MORE IN SIX NATIONS...

 

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FURTHER IN KICK-OFF

 

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*denotes uncapped players

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FRANCE 30 - 12 ITALY

Saturday 4 February Stade de France
KO 2.30pm CET HT: 15-6 Att: 79,563

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 33 Italy won: 2 France won: 31 Drawn: 0

THE first match of the RBS Six Nations did not disappoint with both France and Italy giving it their all. France were first to get on the scoreboard with an 11th minute penalty by Dimitri Yachvili but it was Italy who had the most of the possession. Numerous times the Italians battered the French defence but the homeside stood firm, leaving the Italians to fumble and squander opportunity. Eventually it was Kris Burton who drew things level again with a stunning drop goal which showed how classy the Italians could be. In fact, the match looked fairly even at this point, if not slightly in favour of the visitors. The French, however, were not to be out-done in style and Aurélien Rougerie did not disappoint, finding a gap in the Italian defence and surging through for the homeside’s first try. France had been a little jittery at the start, knocking on and over-throwing a few times but by the end of the first quarter they settled and created some excellent chances. Dimitri Yachvili slotted the conversion with ease and from this point onwards it was France’s game. Burton responded with a penalty, but no matter how strong the Italian scrum was, or how hard they attacked, the French defence stood firm as an impenetrable front. The visitors came close so many times and tried several different strategies to fool the French but it was to no avail. To add insult to injury, France then grabbed possession and stormed down field for a beautiful try from Julien Malzieu in the 34th minute. The Italians kept up the pressure until the break but already the homeside were slipping away from their opposition.

The second half was even worse for the visitors as they battled valiantly, only to see France rack up further points. The French began their attack once more and this time they were keen to have more possession, coming in strong at the breakdown to steal the ball on several occasions. However, the Italians still had one piece of play in which they dominated - the scrum. The French scrum had been poor in the first 40 minutes, but in the second they were pushed about by the powerful visiting pack. But in all other aspects of play the French were clearly superior; their maul was extremely effective, open play energetic and, at times, fancy with lovely loop balls and flicks. The Italians tried to fend off the homeside for as long as possible and Burton added another 3 points but, after 53 minutes of play, Vincent Clerc found the tryline after some clever open play by the French. Yachvili found the posts for his second successful conversion and all hope was lost for Italy. The Italians looked tired; continually being harassed by the French attacks had taken its toll, but they still had flurries of interest from time to time. France emptied their bench and Morgan Parra ran on to the pitch to a huge cheer from the home crowd. Italy kept their score ticking over with their replacement Tobias Botes, on for Burton, who knocked over their final penalty of the match. The situation worsened for Italy though as Quintin Geldenhuys saw a yellow card after pulling down a thundering French maul which was moving with pace towards the Italian line. But France were to have the last word when Wesley Fofana flew over for a 70th minute try on his debut. Parra missed the conversion, but it did not matter; the damage had been done long ago.

Despite being disappointed that it had begun with such optimism but in the end the scoreline was poor, the Italians can take solace that they put up admirable opposition to the team that made it to the Rugby World Cup final only three months ago. The Azzurri definitely continue to go from strength to strength on the world stage. France must take pride in their mostly clinical performance, and winning back the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, but certainly need to work on their scrum over the next week of training.

15 Maxime Médard 14 Vincent Clerc 13 Aurélien Rougerie 12 Wesley Fofana 11 Julien Malzieu 10 Francois Trinh-Duc 9 Dimitri Yachvili 1 Vincent Debaty 2 William Servat 3 Nicolas Mas 4 Pascal Papé 5 Lionel Nallet 6 THIERRY DUSAUTOIR [C] 7 Julien Bonnaire 8 Louis Picamoles BENCH: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux 18 Yoann Maestri 19 Imanol Harinordoquy 20 Morgan Parra 21 Lionel Beauxis 22 Maxime Mermoz

SCORERS T: Rougerie, Malzieu, Clerc, Fofana C: Yachvili (2) P: Yachvili (2)

15 Andrea Masi 14 Giovanbattista Venditti* 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Alberto Sgarbi 11 Luke Mclean 10 Kristopher Burton 9 Edoardo Gori 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] 7 Robert Barbieri 6 Alessandro Zanni 5 Quintin Geldenhuys 4 Cornelius Van Zyl 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 1 Andrea Lo Cicero BENCH: 16 Tommaso D’Apice 17 Lorenzo Cittadini 18 Marco Bortolami 19 Simone Favaro 20 Fabio Semenzato 21 Tobias Botes* 22 Gonzalo Canale

SCORERS P: Burton (2), Botes DG: Burton Quintin Geldenhuys

MAN OF THE MATCH: Julien Malzieu (France)

REFEREE:  Nigel Owens (WRU) Asst. Referees: Andrew Small (RFU),  John Lacey (IRFU) TMO: Graham Hughes (RFU)

 

 

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SCOTLAND 6 - 13 ENGLAND

Saturday 4 February Murrayfield
KO: 5pm GMT HT: 6-3 Att: 67,144

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 130 England won: 70 Scotland won: 42 Drawn: 18

ENGLAND had not won the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield since 2004 when Rugby World Cup winning coach, Sir Clive Woodward was still at the helm, and the forwards coach was a certain Andy Robinson. Scotland were coached by an Australian called Matt Williams who guided the nation through their worst record in the professional era.

Eight years on, Andy Robinson is now in charge of Scotland, and England is hoping to rise like a phoenix out of the proverbial fire of 2011. Under the tutelage of Interim Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster, the ‘new England’ began the journey with what can only be termed as true baptism of fire, having to face the Auld Enemy, where year after alternate year, England have returned home trophy-less from Scotland.

Whatever it is that Lancaster has empowered the team with, it is working. England may not have displayed finesse, flair and articulation, but for a side that was only named in the EPS 25 days earlier, and came together 13 days ago for the first time where half the team were new, they were impressive enough, displaying both discipline and promise as seven of Lancaster’s eight debutants earned their first international caps.

Sadly for Scotland, the score did not reflect the stats of 68% possession and 72% territory. England did not so much win as Scotland lost.

There was no score in the first quarter as young Owen Farrell missed his first goal kick on debut, though it was from 47m out. And England had obviously riled the Scots early on as a number of the pack piled into new captain, Chris Robshaw, ripping his shirt apart at the neck after they had already handed over another penalty. The next penalty came from Scotland at their own 22 and this time Farrell was not troubled by distance, taking the visitors into the lead. But the homeside quickly reciprocated with a penalty from the boot of Dan Parks minutes later, and on the half hour mark, the score was level at 3-all.

Next it was swan-diving sensation, Chris Ashton who handed a penalty to the opposition and Parks punished them by taking a 3 point lead which remained until half time. Up until the break, Scotland threw everything they had at England to gain territory, but the defence of the novice team held strong, not allowing the Scots to create any real opportunity to score. During the final 10 minutes of the first half, Scotland attacked more ferociously and looked to be more in control, but their efforts amounted to nothing.

At the start of the second half, Scotland came out with determination, and from the restart Parks attempted to clear England out of his own 22. But the charge down from Charlie Hodgson and chase was too quick a reaction for the Australian Scot and England had the try. Farrell converted and the Calcutta Cup was facing towards London again, England 4 points clear.

Calcutta Cup matches are not renowned for being pretty, and every year it appears the sides end up scrapping out a match rather than playing any eloquent rugby. This game was not to be any exception.

The outstanding player for Scotland so far –and eventually Man of the Match– was No. 8, David Denton earning just his second cap for his adopted country (Denton was born in Zimbabwe and brought up in PE, South Africa but his mother is from Glasgow), but just 5 minutes in he was hurtled into touch with an injury that looked show-stopping. Thanks to the medics, he was up and bouncing about causing no end of grief for England within a few minutes. Scotland were by now up to England’s 22 with possession, but a spectacular turnover allowed Ashton to charge down the line, off-loading to Hodgson who in turn passed out to Farrell, though a good tackle stopped him in his tracks.

Next it was winger David Strettle who caught the pass out wide after the ball was recycled, but another excellent tackle from Denton stopped him just short of the tryline. Heading towards the final quarter and both benches were progressively emptied with the exceptions of Graham Morrison and Rob Webber.

Ashton saved a try, and though Scotland won the lineout and had a scrum deep in England’s 22, Alex Corbisiero turned over the ball. Ben Youngs’ kick did not find touch and the brilliant Greig Laidlaw chipped, chased and threw himself over the tryline onto the ball. Unfortunately for him, Youngs was between him and the ground, and the TMO confirmed Laidlaw had not grounded the ball.

Time and again Scotland crossed the gain line and got so close to England’s whitewash, but each time they were thwarted by both the defence and their own ineptitude at finishing. A penalty kick at goal from halfway fell short for England, but they were still just ahead with 10 minutes to go, despite unnecessarily gifting penalties to Scotland.

Another missed opportunity for Scotland went by after Laidlaw cleared magnificently, and England were handed one more chance. Having missed two of three penalty kicks already, Farrell lined up his fourth from just outside the opposition 22, putting England 13-6 ahead.

Scotland’s only hope with just 5 minutes to go was a converted try to equalise. They even managed to get into England’s 22 yet again, but the visitors forced them back in the opposite direction. A Scottish penalty with 10 seconds on the clock was not enough for a lineout; England held out as the ball found touch and the Sassenachs were finally taking the Calcutta Cup home again.

15 Rory Lamont 14 Lee Jones* 13 Nick De Luca 12 Sean Lamont 11 Max Evans 10 Dan Parks 9 Chris Cusiter 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 ROSS FORD [C] 3 Euan Murray 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 Alasdair Strokosch 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Denton BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Geoff Cross 18 Alastair Kellock 19 John Barclay 20 Mike Blair 21 Greig Laidlaw 22 Graeme Morrison

SCORERS P: Parks

15 Ben Foden 14 Chris Ashton 13 Brad Barritt* 12 Owen Farrell* 11 David Strettle 10 Charlie Hodgson 9 Ben Youngs 1 Alex Corbisiero 2 Dylan Hartley 3 Dan Cole 4 Mouritz Botha 5 Tom Palmer 6 Tom Croft 7 CHRIS ROBSHAW [C] 8 Phil Dowson* BENCH: 16 Rob Webber* 17 Matt Stevens 18 Geoff Parling* 19 Ben Morgan* 20 Lee Dickson* 21 Jordan Turner-Hall* 22 Mike Brown

SCORERS T: Hodgson C: Farrell P: Farrell (2)

MAN OF THE MATCH: David Denton (Scotland)

REFEREE: George Clancy (IRFU) Asst. Referees: Romain Poite (FFR), Leighton  Hodges (WRU) TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)

 

 

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IRELAND vs WALES

Sunday 5 February Aviva Stadium
KO: 3pm GMT HT: 10-5 Att: 51.000

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 118 Wales won: 65 Ireland won: 47 Drawn: 6

MUCH like Wales’ last match that made the headlines for Sam Warburton’s dangerous tip tackle which earned him a deserved red card, this Celtic head-to-head will go down in history for almost the same reason, except there was no red card.

The match was end to end edge-of-seat action where the lead changed sides 7 times before the final controversial decision that handed Wales the win at the death.

Ireland had a better goal kicking percentage, Wales had a tad more territory and possession. Ireland fractionally made more successful tackles, Wales conceded one more penalty than Ireland. The homeside made more ground but the visitors more passes. It really was fairly even Stevens in this game that made it all the more interesting.

There were stand out players on both sides in Sexton and Halfpenny, but it was 19-year old George North winning his 16th cap at such a young age who was most excellent. But not for the first time, it was the poor quality of refereeing that spoiled the party, with Wayne Barnes again in charge.

Jonny Sexton landed his first penalty for Ireland just 3 minutes into the game. Wales retaliated with the first of many breaks from North, and though he was shut down, the recycled ball was carried over the tryline in the 7th minute. Unfortunately for the visitors, too many bodies hid what actually occurred on the ground, and the TMO had to rule inconclusive try, awarding a 5m scrum to Wales. Sexton cleared after the Welsh pack went too early and Stephen Ferris stole the lineout ball to clear the opposition back.

Finally in the 13th minute, good work from Rhys Priestland put the new improved model of Jonathan Davies over for a clear try that neither the ref nor the touch judge was aware enough to see, so again the TMO had to pass judgement on the unquestionable try. But Priestland failed to convert as the ball bounced off the upright, quickly followed by a penalty which followed the same rebounding path.

Wales appeared to have two Achilles heels in Priestland’s boot and the Irish stealing lineout ball. But Ireland continually managed to lose possession as quickly as they stole it. By the half hour mark, Ireland were playing advantage, so when Sexton’s drop goal went awry, he had the chance to pull clear again, but again he could not find his target.

Before the half ended, Ireland had a number of opportunities to score that were hampered by Welsh defence until finally Tommy Bowe made the play allowing prop Rory Best to hurtle over the tryline for an Irish try. Sexton converted and Ireland went into the break 10-5 up.

Welsh captain Sam Warburton did not return to the field in the second half suffering a dead leg, replaced by Justin Tipuric, and James Hook came one for Alex Cuthbert. The captaincy fell to Ryan Jones, and just 2 minutes in, Wales handed over another penalty artistically punished by Sexton’s boot as the ball curled inside the upright. Sadly, some fans thought it was amusing to make animal calls at Sexton, which continued each time he tee’d up the ball, but thankfully this did not put him off his game.

The Welsh lineout improved, and a churlish penalty from Ireland allowed the talented Leigh Halfpenny to narrow the gap. And almost immediately, North set up Jonathan Davies for a second try. Ireland’s tackling was atrocious, and Halfpenny’s boot allowed the Welsh to take the lead once more.

The Irish ferociously attacked the Welsh 22, forced a penalty and Sexton took the homeside back in front by a point just as the game headed into the final quarter.

No sooner had Donnacha Ryan replaced Donncha O’Callaghan, completely off the ball, Bradley Davies dangerously tip-tackled Ryan dumping him on his head with serious intent. As Bradley huffed and puffed at his yellow card and 10 minute rest, the replays were not even required for everyone to understand that the referee’s call was completely wrong and Davies should have been red carded.

With Wales down to 14 men, Ireland took advantage and Tommy Bowe charged over in the corner for a try. Sexton’s conversion floated across the posts leaving Wales within a converted try at 21-15.

The Irish bench began to deplete, and Sexton tee’d up for another huge penalty from inside his own half. The ball had the distance but not accuracy as it fell wide. The tackles from the Irish side continued to be very poor at crucial moments and North charged through three defenders to score in the corner. Both the ref and the touch judge were right on the scene, but more lack of any conviction passed the buck to the TMO, again, who of course awarded it. Halfpenny missed the conversion.

Ronan O’Gara replaced Sexton in the 77th minute in time for the restart, and Wales were back up to a full complement of XV. With a minute to go, Ian Evans had the ball inside the Irish 10m line when Ferris tackled him, barely lifting him a foot off the ground, and definitely not enough for the referee to make a split second decision on giving him a yellow card. Even Evans laughed and patted Ferris on the head implying he knew full well that it was unwarranted. But it was enough for Halfpenny to take the penalty and edge Wales ahead to 23-21.

The inconsistency of the referee continues to hamper good rugby, and must be addressed by the IRB as a matter of urgency before another Sam Warburton or Bradley Davies actually seriously causes damage to a player.

And even more bizarrely, RTÉ awarded Mike Philips Man of the Match over the brilliant George North.

15 Rob Kearney 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Fergus McFadden† 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Conor Murray 1 Cian Healy 2 Rory Best 3 Mike Ross 4 Donncha O'Callaghan 5 Paul O'Connell [C] 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Sean O'Brien 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Tom Court 18 Donnacha Ryan 19 Peter O’Mahony* 20 Eoin Reddan 21 Ronan O'Gara 22 Dave Kearney

SCORERS T: Best, Bowe C: Sexton P: Sexton (3) Stephen Ferris

15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Michael Phillips 2 Rhys Gill 2 Huw Bennett 3 Adam Jones 4 Bradley Davies 5 Ian Evans 6 Ryan Jones 7 SAM WARBURTON [C] 8 Toby Faletau 16 Ken Owens 17 Paul James 18 Andy Powell 19 Justin Tipuric 20 Lloyd Williams 21 James Hook 22 Scott Williams

SCORERS T: J Davies (2), North C: Halfpenny P: Halfpenny (2) Bradley Davies

MAN OF THE MATCH: Mike Philips (Wales)

REFEREE: Wayne Barnes (RFU) Asst. Referees: Dave Pearson (RFU), Stuart Terheege (RFU) TMO: Geoff Warren (RFU)

†Keith Earls forced to withdraw this weekend due to family emergency

 

 

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ITALY 15 - 19 ENGLAND

Saturday 11 February Stadio Olimpico, Rome
KO: 17:00 CET HT: 12-6 Att: 53,700

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 19 England won: 18 Italy won: 0 Drawn: 1

DESPITE the snow-covered city of Rome causing a little havoc in that not all of the sold-out stadium ticket holders actually ended up making the journey to the Stadio Olympic, Italy still broke all attendance records for a home game in the RBS Six Nations.

The ground was soggy, and there was a smattering of snow across the pitch, but there was no danger of the match being called off and it was game on in Italia, though there was a slight anomaly with the lines all painted red for clarity.

Italy arrived at their home ground sporting 814 caps in their 22, and England a mere 296. This should have been the Azzurri’s chance to take advantage of England’s immense inexperience and finally beat the Inglese. And the story at half time went to script with the Italians running in 12 points in 3 minutes to steal the lead. But then the second half was a slightly different story.

Thanks to weather, there was little expansive running rugby played, and the ball was hoisted aloft more akin to volleyball, and it was 26 minutes before any points appeared on the scoreboard. Every time a player did hit the ground, he simply skidded across the moisture-ridden pitch surface before finally coming to a halt. But in the meantime, Stuart Lancaster’s new disciplined England maintained their composure as Italy hurled all manner of attack at them; to see Dylan Hartley walk away calmly from a chest charge was refreshing.

David Strettle was obstructed chasing the ball which handed England the penalty and newly capped Owen Farrell wasted no time with an accurate kick through the posts with the lighter than a Gilbert, Mitre ball. Though it was not long before a tackle caused him a blood injury, which was handled on the pitch while Italian and Tigers stalwart, Martin Castrogiovanni had to receive attention for what looked like a rib injury. After an age, Castrogiovanni had to be replaced by Lorenzo Cittadini, and it looked as if Italy could be in trouble losing such a powerhouse.

Possession continued to change hands, and quickly Italy gifted Farrell another point scoring opportunity. From outside the 10m line and out wide his kick was faultless. With just 3 minutes left on the clock before the break, England looked to be on the front foot 6-0 up. But a comedy of errors resulted in the ball ricocheting off Ben Foden’s chest, which Giovanbattista Venditti collected and ran in for the first try almost in the corner.

Twice capped Venditti's score went unconverted by Burton as the ball swept across the posts, but Foden suffered a second and immediate horror as his pass was deftly intercepted by Tommaso Benvenuti in Italian territory and he ran half the pitch under posts to score. Burton had no trouble converting this try, and the Italians reversed the 6-point deficit to a 12-6 credit at the half time whistle.

England returned and immediately prop Alex Corbisiero missed the ball to hand a penalty to the opposition. Burton missed a drop goal attempt, and Azzurri captain Sergio Parisse fell foul of a mid-air tackle from Tom Palmer, followed up by a run in with Tom Croft. The penalty went Italy’s way and Burton added to England’s woes; 7 minutes into the second half and the homeside led 15-6, and the visitors’ inexperience was being exposed, for now.

But “Charge-down Charlie” came to the rescue; after doing just that last week against a Dan Parks kick to score, Hodgson repeated the manœuvre in the Italian 22 to secure England’s only try of the match. A conversion from Farrell reduced the chasm from 9 to 2 points.

With half an hour remaining on the clock, Lancaster replaced his 8 and 9 partnership of Phil Dowson and Ben Youngs with Ben Morgan and Lee Dickson, who both made an instantaneous impact on England’s game, breathing in dynamism and fast ball. And with Italy pinged for offside, Farrell was allowed to reclaim the lead with perfect accuracy.

The final quarter saw the replacement cavalry arrive off the bench from both sides, with just Mike Brown not earning a fifth cap. An earlier knock on where referee Jerome Garces had already blown the whistle precluded Brad Barritt from scoring what he thought was his first international try. And then as the snow burst out of the heavens in a torrential fashion, Andrea Lo Cicero lost his bind in the scrum and Farrell kicked over his fourth penalty taking England just 4 points clear of the hosts.

Italy had the opportunity to catch up but Burton’s replacement fly half, Tobias Botes - earning just his second cap - missed his target.

The final 10 minutes saw frantic action from both sides, and Botes missed a second penalty resulting from a Chris Ashton shove on the 22 which barely got off the ground. Rob Webber joined Luca Morisi in making his international debut with just 5 minutes left on the clock. Both teams scrummaged for their lives, and as the snow worsened, Italy drove over the half way steadily before the ball went loose in the 81st minute, and Barritt kicked it to kingdom come to claim England’s second win on the road.

The match was not pretty or eloquent, but the conditions dictated the manner in which the game was played, and England ground out the all important ‘W’ required. Meanwhile, it was Azzurri captain, Sergio Parisse who deservedly was awarded Man of the Match.

15 Andrea Masi 14 Giovanbattista Venditti 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Gonzalo Canale 11 Luke Mclean 10 Kristopher Burton 9 Edoardo Gori 1 Andrea Lo Cicero 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Marco Bortolami 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Robert Barbieri 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] BENCH: 16 Tommaso D’Apice 17 Lorenzo Cittadini 18 Antonio Pavanello 19 Mauro Bergamasco 20 Fabio Semenzato 21 Tobias Botes 22 Luca Morisi*

SCORERS T: Venditti, Benvenuti C: Burton P: Burton

15 Ben Foden 14 Chris Ashton 13 Brad Barritt 12 Owen Farrell 11 David Strettle 10 Charlie Hodgson 9 Ben Youngs 1 Alex Corbisiero 2 Dylan Hartley 3 Dan Cole 4 Mouritz Botha 5 Tom Palmer 6 Tom Croft 7 CHRIS ROBSHAW [C] 8 Phil Dowson BENCH: 16 Rob Webber* 17 Matt Stevens 18 Geoff Parling 19 Ben Morgan 20 Lee Dickson 21 Jordan Turner-Hall 22 Mike Brown

SCORERS T: Hodgson C: Farrell P: Farrell (4)

MAN OF THE MATCH: Sergio Parisse (Italy)

REFEREE: Jerome Garces (FFR) Asst. Referees: Alain Rolland (IRFU), Neil Paterson (SRU) TMO: Tony Redmond (IRFU)

 

 

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FRANCE 17 - 17 IRELAND

Sunday 4th March Stade de France
[rescheduled from 11 February]
KO: 16:00 HT: 6-17 Att: tbc

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 90 Ireland won: 29 France won: 55 Drawn: 6

IT was a strange match at the Stade de France as Les Bleus met Ireland, but this fixture was never going to be normal after its original fixture being postponed in such an unprofessional manner. The tension had been mounting for weeks and all looked to Ireland as the underdogs asking, what can they bring? Ireland answered the call from the kick-off.

The visitors began confidently, striding out into the French territory and taking no prisoners as they went. It was not long until they saw a scoring opportunity as Jonathan Sexton teed up their first penalty, but his kick went awry and swerved off to evade the posts. The French, however, had turned up half asleep and a floaty, telegraphing pass from Aurélien Rougerie gave Tommy Bowe a simple interception try. The winger did not have to change his direction or make any sneaky steps to find the ball landing in his waiting hands, and he shot off to the tryline without hesitation. Sexton calmed his nerves and slotted the conversion.

It took France another 10 minutes to claim their first points with a penalty from Morgan Parra, who had an unpredictable game. The French were very strong in the set pieces, especially the lineout, often stealing the ball and making the most of these opportunities. However, referee David Pearson was not on the ball all match and missed several infringements from both sides in the scrum, particularly with binding, leaving the scrum to be reset on numerous occasions. Sexton had soon nullified Parra’s efforts with 3 points of his own, and the French struggled to get a grip on the game. Pearson turned a blind eye to the French stamping and the Irish offsides, making the game looked chaotic at times.

The homeside had moments where they suddenly showed flashes of brilliance but this was soon halted by a steely Irish defence. Further poor passing from a lineout almost left Les Bleus watching another interception try; luckily, Tommy Bowe knocked on the ball before charging off and saved them the humiliation. Parra whacked through another penalty to bring the score back to a manageable gap of 6-10, but it did not remain for long.

But before Ireland’s final first half flourish, referee Pearson caused the entire stadium to react in uproar as Cian Healy came in not just from offside, but from 20 yards behind the French attacking line to disrupt play. And all he got for his blatant professional foul was a warning; where Ireland should have been a man down with a yellow card for the remainder of the half, try-scorer Tommy Bowe instead took advantage.

With just 3 minutes left on the clock, Bowe, in a feat of class play and selfishness, chose to chip instead of give the ball to an open man. From turnover ball just outside Ireland’s own 22, his move paid off and Bowe swooped in for his second try. Sexton converted once more. Pearson blew the whistle early, with over a minute to go of play, and the French side had some thinking to do over the break 6-17 down.

The restart saw a more determined homeside take to the pitch and it was not long until the French were clawing back the points. Parra chipped over his third penalty after just 6 minutes and Ireland were suddenly scrabbling back to defend against a second half revolt.

Now and then Les Bleus were back to their usual form, with slick passing and solid rucking, although it was sporadic. However, the homeside were left strewn across the pitch at times, as Ireland threw in some big hits, hoping their opposition would perhaps not get up from them.

The French were made of sterner stuff though and continued to cause problems for the Irish defence. In a stylish moment, Wesley Fofana stormed to the whitewash for his 3rd try in just his 3rd appearance for France, and although Parra missed his target, the margin was now just 3 points.

Ireland became clumsy during this half and were showing signs of being flustered by the abruptly on-point French. Just 7 minutes later the tallies were tied at 17-all with Parra slotting a final penalty.

The next 20 minutes were tense but yielded no rewards for either side, no matter how hard they tried. Ireland took a blow moments later when Conor Murray was left writhing in pain and clutching his knee after an awkward landing. Murray was stretchered off and Eoin Reddan replaced him, beginning a flood of substitutions from both sides. But the fresh legs gave neither the edge they were looking for and in the end no penalties or tries could be produced to unlock the stalemate.

The French were disappointed with a home draw blowing their chances of a Grand Slam, especially against an Irish team who has a poor track record at the stadium. Meanwhile, the Irish were content, although they admitted their second half had let them down somewhat.

Tommy Bowe was awarded Man of the Match, but this accolade could just as easily have gone to the Rob Kearney who was the epitome of brilliance.

15 Clément Poitrenaud 14 Vincent Clerc 13 Aurélien Rougerie 12 Wesley Fofana 11 Julien Malzieu 10 François Trinh-Duc 9 Morgan Parra 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux 2 Dimitri Szarzewski 3 Nicolas Mas 4 Pascal Papé 5 Yoann Maestri 6 THIERRY DUSAUTOIR [C] 7 Julien Bonnaire 8 Imanol Harinordoquy BENCH: 16 William Servat 17 Vincent Debaty 18 Lionel Nallet 19 Louis Picamoles 20 Julien Dupuy 21 Lionel Beauxis 22 Maxime Mermoz

SCORERS T: Bowe (2) C: Sexton (2) P: Sexton

15 Rob Kearney 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Keith Earls 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Conor Murray 1 Cian Healy 2 Rory Best 3 Mike Ross 4 Donncha O'Callaghan 5 PAUL O'CONNELL [C] 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Sean O'Brien 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Tom Court 18 Donnacha Ryan 19 Peter O’Mahony* 20 Eoin Reddan 21 Ronan O'Gara 22 Fergus McFadden

SCORERS T: Fofana P: Parra (4)

Man of the Match: Tommy Bowe

REFEREE: Dave Pearson (RFU) Asst. Referees: Wayne Barnes (RFU), Andrew Small (RFU) TMO: Geoff Warren (RFU)

 

 

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WALES 27 - 13 SCOTLAND

Sunday 12 February Millennium Stadium
KO: 15:00 GMT HT: 3-3 Att: 73,189

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 117 Scotland won: 48 Wales won: 66 Drawn: 3

UNDER the closed roof of the Millennium Stadium creating perfect conditions unlike anywhere else in the Championship, Scotland came out to face the Welsh dragons on their own turf with a passion, and put up one hell of a fight for the first tense half of the encounter.

Scotland had not beaten Wales at home for a decade, and were on a losing streak, whereas a buoyant Wales were ready to take on the world, but had lost captain Sam Warburton to a dead leg. Ryan Jones took on the captaincy and Aaron Shingler was awarded his first cap at 7.

Wales started in a powerful fashion, and boasted most of the possession for the first half an hour,  but a forward pass saved Scotland in their own 22 followed by a number of high box kicks flying in both directions. Only 5 minutes in and newly appointed first choice flyhalf –following the retirement of Dan Parks last week– Greig Laidlaw stepped up to open the scoring with a penalty but it fell just wide from the 10m line.

Hooker Huw Bennett suffered on early blood injury and was quickly replaced by Ken Owens for just his second cap. The Scottish defence held up well in the first half, and they affected a number of turnovers from forceful tackles which repeatedly popped the ball loose. Both Rory Lamont and Richie Gray were noteworthy, and the Scots riled the Welsh with their clever tactics but not a point was scored in the first quarter.

Wales got away with playing the ball off the feet more than once, but eventually French referee, Romaine Poite played Scottish advantage and Laidlaw this time struck his penalty perfectly to start the score rolling. But only a few minutes later the frighteningly accurate Leigh Halfpenny equalised, splitting the posts to perfection from the Scottish 10m.

For the final 10 minutes of the first half, both sides swapped possession frequently but neither made any significant gains. Bennett returned to his position at hook, and Max Evans was forced off with an ankle injury replaced by uncapped Stuart Hogg, who was to shine in the second half.

Eventually, after 21 strong phases of play, Scotland reached within 2 metres of the tryline before a critical knock on saw their opportunity go begging in the 39th minute. The breather for Wales was immediately annulled when Jonathan Davies tripped his own teammate, the inimitable electric George North who had to be helped off the pitch, not to return in this match at least, and replaced by James Hook. Both teams went into the break with just 3 points apiece.

The restart was horrific for the visitors as they allowed Wales within inches of the whitewash only for Alex Cuthbert to find and dive over for the try. Halfpenny converted, and time just made matters worse as a professional foul from Nick de Luca who tackled Jonathan Davies completely off the ball allowed Halfpenny to increase the lead to 10 points in just 5 minutes from kick off, and reduce Scotland to 14 men.

A penalty to Scotland allowed Laidlaw to reduce the deficit by 3 points, and replacements off the bench had already appeared with John Barclay and Mike Blair replacing Alasdair Strokosch and Chris Cusiter.

Wales finally began to play with flair they are capable of, and with the extra man and just 5m out from Scottish tryline, the ball travelled the width of the pitch before Leigh Halfpenny found the gap to score beautifully, converting his own try and creating a 14 point cushion for the homeside.

Another professional foul this time from Rory Lamont who tackled from an offside position had him sent off for 10 minutes as well, and momentarily Scotland were down to 13 men. De Luca returned from his sin binning but meanwhile Halfpenny snuck over in the corner for a second try. Another conversion in the 56th minute gave Wales a very comfortable 27-6 lead.

The final quarter showed debutant Stuart Hogg prove his mettle as he found the space to outrun all the defence and score Scotland’s first try; but alas, he was to be denied by the referee who called a knock on after a trip when it was clear to everyone that there was no such infringement, which the video replay clearly illustrated.

Only 2 minutes later, flyhalf Greig Laidlaw played scrumhalf –his favoured position for his club, Edinburgh– and found a space through which to score definitively. Laidlaw converted his own try, and Scotland had done very well to score two tries in quick succession whilst a man down, even though one was wrongly disallowed.

Hogg charged the Wales defence once again and evaded numerous tacklers before finally going to ground short of a score. With just 10 minutes to go, Halfpenny won a final kickable penalty which surprisingly missed, though it was from 46m out. And there was to be no more change to the score, even though Gethin Jenkins also earned himself a yellow card in the 77th minute.

The replacements flooded the pitch, and both sides secured possession before, in the 81st minute, Wales finally kicked out the ball for a second Six Nations win.

Dan Lydiate was awarded Man of the Match, and sadly it was sheer indiscipline that lost Scotland the game, allowing Wales to take advantage.

15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Mike Phillips 2 Gethin Jenkins 2 Huw Bennett 3 Adam Jones 4 RYAN JONES [C] 5 Ian Evans 6 Dan Lydiate 7 Aaron Shingler 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Ken Owens 17 Paul James 18 Lou Reed* 19 Andy Powell 20 Lloyd Williams 21 James Hook 22 Scott Williams

SCORERS T: Cuthbert, Halfpenny (2) C: Halfpenny (3) P: Halfpenny (2) Gethin Jenkins

15 Rory Lamont 14 Lee Jones 13 Nick De Luca 12 Sean Lamont 11 Max Evans 10 Greig Laidlaw 9 Chris Cusiter 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 ROSS FORD [C] 3 Geoff Cross 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 Alasdair Strokosch 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Denton BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Ed Kalman* 18 Alastair Kellock 19 John Barclay 20 Mike Blair 21 Duncan Weir* 22 Stuart Hogg*

SCORERS T: Laidlaw C: Laidlaw P: Laidlaw (2) Nick de Luca, Rory Lamont

MAN OF THE MATCH: Dan Lydiate (Wales)

REFEREE: Romain Poite (FFR) Asst. Referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU), Simon McDowell (IRFU) TMO: Giulio de Santis (FIR)

 

 

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IRELAND 42 - 10 ITALY

Saturday 25th February Aviva Stadium
KO: 13:30 HT: 17-10 Att: tbc

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 21 Italy won: 3 Ireland won: 18 Drawn: 0

WHEN Italy went in at half-time only 7 points behind, there was hope amongst their supporters. But, after an awful second half, Ireland finished the match in style.

The visitors began well, pushing up positively against the Irish line and drawing first blood with a penalty from Tobias Botes. However, this was his second attempt at goal, his first swerving wide, and would be the only penalty Botes would manage; even though he had numerous opportunities his kicking was fairly disastrous. The Italians struggled in the scrum at times but were generally making the Irish work hard.

Meanwhile, the homeside were having troubles of their own with Jonathan Sexton taking a knock to the head and picking up a blood injury. Ronan O’Gara stripped off and began to jog on as his replacement but was sent back to the bench as Sexton chose to play on. This was a good choice by the fly-half, who was quick to even up the score, and soon Ireland were hitting the Italian line hard. It took multiple phases before the Italian defence caved and Keith Earls bulldozed over for the try in the 16th minute. Sexton slotted the conversion for a 10-3 lead, but this was followed by a period where both sides played in a scrappy fashion, though moments of brilliance did sparkle through.

Italy fought back from being seriously down on possession and territory to bunker down in the Irish 22. In the 34th minute all their determination paid off, as captain Sergio Parisse swooped over the whitewash and Botes’ kicking held out to pull the Italians level. But just before the break, Ireland turned up the heat and Tommy Bowe powered over the tryline. Sexton effortlessly hit his target and Ireland went in on the advantage 17-10 up, though by not as big a margin as everyone had expected. Italy had certainly not proved to be the underdogs during the first 40 minutes, but unfortunately this would not be the case in the long run.

Ireland ran out with calm focus whilst some would say Italy stayed in the tunnel, or may as well have. The homeside were soon stretching their lead with another Sexton 3-pointer before flooding their bench onto the pitch to give themselves a second wind. It worked well with Sexton smashing through another penalty before the hour mark and the points just kept coming with Bowe grabbing his second touchdown. Sexton’s kicking was flawless and the Irish tally rocketed to give a 10 point gap.

Italy began to panic, scrambling their defence back to protect the ever-threatened tryline. They tried to add their own replacements in the hope that fresh legs would heave them back out of the cavern into which they had fallen. But nothing could be done as the gravity of Ireland just grew stronger.

Ireland’s unstoppable force took another 15 minutes to penetrate a newly gritted Italian defence but eventually, Tom Court broke free. The pinpoint boot of Sexton swung true again and the scoreline was looking decidedly sad for the hopeful Italians at 37-10, whose fans had been praying they would return to form for the past 34 minutes.

Italian disappointment was palpable but it was to be heightened as, to add insult to injury, Andrew Trimble raced over for one final try. Sexton was named Man of the Match but was unable to make the final conversion, though no Irish supporter complained. The whistle blew and so ended a game which had promised so much but left the visitors with nothing but some nasty memories.

15 Rob Kearney 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Keith Earls 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Conor Murray 1 Cian Healy 2 Rory Best 3 Mike Ross 4 Donncha O'Callaghan 5 PAUL O'CONNELL [C] 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Sean O'Brien 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Tom Court 18 Donnacha Ryan 19 Peter O’Mahony* 20 Eoin Reddan 21 Ronan O'Gara 22 Fergus McFadden

SCORERS T: Earls, Bowe (2), Court, Trimble C: Sexton (4) P: Sexton (3) |

15 Andrea Masi 14 Giovanbattista Venditti 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Alberto Sgarbi 11 Luke Mclean 10 Tobias Botes 9 Edoardo Gori 1 Michele Rizzo 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 3 Lorenzo Cittadini 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Marco Bortolami 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Robert Barbieri 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] BENCH: 16 Tommaso D’Apice 17 Fabio Staibano 18 Antonio Pavanello 19 Simone Favaro 20 Fabio Semenzato 21 Kristopher Burton 22 Gonzalo Canale

SCORERS T: Parisse C: Botes P: Botes

Man of the Match: Jonathan Sexton

REFEREE:  Craig Joubert (SARU) Asst Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU), David Changleng (SRU) TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)

 

 

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ENGLAND 12 -19 WALES

Saturday 25 February Twickenham Stadium KO 4pm GMT

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 122 Wales won: 54 England won: 56 Drawn: 12

HERE'S HOW IT HAPPENED:

England v Wales Anthems done & they were awesome...here we go! 6Ns Rugby
England 0-0 Wales 1min Been coming to Twickers for a couple of years now(!) Never heard it so loud!
England 0-0 Wales 1min Faz Jnr kicks off & Wales have 1st L/O on England 10m...win & charge to 5m short...
England 0-0 Wales 2mins Ball kicked long and rolls into deadzone - England pen & cleared for 22m L/O
England 0-0 Wales 3mins Sadly could do with sun dipping behind stand as is blinding entire press box!
England 0-0 Wales 4mins Wales have possession but battling to get out of own half
England 0-0 Wales 5mins England pen on H/W courtesy of Alun Wyn Jones; Faz sets up England L/O on Welsh 22
England 0-0 Wales 6mins Wales scrum inside own 22; ref Steve Walsh is already destroying momentum
England 0-0 Wales 8mins Wales lose possession & England have L/O just inside Welsh half
England 0-0 Wales 9mins Wales pen for Barritt holding on & set up L/O inside England 22 but stolen by boys in white
England 0-0 Wales 10mins Wales L/O on England 10m, but they disrupt that too. England slowing ball immensely at breakdown
England 0-0 Wales 12mins England t/o ball in own territory, move play to other half but Wales snaffle it
England 0-0 Wales 13mins Ball flies loose & David Strettle collects & runs but ref blows whistle & halts time
England 0-0 Wales 14mins Scrum on H/W but England accused of collapsing scrum & Wales set up England 22 L/O
England 0-0 Wales 15mins Wales possession just inside 22; trying to play woth width but England defence is everywhere
England 0-0 Wales 16mins Wales Wales make no more than 10m & yet another timeout called.
England 0-0 Wales 18mins Wales Scrum about 7m from England whitewash; scrum reset...pen Wales. Halfpenny tees up...
England 0-0 Wales 19mins Just outside 22...not that wide...completely in his range, but Leigh Halfpenny misses!
England 0-0 Wales 19mins Meanwhile Walsh has his personal fluffer come onto the pitch to faff with him...
England 0-0 Wales 21mins England pen for knock on; another pen & Manu Tuilagi bolts forward...
England 0-0 Wales 22mins Good handling skills from England as they cross into the 22...
England 0-0 Wales 23mins Owen Farrell goes for a drop goal that falls short but England penalty so Faz tees up inside 22
England 3-0 Wales 23mins Faz makes no mistake & takes England into the lead..just.
England 3-0 Wales 25mins Wales into England 22 from restart & Dan Cole pinged at breakdown; Halfpenny tees up again...
England 3-3 Wales 25mins Much improved from Halfpenny and Wales equalise
England 3-3 Wales 28mins Brilliant quick England ball & playing wide rugby on cusp of scoring til Mike Phillips offside
England 6-3 Wales 28mins Last 2mins England so close to scoring; Philips pen gives England 3 pts from Faz instead of try
England 6-3 Wales 30min England charge directly back in Welsh 22 with such passion. Never ever heard the crowd like this!
England 6-3 Wales 32mins England believes...this new lot are quite something. And Wales not resting on laurels either.
England 6-3 Wales 33mins England hand over another pen & Halfpenny tees up just inside H/W out wide 6Nations Rugby
England 6-6 Wales 34mins Halfpenny cracks it over and its all square again. Definitely no smashing going on here Jiffy! 6Nations Rugby
England 6-6 Wales 36mins England massively testing Welsh defence as Manu skittles down the opposition outside Welsh 22
England 6-6 Wales 37mins Tuilagi making yds & England just 10m as pass back inside from touchline falls into Welsh hands
England 9-6 Wales 38mins But a Welsh penalty hands the reins back to Faz who kicks over his 3rd penalty perfectly
England 9-6 Wales 39mins Welsh take restart into England 22 but England ball & Lee Dickson takes his time...
England 9-6 Wales HT Dickson watches for clock to tick over 40mins before rescuing ball from breakdown & kicking to touch

England 9-6 Wales HT P: Farrell (3) | P: Halfpenny (2)

England 9-6 Wales 41mins And we're back [without wine coz we're not allowed any during match!!!]
England 9-6 Wales 41mins Scott Williams has replaced Jamie Roberts at 12
England 9-6 Wales 44mins England all over Welsh T/L again; a fumble from Alex Corbisiero but Wales gift pen...
England 12-6 Wales 45mins Penalty from Wales punished by Faz who doubles the gap adding 3pts
England 12-6 Wales 47mins Oh & Rhys Priestland binned after Botha charges down kick; Wales down to 14...but almost at 22
England 12-6 Wales 50mins 3mins go & Wales aren't going forward at all from outside 22; England win pen & Wales 22 L/O
England 12-6 Wales 51mins Seriously, not heard the England crowd like this for years & years! Awesome atmosphere
England 12-9 Wales 53mins England finally gift a penalty & Halfpenny narrows the margin by 3
England 12-9 Wales 55mins Alun Wyn Jones is replaced by Ryan Jones & the Welsh contingent of the crowd approves...vocally
England 12-9 Wales 60min England not making too much hay with man up but have forced play back into Wales territory @ 10m
England 12-9 Wales 61mins England replace Mouritz Botha & magnificent Lee Dickson with Courtney Lawes & Ben Youngs
England 12-9 Wales 63mins Silly mistake from Wales hands Farrell another goal kicking opp in front of posts from 10m line
England 12-9 Wales 64mins Lucky for Wales, Faz just misses the uprights so Wales can breathe again...for a sec
England 12-9 Wales 66mins Faz gets tweak & is forced off + standing ovation replaced by Flood & Matt Stevens on for Corbs
England 12-9 Wales 68mins England in dangerous territory as Wales just 5m out from T/L but England t/o & Wales L/O on H/W
England 12-9 Wales 70mins Wales pen & set up L/O inside England 22...& win it but still v slow ball from breakdown
England 12-9 Wales 70mins But hands in the ruck & England gift Wales 3pts as Halfpenny tees up infront of posts inside 22
England 12-12 Wales 71mins Easy kick for Halfpenny as Wales equalise again
England 12-12 Wales 72mins Dylan Hartley & Ben Morgan replaced by Rob Webber & Phil Dowson
England 12-12 Wales 73mins Still no changes from Welsh bench surprisingly...
England 12-12 Wales 74mins Another England penalty...another Wales L/O...this tie on England 10m line
England 12-12 Wales 74mins Wallop of a kick into 22 but England call the mark...
England 12-17 Wales 75mins But Scott Williams steals ball, grubber kicks it & outruns everyone to score. Excellent work
England 12-19 Wales 76mins Halfpenny converts from in front of the posts
England 12-19 Wales 77mins England fight back & a kick heads to cnr chased by Strettle but George North knocks it out
England 12-19 Wales 78mins England 5m L/O...& another...ball moves from this side to other & penalty England 6Nations Rugby
England 12-19 Wales 79mins Another 5m L/O & England heave for their lives... 6Nations Rugby
England 12-19 Wales 80mins Ball flies out wide & Strettle takes it over in the corner..TMO
England 12-19 Wales 80mins TMO takes an age & calls no try suggesting go back for pen...but Walsh ends game.
England 12-19 Wales FT "No" try scored before 80 so should've gone back for penalty. Said from start Walsh would ruin it.
England 12-19 Wales Wales win triple crown & well played! Sam Warburton MoM.

15 Ben Foden 14 Chris Ashton 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi 12 Brad Barritt 11 David Strettle 10 Owen Farrell 9 Lee Dickson 1 Alex Corbisiero 2 Dylan Hartley 3 Dan Cole 4 Mouritz Botha 5 Geoff Parling 6 Tom Croft 7 CHRIS ROBSHAW [C] 8 Ben Morgan BENCH: 16 Rob Webber 17 Matt Stevens 18 Courtney Lawes 19 Phil Dowson 20 Ben Youngs 21 Toby Flood 22 Mike Brown

SCORERS P: Farrell (4)

15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Mike Phillips 1 Gethin Jenkins 2 Ken Owens 3 Adam Jones 4 Alun Wyn Jones 5 Ian Evans 6 Dan Lydiate 7 SAM WARBURTON [C] 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Richard Hibbard 17 Paul James 18 Ryan Jones 19 Justin Tipuric 20 Lloyd Williams 21 Stephen Jones 22 Scott Williams

SCORERS T: Williams C: Halpenny P: Halfpenny (4) Rhys Priestland

Man of the Match: Sam Warburton (Wales)

REFEREE: Steve Walsh (ARU) Asst Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU), Pascal Gauzere (FFR) TMO: Iain Ramage (SRU)

 

 

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SCOTLAND 17 - 23 FRANCE

Sunday 26 February Murrayfield 3pm CET

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 84 France won: 47 Scotland won: 34 Drawn: 3

HERE'S HOW IT HAPPENED:

Scotland 0-0 France The rousing anthems are done at a full house at Murrayfield & it's game on...
Scotland 0-0 France 1min France begin with being offside in scrum so immediately Greig Laidlaw has opportunity to kick...
Scotland 0-0 France 2mins Laidlaw doesn't have distance, but ref already screwing up missing blatant David Denton k/o
Scotland 0-0 France 3mins Scotland on the attack & into the 22 tho France pushing them backwards...
Scotland 0-0 France 4mins Huge no. of phases-good work from Scots til Rougerie & Picamole effect t/o giving France scrum
Scotland 0-0 France 6mins Scots heavier in their pack & manage to win ball back & head into 22
Scotland 5-0 France 8mins Ball recycled time & again & not quickest ball but 19yr old Stuart Hogg sneaks thru int he cnr
Scotland 7-0 France 9mins Laidlaw comfortably converts & Scots make excellent start to the game
Scotland 7-0 France 13mins Scots really soaking up the attention & support & attacking at every opportunity
Scotland 7-0 France 14mins Great run from Mike Blair but little support & ball is turned over in French territory...
Scotland 7-0 France 15mins Scotland do win back possession momentarily but France t/o & set up L/O inside Scots 22
Scotland 7-0 France 16mins Good L/O & France work width of pitch with quick recycling but stolen 10m from T/L
Scotland 7-0 France 18mins Ball cleared to touch for French L/O which is good but then gift another pen to Laidlaw
Scotland 7-0 France 19mins Laidlaw clears & have L/O but French nab it & on the attack heading toward Scots 22
Scotland 7-0 France 19mins Ross Rennie is being a proper thorn in side of Les Bleus, this time t/o ball again...
Scotland 7-0 France 21mins Scots scrum on H/W & great ball skills as make way up to 22
Scotland 7-0 France 22mins French t/o in own 22 & Maxime Medard charges 60m offloading to Vincent Clerc who chips it...
Scotland 7-0 France 22mins But Clerc bundles into touch & Scots recover ball at T/L & Lamont charges...
Scotland 7-0 France 24mins Simply brilliant breaks from Scots, this time captain Ross Ford but AGAIN no support!
Scotland 10-0 France 25mins Luckily for Scots France gift a pen & Laidlaw has infinitely kickable target which is good
Scotland 10-0 France 26mins Much like England boys yesterday, this Scots side has no fear & are producing great rugby
Scotland 10-0 France 27mins But Scots hand over pen & Medard sets up L/O inside Scots 22 which works well
Scotland 10-5 France 28mins Quick ball at ruck from Parra hands off to Wesley Fofana who scores again winning 2nd cap
Scotland 10-7 France 29mins Simple conversion from Morgan Parra & France are right back in the game...
Scotland 10-7 France 30mins Time off as Rory Lamont lands badly & will be stretchered off the pitch
Scotland 10-7 France 30mins Nick de Luca replaces Rory Lamont, & also Chris Cusiter on for Mike Blair who was limping
Scotland 10-7 France 31mins Another excellent charge from Hogg; Rougerie misses tackle but Medard forces him into touch
Scotland 10-7 France 32mins France L/O but Scots steal it well & are in the French 22
Scotland 10-7 France 33mins No quick ball & up to 12th phase but forced backwards by Les Bleus
Scotland 10-7 France 34mins France win penalty but ball doesn't find touch twice but Denton's foot in touch
Scotland 10-7 France 37mins L/O...ball in touch...another L/O...infringement & Scots scrum but France win pen...
Scotland 10-7 France 38mins Penalty in kicking range of Morgan Parra who tees up to despicable racket...
Scotland 10-10 France 38mins Parra finds his target and the scores are all square
Scotland 10-10 France 40mins But Scotland dish out one last penalty just before HT & Parra could take lead but goes wide
Scotland 10-10 France HT T: Fofana C: Parra P: Parra | T: Hogg C: Laidlaw P: Laidlaw
Scotland 10-10 France HT Mike Blair went off with a dead leg.
Scotland 10-10 France HT Scots had 65% stats & won 31 balls in the opposition 22!
Scotland 10-10 France 40mins We're back & Scots lose ball forward; France scrum on Scots 10m
Scotland 10-10 France 43mins France L/O on Scots 10m line & Les Bleus heading in right direction but slowly...
Scotland 10-10 France 44mins Les Bleus just outside 22 as "Allez Les Bleus" rebounds round stadium; v slow ball
Scotland 10-13 France 46mins Allan Jacobsen plays ball off his feet & Parra tees up in front of posts on 22 to take lead
Scotland 10-13 France 48mins Scots L/O inside French 10m line & head up to 22 but k/o so French scrum
Scotland 10-13 France 48mins Time off for Nicholas Mas injury...
Scotland 10-13 France 48mins Duncan Weir makes his Scotland debut replacing Laidlaw; halfbacks are now club partners
Scotland 10-13 France 50mins France L/O outside own 22 but lose it & Scots on the attack with possession
Scotland 10-13 France 50mins Dimitri Szarzewski & Jean Baptiste Poux replaced by William Servat & Vincent Debaty
Scotland 10-13 France 53mins Scots charge towards French 22 but k/o gives France scrum while Richie Vernon on for Denton
Scotland 15-13 France 55mins Excellent fight back from Scots & Vernon breaks into 22 offloading to Lee Jones to score
Scotland 17-13 France 56min Jones scores 1st try for Scotland from great t/o & Weir opens his scoring too with conversion
Scotland 17-13 France 57mins And immediately Scots back on attack & up to French 10m but lose ball forward...
Scotland 17-18 France 58mins Julien Malzieu collects ball & charges > offloads to Medard who scores. Poor from Scotland
Scotland 17-20 France 58mins Parra converts & France back in front again almost immediately
Scotland 17-20 France 60mins Hogg hits back with brilliant pace again but trips outside French 22 & no support!
Scotland 17-20 France 61mins French scrum but time off for Medard injury replaced by Lionel Beauxis
Scotland 17-20 France 62mins France win penalty from scrum & Beauxis thumps ball over H/W for L/O
Scotland 17-20 France 64mins Ed Kalman on for Geoff Cross & Julien Bonnaire for Picamoles
Scotland 17-20 France 64mins Scots steal the L/O & head back over H/W up to 22 but French defence holding well
Scotland 17-20 France 67mins Yoann Maestri replaced by Lionel Nallet & France cross the Scots 22
Scotland 17-23 France 68mins Massive & controlled drop goal from Beauxis takes France's lead to 6 pts
Scotland 17-23 France 68mins Alastair Kellock replaces Jim Hamilton & Scott Lawson for captain Ross Ford at hooker
Scotland 17-23 France 69mins France scrum outside own 22; Harinorduquy breaks & flips ball over head but Vernon collects
Scotland 17-23 France 71mins But Scots knock on & France have the scrum again this time just outside own 10m
Scotland 17-23 France 72mins Beauxis thumps ball into Scots 22 but Hogg saves it from touch...
Scotland 17-23 France 73mins But France regain possession & now up to 22 again with numbers...
Scotland 17-23 France 74mins Beauxis receives ball in pocket but too high for drop goal & runs into Lawson; pen Scotland
Scotland 17-23 France 75mins Scottish L/O on French 10m but France win penalty & have scrum but play halted by streaker
Scotland 17-23 France 77mins Another k/o from Scotland & France scrum but time off for Harinorduquy medical attention
Scotland 17-23 France 78mins Scrum on H/W & Scotland concede another penalty in front of posts for Beauxis to kick
Scotland 17-23 France 79mins Kick falls wide of posts almost from H/W but only a minute left...
Scotland 17-23 France 80mins France have final word as ball into touch & seal the win

15 Stuart Hogg 14 Rory Lamont 13 Sean Lamont 12 Graeme Morrison 11 Lee Jones 10 Greig Laidlaw 9 Mike Blair 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 ROSS FORD [C] 3 Geoff Cross 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 John Barclay 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Denton BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Ed Kalman 18 Alastair Kellock 19 Richie Vernon 20 Chris Cusiter 21 Duncan Weir* 22 Nick De Luca

SCORERS T: Hogg, Jones C: Laidlaw, Weir P: Laidlaw

15 Maxime Médard 14 Vincent Clerc 13 Aurélien Rougerie 12 Wesley Fofana 11 Julien Malzieu 10 François Trinh-Duc 9 Morgan Parra 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux 2 Dimitri Szarzewski 3 Nicolas Mas 4 Pascal Papé 5 Yoann Maestri 6 THIERRY DUSAUTOIR [C] 7 Imanol Harinordoquy 8 Louis Picamoles BENCH: 16 William Servat 17 Vincent Debaty 18 Lionel Nallet 19 Julien Bonnaire 20 Julien Dupuy 21 Lionel Beauxis 22 Maxime Mermoz

SCORERS T: Fofana, Medard C: Parra (2) P: Parra (2) DG: Beauxis

Man of the Match: Ross Rennie (Scotland)

REFEREE: Wayne Barnes (RFU) Asst Referee: Alain Rolland, Simon McDowell (IRFU) TMO: Geoff Warren (RFU)

 

 

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WALES 24 - 3 ITALY

Saturday 10 March Millennium Stadium
KO: 2.30pm GMT HT: 9-3 Att: 73,892

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 19 Italy won: 2 Wales won: 16 Drawn: 1

IT was a tight first half between a mighty Wales side and a rather shaky Italy, but it soon became a Welsh game, keeping the homeside on track for the Grand Slam.

Wales began with strength, George North and Alex Cuthbert both breaking through the Italian defence to make the visitors scrabble back. The Welsh soon claimed the first points, Leigh Halfpenny showing his kicking prowess after 10 minutes to slot a 3-pointer. But the plucky Italians quickly levelled proceedings thanks to Gethin Jenkins not binding at the scrum, and Bergamasco making no error with his kicking. However, this would be the last points the visitors would see against the focused and determined Welsh team.

Halfpenny booted through another penalty to give the homeside the lead once more and from here on out it was Wales’ game for the taking. The home crowd cheered with approval as Halfpenny spurned the next two shots at goal to target the elusive tryline. But, no matter what the Welsh side tried, their flair got them nowhere as clumsy handling and a troublesome Italian defence left them wanting.

The crowd were on their feet as Jamie Roberts raced towards the tryline only to be torn down just short by Alessandro Zanni, who made a superb tackle. However, Halfpenny added further to the tally with another penalty to extend the margin after 36 minutes of play. The Italians were offered the chance to nullify that kick but made the bold decision to kick for the corner instead; they had realised that tries would win this match not kicks. But their attack fell apart fairly swiftly, as did most of their ventures into Welsh territory, and the whistle blew on the half with Wales 9-3 ahead.

After the interval, the Italians rallied some confidence in attack and kept possession for a long period, building up several phases. At one point there was even a hint of an Italian try as some sloppy passing left North having to scramble back and lay hands to the loose ball with the opposition bearing down on him.

There was a try to follow shortly after, but it would be to Wales’ benefit. Alun-Wyn Jones snatched the open ball and it whipped through the Welsh ranks to Roberts, who proceeded to run 60 metres, avoiding the attempts of the Italian defence and touched down to the roar of the home crowd. Halfpenny’s kicking remained perfect, nailing the simple conversion right in front of the posts.

The Welsh almost claimed another minutes later, with Kris Burton having to fly at Cuthbert to save the Italians from this breach. Wales then took a blow though as Halfpenny exited the field after taking Parisse in the air, leaving the Italian needing some brief medical attention and the Welshman heading to the sin bin. The Italians should have capitalised on their man advantage but instead lacked possession and were forced into conceding a penalty at the scrum.

With Halfpenny off the pitch, the task fell to Rhys Priestland whose kicking had left much to be desired earlier in the tournament. However, his boot was in fine fettle for the penalty and he accurately added 3 points to the scoreboard. Again Wales mounted the pressure and were denied a try from Scott Williams, before Cuthbert broke through the Italian’s weak tackles to crash over. Priestland missed the conversion but it was of no matter.

Cuthbert scooped Man of the Match for his excellent play throughout as well as his brilliant try, a well-deserved accolade. The Welsh will be hearing more than whispers of “Grand Slam” after this victory but their biggest challenge is still to come.

15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Mike Phillips 1 GETHIN JENKINS [C] 2 Matthew Rees 3 Adam Jones 4 Alun Wyn Jones 5 Ian Evans 6 Dan Lydiate 7 Justin Tipuric 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Ken Owens 17 Paul James 18 Luke Charteris 19 Ryan Jones 20 Rhys Webb 21 James Hook 22 Scott Williams

SCORERS T: Roberts, Cuthbert C: Halfpenny P: Halfpenny (3), Priestland Halfpenny

15 Andrea Masi 14 Luke Mclean 13 Gonzalo Canale 12 Alberto Sgarbi 11 Mirco Bergamasco 10 Kristopher Burton 9 Fabio Semenzato 1 Andrea Lo Cicero 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini 3 Lorenzo Cittadini 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Cornelius Van Zyl 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Simone Favaro 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] BENCH: 16 Tommaso D’Apice 17 Fabio Staibano 18 Marco Bortolami 19 Robert Barbieri 20 Tobias Botes 21 Tommaso Benvenuti 22 Giulio Toniolatti

SCORERS P: Bergamasco

Man of the Match: Alex Cuthbert (Wales)

REFEREE: George Clancy (IRFU) Asst Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU), Peter Allan (SRU) TMO: Geoff Hughes (RFU)

 

 

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IRELAND 32 - 14 SCOTLAND

Saturday 10 March Aviva Stadium
KO: 5pm GMT HT: 22-14 Att: 51,000

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 127 Scotland won: 65 Ireland won: 57 Drawn: 5 Abandoned: 1

IRELAND stormed to victory over Scotland with strong set pieces and excellent rucking at the Aviva Stadium.

The Scottish side began with determination and were first to clinch some points after Cian Healy was caught unbound in the scrum and Greig Laidlaw punched through the resultant penalty. The visitors continued to hog possession and it took only 10 minutes for them to be 6 points up, Laidlaw doing the honours once more.

The Irish grappled with the Scots and, finally, got a hold on the game with huge effect. Jonathan Sexton chose the corner over the sticks and the homeside took up position for what would be a try-scoring lineout. Rory Best threw in and then ran to get on the end of passing, flattened Mike Blair and planted the ball at the whitewash. Sexton produced a lovely conversion from wide before slotting a penalty to extend the advantage.

The visitors were not willing to go for the easy option and be outdone; instead they spurned to shots at goal for lineouts in an attempt to grab a try. However, neither of these attacks proved fruitful and, given a third chance, Laidlaw chose to take the points and reduce the deficit.

A second try from the homeside, thanks to Eoin Reddan and some shoddy defending, left Scotland knowing that penalties would not be enough in this match. Sexton added the extras and the battle continued to rage; Scotland were not going to lie down just yet.

The Scottish were soon back in the race after Richie Gray crashed through a tackle and dummied the defence to touch down. The huge second-rower showed power and agility to break his team’s curse of scoring inability. The conversion rebounded off the post and the Scots did not stay elated by the score for long as Andrew Trimble crossed just before the break for a 22-14 lead.

The second half belonged to Ireland, beginning with Tommy Bowe receiving a stunning cross-kick from Sexton and flying downfield. However, he was tackled as he reached the line and, although he struggled against his opponent to ground the ball, the TMO ruled no try.

The action was halted for a period after Lee Jones clashed heads nastily with Andrew Trimble, Trimble recovered quickly but Jones was left unconscious and in need of a stretcher. Both sides were fumbling and making unforced errors but Ireland were superior in keeping the pressure on in scrums and lineouts.

Sexton added another 3 points after Scotland’s scrum crumbled, before Scotland found themselves a man down as Max Evans saw a yellow for tackling Keith Earls off the ball. Ireland made one last surge, using their extra man advantage to see McFadden scuttle over. Sexton converted and Ireland were content with their solid performance.

15 Rob Kearney 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Keith Earls 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan 1 Cian Healy 2 RORY BEST [C] 3 Mike Ross 4 Donncha O'Callaghan 5 Donnacha Ryan 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Peter O’Mahony 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Tom Court 18 Mike McCarthy 19 Shane Jennings 20 Tomas O’Leary 21 Ronan O'Gara 22 Fergus McFadden

SCORERS T: Best, Reddan, Trimble, McFadden C: Sexton (3) P: Sexton (2)

15 Stuart Hogg 14 Lee Jones 13 Nick De Luca 12 Graeme Morrison 11 Sean Lamont 10 Greig Laidlaw 9 Mike Blair 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 ROSS FORD [C] 3 Geoff Cross 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 John Barclay 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Denton BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Euan Murray 18 Alastair Kellock 19 Richie Vernon 20 Chris Cusiter 21 Ruaridh Jackson 22 Max Evans

SCORERS T: Gray P: Laidlaw (3) Evans

REFEREE: Chris Pollock (NZRU) Asst Referee: Romain Poite (FFR), Greg Garner (RFU) TMO: Giulio de Santis (FIR)

 

 

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FRANCE 22 - 24 ENGLAND

Sunday 11th March Stade de France
KO: 16:00 HT: 9-14 Att: tbc

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 96 England won: 52 France won: 37 Drawn: 7

THE atmosphere at the Stade de France was electric as both teams ran out onto a ground that had only seen French wins over 10 consecutive games at home. England had not won in St Denis since 2008, and there was the small matter of a Rugby World Cup quarter final match which saw Les Blancs head on home and Les Bleus head into the final. But England were here to break a few records as well as French hearts, though it was both teams that equally provided the nail-biting action that was to unfold until the 80th minute.

With both anthems belted out with such verve, France kicked off proceedings, but it was England that was firmly in control of discipline, composure, and with a game plan they were to stick to religiously for the first quarter.

England attacked with fierceness but France’s defence was not to be toyed with, and it was Lionel Beauxis who had the opportunity to open the scoring with a long-range drop goal that was massively off target. But quickly time was off for Mouritz Botha who injured his arm, though stayed on for the entire first half. A second opportunity went begging after Dylan Hartley conceded a penalty at the scrum, but Julien Dupuy’s kick did not even come close.

Les Bleus spent a few minutes camped out on the England tryline with Clément Poitrenaud and Wesley Fofana within arm’s reach of the tryline but a knock-on handed England possession. A bounce of the ball midfield into Owen Farrell’s hands allowed a quick offload to Lee Dickson to Manu Tuilagi who ran the remainder of the pitch unhindered with such pace directly over to score the first try of the match. Farrell’s conversion from the 22 on the touchline was nothing short of perfect for England to take a 7-0 lead.

But only a moment later, Botha blatantly came into the ruck from the side conceding an easily kickable penalty for Beauxis to negate 3 of their 7 points. Almost every time England scored points, they conceded a penalty immediately after throughout the game.

Ben Foden next overcame his try-scoring drought thanks to a magnificent move by Ben Morgan who caught a high ball almost on half way, evaded three tacklers and offloaded to Foden just 5 metres out to score. Farrell’s conversion took the visitors to a 14-3 lead yet the first quarter was barely over. And in under a minute, a third try was almost on the cards had it not been for Poitrenaud getting under Chris Ashton’s chip and chase over the tryline to stop Charlie Sharples from collecting and scoring again.

France were troubled by their inability to catch the ball, but luckily for them, a penalty kick from Farrell found the upright only to ricochet back out. Both sides consistently turned over opposition ball successfully, and eventually an infringement by England allowed Dupuy to double the French tally of points with 10 minutes to go.

Possession swung up and down field as both teams attacked the other’s 22 with some conviction; Vincent Clerc had to be replaced with a shoulder injury by Maxime Mermoz, and it was England who conceded a penalty in the 39th minute following a superb take of the ball by Harinordoquy, and Beauxis narrowed England’s lead to just 5 points as the half time whistle blew. France 9, England 14.

No changes were made at the break, and France struggled to make any headway into England territory for the first few minutes. England fought their way into the French 22, lost possession, Les Bleus forced them back and Fofana broke but the referee’s whistle halted proceedings for a knock-on  judged by assistant ref, John Lacey. Despite the hollering, whistling and catcalls, Farrell’s concentration did not waver as he spliced the uprights from the 10m line.

With half an hour left on the clock, Philippe Saint-André typically began ringing in the changes with Morgan Parra, William Servat & Vincent Debaty on for Dupuy, Dimitri Szarzewski & Jean-Baptiste Poux, and England typically gifted France an immediate penalty to cancel out the last three points. Thankfully for the visitors, Beauxis missed.

The next occurrence showed the inconsistency of the referees continue in the tournament, with Charlie Sharples shown a yellow card for allegedly deliberately knocking on the ball, where in fact the replay showed it was hardly deliberate, and the result was unnecessarily harsh. France should have been given a scrum but no more for that piffle of an offence.

Now down to 14 men, England defended for their lives for the next 10 minutes to ensure the homeside could take no advantage, despite France venturing deep into their 22. The French may well have had 68% and 67% of possession and territory respectively in the second half, but it was England’s account that was in credit.

Lionel Nallet came on for Yoann Maestri, whilst Mo Botha finally had to be replaced by Tom Palmer. Meanwhile, the ref continued his pointless diatribe, obviously enjoying the sound of his own voice a little too much, this time telling England captain, Chris Robshaw to have a word with Ashton, and shortly turned his attention to French captain, Thierry Dusautoir to continue rambling.

With Sharples braced to return to the field, France were on the brink of scoring again but Fofana’s foot briefly found touch. Morgan was replaced by Phil Dowson, Sharples returned, and England gifted a penalty for Parra to swiftly kick over. Just 2 minutes later, England were pinged at the scrum and Beauxis took the score to just a 2 point gap, 15-17.

The clock showed just 10 minutes to go, and England came back with utter class in a superb try from Tom Croft. Good handling skills along width of pitch allowed Barritt to offload to Croft who eyed the gap and just ran from outside the 22 straight in between Rougerie and man of the match, Harinordoquy, both left standing  in wonderment. Farrell had that crazed haunting look in his eye as he converted to return the lead to 9 points clear.

The French hit back quickly but England maintained both composure and discipline as the opposition were all over the tryline. Excellent defence from Phil Dowson denied Fofana this time, who was booted in the face as Fofana flew over, followed up by an unintentional stamp from Croft; he was eventually forced off for a blood injury, replaced by Rob Webber.

France had a 5m scrum, and Bonnaire replacement, Louis Picamoles cleared from base of scrum to Parra to Fofana for the score in the corner. Though both the ref and the touch judge were in situ, and it was clearly a try, Rolland deferred to the TMO for confirmation. Parra’s conversion was sublime and the gap again returned to just 2 points with less than 4 minutes to go.

France and England urgently attacked and defended for the final few minutes, with England in France’s 22, and Rougerie charging in the opposite direction 40m before Les Bleus headed up to the English 22. Trinh-Duc dropped back into the pocket in the 79th minute in preparation for the drop goal, but when the opportunity came, it fell short. England took their time clearing, France attacked again to the midfield, ref called for the England scrum on the 80th minute; Ben Youngs fed it in, passed it out, and Farrell kick the ball for England glory.

Breathtaking rugby was on display this afternoon in rugby, and England’s third win on the road in the RBS Six Nations was a first for the country. Lancaster had truly proved his mettle as a serious contender for the England Head Coach position.

15 Clément Poitrenaud 14 Vincent Clerc 13 Aurélien Rougerie 12 Wesley Fofana 11 Julien Malzieu 10 Lionel Beauxis 9 Julien Dupuy 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux 2 Dimitri Szarzewski 3 Nicolas Mas 4 Pascal Papé 5 Yoann Maestri 6 THIERRY DUSAUTOIR [C] 7 Julien Bonnaire 8 Imanol Harinordoquy BENCH: 16 William Servat 17 Vincent Debaty 18 Lionel Nallet 19 Louis Picamoles 20 Morgan Parra 21 François Trinh-Duc 22 Maxime Mermoz

SCORERS T: Fofana C: Parra P: Beauxis (3), Dupuy, Parra

15 Ben Foden 14 Chris Ashton 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi 12 Brad Barritt 11 Charlie Sharples 10 Owen Farrell 9 Lee Dickson 1 Alex Corbisiero 2 Dylan Hartley 3 Dan Cole 4 Mouritz Botha 5 Geoff Parling 6 Tom Croft 7 CHRIS ROBSHAW [C] 8 Ben Morgan BENCH: 16 Rob Webber 17 Matt Stevens 18 Tom Palmer 19 Phil Dowson 20 Ben Youngs 21 Charlie Hodgson 22 Mike Brown

SCORERS T: Tuilagi, Foden, Croft C: Farrell (3) P: Farrell Sharples

Man of the Match: Imanol Harinordoquy

REFEREE: Alain Rolland (IRFU) Asst Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU), John Lacey (IRFU) TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)

 

 

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ITALY 13 - 6 SCOTLAND

Saturday 17 March Stadio Olimpico
KO: 12.30pm CET HT: 3-3 Att: 72,357

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 19 Scotland won: 12 Italy won: 7 Drawn: 0

BEAUTY was not a quality seen between Italy and Scotland in Rome. In fact, the game was dogged with errors and had the very little flow or class throughout. However, it was never supposed to be pretty; this was the fight to avoid the wooden spoon after all.

The Italians arrived with brute force and a desire to win, beginning with clear purpose, claiming early territory and possession. The homeside had the first opportunity for points but, due to Fabio Ongaro getting a bit heated, the penalty was reversed, allowing an already struggling Scotland to clear their lines.

Italy were a side on a mission, they wanted to leave this tournament with their pride still intact, and were soon applying pressure once more. It was not long until Jim Hamilton handed over a penalty for being offside at the ruck and Mirco Bergamasco hit his target to get his side’s scoreboard ticking.

The Scottish lineout was their weakest  point, although both sides were making a mess of open play and the scrums as well, with the ball often flying long to miss all of its possible recipients. Meanwhile, the Italians were unable to increase their lead, with both Bergamasco and Kris Bruton missing chances. They were left rueing their inabilities when, against the grain of play, Greig Laidlaw slotted a 3-pointer to level the scores. This was excellent news for Scottish fans, but their elation lasted all but minutes as Nick de Luca was sent marching to the sin bin for purposefully kicking the ball from Edoardo Gori’s hands. Bergamasco could not make the resultant penalty stick and so the scores remained. Both sides trudged down the tunnel with the score at 3-all to think about their sporadic, and often supremely sloppy, play so far.

The restart saw Italy take full advantage of their extra man, attacking with full force and putting together more phases than either side had managed previously. The ball found its way out to Giovanbattista Venditti who surged through to touch down the only try of the match. The winger made the conversion so simple even Burton’s unreliable kicking could see the ball over and suddenly Italy were comfortably in front.

Laidlaw was given an attempt to cut the deficit shortly after, but the tricky angle prevailed, leaving him wanting. The visitors swapped players to the sin bin with de Luca just returning only to see Hamilton making a swift exit for pulling down the maul. Referee Alain Rolland continued with his pattern of inconsistent ruling though, and Hamilton was very unlucky to see a yellow for it.

Laidlaw eventually found his mark to reduce the margin to 4 points and Scotland were soon with a man advantage when Hamilton was released back on the field and Alessandro Zanni took his place in the bin for being off his feet. However, the hideous Scottish lineout blew any hope of a try and it was left to Burton to close proceedings. The fly-half, finally, nailed his drop-goal and handed Scotland the wooden spoon and a whitewash. The Italians had done what they needed to do but certainly did not do it in style.

15 Andrea Masi 14 Giovanbattista Venditti 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Gonzalo Canale 11 Mirco Bergamasco 10 Kris Burton 9 Edoardo Gori 1 Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina 2 Fabio Ongaro 3 Martin Castrogiovanni 4 Quintin Geldenhuys 5 Marco Bortolami 6 Alessandro Zanni 7 Robert Barbieri 8 SERGIO PARISSE [C] BENCH: 16 Tommaso d'Apice 17 Lorenzo Cittadini 18 Joshua Furno 19 Simone Favaro 20 Manoa Vosawai 21 Tobias Botes 22 Giulio Toniolatti

SCORERS T: Venditti C: Burton P: Bergamasco Zanni

15 Stuart Hogg 14 Max Evans 13 Nick De Luca 12 Graeme Morrison 11 Sean Lamont 10 Greig Laidlaw 9 Mike Blair 1 Allan Jacobsen 2 ROSS FORD [C] 3 Geoff Cross 4 Richie Gray 5 Jim Hamilton 6 John Barclay 7 Ross Rennie 8 David Denton BENCH: 16 Scott Lawson 17 Euan Murray 18 Alastair Kellock 19 Richie Vernon 20 Chris Cusiter 21 Ruaridh Jackson 22 Jack Cuthbert

SCORERS P: Laidlaw (2) de Luca, Hamilton

Man of the Match: Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)

REFEREE: Alain Rolland (IRFU) Asst Referees: George Clancy (IRFU), Pascal Gauzere (FFR) TMO: Tony Redmond (IRFU)

 

 

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WALES 16 - 9 FRANCE

Saturday 17 March Millennium Stadium
KO: 2.45pm GMT HT: 10-3 Att: 74,178

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 90 France won: 43 Wales won: 44 Drawn: 3

IT was not the neatest of wins but enough for Wales to seize the Grand Slam title for the 3rd time in 8 years when they took down France at the Millennium Stadium.

The French put a stop to running play by deciding to keep the roof open when told that rain was expected to fall before the match. This may well have been their downfall; players slipped about and fumbled the ball whenever a decent opportunity came close. The Welsh suffered from this too, but had the ambition and determination needed to prevail.

The visitors were first on the scoreboard as Yachvili slotted an early penalty after Wales pulled down the French maul. However, the homeside were gutsier in their attack and, although their attempts at piercing the French defence were fruitless, the Welsh had soon had a chance to even the score with a penalty. However, instead of the trusted Leigh Halfpenny stepping up, Rhys Priestland made his way to the tee and his attempt bounced of the woodwork.

But Wales did not dwell on this minor setback, launching a renewed attack straight away. The French defence whirled around in a frenzy, trying to desperately brace themselves against the hammering, but eventually they crumpled. Dan Lydiate produced a bone-crunching tackle on France’s captain, Thierry Dusautoir, and Alun Wyn Jones piled in to steal possession. Quick ball to Alex Cuthbert was all that was needed; the winger flew through a waiting gap and stormed over the tryline for the match’s only touchdown. The stadium erupted with cheers and Halfpenny knocked over the conversion to a hearty chorus.

Fullback Halfpenny soon added to the tally once more, with a penalty coming from yet more Welsh pressure. Jamie Roberts nearly performed a perfect chip-and-chase but was eventually halted by the defence and the half ended with Halfpenny hitting the uprights with another goal effort, but still led on the board 10-3.

The French had been fairly shy in attack for the initial 40 minutes, showing very little in terms of ideas or set moves. However, the start of the second half saw a different side take the pitch, a side that wanted to trample Welsh hopes.

The Welsh team was also changed, not in spirit but in members as captain, Sam Warburton was replaced by Ryan Jones due to injury. The visitors got down to business from the whistle, tearing around the field and causing problems for Wales. It was not long until the deficit was reduced by Lionel Beauxis finding his mark with a 3-pointer, although this did not detract from his appalling attempt at a drop-kick just moments before.

However, Halfpenny stunned the crowds after weathering the French battering; Wales claimed a penalty in their own half and the fullback casually strolled to the mark, set the ball and whacked a beautiful, huge kick directly through the posts.

The French still refused to lie down, with Jean-Marcel Buttin causing havoc when Beauxis’ cross-field kick fell into his open arms and he darted downfield. The Welsh line scrambled to protect themselves and the danger was quelled for a while longer.

Yet further problems came as France tried a high ball to great effect but the ever-present force of Lydiate kept the tryline out of reach. Yachvili clawed back some points with a final penalty for his team but Halfpenny soon nullified this and Wales held their nerve to seal the victory.

Dan Lydiate was named Man of the Match thanks to his brilliant tackling and presence of mind throughout the game.  It may have been a slippery game, but Wales gained a firm grasp from the off to claim a well-deserved Grand Slam.

15 Leigh Halfpenny 14 Alex Cuthbert 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Jamie Roberts 11 George North 10 Rhys Priestland 9 Mike Phillips 1 Gethin Jenkins 2 Matthew Rees 3 Adam Jones 4 Alun-Wyn Jones 5 Ian Evans 6 Dan Lydiate 7 SAM WARBURTON [C] 8 Toby Faletau BENCH: 16 Ken Owens 17 Paul James 18 Luke Charteris 19 Ryan Jones 20 Lloyd Williams 21 James Hook 22 Scott Williams

SCORERS T: Cuthbert C: Halfpenny P: Halfpenny (3)

15 Clément Poitrenaud 14 Wesley Fofana 13 Aurélien Rougerie 12 Florian Fritz 11 Julien Malzieu 10 Lionel Beauxis 9 Dimitri Yachvili 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux 2 William Servat 3 David Attoub 4 Pascal Papé 5 Yoann Maestri 6 THIERRY DUSAUTOIR [C] 7 Julien Bonnaire 8 Imanol Harinordoquy BENCH: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski 17 Vincent Debaty 18 Julien Pierre 19 Louis Picamoles 20 Morgan Parra 21 François Trinh-Duc 22  Jean-Marcellin Buttin

SCORERS P: Yachvili (2), Beauxis

Man of the Match: Dan Lydiate (Wales)

REFEREE: Craig Joubert (SARU) Asst Referees: Wayne Barnes, Stuart Terheege (RFU) TMO: Iain Ramage (SRU)

 

 

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ENGLAND 30 - 9 IRELAND

Saturday 17 March Twickenham
KO: 5pm GMT HT: 9-6 Att: tbc

HEAD TO HEAD All matches Played: 126 Ireland won: 46 England won: 72 Drawn: 8

HERE'S HOW IT HAPPENED:

England v Ireland What fantastic anthems followed a minute's silence for Jock Hobbs & Mervyn Davies!
England 0-0 Ireland An incredible crowd here today...huge amount of Irish! And here we go...
England 0-0 Ireland 1min 1st scrum already to England just outside Irish 10m & win the penalty
England 0-0 Ireland 1min England not risking anything now & Owen Farrell tees up...
England 3-0 Ireland 2mins Faz's day starts well with 3 points v early on
England 3-0 Ireland 5mins Ireland head right into England 22 but make a bit of a hash of it all& England return over H/W
England 3-0 Ireland 7mins Ireland L/O just outside England 10m which they win comfortably but huge pressure at breakdown
England 3-0 Ireland 8mins England force a t/o but quickly possession changes again & Ireland charge into 22...
England 3-0 Ireland 9mins Huge tackle from Foden saves the try, but quickly comes another foray but Foden does it again
England 3-0 Ireland 10mins Ireland 5m L/O followed by a short injury break... England win pen & have 5m scrum
England 3-0 Ireland 12mins England clear to H/W but followed up with DG from Kearney which has distance but hits post
England 3-0 Ireland 13mins Ireland win pen back over in own territory & set up L/O inside England 10m
England 3-3 Ireland 16mins Ireland secure penalty & Jonny Sexton thumps over his first 3 points
England 3-3 Ireland 18mins Both sides looking very strong but Ireland attacking more; pen England & L/O outside Irish 22
England 3-3 Ireland 20mins England scrum outside Irish 10m on far side & pen England; set up 22 L/O
England 3-3 Ireland 22mins Ireland shut down England momentum as head up to 22 but k/o & England scrum
England 3-3 Ireland 23mins England win pen from Reddan kicking ball away cynically. Ref Nigel Owens warns captain Best
England 6-3 Ireland 23mins Another easy 3 points for Faz as hiskick is bang on target again
England 6-3 Ireland 25mins Wet ball & it's slipping all over the place; spills forward from Tuilagi & Ireland scrum on 22
England 6-3 Ireland 27mins As scrum is reset again on England 22, "Swing Low" rebounds around stadium...
England 6-3 Ireland 27mins England apply just as much pressure to spoil Irish momentum & have scrum outside own 22
England 6-3 Ireland 28mins Owens has word with both captains as claims can't penalise what he doesn't see...
England 6-3 Ireland 28mins But if Owens isn't watching far side of scrum, what is touch judge doing...knitting?!
England 6-3 Ireland 29mins Massive charge from Ben Morgan but ball lost at breakdown.
England 6-3 Ireland 30mins England L/O inside Irish 10m is good & they push forward...forced back & pinged for holding on
England 6-3 Ireland 32mins Sexton sets up L/O on England 10m; England win ball & kick but Kearney clears towards H/W
England 6-3 Ireland 34mins Irish scrum is turned over by England outside Irish 22 & Ireland concede pen in front of posts
England 9-3 Ireland 35mins Another simple conversion of the penalty from Faz and England double lead from 3 to 6 points
England 9-3 Ireland 37mins Ireland return to England 22 & have L/O but a huge boot from England sends play to midfield
England 9-3 Ireland 38mins Ireland win penalty & Sexton kicks to set up 22 L/O...win it just & cross 22 but England pen
England 9-3 Ireland 39mins Absolutely huge tackles coming in from England! White scrum on own 22
England 9-3 Ireland 40mins Ireland upset England at breakdown & win pen which Sexton tees up from England 22
England 9-6 Ireland 40mins An easy 3 points for Jonny & it's half time

England 9-6 Ireland HT P: Farrell (3) | P: Sexton (2)

England 9-6 Ireland 42mins Ireland have scrum just inside England 10m & England steal but k/o
England 9-6 Ireland 42mins No changes at HT, just Tom Court on for Mike Ross before HT whistle
England 9-6 Ireland 45min Spectacular break from Tom Croft as he charges into 22 but spills ball fwd looking for offload!
England 9-6 Ireland 47mins Irish hand over a pen at the scrum & Faz has chance to add 3 more from out wide inside 22
England 12-6 Ireland 48mins More perfection for Faz Jnr & England lead by 6
England 12-6 Ireland 48mins England replace Lee Dickson with Ben Youngs [gulp!] & Ireland Gordon D'Arcy with Ronan O'Gara
England 12-9 Ireland 50mins England slip up quickly & hand over easily kickable pen to Sexton just outside 22...3pts
England 12-9 Ireland 54mins England back into Irish territory & on the attack into 22 but try saved by Tomas O'Leary
England 12-9 Ireland 54mins Tomas O'Leary has replaced Eoin Reddan, & Tom Palmer's on for Mouritz Botha
England 12-9 Ireland 56mins England have 5m scrum...reset but still England ball...
England 12-9 Ireland 57mins 3rd reset & England heave the scrum over the line & try is signalled then back to TMO!
England 12-9 Ireland 57mins Ref asked if whistle blown before ball was grounded - yes - scrum 5 England...
England 19-9 Ireland 59mins Penalty try awarded at scrum to England & Faz converts from in frnt of posts
England 19-9 Ireland 60mins 10pt cushion inspires England; Irish have L/O just inside own 22
England 19-9 Ireland 61mins And just so you know, it is bloody freezing at Twickers today...& now there's wind too!
England 19-9 Ireland 62mins Ireland force play back but England have scrum on Irish 10m line...
England 19-9 Ireland 63mins Short injury break for hidden Irish player before scrum is set...
England 19-9 Ireland 64mins Knowing the penalty is coming, Faz attempts drop goal which has distance but falls wide...
England 22-9 Ireland 64mins Penalty kick is spot on & England charge ahead on the scoreboard
England 22-9 Ireland 66mins Keith Earls breaks brilliantly, side-stepping Tuilagi before O'Leary kicks to touch
England 22-9 Ireland 68mins The moment is lost as England have L/O in own 22; clear > Irish 10m L/O > pen England > scrum
England 22-9 Ireland 69mins Stadium applauses approval as England heave & win pen, but ball doesn't find touch...
England 22-9 Ireland 69mins Peter O'Mahony replaces Sean O'Brien & earlier Donncha O'Callaghan off for Mike McCarthy
England 22-9 Ireland 71mins Mike Brown replaces Ben Foden & England scrum in Irish 22...Ireland steal but k/o
England 22-9 Ireland 73mins Another scrum for England inside Irish 22...reset again...lot of that going on...
England 27-9 Ireland 74mins Pen England taken quickly by Ben Youngs chips & scores try No. 2
England 27-9 Ireland 75mins No conversion from bench..Phil Dowson, Matt Stevens & Lee Mears for Morgan, Cole & Hartley &
England 30-9 Ireland 77mins England almost score again but Irish hand over pen & Faz adds another 3...
England 30-9 Ireland 77mins Trimble & Best replaced by Fergus McFadden & Sean Cronin
England 30-9 Ireland 77mins England's Ben Morgan named Man of the Match
England 30-9 Ireland 80mins And the final score stands at 30-9 as ball goes dead & Owens blows the whistle

15 Ben Foden 14 Chris Ashton 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi 12 Brad Barritt 11 David Strettle 10 Owen Farrell 9 Lee Dickson 1 Alex Corbisiero 2 Dylan Hartley 3 Dan Cole 4 Mouritz Botha 5 Geoff Parling 6 Tom Croft 7 CHRIS ROBSHAW [C] 8 Ben Morgan BENCH: 16 Lee Mears 17 Matt Stevens 18 Tom Palmer 19 Phil Dowson 20 Ben Youngs 21 Charlie Hodgson 22 Mike Brown

SCORERS T: Penalty try, Youngs C: Farrell P: Farrell (6)

15 Rob Kearney 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Keith Earls 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Andrew Trimble 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan 1 Cian Healy 2 RORY BEST [C] 3 Mike Ross 4 Donncha O'Callaghan 5 Donnacha Ryan 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Sean O'Brien 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Tom Court 18 Mike McCarthy 19 Peter O'Mahony 20 Tomas O’Leary 21 Ronan O'Gara 22 Fergus McFadden

SCORERS P: Sexton (3)

Man of the Match: Ben Morgan (England)

REFEREE: Nigel Owens (WRU) Asst Referees: Jerome Garces (FFR), Neil Paterson (SRU) TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)

 

 

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