setting for the scrums and generally arsing about? The amount of time the forwards wasted on absurd paramilitary jostling must have been getting on for eight minutes.