1. Naughty boys do not make for bad rugby

Zero tolerance of the tip tackle is no obstacle to full-on entertainment. Bradley Davies had to look aggrieved – innocence is the default look of the penalised player – when he saw yellow for his off-the-ball tackle on Donnacha Ryan but he must have felt a tinge of relief it was not red. Wales conceded the try that might have cost them the game but then Stephen Ferris picked up Ian Evans by one leg, thumped him down and the tables were turned. Rugby remains a sport of physical contact where you have to tackle with care, not an easy combination to master. Still, it brought a cracking game to a rousing finale.

2. Goodbye Shane, hello Alex and George

Shane Williams was not the biggest wing in the world but he survived by avoiding tacklers and ducking under limbs. Now he has gone, Wales have Alex Cuthbert and George North, two players who duck out of nothing. The way North went through Fergus McFadden in the buildup to Jonathan Davies's second try was to underline the effect of power, although his backhanded pass to the centre was a nostalgic flash of subtler skills. North was immense but he dominates the rugby field in a different way, a monstrous 19-year-old who combines the size Williams never had with arts he did.

3. Scotland cannot score

This was nothing new but it hinted that the Scots are beyond being a coaching challenge. You can practise finishing off a two-on-one until you are blue in the shirt but nothing beats the real thing on the international stage, when time and space are compressed and the thinking processes strained by the occasion. Scotland continue to build up as well as anyone but finish gruesomely. And perhaps there is nothing Andy Robinson can do – it is his players' problem. If there is to be a victim, it may be Dan Parks. If you are picked as a kicker and do not kick well, it is worse than being a passer or finisher who can do neither. Sort of. But Scotland are in a pickle.

4. Italy-England could be the game of the next round

England have never lost to Italy in the Six Nations and the very thought of the newcomers rolling over the world champions of 2003 was once too ludicrous to contemplate. But Italy have been advancing all the while since 2000 while England show few signs of being on anything but a lurching road to recovery. Suddenly Italy-England is a battle of equals at the Olympic Stadium. It could be a coming-of-age moment for Italy, the crowning glory in the career of Sergio Parisse but still a little embarrassing for England.

5. French coaches – a full range of the humours

Philippe Saint-André has put a smile back on the face of France, Jacques Brunel has obviously given Italy a new sense of adventure and Marc Lièvremont has his book coming out on Thursday in France, a tome of sadness over bitterness, regret over anger. French rugby stirs the emotions as no other country's. New Zealand coaches rule the rational side of the game but France continue to be masters of making sport an extension of a more tragicomic condition.

6. The art of the TMO

It is not a role that stirs the juices like a referee or coach but it was a testing week for the television match official. There was a tricky one in Edinburgh and an awkward little customer in Dublin. But the job is made easier – or harder – by the question. Try, yes or no? Or, is there any reason not to award the try? The framing of a question is like the wording of a directive: they are meant to help but somehow the more rugby does to make itself easier to interpret and understand, the more it makes life difficult for those who have to make judgments. Rugby is made by its complexity and undone by it. Perhaps it just has to live with its contradictions.