T HE venerable and pre-eminent rugby union tournament that is the Six Nations has reached the final furlong with just one undefeated side but several pretenders to the throne.

All the talk leading to last Saturday’s match at Twickenham was the massacre that the Italian side were heading towards and whether they should be replaced by Georgia, or at least hold a play-off for their place.

The conversation changed as the Azzurri coaching team unleashed “ruckgate” upon a dismayed capacity crowd, expecting the Italians to go quietly to their allotted fate.