Six Nations takeaways: Scotland amazes, England grounded, France rolling in round two

LONDON (AP) — Only France is chasing a Six Nations grand slam after two rounds.

The defending champion inflicted the latest record defeat against hapless Wales by 54-12 in Cardiff on Sunday. France’s highest ever score against Wales was also Wales’ 13th consecutive defeat in the tournament.

England’s 12-test winning streak was ambushed by Scotland 31-20 at a raucous Murrayfield, and Ireland was fortunate to hold out Italy 20-13 in Dublin.

Here's the AP’s takeaways from round two.

That's the question after the Scots knocked over England for the fifth time in six matches. Scotland has a template for success after a rare, 80-minute display of destructive genius. But supporters are too pragmatic, and have suffered too many false dawns, to believe their side will contend for a championship they last won in 1999. The previous wins against England under Gregor Townsend netted Six Nations finishes of just third, fourth, fourth, third, fourth. Scotland's inconsistency is notorious, a reputation Townsend hasn't fixed in nine years as the coach. The Scots perform better when they are the hunted and not the hunter, and sheltered in Murrayfield. That was clear when they were humbled by underdog Italy 18-15 in Rome in the opening round. The target is on Scotland's back again. The rest of the schedule is Wales away, France at home, and Ireland away. If, as Townsend suggests, beating England has saved Scotland's year then that's all observers need to know about how bad Scotland's years are.

England got a reality check from Scotland. England thought it had the confidence and strength forged in a yearlong winning streak to finally crack Scotland at Murrayfield for the first time since 2020. But Scotland was too amped up, too persistent and too long (30 minutes) with a man advantage for England to handle. England gave Scotland a 14-0 start. England gave New Zealand a 12-0 start in November and overturned that on George Ford drop goals and a yellow card. But at Murrayfield, England’s ill-discipline and Ford were liabilities. While England’s grand slam drought was extended to 10 years, there was still a championship to be won. At the tournament launch last month, coach Steve Borthwick talked up the last-round clash with France in Paris as the title decider. Borthwick noted the trophy has been clinched on the last weekend for the last seven years, and for 17 years of the last 20. England still has to negotiate Ireland at home and Italy away.

The culling of Damian Penaud, Grégory Alldritt and Gaël Fickou — a combined 215 caps and 63 tries — overshadowed France's buildup to the Six Nations. But the veterans' value is fading the closer France gets to a second successive Six Nations championship. France is two for two for the first time since 2022 and the only unbeaten team after dicing and slicing Wales. Making France younger and faster has worked out so far. Captain Antoine Dupont started the tournament as the only player with 50-plus caps. He was joined in Cardiff by forwards Julien Marchand and Charles Ollivon, both of them try-scorers. But the lineup was notable for coach Fabien Galthié tapping more graduates of the recently successful under-20 side. Galthié was forced by injuries to pick a new midfield and chose Fabien Brau-Boirie (20, uncapped) to partner clubmate Émilien Gailleton (22, 11 caps) with backup from Noah Néné (21, uncapped). Everything clicked. Brau-Boirie and Gailleton both scored tries and Néné got 13 minutes off the bench. “I'm a bit tired, it was so fast-paced,” Brau-Boirie said. “With all these people, this score, my parents here … for a debut it was crazy. The try capped it all off.”

Even when Ireland wins, it feels like a loss. After taking a 36-14 thumping from France in the Paris opener, Ireland rebounded by edging Italy in Dublin. But all the plaudits went to Italy for being more exciting on the ball and seriously unlucky. And Italy led for only nine minutes around halftime. Most of the heat was aimed at flyhalf Sam Prendergast. Considered the better attacker among rivals Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne, he had an off day; kicked poorly including two fluffed conversion attempts, passed recklessly, and tackled passively. When he was replaced by Crowley at 10-10, the home crowd cheered. Crowley was notably praised by coach Andy Farrell and looks set to start against England at Twickenham next weekend. But it has to worry Farrell that more than two years after the retirement of Jonathan Sexton, nobody has managed to nail down the No. 10 jersey.

It wasn't that long ago that public sentiment, including Sam Warburton and Clive Woodward, was for dumping Italy from the Six Nations and giving Georgia a go or at least a playoff. Then speculation about South Africa replacing Italy became so loud that Six Nations organizers were prompted to deny any such plan. A month later, in 2022, Italy shocked defending champion Wales in Cardiff to end a 36-match, seven-year losing streak in the tournament. Italy has gone on to beat Wales twice more, Scotland twice, draw with France and suffer several agonizing near-misses, including Ireland at the weekend. Italy's attack was better and more exciting than Ireland's and the scrum was a smash hit. What Italy wasn't was more clinical. Michele Lamaro recalled how, when he first became captain in 2021, he was constantly asked to defend Italy's place in the tournament. The questions now are about Italy's growing threat. “It makes us proud to see how much the perception of the team has changed,” Lamaro said.

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Scotland's Huw Jones, right, celebrates scoring a try with teammates during the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and England in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Feb. 14, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a U.S. push for the denuclearization of North Korea an “anachronistic dream,” saying Sunday the North will steadily expand its nuclear arsenal in the face of U.S.-led threats.

The statement came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un, in his first visit to the country in seven years.

“The U.S. assertion to backbite the status of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state has no legally binding force and no one will be bound by the U.S. unilateral rhetoric,” said Kim's sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.

She dismissed as “false information” a U.S. announcement that President Donald Trump and Xi confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea in their summit in Beijing last month.

“Some officials in the United States have failed to wake from their escapist and anachronistic dream,” Kim Yo Jong said.

North Korea has been focusing on enlarging its nuclear arsenal since Kim Jong Un's high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say the North Korean leader wants an international recognition as a nuclear state so that he could demand lifting of international economic sanctions on North Korea.

During a visit to a new nuclear materials production plant last week, Kim Jong Un said North Korea would bolster the country’s nuclear forces “at an exponential rate.” On Sunday, North Korea's state media reported Kim Jong Un visited a weapons factory the previous day and called for increasing the country's missile production capacity 2.5 times under a five-year plan period.

In her statement, Kim Yo Jong accused the U.S. and South Korea of pushing for “ceaseless arms build-ups," saying her brother's push for “steadily beefing up the nuclear war deterrent for self-defense” is “an irreversible final conclusion to be carried out unconditionally.”

Analysts say Xi's visit to North Korea is largely meant to reassert China's influence over North Korea, whose foreign policy priority has shifted to Russia in recent years. They say Xi will likely refrain from directly raising the denuclearization issue and offer economic assistance programs during his meeting with Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has sent troops and conventional weapons to Russia to back its war efforts against Ukraine. South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korea has received economic and other assistance from Russia in return.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, visits a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

FILE - Kim Yo Jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 2, 2019. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)