Six Nations: Ireland unbeaten, France upset by England and Italy dominates Wales in round 2

LONDON (AP) — The Grand Slam is on for Ireland after riveting second round of Six Nations rugby.

Only Ireland remains unbeaten after it swatted aside Scotland 32-18 at Murrayfield on Sunday.

England came into title contention by shocking France 26-25 at Twickenham on Saturday night.

The wooden spoon was probably decided in rainy Rome when Italy defeated Wales in successive matches for the first time.

Here's the AP's takeaways from the second round.

Annual talk of this being the best Scotland side in years made Ireland regard their match at Murrayfield as a potential banana skin. Flyhalf Sam Prendergast, playing away from Dublin for the first time, spoke about how emotional the anthems were and how keyed up the packed Murrayfield crowd was. That was snuffed out swiftly. Within 30 minutes, Ireland charged into a 17-0 lead with two converted tries. Two more were denied by being held up over the line. The Scots were smashed and two of their best backs, Finn Russell and Darcy Graham, collided heads and had to leave the field. The Irish played like they were going for their first win over Scotland, not their 11th in succession. Their ruthless efficiency was apparent in the stats. Scotland had more ball, carried 200 more meters, forced 80 more tackles and broke more tackles but it made no difference. The final score flattered Scotland and took the air out of another hyped Six Nations title bid. “There is a feeling of satisfaction after that one," Ireland captain Caelan Doris said. The defending two-time champion Irish travel to Wales in two weeks, and two weeks after that France visits Dublin in the probable title decider.

The roar at Twickenham that greeted England's stunning upset of France was also the release of 11 months of frustration. England had lost seven straight to traditional foes and blown leads against New Zealand (three times), France and Australia. So, to English rugby fans, when France scored to lead 25-19 with less than five minutes remaining, in the words of baseball immortal Yogi Berra, it was deja vu all over again. But England didn't fall apart this time. It rallied the old-fashioned way. Ben Earl jackaled Thomas Ramos and was followed by a penalty, a lineout, a maul and a slick backline move. Center Ollie Lawrence was the first receiver, flyhalf Fin Smith took the backdoor pass, and Elliot Daly, on the field for four minutes, swung off his wing into a big midfield hole just 10 meters from the try-line. While France threw away its advantage, England had demons to overcome to still go and take the game. It was a breakthrough night for England's closing-time confidence, its much maligned bench, and starting a more conventional flyhalf.

Marcus Smith was a Lion after his second England cap. He apprenticed for three years behind Owen Farrell and George Ford and the England 10 jersey was finally his on the June 2024 tour of Japan and New Zealand. But after eight tests, seven of them losses, he may be second choice again after Fin Smith's winning performance against France in his first test start. Fin paid his dues. He made his Premiership debut at age 17 and lost his first 10 matches. The next year, Worcester folded and Northampton hired the Under-20 Six Nations Grand Slam winner. Fin helped the Saints win the Premiership last year. Picking Fin to start for England ahead of Marcus, who was moved to fullback, was a big call. But Fin is more of a traditional 10 than Marcus, taking the ball to the line and getting the centers more involved. He made early errors but nothing that cost England and he grew more comfortable. Fin showed good judgement, assisted in two tries and kicked his two conversions including the match-winner. “This,” he said, “is cool for a first start.”

During the 2022 Six Nations, tournament organizers sent out a statement rejecting rumors of perennial struggler Italy being replaced by world champion South Africa. Just a month later, Italy famously beat Wales in Cardiff with a last-gasp converted try that ended a seven-year, 36-test losing streak in the tournament. Since then, an Italy team turned around by Kieran Crowley and blossoming under Gonzalo Quesada has become a respected, competitive threat. The Azzurri gave their most mature performance yet in beating Wales for the third time in four years. No last-minute heroics were needed in Rome. Italy led from the 20th minute. Given the uncommon tag of favorite, faced with unrelenting rain that limited attacking opportunities and a Wales lineup desperate amid a 13-test losing streak, Italy handled the pressure and outsmarted Wales. Among standout efforts by Giacomo Nicotera, Sebastian Negri, Martin Page-Relo, Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Allan, the brightest was No. 8 Lorenzo Cannone, who led everyone on the field in carries, meters carried, tackles, dominant tackles and defenders beaten. Two of his turnovers became penalties kicked between the posts by Allan. Cannone said, “The final result speaks for us.”

In the only matchup of Lions countries, the Irish pack hammered the Scots so skillfully that rookie flyhalf Sam Prendergast seemed to have plenty of time to make a lot of good choices. He was voted player of the match. Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe also enjoyed a ride from the graft given by the likes of Caelan Doris, who put in a captain's shift of a team-leading 10 carries and 80 meters plus 17 tackles. Even the supposedly fading Peter O'Mahony made a second-best nine valuable carries and two turnovers in his 51 minutes. Also, loosehead prop Andrew Porter, picked for the 2021 Lions but injured before the tour, shaded opposite and 2021 Lion Zander Fagerson, and even added a chargedown. Scotland co-captain Rory Darge had 17 tackles but he also was subsumed by Ireland's supremacy. At Twickenham, Tom Curry was a workhorse again on both sides of the ball, and with Ben Earl on his shoulder.

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Ireland's Caelan Doris celebrates after scoring a try during the Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Ireland's Caelan Doris is tackled by Scotland's Rory Darge during the Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Italy's Lorenzo Cannone, center, is tackled by defenders during the Six Nations rugby union match between Italy and Wales at the Olympic Stadium in Roma, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

England's Fin Smith, top right, celebrates with England's Alex Mitchell after their team won the Six Nations rugby union match between England and France at Twickenham in London, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

England's Elliot Daly dives to score a try despite the tackle of France's Antoine Dupont during the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham, London, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Ireland's Sam Prendergast in action during the Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Right after Sunday worship at St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, Juan Carlos Toapanta lay in a lounge chair set up by the altar, needles sticking out of his forehead, wrist and foot for an hourlong acupuncture session.

“Just like the Lord’s light helps emotionally, the body’s pain is treated as well,” said the Ecuadorian construction worker, who suffers from sciatica and has worshipped at the Minneapolis church for about five months. “Everything feels freed, emotionally.”

Founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 19th century, the church is now a predominantly Latino congregation. Like most other churches in the U.S. that serve migrants, it has expanded its humanitarian, financial, legal and pastoral ministries during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

It has also added monthly well-being sessions — at no charge — with acupuncture, Reiki and cupping therapy to ease the stress that uncertainty and fear have sown among the migrant community — including people in the U.S. illegally and U.S.-born citizens in mixed-status families.

“We have to feel well to respond well, not with panic and fear, which leads to nothing good,” said Lizete Vega, who has spearheaded the well-being efforts as the church’s Latino outreach coordinator. “People here feel that they’re protected and can be cared for spiritually, emotionally and physically.”

Faith leaders have increasingly found themselves called to help their congregations with mental health concerns, from chaplains in the U.S. Navy to pastors in the rural heartland.

Some see the need to provide reassurance and well-being as a growing part of their ministry to migrants, even as revised federal immigration guidelines now provide more leeway for enforcement in or near houses of worship.

“It was as if they were able to exhale a big breath,” the Rev. Hierald Osorto said of the 30 congregants who signed up for the first well-being session in March at St. Paul’s, where an outdoor mural features two traditional Swedish Dala horses between the Spanish words “sanación” (healing) and “resiliencia” (resilience).

After last Sunday’s worship, the altar table and Easter lilies were moved to make room for seven acupuncture chairs, arranged in a circle facing the central cross. Three massage tables were set up in front of the pews for the Reiki treatment, where practitioners hold their hands on or near the body’s energy centers.

“To see this space be quite literally a place of healing, in the place where we talk about it right at the altar, it moved me to tears,” Osorto said.

Wellness practitioners and mental health clinicians say anxiety and depression among those they serve in migrant communities have spread and intensified this year.

Already, migrants often arrive with severe trauma from violence they fled in their home countries as well as attacks along cartel-controlled routes to and through the U.S. border.

Women in particular often suffer sexual violence on the journey. For many, the fear that they or someone in their families might be deported is revictimizing. That makes it imperative that “safe places” exist where they can focus on wellness, said Noeline Maldonado, executive director of The Healing Center, which helps domestic and sexual violence victims in Brooklyn, New York.

Sessions that promote grounding and mindfulness are necessary to cope with the stress of both immediate crises as well as long-term unpredictability as immigration policies shift.

“Uncertainty is the biggest thing,” said Cheryl Aguilar, director of Hope Center for Wellness in the Washington, D.C., area, which has partnered with churches to provide mental health programs.

Being in community and cultivating hope is crucial because many people are responding to fear with rising anxiety, traumatic symptoms and isolation, all of which can have lasting consequences, Aguilar added.

“It’s nonstop work, nonstop fear,” said Sarah Howell, a clinical social worker in Houston with more than a decade of experience in migration-related trauma. “Every issue seems bigger.”

Howell said many of her clients in Texas are realizing they can’t live in a state of constant alarm, and the respite that wellness programs can bring becomes essential.

“People feel hopeless, but they have to keep fighting,” said Guadalupe Gonzalez, one of the bilingual Reiki practitioners whose organization, Odigo Wellness, partnered with St. Paul's in Minneapolis to offer the sessions.

She said she had some doubts about offering these healing practices inside a church — a large space with light flooding in and people moving through.

“But the sanctuary has a very nice, very positive energy,” Gonzalez said. “As practitioners we feel a lot of emotions.”

Several congregants who attended last Sunday’s two-hour wellness session said they felt both the energy and the connection between these healing practices and faith.

Martha Dominguez came bouncing down the altar steps after an acupuncture session. Grinning, she said she had never imagined a church would offer these kinds of “benefits.”

“Yes, it helps so much,” said the Mexican immigrant. “It takes the stress away from you.”

Limber Saliero, a roofer from Ecuador who has been worshipping at St. Paul’s for five years, said he had never heard of acupuncture but decided to try it.

“I felt like an energy that was flowing into me,” he said.

Vanessa Arcos tried acupuncture with her sister and her father, while her mother got a Reiki treatment. The family started attending the church the week they arrived in Minnesota from their home state of Guerrero, Mexico, almost a decade ago.

Lying in the lounge chair next to a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Arcos said she overcame her fear of needles and found the treatment relaxing for both muscles and mind.

“It felt very peaceful, very safe,” Arcos said. “It’s important to do little things for yourself.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Spring blossoms bloom on a tree next to the entrance of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, a congregation founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 19th century that has started offering wellness programs in its sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Congregants of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church receive acupuncture treatments in the sanctuary after worship during a wellness program the church started as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Guadalupe Gonzalez performs a Reiki treatment as Limber Saliero, background right, undergoes an acupuncture session in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness programs as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Martha Dominguez receives an acupuncture treatment in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Juan Carlos Toapanta, foreground, and Martha Dominguez, background, receive acupuncture treatments in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Acupuncturist Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas starts a treatment at St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which holds wellness sessions after Sunday worship in the sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

The Rev. Hierald Osorto speaks to the congregation of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which holds wellness sessions after Sunday worship in the sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Juan Carlos Toapanta receives an acupuncture treatment in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Guadalupe Gonzalez, foreground center, and two other practitioners perform Reiki treatments in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, where congregant Lizete Vega, left, helped organize wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Marakah Mancini de León performs a Reiki treatment near a sign in Spanish reading, “Christ is risen,” in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)