Blimey - just watched England, that was a stressful hour-or-so! At about 50mins, when Eng kept kicking the ball away, I felt the Scots were going to edge it, they just seemed to have all the momentum. And then Hogg almost repeats his grounding error - but at the other end
From then on, England seemed to moving the right way. Just.
I'm a bit baffled by the betting on these champs. Pre-tournament odds made sense. arguably:
England: 10-11 (15-8)
Ireland: 4-1 (9-1)
Wales: 6-1 (14-1)
France: 7-1 (18-1)
Scotland: 33-1 (100-1)
Italy: 1,000-1 (2,000-1)
But after England (and Scotland) lost, it went a bit mad:
England !
France !
Ireland
Wales
Sco
Italy
(can't find the exact numbers right now)
Now the odds seem more sane. Apart from the odds on a Welsh Grand Slam:
England 10/11 (Grand Slam winners 6/4)
Ireland 7/2 (Grand Slam winners 8/1)
Wales 5/1
(Grand Slam winners 12/1)
France 11/2 (Grand Slam winners 14/1)
Scotland 25/1 (Grand Slam winners 66/1)
Italy 1000/1 (Grand Slam winners 1000/1)
No Grand Slam winner 1/1.
Still, it's a fascinating year.
Even Wales aren't out of the running.