TWO tries from Elliot Daly and one for Jonny May were of little comfort to a struggling England team as the newly-crowned Six Nations champions Ireland wrapped up the Grand Slam with a 24-15 defeat of their hosts at Twickenham.

It left England fifth in the table and who would have thought that at the start of the competition?

We all have our own opinions and will, no doubt, be discussing them long into the end of this season.

Well done to the Wales team who clung on against France in Cardiff to win 14-13 and finish in second place.

Back to the local club scene and we head into the final five weeks of the 2017/18 season.

Redingensians Rams had a blank weekend and return to action this Saturday when they host fourth-placed National League 2 South rivals Taunton Titans at Old Bath Road (2.30pm). It should be a cracker and well worth nipping along for.

My boys Reading lost to our old town rivals Reading Abbey by one point on a horribly cold day at Rose Hill.

We dominated the scrums, but both sides had problems when the ball went wide. I am sure all the backs must have had hypothermia, so when they did get the ball, their hands didn’t work.

It was just one of those days, early kick-off, snow, wind – you name it, we had it!

Abbey dominated the first half and we were very disappointed with the result and really should have won this game. But that’s local derby rugby.

What also did not help us was two yellow cards during the game and both sides lost players to injuries which impacted them on the day.

Moving on and we head off to promotion-seeking Buckingham this Saturday, a side which has lost just two games all season.

It will be a tough one for the lads while, up there at Rose Hill, Reading Abbey take on 10th-placed Stow-on-the-Wold.

And, talking of Stow-on-the-Wold, last Saturday was an excellent one for Thatcham who clocked up a superb 29-12 win over Stow to keep themselves fifth in the table.

Meanwhile, near-neighbours Aldermaston also deserve a mention as they held unbeaten BB&O Championship leaders Risborough to a 13-13 draw at the Rec Soc.

In the same league, Berkshire Shire Hall unluckily lost out 19-17 at home to fifth in the table Phoenix.