FRANCE AND England sit atop the Six Nations table. The natural order is being restored. All is right with the world in the BBC and France Television and all roads lead to Stade de France on Saturday, March 20th, in the putative title showdown.

In the fallout from round two and another fairly compelling weekend in the championship, the English media may not be jumping aboard Martin Johnson’s chariot just yet, but they will be if they beat Ireland next Saturday week and Scotland away to set up a Slam tilt in Paris.

The French, too, will expect nothing less now than a win in Cardiff on Friday week before concluding home games against Italy and England six days apart.

It’s been noticeable how much perceptions of Ireland have changed with their success. No more talk of the Irish spirit or those plucky boys in green. Instead, the observations coming from the French camp especially have been less than generous. They could do well to learn from Declan Kidney and co in how to take defeat on the chin, in public at any rate.

Instead, Marc Lièvremont hasn’t stopped bleating about Nigel Owens’s penalty tally at Croke Park a year ago, and on foot of Ireland’s Grand Slam described their rugby as boring and constituting a backward step for the game.

In the build-up to last week’s re-match, Morgan Parra attributed Ireland’s success largely down to cheating. So now it’s the cheating Irish rather than the fighting Irish. Oh well, at least it’s a form of respect instead of the old patronising guff. Perhaps this is a little like how they treat the English.

It’s as if Ireland had no right to beat them or complete the Slam last year.

Similarly, the cross-channel reaction to Ireland’s defeat has been to put the boot in. More lengthy diatribes about the “cheating Irish”, or at any rate “a horribly undisciplined side”; the extraordinary opprobrium dished out to Jerry Flannery (admittedly on this side of the water too) and the scarcely concealed glee that an era may be ending.

For Ireland, the encounter at Twickenham is now the pivotal game of the championship. It was always likely to be. The odds always suggested a defeat in Paris, but the scale of that defeat has made the England game the acid test of the squad’s mental resolve.

Ultimately, the game at Twickenham in a fortnight will probably determine whether this is a good or bad Irish campaign.

A side, such as the Italians, who are more used to losing, will simply dust themselves off and go again. Only the crestfallen Andy Robinson has a tougher task reviving his injury-bedevilled and mentally bedraggled Scottish troops after their emotional rollercoaster of a ride from victory to defeat in Cardiff.

Costly sinbinnings and the points that have been accrued in the ensuing minutes have been a recurring theme of the opening two weekends.

Scott Lawson was cold to the fray when he committed an ill-advised tug at Richie Rees after repeated warnings from George Clancy, and Phil Godman’s trailing leg clearly caught Lee Byrne. It’s up to the officials to decide whether the offence was deliberate, and, as last man standing, or jumping, Godman had to go.

Even after Stephen Jones had drawn the sides level, Clancy was correct to allow the game to restart.

In one of the game’s rules loopholes, the Scots could have opted to kick the restart dead to seal the draw, but Robinson’s attempts to relay that message to his players failed.

In ways, Wales’ comeback – like their failed attempts to do so against England on the opening Saturday or Ireland’s efforts in Paris – merely showed how difficult it is to come from behind in modern-day rugby. More than half of last season’s 15 games were won by the team which had less possession.

Once ahead, a team can play territory and shut up shop more easily.

Working off Rees’s quicker service in the second half, and with Stephen Jones pulling the strings, Wales’ exceptional array of game-breakers pulled every sinew.

But they only pulled it off after the Scots lost two backs through injury in the first half and another late on, as well as the two yellow cards, leading to a scrumhalf on one wing and a flanker on the other.

Wales would actually have been kicking themselves if they hadn’t turned the last play into a match-winning try.

The net effect is that Wales and France, in that order, are the big psychological winners of the weekend – even allowing for Andy Powell’s late-night golf-carting. To complete such a wondrous comeback will do more for morale in the Welsh camp over the next two weekends than a 60-pointer.

By contrast, even the French delight could be a double-edged sword. History is littered with such examples as beating the All Blacks in their Cardiff World Cup quarter-final and losing to England a week later.

Take last year.

Two weeks after their lap of honour when beating Wales in Paris, they were 29-0 down at half-time in Twickenham. Admittedly, Lièvrement looks like picking largely the same squad but for injury, which is a signal of intent.

England were again nothing less than grim against Italy, though it’s also worth noting that a fortnight after they won by four points in Rome two years ago, they went to Paris and beat the French 24-13.

That’s the thing about the Six Nations, and there are a few more twists and turns ahead before the dream grand finale comes to pass.

PS: A word on that disastrous Stade de France pitch. Home to football and rugby World Cup finals, it’s usually never less than dreadful.

A host of Irish backs slipped on the cut-up surface, which may suggest they didn’t have the right studs, but so too did Clement Poitrenaud, and it must at least have been partly to blame for Rob Kearney’s injury as he attempted to turn back inside and his right foot caught in the grass.