Chris Ashton on Owen Farrell: “I’m sure he’s about 38, not 21. He’s playing well every week and his kicking’s outstanding. He’s more mature than me. But that isn’t saying very much.”

Scott Johnson offers a frank assessment of Scotland’s performance: “Forget the tries we scored, the reality is that we have to get this part right as it is an essential building block and we have to keep going back to that and then we can have an attractive team. We are not going to chase rainbows.”

Martin Castrogiovanni discusses Italy’s chances for the rest of the tournament: “We still have another four games to go, and I hope we keep playing like that. If we play like that, I think we can have a chance against any team.”

Leigh Halfpenny’s fighting talk ahead of Wales’ trip to Paris: “We’ll be written off beforehand, but that hardly matters. Wales have gone to Paris in the past as heavy underdogs and won. We have it in us to do the same, no question.”

Stuart Lancaster takes delight in Billy Twelvetrees’ debut: “I had a chat with him after the game and asked him if he enjoyed it and he said it was absolutely brilliant.

Philippe Saint-Andre bemoans France’s defeat to Italy: “We conceded two tries on turnovers and were not precise enough. When you aren’t precise enough in the Six Nations you are punished.”

Declan Kidney hopes Brian O’Driscoll never grows old: “The bottom line is you would love to have the guy around forever wouldn’t you? But if you look at the performance he put in, that is not easy on the body.”