Competitive nature of this competition just can’t be matched, keeping it completely compelling viewing

Duncan Smith

Super Saturday turned out to be a perfect reflection of the 2018 Six Nations Championship as a whole – compelling but not classic.

In the end the most straightforward match was the most eagerly anticipated as Ireland cantered to only a third Grand Slam in their history, drawing level with Scotland, and underlining their position as this year’s undisputed best team in the competition with a memorable win at Twickenham.

The other two games were downto-the-wire dogfights which underlined the competitiveness of a competition which remains the highlight of the annual rugby calendar.

No other tournament, not even the World Cup, comes close to an event drenched in more than a century of tradition and infused with further centuries of international rivalries.

Since the Five Nations became Six it has also been a competition to absorb new traditions in the 19 stagings since Italy’s entry, with the Super Saturday back-to-back triple-header feast to end the tournament being one. For the second year running the title had been secured in round four, but the Irish Grand Slam quest kept interest high.

You just wish the organisers would take the hint from the name and recognise that, when it comes to Six Nations games, Saturdays are indeed super, Sunday afternoons and Friday nights not so much. Next year, thankfully, all of Scotland’s games will be on the day which feels most suited to these occasions.

Another “new tradition” since 2000 has been the Rome trip, which has become one of the most popular away weekends with visiting fans. And so it was that thousands of Scots descended on the Eternal City as yet again the Italy-scotland game kicked off the day in what we chippily might perceive to be the lunchtime also-rans slot.

The hope is that Gregor Townsend’s swashbuckling, though still vulnerable, side are moving towards more box-office credentials – the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham will be the closing game next year.

That cause wasn’t helped by a stut-