It was not always beautiful but England outplayed France on Saturday, strangling the home team's flair and proving that patience and experience can be greater assets than pace and promise. France were naive to think that they could run at England from inside their own 22. It may have worked against Scotland and Ireland but England had done their homework; the drift defence smothered the France wings. If only England had had a decent lineout, they could have won by much more. So, inevitably - and much as it hurts me as a Frenchman - my first golden moment of the weekend goes to England.

Richard Wigglesworth's try

England's first try, by Paul Sackey, came from a magnificent, crunching tackle by Jamie Noon, but was perhaps a touch fortunate. There was nothing lucky about Wigglesworth's conclusive try. It showed what can happen when you know your strengths and have the patience to wait for your chance.

As I said in my column on Saturday, England have the power to take on France up close; pick and go, pick and go. It was tiring to defend against and gradually the chance came for the scrum half. As the director of rugby at Sale Sharks, I was delighted that one of my young players had scored his first international try, although the France prop who failed to tackle him, Lionel Faure, also plays for Sale.

As well as getting points for England, the inch-by-inch tactic was cunning because it ate up a lot of time, which could have proved the difference even if he hadn't scored.

Rob Kearney's try for Ireland

A try by one of Ireland's new kids, created by three of their veterans. Geordan Murphy made an excellent catch, then Ronan O'Gara opened up the Scotland defence before passing to Brian O'Driscoll. The Ireland captain took the ball one-handed, made ground and then audaciously passed some 30 metres to the left wing, who had a straightforward run in. It was the sort of pass you can only try against an opponent low on confidence.

Shane Williams's second try for Wales

Williams is not a big wing but he has lots of pace, lots of skill and two twinkling feet. His second try against Italy was not crucial for Wales but he showed fantastic vision to dance through the gaps and score his 39th try for Wales. It puts him one behind Gareth Thomas's record and as Wales continue their hunt for the grand slam, few would bet against him getting the record next month.