Lions watch: England's Smiths shine, Scotland run rampant and Ireland falter in Six Nations round four

With the Six Nations Championship nearing its end, top players from Britain and Ireland need to seize the opportunity to showcase their abilities on the international stage before national team squads are announced. The varied performances of each team in this round have added more uncertainty to the players' chances of being selected for the national team.

For Ireland, it was a tough and frustrating weekend. They were defeated by a powerful French team in Dublin, while Scotland, after some tense moments, once again defeated Wales. England put on a strong performance at Twickenham, easily defeating Italy. They still have a chance to win the championship if Scotland can surprise them in Paris next week, and if they can overcome an increasingly desperate Wales in the heated atmosphere of Cardiff.

In this round of matches, the Scottish backline performed exceptionally well, although Wales was weaker and Scotland showed some slackness in the second half. But when the Scottish backs were firing on all cylinders in the first half, their performance was nothing short of astonishing. Led by Blair Kinghorn, arguably the best back in the British Isles, and a much-improved Finn Russell, the Scottish backs dwarfed their Celtic cousins. Quick passes, quick decision-making, and quick scoring made Scotland's first-half performance truly impressive.

Finn Russell once again demonstrated his prowess in the Scotland number 10 jersey, which seems to have made him a strong contender for the Lions' first-choice fly-half again. This looks even more likely considering Sam Prendergast's bewilderment in Dublin against an angry French team. The 22-year-old is a fine player, as he showed in the win against England, but some argue that he was promoted to the top job ahead of Munster's Jack Crowley too soon, and his lackluster performances in recent games seem to have proven that point. Given the excellent performance of England's 22-year-old fly-half, Fin Smith, who shone again against Italy, Prendergast's star seems to be fading.

A discordant cheer quickly echoed around Twickenham as Ollie Lawrence went down early in the game with a hamstring injury. The prodigal son and one of the world's most exciting players, Marcus Smith, peeled off his tracksuit in the London sunshine, ready to come on after just eight minutes. England never really seemed to know what to do with Smith's mercurial talent, so he was benched against Italy, with the talented and versatile Elliot Daly occupying his place at fullback. Given England's clear shift towards prioritizing running attacks in this game against Italy, it provided a perfect platform for Smith (Marcus) to showcase his brilliance. The versatile Daly moved to outside center and performed well, which did no harm to his tour hopes, but Smith shone both offensively and defensively.

Scotland's excellent performance was not limited to the backline. Jack Dempsey was outstanding at number 8 for Scotland, only narrowly missing out on our team of the week due to Caelan Doris's brilliance in Ireland's defeat. The Sydney-born former Waratah is putting his hand up for a return to his birthplace, carrying tirelessly into the Welsh and tackling strongly in defense. He was ably supported by his back-row partners Jamie Ritchie and lock Jonny Gray, and the ferocious attacking of props Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman, who went at Wales from the off. Of course, he will have to prove himself better than England's strong-performing back row if he wants to be selected.

Jac Morgan deserves better treatment. Before round four, Jac Morgan was the tournament's top tackler, showing the kind of courage that old Welsh forwards would have loved. Even Wales and Lions veteran Taulupe Faletau is forcing his way back into contention with some eye-catching runs, and he was perhaps a little unlucky to have his late try chalked off after the active back Blair Murray illegally jumped across the tackle. But his effort and work rate shone like anthracite in a coal dust-filled gloom, and this frankly awful Wales side, won plenty of turnovers and shamed many of his teammates. WillGriff John's sin-binning for a foot-up clear-out was typical of Wales's current plight, while Ben Thomas was perhaps lucky not to be shown a straight red card for an unprovoked gouge on Duhan van der Merwe's eye. Of course, former Wales youth international gymnast (yes, really) Dewi Lake was solid off the bench in his first appearance since 2022, and Cardiff lock Teddy Williams also did well as a replacement. Harlequins center Thomas did well for his try, as did Gloucester's Max Llewellyn, but both also had some very poor touches in the game, and the scoreline flattered Wales.

Coaches need reviewing too. Understandably, most of the focus is on the players during the Six Nations. But Lions coach Andy Farrell must also confirm his coaching team - one of his former Wigan teammates has already vigorously put his hand up. France defense coach Shaun Edwards told The Times that he would "swim to Australia" if the Lions came calling. It probably won't come to that, as his France side gave a shocking example in Dublin of how to shut a team down. Ireland's attack has been scintillating in this year's Six Nations - but for 70 minutes against France, they could find hardly any way through. Edwards is a former Great Britain Rugby League international, along with Farrell, who had a season playing for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League in 1989.

If the Lions were picked today... here's a possible lineup: 1. Pierre Schoeman (Scotland); 2. Dan Sheehan (Ireland); 3. Zander Fagerson (Scotland); 4. Maro Itoje (England) (Captain); 5. Jonny Gray (Scotland); 6. Tom Curry (England); 7. Jac Morgan (Wales); 8. Caelan Doris (Ireland); 9. Alex Mitchell (England); 10. Fin Smith (England); 11. Ollie Sleightholme (England); 12. Tom Jordan (Scotland); 13. Huw Jones (Scotland); 14. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland); 15. Blair Kinghorn (Scotland). Replacements: Jamie George (England), Will Stuart (England), Ollie Chessum (England), Jamie Ritchie (Scotland), Jack Dempsey (Scotland), Ben Earl (England), Finn Russell (Scotland), Marcus Smith (England).