With the penultimate round of the Six Nations in the bag, players hoping to make the British and Irish Lions squad are beginning to run out of time to impress Warren Gatland and convince him that they warrant a place in his touring party.

Just one round of international fixtures remains, plus the domestic season run-in, before Gatland announces his squad on 19 April, meaning hopefuls have little over a month to earn their place, and two months to force their way into the starting XV for the first Test on 24 June.

Many of those players could well be Welsh, given they put in an impressive performance to power past Ireland 22-9 on Friday night under the lights in Cardiff. Three tries – two from George North and a third from Jamie Roberts – was enough to put away the Irish, who have seen their title hopes end with a whimper.

France followed that up by beating Italy comprehensively with a 40-18 victory, though the match will have no impact on the Lions squad, so all eyes turned to the Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham.

What had been expected to be a tight affair between an underperforming England and a rapidly improving Scotland proved anything but as the reigning champions thrashed the Scots 61-21 to retain their title, win both the Calcutta Cup and Triple Crown and set themselves up for a tilt at a second consecutive Grand Slam next weekend against Ireland.