The Stagcom 13th February Round Up
We were treated to one heck of a weekend in the world of sport. It was largely down to the Six Nations matches, which have without doubt lived up to their expectations, so far.
Here, we'll take you through everything that happened over the course of the weekend, which should help fill in any blanks you may have!
Superb Six Nations
England left it late, yet again, as they broke Welsh hearts at the Millennium Stadium, with a stunning late victory. A try from Elliot Daly, right at the death, gave England an unlikely victory which stretches their winning run to 16 matches.
Ben Youngs went over for an early try, but Wales responded with a dominant display; capped off by Liam Williams' try. A further 11 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny looked as if it had sealed a well-deserved victory for Wales, but then Daly went down in the left corner as the clock was ticking, to make it two wins from two for England.
Earlier on in the day, Ireland hammered Italy with a nine-try victory in Rome. Much of Ireland's dominance came from their superiority in the scrum, with the bonus point being secured by the 35th minute.
CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy helped themselves to hat-tricks, while Keith Early went over twice and a solitary try from Garry Ringrose.
Sunday's match saw Scotland put up a brave fight against France, but they were unable to win in Paris for the first time since 1999.
Stuart Hogg gave the Scots an early lead but Gael Fickou's try put the hots in the ascendency. Tim Swinson's second-half try regained the lead for Scotland but three penalties from Camille Lopez led France to a hard-fought victory.
Premier League
Aside from Chelsea's ten-point lead at the top, the other battles in the Premier League are incredibly tight!
Liverpool defeated Spurs on Saturday evening to move back into the top-four, thanks to a quick-fire brace from Sadio Mane in the first-half. The win puts Liverpool well in the hunt for Champions League football, and puts an end to any realistic chances Spurs had of challenging for the title.
Arsenal ended their two-match losing streak with a 2-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates. Alexis Sanchez gave the Gunners the lead in controversial fashion after clearly handballing the ball over the line, but the referee missed it. Sanchez secured the win at the death, with a penalty, after Sam Clucas handled on the line. Just two points now separate second and sixth in the Premier League.
The battle at the bottom of the Premier League intensified, with poor results for most. Sunderland were on the end of a damaging 4-0 defeat to Southampton at the Stadium of Light and Crystal Palace went down 1-0 to Stoke City.
Last season's champions, Leicester City, now sit just one point above the drop zone after a 2-0 defeat to relegation rivals Swansea City. Without a league goal in over ten hours and on a five-match losing run, it looks as though last season's champions are heading for the drop this time round.
New Skipper
Joe Root has been named as England's new Test captain, this morning. The Yorkshire batsman, was the firm favourite to replace Alastair Cook, who resigned last week after four years in the role.
Root steps up from his role as vice-captain, with Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes moving up to next in command. Since making his Test debut in December 2012, only India's Virat Kohli has scored more runs in international cricket than Root.
With limited overs the priority for England over the coming months, Root will not pick up the captaincy until the summer series against South Africa.
Image credits: Indy Sport, Premier League, BBC Sport, Evening Standard