Ireland and England Named Big Winners of Busy Rugby Weekend

Ireland and England have been named the big winners of a crowded weekend of international rugby, according to The Guardian's Breakdown column. The column looked back over a run of Test matches, the full-strength games between national teams, played across Europe and the southern hemisphere.

Ireland kicked things off on the Friday night, when they played Argentina in a match shown live on ITV. England followed on the Sunday with a game against Australia.

The weekend began in the south of the globe and the results made plenty of noise. South Africa were 45-0 ahead of Italy at half-time, the break halfway through the 80 minutes. That is a lead that can build quickly in rugby, where a team that keeps the ball for long spells can pile on points in a short space of time.

Scotland hosted New Zealand at Murrayfield, the national stadium in Edinburgh, on the Saturday. Finn Russell, the fly-half who directs his side's attacking play from the number 10 shirt, was taken off early in that match. Wales took on Japan in Cardiff, and France played Fiji in Lyon.

In the French Top 14, the country's top club competition, Vannes beat Bordeaux over the same weekend. Club and international rugby run side by side in France, so the league results add to the picture of a busy few days for the game there.

Looking ahead, France and South Africa are due to meet in Paris on Friday, 13 November. It will be a chance for both sides to test themselves again, with the Breakdown column's verdict on who had the better weekend.

For readers new to the sport, the key thing to know is that a rugby result is rarely decided by one moment. Half-time scores can look dramatic, but the second half often tells a different story, as tired players, changes and the set pieces (the scrums and lineouts that restart play) all shape the final outcome. Next weekend's results will show whether the winners of this round can keep their momentum going.