After the failure of Bazball – ending in England’s dismal capitulation on the cricket fields of India – let us give thanks for the emergence of Borthball in front of the Twickenham faithful. And it certainly was much needed: Steve Borthwick’s England rugby team had apparently been trying to convince us that they really weren’t very good at the game before donning Superman cloaks last Saturday to give a classic fooled-you performance against Ireland’s dogged champions. Playing fearlessly with speed, adventure and aggression, this young(ish) England side produced one of the greatest games of the century.

Playing with speed and aggression, this England side produced one of the greatest games of the century

Just as our love affair with the sport was beginning to cool, along came two games to remind us that on its day rugby union can be the most exciting sport on the planet. England put in their best performance against Ireland, the world’s top-ranked side, since the demolition of the All Blacks in the World Cup semi-final in 2019.

It was arguably even better than that, given the patchiness of the past few years. They played with an attacking brio throughout and an ice-cold control in the final two minutes, leading to Marcus Smith’s dropped goal. A spicy little verbal skirmish at half-time between Borthwick and his opposite number Andy Farrell showed there’s much more to the England coach than spreadsheets, data and box kicking stats. He is using bright young players like the massive lock George Martin, 22, and the brilliant 21-year-old winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who is destined for a bright future in medicine if his surgical skills are anything like his rugby.

Meanwhile, is there anyone not enjoying the rise of Italy? What a massive shot in the arm they are to the Six Nations: they thoroughly deserved their win against Scotland and would have beaten France a couple of weeks ago if Paolo Garbisi’s last-minute kick at goal had not hit the post. Louis Lynagh, son of the legendary Aussie fly-half Michael, lined up with the Azzurri – he has an Italian mother – and scored a brilliant try on his debut. A dynasty of rugby royalty in the making. Now Italy are real opponents to be feared and Wales won’t get a free pass on Saturday in Cardiff. This game really matters: if Wales lose they will claim their first wooden spoon since 2003.

The fall of Wales is pretty grim unless they can find some hulks to beef up their forwards. Next year they have three away games which won’t be pretty. They were swept aside at the weekend by a brutal French pack, almost 70kg heavier than the Welsh. The highlight of the game was a sublime 40 metre reverse pass from France’s reserve scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, who is after all only a stand-in for the mighty Antoine Dupont. I am sure Le Garrec didn’t have a clue where it was going but how exciting to see a young player willing to chance his arm like that. It was quite remarkable, unlike the Welsh performance. They looked like a team of schoolboys at the end, and only the poor French defence kept them in the game long after they should have been buried.

But back to Bazball. It only works if you’re good. Is this England team starting to fade? Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and possibly even Ben Stokes aren’t what they were. Bazball was probably never going to work against India in India, but England have Tests against the West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer, so there should be some more mileage in it yet. England certainly need some more bowling. Jimmy Anderson has smashed the 700-wicket record but is really getting on a bit now; Mark Wood can’t seem to keep going; and Ollie Robinson looks like someone who has spent most of the off-season relaxing with his golf influencer (no, me neither) girlfriend.