Italy 9 England 45

England enjoyed an ultimately fruitful but unsatisfying day in the Roman sun to bring the 2002 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship to an end, scoring six tries in a 45-9 win over Italy at the Stadio Flaminio.

Harlequins centre Will Greenwood scored one in each half for England, with Ben Cohen, Jason Robinson, Austin Healey and Lawrence Dallaglio also touching down on an afternoon which produced a muted sense of occasion, with Championship ambitions already destroyed by France in Paris 24 hours earlier.

England stuttered as they aimed to find their step, an early surge petering out early in the second half, as they let a largely one-dimensional and indisciplined Italian side back into the game.

Solace can be taken from the fact that the English only allowed the Azzurri to score two penalties during a match which saw the unfamiliar sight of regular captain Martin Johnson on the bench.

What England will have learned from the game could likely be written on the back of a postage stamp, their power and organisation too much for an Italian team devoid of imagination and execution, although the try-scoring return of Lawrence Dallaglio from the bench served as a long-awaited tonic for a match which had an air of inevitability around it before a ball had even been kicked.

The first half got under way with Jonny Wilkinson and Diego Dominguez exchanging penalty kicks, but with England seemingly intent on using their undoubted firepower in the backs, it was only eight minutes in before the first try was scored.

It came from some appalling Italian defensive play, Will Greenwood running through the huge gap created by Denis Dallan's poor positional judgement after good work from Mike Tindall, Wilkinson converting from under the posts after Greenwood's saunter to the line.  Lewis Moody then went close from an Italian lineout in the corner, just knocking on as he dived for the whitewash from the back of the lineout.

A large cheer from the hordes of England fans came on 19 minutes when a nasal injury to Danny Grewcock meant a three-minute bloodbin cameo for Martin Johnson, the captain who had been left out of the starting XV going into the game.

Johnson's initial contribution consisted of giving away a penalty immediately for going through the middle of a ruck and a free-kick for infringing at the lineout, but normality was soon restored on 24 minutes when Ben Cohen scored England's second try.  The Northampton wing went over after Neil Back drove down the middle of the field, the ball then worked right for Cohen to break the tackles of Dallan and Dominguez on his way to the line for a powerful run-in.  Wilkinson converted that score, and as England continued to dominate a game dogged by penalties and free-kicks, it was fullback Jason Robinson who racked up the final try of the half, after an accomplished performance which saw him frequently at acting scrum-half, as well as slotting the odd tactical kick into the corners.

His try was a typically individual finish, coming from a five-metre scrum under the posts, scrum-half Kyran Bracken working the ball right to Robinson on a diagonal at first receiver, the Sale Sharks speedster bursting through the tackle of Giovanni Raineri, Wilkinson again adding the extras from right of the posts for a 24-3 half-time advantage.  Italy finally showed some willingness to run with the ball out wide as the second half got underway, Dallan and Mazzucato combining down the right to burst holes in an English defence which was forced to concede a penalty on their own 22, Dominguez slotting the easy penalty to get the Roman crowd vocal again.

Another Italian penalty for Dominguez followed as Alessandro Troncon marshalled the forward pack in the England 22, steering them on short bursts at the England fringes, and forcing England to again give away penalties.

England summoned on 252 caps worth of talent from the bench with 24 minutes left on the clock, Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson, Matt Dawson and Jason Leonard entering the fray to massive applause from the Stadio Flaminio terraces.

Three of those former captains had an instant impact on the game, a break from Johnson down the centre freeing Wilkinson from the 22, the ensuing ruck seeing Dawson spin the ball left to Dallaglio, the returning Wasps No.8 having a completely unopposed run-in to the line from five metres, a deserved grin on his face as he touched the ball down after an injury-blighted last year.

With Wilkinson taking a knock in the tackle Dawson added the conversion from just left of the posts, the Northampton scrum-half also instrumental in the next try nine minutes later.  From a penalty ten metres away from the Italian line, he tapped, paused for a second and then hit a deft lob over the flat Italian backline, Greenwood racing onto the ball at pace for a marvellous rehearsed set-piece score, converted by Wilkinson.

With the clock running down, there was still time for one more England try, replacement Austin Healey scampering over in the right corner in his silver boots after Greenwood drew replacement fullback Ramiro Pez and committed him before passing, Wilkinson converting for a 13-point personal haul.

The final whistle went immediately after, bringing down the curtain on another disappointing Six Nations season for the English, one which promised so much, but failed to deliver after their miserable afternoon in Paris five weeks ago.

For Italy, credibility in part from their second half showing, but with coach Brad Johnstone widely expected to be relieved of his duties, and assistant John Kirwan set to take over, plenty of thinking to do for the Azzurri ahead of next season.

Man of the match:  Jason Robinson
Not too many stand-out candidates from a team performance which at times lacked the killer instinct, but Robinson's solid base at the back and outstanding support play in attack added considerable edge to what could have been a flat tempo.  Jonny Wilkinson controlled the backline well, and both Lewis Moody and Will Greenwood fared well in the loose.  Not too many candidates for the Italians, whose only real spearhead came from Mazzucato's occasional breaks down the wing.

Moment of the match:  England quadruple substitution
16 minutes into the second half, you're 24-9 up in a meaningless game, what do you do?  Bring on 252 caps worth of experience of course.  The fact that England can boast replacements of the calibre of Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson and Jason Leonard, shows how far they have came recently.  The sight of all four running onto the field in clean shirts must have had the Italian pack cursing the rugby Gods.

Villain of the match:  Denis Dallan
No real villains in a relatively well-played-out game, the odd spat marring play, but no cards shown by referee Mark Lawrence.  Italian left wing Dallan gets our vote for some early poor defending, although some of his backline teammates also contributed to the defensive holes which England ran through on occasion.

(Half-time:  Italy 3 England 24)

Sin-bin:  None
Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Joel Dumé (France) and David McHugh (Ireland)

The teams:

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Federico Pucciariello, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Giovanni Raineri, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Matteo Mazzantini, Andrea Moretti, Cristian Zanoletti, Andrea De Rossi, Santiago Dellape, Carlos Nieto, Ramiro Pez

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson, Austin Healey, Martin Johnson, Jason Leonard, Dorian West, Charlie Hodgson

Referee:  Lawrence m.

Points Scorers

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 3

England
Tries:  Dallaglio L.B.N. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Healey A.S. 1, Robinson J.T. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Dawson M.J.S. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 5
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Wales 22 Scotland 27

Two injury-time penalties, one from Scotland fullback Brendan Laney and the other from Duncan Hodge, saw Scotland win the battle of the 2002 Home Unions basement as they sent Wales crashing to a 27-22 defeat.

It was a heartbreaking end to the Six Nations for a Welsh side who have endured more than their fair share of woes this season – both on and off the field – and leaves coach Steve Hansen in no doubt about the challenge facing him in his newly-appointed role as permanent Wales coach until the end of the 2003/2004 season.

Top of his priorities will doubtlessly be addressing the woeful performance of his front five in the set-piece.  Wales stuttered badly throughout the match, starved of possession for long periods by a misfiring lineout and the lack of a solid platform in the scrummage.

Strangely, there was no inkling of these major flaws in the Welsh game in the opening minutes of the match, the Welsh forwards doing a fair imitation of Hansen's beloved Canterbury outfit, superb continuity play nearly resulting in an early try for Rob Howley, the scrum-half seemingly hell-bent on finishing off his international career with a bang.

But after a lightning break that left the Scots trailing in his after-burners, the No.9 opted to off-load to second row Andy Moore, the lock without the pace to turn Howley's opportunism into an early score, giving away a penalty in the process.

Minutes later, a typical storming close-quarter drive from Colin Charvis – revelling in his new role as national captain – resulted in a penalty for the Welsh.  Stephen Jones duly stepped up and, showing no signs of the back spasm which had put his participation in this encounter in doubt, slotted the three points to settle Welsh nerves in the eighth minute.

Two minutes later, the Howley-Charvis axis was again apparent, creating space on the outside for wing Craig Morgan who set up the ruck.  Spotting a hole in the Scottish back three, Welsh flanker Martin Williams chipped ahead after spotting fullback Brendan Laney out of position but the Welsh could not convert pressure into a try-scoring chance.

Stephen Jones kicked his second penalty in the 15th minute, before Wales made another dangerous incursion into Scottish territory, Mark Taylor 40 metres down the left after opposite number Townsend had knocked on.  Taylor kept the ball alive, despite being tackled, and the desperate Scottish defence chose to kill the ball at the ensuing ruck, Jones adding another three points to the Welsh tally.

It seemed that the home side were on their way to victory, but then Scotland began to take a greater hand in proceedings.  The visitors stormed into the Welsh 22 before launching a forward drive towards the Welsh tryline.  With referee Joel Jutge unable to work out what had happened in the pile-up over the line in the left-hand corner, the video ref was consulted and duly awarded a try to Gordon Bulloch.

Laney was unable to slot the difficult touchline conversion, but the score gave the visitors a renewed sense of purpose and minutes later, in a carbon copy of the first try, Bulloch scored again, burrowing over after a textbook forward drive from the Scottish front five.

This time Laney was on target with the conversion to make it 12-9 to Scotland.  Having missed an ambitious penalty goal from the halfway, Laney slotted another three points on the stroke of half-time following some superb continuity play from his team.

It was the front five who Scotland had to thank for their slender half-time lead, particularly second row Scott Murray who had been a constant thorn in the side of the Welsh lineout which stuttered badly throughout.

As they had done in the first half, Wales again started well, the introduction of Iestyn Harris to the midfield having an immediate impact.  The former Wales Rugby League captain has not had an easy ride during his debut season in the Welsh jersey, but his class was apparent early in the second half when he created a try for Rhys Williams, using his pace to ghost through the tackle of John Leslie before off-loading to his grateful team-mate to touch down under the posts.

Jones was not on target with the conversion to make it 16-15 and from here on in the lead was to change hands several times.

Laney kicked a penalty to put the Scots back in front but Jones' penalty edged Wales ahead 19-18 with 17 minutes to go.  The lead changed again six minutes from the end when Laney kicked between the posts from 35 meters and Scotland led 21-19.

But the Welsh struck back with two minutes left on the clock -- Scotland prop Tom Smith penalised for handling in ruck to enable Jones to kick his fifth penalty.

The game was in injury time when a Welshman was adjudged to have handled in a ruck and Laney kicked his fourth penalty.  The fullback was to play no further part in proceedings after leaving the field with a knee injury, but his replacement, Duncan Hodge, kicked another penalty for the last score of the game to secure a Scottish victory.

Man of the match:  Scott Murray
Scotland hooker Gordon Bulloch showed great determination to score both of his side's tries, but it was Scott Murray who had the most influence on proceedings.  The second row's lineout performance was absolutely outstanding throughout, securing plentiful possession for his own side and making life thoroughly miserable for the opposition on their own throw.

Moment of the match:  Rhys Williams' try
Iestyn Harris has had his critics since his switch from Rugby League to the more claustrophobic world of Union, but the Cardiff pivot had an almost immediate impact on proceedings following his half-time introduction, showing his devastating one-on-one rugby skill to shrug off a tackle from John Leslie before supplying a deft, pinpoint pass to a grateful Williams who streaked in under the posts for the touchdown.

Villain of the match: 
There may be little room for sentiment in the professional game, but surely Wales coach Steve Hansen could have allowed Rob Howley to go the distance in his last outing in the Welsh jersey.  Instead, the scrum-half faced an ignominious exit in the 66th minute when the game was still hanging in the balance and his vast experience could have helped the Welsh cause.

Referee:  Joel Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland) and Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Barry Williams, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Colin Charvis (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Rhys Williams, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Thomas, Dafydd James, Spencer John, Robin McBryde, Chris Wyatt

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Kenny Logan, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  Richard Metcalfe, Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Duncan Hodge, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge

Referee:  Jutge j.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Williams G.R. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 5

Scotland
Tries:  Bulloch G.C. 2
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 4, Hodge D.W. 1

France 44 Ireland 5

Two tries each from Biarritz pair Serge Betsen and Nicolas Brusque helped a powerful and prolific French side romp to the Grand Slam and Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship title with a record 44-5 demolition of Ireland at the Stade de France.

Bernard Laporte's men claimed their third Grand Slam in six seasons, their mixture of fluent handling and energy-sapping support play starving a lacklustre Irish side of possession and territory.

They scored five tries in total, Aurelien Rougerie adding to Betsen and Brusque's pair on a day where they topped their previous record score against the Irish – a 45-10 win in Paris back in 1996.

In truth, Ireland were never at the races on a sunny afternoon which was always more about the home side than them, hooker Keith Wood registering their only points with a first half try as they lost yards and ground to the convincing and energetic French pack.

The blue ribbons may as well have been wrapped around the trophy as early as two minutes into a half which saw Ireland dragged from pillar to post by a rampant and purposeful French eight, blindside Serge Betsen cantering through on the overlap for the opening try as the stragglers were still finding their seat numbers.

It came from a big rolling maul from the French front eight, Merceron breaking before the French backs took the Irish defence first right, then crucially left, long passes opening the gap for Betsen in the left corner, Merceron converting from out wide.

It was all France, but the Irish managed to get within a sniff of parity – on the scoreboard at least – with an 11th minute try from hooker Keith Wood.

It stemmed from one of the only pieces of first half imagination from the men in green, Munster centre Rob Henderson breaking with the uneffective lateral pattern to dink a deft grubber past the flat French backline on the 22, the ensuing defensive panic leading to a five-metre scrum.

From that central scrumdown, the Irish pack bashed the first phase down the right, Wood coming at pace from the resulting ruck to dive through the tackles of Merceron and Magne for the try, David Humphreys missing the tricky conversion.

Two penalties from Merceron extended the French lead, and on 26 minutes les Bleus got just reward for their enterprise and ambition, Biarritz fullback Nicolas Brusque slicing a hole in the retreating Irish rearguard.

A lineout on halfway for the French saw Tony Marsh pierce the Irish three-quarter line, hooker Raphael Ibanez instrumental in a quick spread from right to left through the hands to put Brusque in between the tackles of Brian O'Driscoll and Shane Horgan, Merceron narrowly missing the conversion from out wide on the left.

It was only four minutes later before the next running try, Montferrand flyer Aurelien Rougerie streaking away down the right wing from halfway after a typically sniping blindside half-break from scrum-half Fabien Galthie, Merceron converting before adding a penalty for a 28-5 half-time lead.

France continued their assault on the Irish line as the second half got underway, both Betsen and Magne going close before Merceron conservatively kicked a penalty from under the posts when a running option could have killed the game off as a contest, the fly-half opting for the same option again only minutes later to a slow hand clap, bludgeoning the kick wide of the posts.

The French crowd got the fourth try they wanted soon after when Betsen rumbled over in the left corner for his second try, les Bleus gaining huge momentum from a 20-metre rolling maul before Galthie spun the ball down the blindside for Betsen, Merceron failing to add the conversion from out wide.

Denis Hickie went close for Ireland after chasing a massive Ronan O'Gara punt, the bounce of the hacked-on ball working against the Leinster wing on a rare foray into French territory.

Damien Traille went close for the French in the final ten minutes of a half which did not have the same ruthlessness of the first stanza, sloppy handling dogging both sides in crucial areas, and Ireland failing to pressure a French side with victory already in the bag.

There was however time for one more moment of magic for the home fans when replacement back-row Remy Martin set off down the middle from the 22, the ball spun left through the quick hands of Traille and Marsh, who put in Brusque on the overlap for an easy run-in, replacement fly-half Francois Gelez striking the post with the conversion after hitting a penalty minutes earlier.

Referee Paddy O'Brien finally blew the whistle on what will go down as one of the great days in French rugby, as they cemented their place as the Six Nations' premier team, prising the Championship trophy away from the clutches of England, and claiming the feat which has eluded the English for so long, the Grand Slam.

Man of the match:  Serge Betsen
Even his camouflage headguard could not hide the huge contribution of the Biarritz blindside, a personification of the renewed French cohesion and dynamism throughout the Championship.  The usual suspects, Galthie and Magne get notable mentions, not forgetting immense No.8 Imanaol Harinordoquy.  Candidates for Ireland few and far between, although Keith Wood and Denis Hickie never threw in the towel.

Moment of the match:  Nicolas Brusque's first try
A cutting and speedy run from the Biarritz fullback showed excellent support play.  A lineout on halfway and a break from Tony Marsh drew the Irish defence, and some quickly-worked ball from right to left caught the defence on the back foot, Brusque darting through two defenders for a memorable first half score.

Villain of the match:  None
A good-tempered match saw little controversy and a fine general spirit.  The French crowd did themselves no favours with some slow hand clapping and Mexican waves during play, but it would be harsh to label them party-poopers after their exuberant post-match celebrations.

(Half-time:  France 28 Ireland 5)

Sin-bin:  None

The teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traillem, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  David Auradou, Olivier Azam, Francois Gelez, Jimmy Marlu, Pierre Mignoni, Remy Martin, Jean-Baptiste Poux

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Paul Wallace, Keith Gleeson, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, John Kelly

Attendance:  79978

Referee:  O'brien p.

Points Scorers

France
Tries:  Betsen Tchoua S. 2, Brusque N. 2, Rougerie A. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 4, Gelez F. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Wood K.G.M. 1

Scotland 10 France 22

France edged closer to their dream of a Grand Slam on Saturday after claiming a 22-10 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship win over Scotland at Murrayfield, with two tries from Montferrand centre Tony Marsh.

Marsh's scores either side of the break were credit for a performance which will be deemed little more than satisfactory against a misfiring Scotland team with little lead in their pencil.

The French try-scoring was wrapped-up with a fleeting blindside break from scrum-half Fabien Galthie, who showed his leadership talents in abundance both in open field and in his decision making.

For Scotland, not a huge amount to build on from another performance which showed their finishing frailties, a second half try from scrum-half Bryan Redpath coming as reward for a brief spell of telling pressure in the second half – but they never accelerated from there.

Pau's Basque back-row terror Imanol Harinordoquy was once again tearing it up in broken play with some enormous hits and useful yards, and Olivier Magne advanced his case for the player of the Championship award with a tireless afternoon's pillaging at openside.

The Scots actually went into an early lead through a Brendan Laney penalty after seven minutes, but it was a half filled with frustration for the home side as chance after chance went by the wayside due to a combination of poor handling and botched execution.

Touch kicks did not find their target, elementary passes were knocked on, and their defence ultimately fell to the continual French pressure on 16 minutes when Tony Marsh grabbed the only try of the half for the French.

It came after a barnstorming run in midfield from Pau powerhouse Damien Traille in the centres, who took three or four Scottish tacklers with him before bursting between Gregor Townsend and John Leslie.

He passed left to Marsh at pace, and the Scots' cause was not helped by an unfortunate slip as fullback Brendan Laney attempted to change direction on a shocking, cut-up Murrayfield surface.

His loss of footing saw Marsh faced with the easiest of run-ins, wing Glenn Metcalfe the only chaser as he went under the posts, the try converted by Montferrand fly-half Gerald Merceron.

Scotland had their best chance of a try ten minutes later when Saracens lock Stuart Murray fell five metres short of the line, Serge Betsen scragging his collar and stealing the ball to the frustration of a muted and virtually atmosphere-less Murrayfield.

A penalty from Merceron on 31 minutes saw France extend their lead to seven points at the break, and in truth it should have been more after their continued probing of the Scottish defence, Harinordoquy and Magne making some quality yards through the middle as scrum-half Bryan Redpath provided Scotland's only real spark.

France injected some pace into the game with the second half underway, and when silky-running fullback Nicolas Brusque aimed a chip-and-chase over the top of Gregor Townsend, he outpaced the Castres player and set up a dangerous attack in the right corner.

With Rougerie in attendance, the kick was regathered and the ruck in the right corner near the Scottish tryline was quickly worked back, and sent swiftly through the hands from right to left, eventually falling to Tony Marsh on the left flank, diving into the corner under a tackle from Glenn Metcalfe.

It was only five minutes later when the advantage was extended to 19 points, scrum-half and captain Fabien Galthie picking and going down the blindside in typically ruthless and predatory style.

The Stade Francais keystone barged round the side of a ruck past the attentions of hooker Gordon Bulloch, exposing the Scotland side's hopeless defensive inadequacies down the French right wing for a clean run from all of 40 metres, fullback Brendan Laney having nowhere near enough pace to run across from the other side of the pitch and catch Galthie, who went over in the right corner – Merceron converting the extras impressively from way out wide.

It appeared to be the blow Scotland needed to knock some shape and life into their play, and it was a surging run from centre James McLaren which led indirectly to a long-awaited Scottish try.

His left to right diagonal run from the 22 saw him past the flailing arms of Merceron and to within five metres of the line, Rougerie managing to halt his progress with a vice-like grip in the tackle when a certain try beckoned.

The ball was eventually worked right to left, and a zig-zagging run from Laney on the left flank saw the Kiwi weave his way agonisingly close to the score, but from the resulting ruck, Bryan Redpath picked the ball up and placed it over the line without hardly lifting his feet from the ground, putting the ball down right in the middle of the ruck right on the line itself.

It was reward for an enterprising match for the Sale Sharks No.9 who had been one of the only sparks for the Scots during the French pressure which preceded the try, Laney converting from left of the posts.

The match petered to an unsatisfying end after that, continual Scottish mistakes blighting a dis-jointed finale, partly due to the frustratingly increasing numbers of late substitutions used by both sides.

The stop/start nature of the last ten minutes did not seem a fitting climax to TV commentator Bill McLaren's final Murrayfield commentary, but referee Alain Rolland eventually saw fit to call time on the match after a missed Merceron penalty.

So France are only one step from Grand Slam glory, but on this showing, they will have to up the tempo to overcome Eddie O'Sullivan's men in two weeks' time, for what promises to be one of the games of the Championship.

For Scotland, typical mediocrity once again, flashes of creation but a laboured and clumsy approach to execution.  Hopefully a third professional club side next year will inject some life and competition to a side who have disappointed for the last few years.

Man of the match:  Tony Marsh (France)
Two superbly-taken tries and a generally solid performance from the New Zealand-born player.  His centre partnership with Damien Traille is fast becoming one of the most feared and consistently productive in Test rugby.  Fabien Galthie could have had a serious shout for the award after a marvellous try and a solid leadership display.  For Scotland, scrum-half Bryan Redpath was the only serious contender, but Marsh gets our vote in the end for injecting spark into what could have easily been a lifeless game.

Moment of the match:  Tony Marsh's second try
Great counter-attacking rugby saw Biarritz's Nicolas Brusque lob a kick down the wing and over the head of the retreating Scottish defence, outpacing Gregor Townsend.  The ball was eventually gathered up in the right corner, Olivier Magne showing superb athleticism to get to the ruck first with Aurelien Rougerie.  The ball was spun quickly right to left via a plethora of French runners, Marsh eventually evading the tackle of Glenn Metcalfe for the touchdown.  BBC TV commentator Bill McLaren could have cause to win our award also, after emotionally uttering his final words at Murrayfield in a 50-year broadcast career.  Bill may have had a lump in the throat, but he held it together like the thorough pro he is, even if it may not have been the result he wanted on the field itself.

Villain of the match:  The Scottish handling
Continually awful hand/eye co-ordination blighted their play throughout.  The ball may have been a tad slippery, and the pitch cutting-up, but there was no excuse for the consistency and magnitude of the Scottish errors in good positions.

(Half-time:  Scotland 3 France 10)

Sin-bin:  None

The teams:

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Martin Leslie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Kenny Logan, Robbie Russell
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Thibault Privat, Sylvain Marconnet, Jimmy Marlu, Remy Martin
Unused:  Olivier Azam, Francois Gelez, Pierre Mignoni

Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers

Scotland
Tries:  Redpath B.W. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 1

France
Tries:  Galthie F. 1, Marsh T. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 1

England 50 Wales 10

England won their first Triple Crown since 1998 as two tries from Dan Luger, and 30 points from stand-off Jonny Wilkinson, helped them to a record 50-10 win over Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham.

Scoring five tries, England surpassed their 34-point winning margin of 1998 and 2000 against a Wales side, who aside from the first three minutes of the game, were never really at the races.

Whilst this game put England in a no-win situation with such expectation of a big victory over a struggling Welsh side, it will go a small way to making up for the defeat to France three weeks earlier, and more importantly kept England's chances of a Six Nations title alive.

England certainly had a battle on their hands early on, intense Welsh pressure was only kept at bay by equally intense English defence as the visitors laid siege to the home try-line in the opening minutes.

However, it was England who opened the scoring as Jonny Wilkinson coolly slotted a drop-goal to give the home side a lead they would not relinquish.

After that England began to assert themselves, Austin Healey testing the Welsh defence with some Robinson-esque footwork and after a good period of possession England soon had the opening they needed.

A deft chip from Wilkinson was collected by centre Will Greenwood who rolled over the line, referee Andrew Cole adjudging the Quins centre touched the ball down without consulting the video ref.

Despite a fair share of possession and territory, England only had a second Wilkinson penalty to show for their efforts as they led 13-0 mid-way through the first-half.

Iestyn Harris pulled a penalty back for Wales just before the half-hour mark but Wilkinson notched two further penalties, taking him over 500 Test points for England, as they had to be content with a 19-3 lead at half-time.

If Wales thought they may have weathered the worst of the England storm, right from the kick-off, the home side surged up to the Welsh line after good work from Neil Back and Ben Kay.

With Wales penalised, England underlined their second-half game-plan and opted for the line-out which created an opening for Wilkinson to dance through untouched for try.  No doubt about this one and he added the extras as England stretched their lead to 26-3.

Wilkinson hit his fourth penalty before Wales began to exert their Wales first real bit of pressure since the opening minutes, Andy Marinos spurning an overlap on two separate occasions in quick succession as England held firm.

England made Wales pay for their profligacy, Harris failing to control the pass inside his 22 and Dan Luger eventually stepping inside for his 18th Test try and Wilkinson impeccable with the conversion.

With England in full flow, and Wales flagging, Luger got his 19th just three minutes later as Will Greenwood's burst opened saw his club colleague stroll over untouched, Wilkinson again adding the extras.

For Welsh fans there was the smallest ray of sunshine as Harris, on whose shoulders so much hope and unfair expectation was placed towards the end of the Henry era, found an opening to score a consolation try.

And yet any Welsh hopes that score would prevent a half-century of points for England, and a record margin of victory, were dashed when substitute Tim Stimpson crashed over for the home side's fifth try, Wilkinson notching his ninth successful kick of the day.

Man of the match:
This game was a classic team performance from England.  The pack, led by skipper Neil Back, was an impressively dominant unit both at the set-piece and in the loose -- whilst the three-quarters, marshalled by Wilkinson and the lively Healey, were enjoying their day in the sun.  On balance, Will Greenwood takes the award, scoring a try and setting up two others.

Moment of the match:
After good early pressure from their side, Wales fans will point to Will Greenwood's opening try after just ten minutes as a crucial moment in the game.  The referee awarded it without going to the video ref, and after that England never looked back.

Villain of the match:
In a good-tempered match there were no real villains, although Wales centre Andy Marinos gets our nomination for his reluctance on several occasions to share what rare quality ball the Welsh backs received.

The teams:

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Austin Healey
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Tim Stimpson, Dorian West, Joe Worsley,
Unused:  Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Iestyn Harris, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Gareth Thomas, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Colin Charvis, Gareth Llewellyn, Barry Williams
Unused:  Nicky Robinson, Spencer John

Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers

England
Tries:  Greenwood W.J.H. 1, Luger D.D. 2, Stimpson T.R.G. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 5
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 4
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Wales
Tries:  Harris I. 1
Conv:  Harris I. 1
Pen K.:  Harris I. 1

Ireland 32 Italy 17

Munster winger John Kelly stole the headlines as he scored two tries on his debut as Ireland beat Italy by 32-17 in front of a packed Lansdowne Road in Dublin, although with England's big win in Twickenham, the margin of victory was almost certainly not enough to keep their 2002 Six Nations title hopes alive.

The home team totally shut the Azzurri out in the first 40 minutes, leading 19-0 at half-time, with Italy only getting their first scoring opportunity after seven minutes in extra time just before the break but the Irish will now need a win of gargantuan proportions over title favourites France in Paris to have any chance of securing the title.

The visitors showed a willingness to run with the ball from the outset of the game, but unfortunately Brad Johnstone's men made a lot of handling errors, which the Irish gladly pounced on.

In fact, the game was marred by bad handling errors by both teams, and some poor discipline by the visitors.

While most of the 30 pairs of hands on the pitch made a mess of things, the Irish backs made amends with some pin-point tactical kicking.  They forced Italy back many yards on a few occasions, from where new Irish skipper David Humphreys punished the visitors for their mistakes.

The Irish flyhalf, who spent some time in the bloodbin with a deep gash to the head, slotted three easy penalties in the opening quarter to put the home team in the lead by 9-0.

It was a very scrappy game with lots of niggles off the ball, most of them coming from the Italians.  Both the visiting props were sent to the bin in the first half – tighthead Salvatore Perugini for a head-butt on Peter Stringer in 24th minute and loosehead Giampiero De Carli in the 40th minute.

It was just before De Carli got his marching orders that Irish debutant wing John Kelly scored his first try.  He got the ball wide on the left-hand side of the field and left Denis Dallan in his wake with a great hand-off.

The conversion by blood sub Ronan O'Gara and a further penalty by the replacement flyhalf saw the teams turn with Ireland leading 19-0.

Italy finally got on the score board shortly after the break when their South African-born fullback Gert Peens slotted a massive drop-goal.

But their joy was not to last long as Kelly got his second try four minutes later when he sliced open the Italian defence in the 22.

Mauro Bergamasco scored Italy's first try in the 53rd minute and with Diego Dominguez's conversion, the visitors trailed by 24-10 with enough time left on the clock.

Dennis Hickie scored Ireland's third, and final try from a set move from an attacking line-out.  It was a classic midfield run-around move that opened the gap for the speedster to crash over, and put the result beyond any doubt.

The Italians strung together a number of good phases in the second half, but sadly for them, the Irish defence held out until it was too late.

The Italians never really looked like breaking the home team's line, but De Carli scored a late consolation try for the visitors, which Diego Dominguez converted, on the stroke of full-time.

Alessandro Troncon and Bergamasco were the best players for the Azzurri on the day.

The Irish midfield of Shane Horgan and Brian O'Driscoll, who was well marked by the Italians, played their hearts out, as did Malcolm O'Kelly.  But it was John Kelly's day – a brace of tries on debut doesn't come often.

Man of the Match:  No contest here, John Kelly, with his calm head, solid defence and two tries gets our vote.

Moment of the match:  Dennis Hickie's try from first phase from five metres out of the Italian try-line was a real gem.  Classic backline run-around move by the home team and the game was theirs.

Villain of the match:  Lot of niggles.  Peter Clohessy got a stern talking to from the referee and Giampiero De Carli got yellowed on the stroke of half-time, but Salvatore Perugini gets the award for his head-butt, and subsequent sin binning, on Peter Stringer in 24th minute.

(Half-time:  Ireland 19 Italy 0)

Sin-bin:  (Salvatore Perugini 24-34, Giampiero De Carli 40-50)

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 John Hayes, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys (c), 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Tyrone Howe, Eric Miller, Paul Wallace, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, UnusedGuy Easterby, Frankie Sheahan

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Giovanni Raineri, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Andrea De Rossi, Santiago Dellape, Federico Pucciariello, UnusedMatteo Mazzantini, Andrea Moretti, Cristian Zanoletti, Ramiro Pez

Referee:  Dickson r.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Kelly J. 2
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 4, O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Italy
Tries:  Bergamasco M. 1, De Carli G.P. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 2
Drop G.:  Peens G. 1

Ireland 43 Scotland 22

An impressive hat-trick from star centre Brian O'Driscoll kept Ireland in the hunt for the 2002 Six Nations title as they bounced back from their Twickenham nightmare to post a 43-22 win over Scotland at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

With news of England's defeat in Paris trickling through the Lansdowne Road just before kick-off, both sides' hopes of a Six Nations title received a massive boost but both would have known that defeat in this game would mean an end to those sort of lofty aspirations.

In the end, despite the efforts of a seriously misfiring and 'Keith Wood-less' lineout, Ireland had enough in the tank, and some to spare, to see off the challenge of Scotland, who must now take stock to prevent another Six Nations Championship sliding towards the basement, their landing thankfully likely to be cushioned, once again, by Italy.

Irish stand-off David Humphreys, who had a torrid time against England a fortnight ago, gave the home side a good start as he opened the scoring in the first minute as Scotland strayed offside, Ireland moving to a 3-0 lead.

The men in green certainly started brightly, finding plenty of the gaps in the Scotland ranks, but Scotland evened things up just before the ten minute mark as captain Mick Galwey was penalised for killing the ball, Brendan Laney coolly hitting the three points.

That seemed to galvanise Scotland as they began to dominate possession and the game, Laney adding two penalties to put the visitors 9-3 up midway through the first-half.

However, Ireland struck back and, after their first real spell of possession, centre Brian O'Driscoll found acres of space just inside the Scots' 22 to ghost through for the game's first try.

Although Humphreys missed the conversion, to keep Scotland in the lead by the narrowest of margins, Ireland had the momentum and a turnover just outside the Scotland 22 gave the home side men over out wide, O'Driscoll working the ball wide well to Shane Horgan who galloped untouched into the corner.

This time Humphreys made no mistake with the extras to put Ireland back in the lead and when referee Nigel Whitehouse reversed a Scottish penalty after Budge Pountney retaliated, the Scots must have known it was not to be their day.

Then on the stroke of half-time, Scotland were caught by a sucker punch as they camped inside the Ireland 22.  The ball was sent down the line but was spilled in the mid-field and O'Driscoll reacted the quickest to snap up the loose ball and race away a full 85 metres, with Chris Paterson in hot pursuit, to extend Ireland's lead.

Although Laney pulled a penalty back in the last act of the first half as some reward for their efforts, a clinical Ireland had a 22-12 lead.

The second half started much as the first had finished, Scotland unable to turn possession in to points although Laney hit his fifth penalty of the day to cut the deficit to just seven points on 46 minutes.

Humphreys restored Ireland's ten-point lead a few minutes later with a monster penalty, the kick making him Ireland's all-time points scorer in international rugby, and he added another a few minutes later as the game began to ebb away from Scotland.

Pountney then transgressed one too many times and earned himself a spell in the sin-bin, and with Humphreys boot in fine fettle he made no mistake from the resulting penalty as Ireland were clear 31-15 midway through the second-half.

Scotland were forced on to the back-foot and the final nail in their coffin came as James McLaren spilled a tricky pass inside his 22, Shane Horgan scooping it up and quick hands from Humphreys saw Simon Easterby, on for the injured Eric Miller, scoring his side's fourth try of the day.

Although substitute Martin Leslie got Scotland's only try of the day ten minutes from the end, O'Driscoll cut through for his hat-trick on the stroke of normal time as Ireland move in to the 2002 Six Nations home straight eyeing an April date in Paris on the last weekend.

Man of the Match
They may not have had the lion's share of possession, but when you have the likes of Brian O'Driscoll in your side that probably does not matter too much.  The Leinster man scored three tries and set-up another to deservedly take the plaudits.

Moment of the Match
Brian O'Driscoll's second try was the killer blow for Scotland.  Leading up to it, Scotland had enjoyed a good spell of pressure and just a converted try away from taking the lead but in a flash saw themselves 13 points down and facing a moutain to climb from then on.

Villain of the Match
Generally a good natured match but if Budge Pountney has hopes of regaining the Scotland captaincy then he won't want this game on his CV.  Despite his good work around the edge of the scrum, his retaliation on Peter Stringer cost his side a probable three points at 9-15 down and during his spell in the bin Ireland posted eight unanswered points.

Sin-bin:  Budge Pountney 58-68

The teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Guy Easterby, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  John Kelly

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  George Graham, Martin Leslie, Kenny Logan
Unused:  Jon Petrie, Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Robbie Russell

Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Easterby S.H. 1, Horgan S.P. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 3
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 4

Scotland
Tries:  Leslie M.D. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 5

France 20 England 15

A brilliant first half, that saw tries from Gerald Merceron and Imanol Harinordoquy, helped give France a deserved 20-15 win over England in Paris.

So, again the 'England Grand Slam' merchandise will have to wait for at least another year as France shocked the side who had come into this match as favourites, following the handsome victories over Scotland and Ireland which had propelled them to No.1 in the Zurich World Rankings.

It was Merceron who was undoubtedly the hero of the hour, contributing 15 points to his side's effort and spearheading an excellent defensive display from 'Les Bleus' to dash English hopes and knock their status as potential world beaters.

Time and time again, England tried to drive through the middle and find the gaps in the French line, only to find themselves rocked backwards over the gainline by the strength of the French tackling, more often than not also also committing the cardinal error of turning over ball in the tackle.

The vast spaces that had opened up all around the field in England's last encounter, against Ireland, were nowhere to be seen as England's strike runners were swamped by a tide of blue virtually every time they laid a hand on the ball.

England's halfbacks Kyran Bracken and Jonny Wilkinson were given a torrid time by the marauding French back row and the superb French skipper Fabien Galthie, who again proved his worth to his side as a leader and master tactician.

Indeed, the writing was on the wall for the men in white from the very first second of this pulsating match, Martin Johnson -- normally the epitome of consistency -- committing an elementary error from the kick off to give France their first chance of points.

Merceron was off target on that occasion, but this early hiccup from Johnson was an illustration of how out of sorts England were at Stade de France, wilting under the pressure of French tactics.

In the 11th minute, France had Galthie to thank for their first try, the scrum-half showing great vision to draw the English defence before handing a delightful pass to No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy , who came onto the ball at pace, creating havoc in English ranks before finding Merceron.

The fly-half skipped past Healey for a try under the posts.  Quite why referee Andre Watson called for the video ref to sanction the score is anyone's guess as there couldn't have been a man, woman or child in the stadium who wouldn't have awarded it immediately.

With Merceron converting his own try, things looked ominous for England as France continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and a few minutes later Harinordoquy was to the fore once more -- latching onto a superb pass from Tony Marsh to crash over in the corner.  Merceron slotted a superb touchline conversion to make it 14-0 as the match reached the end of a torrid first quarter for England.

The ease with which France were able to breach the English defences nearly resulted in another try in the 25th minute, prop Peter de Villiers setting off on a 20 metre run towards the line after Jason Robinson had been dispossessed in midfield.  Only a moment of French overeagerness gave respite to England as a blue jersey went over the top as de Villiers went to ground with the white line within spitting distance.

In the 33rd minute, Wilkinson put a drop goal attempt wide of the posts while two minutes later Merceron also missed with a long range drop.

But Merceron added another three points after England's Phil Vickery was penalised for tackling a Frenchman without the ball.

Seconds later, the English effort was further disrupted by an injury to centre Mike Tindall, former League star Henry Paul came on for debut.  Not exactly the most gentle of introductions to international rugby union and Paul did look somewhat exposed on the rare occasions he took the ball into contact, invariably giving away either a penalty or the turnover to the streetwise French.

But, coincidentally, as Paul did not actually touch the ball during that last few minutes of the first half, the arrival of the League man coincided with England's fightback as a period of sustained pressure saw England come back into the match.

After magnificent French defence had repelled the English on a series of five metre scrums, the ball went wide to Robinson with three cover tacklers heading for the diminutive player at high speed.

Some mesmerising footwork from the Sale star left Merceron, Serge Betsen and David Bory clutching at thin air as Robinson sprinted over for a crucial try to temporarily lift English spirits.

Wilkinson added the conversion to make it 17-7 as the whistle for half-time went.

England began in a more positive frame of mind after the break and two minutes later, Wilkinson was able to steady English nerves with a penalty from 40 metres.

A fine break from Healey was squandered after Paul was dispossessed by the defence and set off on a dangerous counterattack -- only a magnificent tackle from Johnson on Betsen in midfield snuffing out the move.

Another chance went begging following a break by Greenwood.  The Harlequins centre sliced through the midfield but delayed his pass to Healey just a fraction too long with the result that his team-mate was scragged as he caught the ball, forcing a knock-on.

Then Worsley, who had earlier been penalised for a late tackle on Merceron, conceded another penalty, coming around the side of a ruck to give Merceron the opportunity to stretch France's lead to 20-10.  That was to be Worsley's last act, the No.8 replaced by Martin Corry after a forgettable game.

But Worsley's ineffectual performance was mirrored throughout the England pack with players who had looked world-class against Ireland, coming off distinctly second best to their French counterparts throughout the afternoon.

The lack of a solid platform left the much-vaunted English backline reduced to the role of bystanders, only Will Greenwood consistently cracking the French midfield so impressively organised by monsieurs Merceron, Marsh and Traille.

To their credit, England, despite being out-thought and out-muscled, never gave up and continued to attempt to snatch a result deep into injury time, half-chance wilting under the bravery of the French defence.

England coach Clive Woodward's last roll of the dice was to launch a number of late replacements into the mix, but Cohen's last ditch try -- which went unconverted by Paul in the absence of Wilkinson – was not enough to keep England's Grand Slam bandwagon on the road.

France, however, after a magnificent performance have now taken over England's mantle as favourites for European rugby's greatest prize.

Moment of the Match
Not a flowing back move or a long-range try, but a moment that neatly encapsulates the entire match.  During a rare of period of sustained English attack in the second half, prop Graham Rowntree picked up the ball at the rear of ruck, pinned his ears back and drove forward at full pace, trying to inject some momentum into his side's stuttering efforts.  But waiting for him square-on was French second row Fabien Pelous who put in one of the biggest hits you're every likely to see on the rugby field to stop the 17-stone frontrower dead in his tracks and then shove him back from whence he came.

Man of the Match
There were many French heroes on show at Stade de France, including No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy and skipper Fabien Galthie, but it was Gerald Merceron who drove Les Bleus to their magnificent victory, the fly-half grabbing a try, two penalties and two conversions during a fine afternoon's work.

Villain of the Match
England's stuttering forward effort didn't do No.8 Joe Worsley any favours, but the Wasps forward had a poor game by his own high standards, failing to make signficant yardage from the base of the scrum and giving away a number of crucial penalties to hamstring his side's chances of victory -- including a late tackle on Merceron.

The teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Olivier Brouzet, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Olivier Azam, Fabien Pelous, Olivier Milloud, Pierre Mignoni, Remy Martin
Unused:  Francois Gelez, Jimmy Marlu

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Will Greenwood, 12 Mike Tindall, 13 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Dan Luger, Dorian West, Henry Paul
Unused:  Nick Duncombe

Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers

France
Tries:  Merceron G. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 2

England
Tries:  Robinson J.T. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 1
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Wales 44 Italy 20

Wales finally got a taste of victory in the 2002 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship, after a confident and competent 44-20 win over Italy at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales scored five tries on the day after two spells of pressure at the start of both halves, Craig Morgan, Dafydd James, Rhys Williams, Scott Quinnell and Andy Marinos all scoring on a day when the Welsh finally cut loose and showed their undoubted potential, against an admittedly flat and comparatively lifeless Italian XV.

The free-flowing form of the Welsh backs will no doubt have been a weight off the mind of caretaker coach Steve Hansen, as Tom Shanklin early on, then Rhys Williams in the second half, showed that fly-half Stephen Jones has potent weapons outside of him.

Craig Morgan was one of the major plusses for the Welsh, who struggled in the lineout early on against an Italian team without their talisman Diego Dominguez, Ramiro Pez making a good fist of filling in at fly-half in the absence of the Stade Francais dynamo.

Italy's try-scoring was restricted to two, Carlo Checchinato rumbling over in the right corner for a first half touch down, before Francesco Mazzariol managed a second late in the game, by which time the result was a mere formality.

Wales looked a shadow of Graham Henry's old tense side of four weeks ago, and there were no signs of stage fright as Craig Morgan touched down a spectacular try in the very first minute, lifting the volume in a Millennium Stadium which was far from full, and unusually quiet before kick-off.

Morgan's try came as a result of an enterprising and well-timed break from Andy Marinos, the Newport centre surging through the Italian midfield around halfway, before running straight to the 22 and floating a looped pass left to Morgan, who played a deftly-weighted grubber into the try area, diving down on the ball in the left corner.

Jones converted from way out wide, but Italy got back into the game with a Ramiro Pez penalty four minutes later, the Rotherham fly-half filling the boots of Dominguez with occasional silky touches, finding good line kicks throughout, and trying to exploit the talents of Cristian Stoica outside of him.

Wales continued their early tempo though, and it was only 11 minutes into the game when Bridgend's Dafydd James went over in the same left corner where Morgan had earlier scored.

The try came from a blindside burst on halfway from Nathan Budgett down the left, the Bridgend back-row exposing last man Pez before popping up in the tackle to the grateful James for an easy run-in, Jones again converting from out wide.

James again thought he had scored only minutes later when he touched down in the right corner as Wales piled on the pressure, but a keen eye from the touch judge revealed that a foot had been placed ever so slightly in touch just before James dived over the line under an Italian tackle.

Jones struck over another penalty for the rampant Welsh, but they were in for a shock as Italy counter-attacked with good effect on 20 minutes, Carlo Checchinato bundling himself over the line under a heap of bodies for a try.

The score came after a good break from livewire scrum-half Alessandro Troncon as he scurried from a quick tap penalty, before South African fullback Gert Peens fell just short of the line in the right corner after running through the Welsh tacklers from short range.

Pez convetred Checchinato's try via the right post, before Jones struck over another penalty.  Peens hit back for the Azzurri with an enormous 50 metre plus penalty, but Jones again retaliated with another Welsh penalty for a 23 -- 13 half-time score, Andy Marinos going close to a try in the right corner after chasing a cunning diagonal grubber before the whistle, but just failing to get the score.

After finishing the first half without the same urgency as they had started it, Wales got the second half underway in suitably lightning fashion, replacement Rhys Williams cutting the Italian defence to shreds with a superb running score within the first few minutes of the restart.

It was fine counter-attack running from Craig Morgan within his own half which set up the score, Williams eventually taking a positive diagonal course from left to right past the Italian defence at pace, evading the tackle of Mauro Bergamasco for the score, Jones again converting after he had missed a long-range penalty by the narrowest of margins.

With Italy now well and truly on the rack, and struggling for possession, Scott Quinnell barged over in his own unique style for Wales'fourth try of the afternoon, taking second phase ball from a scrum near the Italian line down the left wing, Dafydd James taking the initial contact before Quinnell's run from deep at first receiver was spotted by scrum-half Howley

Jones added the extras, and it was only three minutes until the next Welsh try, Marinos touching down after a solid and workmanlike performance in midfield, latching onto Dafydd James' right wing run and earning the reward for good support play with a short pass and a ten-metre run-in for the try, converted once again by the deadly Stephen Jones for a 44-13 advantage.

Coach Steve Hansen took the opportunity to introduce, among others, Iestyn Harris and Dwayne Peel to the match, Harris coming on for Swansea's Kevin Morgan at fullback to good effect, showing a glimpse of his trademark sidestep, and Llanelli's Peel taking over and doing a solid job for the effervescent Rob Howley at scrum-half.

With Italy now jaded and dejected, the departure of right wing Pedrazzi on 68 minutes saw openside Mauro Bergamasco forced to play on the wing, although the Treviso man has played club rugby in the centres recently, so the backs was not new territory for the energetic flanker.

Indeed it was Bergamasco's presence on the right side which spawned their second try of the match with six minutes to go, a botched pass from Francesco Mazzariol confusing the Welsh drift defence, but Bergamasco hacking on for Mazzariol to touch down in the corner, Peens converting impressively from the touchline.

Referee Chris White blew the whistle soon after, on a game which lost a bit of life towards the end, but one which showed that there is still life left in the Welsh national team -- even if the cynics might say:  “But it was only against Italy.”

Man of the match:  Scott Quinnell
The skipper was once again the driving force between much of the good work of the Welsh pack, scoring a try of his own early in the second half from a short-range, before being replaced by Brett Sinkinson midway through the second half.  The fact there were no sole standouts typified the renewed Welsh team ethic, although Craig Morgan and Rob Howley in particular had productive afternoons.  For Italy, Mauro Bergamasco and Gert Peens stood out from a fairly limp team performance, but after conceding five tries, none of them were serious contenders to beat Quinnell to our vote.

Moment of the match:  Rhys Williams' try
The Cardiff fullback entered the fray midway through the second half for injured centre Tom Shanklin, and gave the Welsh a timely boost in the first few minutes of the second half with a scorching counter-attack try.  A long Italian punt was fielded by Craig Morgan who cut infield near halfway.  From a resulting ruck, Stephen Jones popped short to Williams 40 metres out, who took a left to right diagonal course past openside Mauro Bergamasco to dive over.  That moment narrowly won our vote over the time when recently-resigned Wales coach Graham Henry was shown on the stadium's big screen in the crowd.  Most of the fans strangely cheered for the man who had been public enemy No.1 in Wales for the last few months, although a subdued chorus of ‘boos' could be heard from some sections.  A very strange moment indeed.

Villain of the match:  Carlo Checchinato
No real villains in a fairly calm match, but the Italian try-scorer got away with a stamping incident late in the match which should have earned him ten minutes in the sin-bin.  Alessandro Troncon's nuisance value reared its head again, but there were no fisticuffs in a well-spirited encounter.

(Half-time:  Wales 23 Italy 13)

Sin-bin:  Persico (Italy, 50 mins)

The teams:

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Tom Shanklin, 13 Andy Marinos, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Spencer John, Brett Sinkinson, Barry Williams, Chris Wyatt

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Roberto Pedrazzi, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Andrea Benatti, Andrea Lo Cicero, Matthew Phillips, Francesco Mazzariol, Federico Pucciariello, Giovanni Raineri
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini

Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Morgan C.S. 1, Williams G.R. 1, James D.R. 1, Marinos A.W.N. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 5
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 3

Italy
Tries:  Checchinato C. 1, Mazzariol F. 1
Conv:  Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1
Pen K.:  Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1

Wales 33 France 37

A desperate tackle from French winger Aurélien Rougerie in injury-time saw France beat a spirited Welsh team 37-33 in their Lloyds TSB Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

France led 24-19 at the half-time break, but they scored a controversial try through Rougerie just after the break when Wales captain Scott Quinnell spent some time in the sin bin for a dangerous challenge on French fullback Nicolas Brusque.

Rougerie chased a well-weighted grubber towards the goalline from classy inside centre Damien Traille and he and Welsh fullback Kevin Morgan arrived at the ball at the exact same time.

Rougerie claimed the try.  Morgan thought he got there first.  The Television Match Official -- Italy's Claudio Giacomel -- agreed with Rougerie and rather surprisingly he awarded the try to France (and Rougerie), which saw the visitors move into a 12-point lead.

French flyhalf Gérald Merceron, who weighed in with a points-haul of 19, soon stretched the lead to 15 points after another Welsh indiscretion, but that seemed to spur the home team on, who at that stage were without their captain and No.8 Scott Quinnell.

Quinnell's return to the field of play -- with some 30 minutes remaining on the clock -- gave Wales that extra bit of go-forward as the powerful British and Irish Lion, along with his brother Craig, Wales's first try-scorer of the day, played his heart out.

The French defence, which proved to be the difference between the two sides at the end of the day, held firm throughout most of the day, and Wales centre Andy Marinos, making his first start for his adopted country, eventually hit a hole in the French defence by jumping through a ruck before passing to hard-working flanker Nathan Budgett.

Budgett, burst over the tryline, even though it seemed that he hadn't grounded the ball properly, but Stephen Jones's conversion made the score 34-26.

Gérald Merceron soon added his fourth penalty of the day to put France 11 points clear and with regulation time running out, the French would have felt confident of securing the win.

However, to their credit, the Welsh kept at it and Jones, who weighed in with 18 points, taking his overall tally to 110 in 17 Test appearances, set up a try for Kevin Morgan's with a clever stab into the corner.  Morgan beat Xavier Garbajosa to the ball -- and Claudio Giacomel agreed.  Try to Wales and after Jones's tricky conversion, Wales were just four points down at 37-33.

Wales ran Merceron's re-start right back at the French and a clever kick from Jones trapped the French in their 22, but at least they had the line-out feed.  However, replacement French hooker Sébastien Bruno missed everyone except Scott Quinnell giving the big man a clear run to the line ...

French flanker Serge Betsen, who had a busy 80 minutes, and tighthead prop Pieter de Villiers, who also got through a mountain of work, managed to get underneath Quinnell, giving referee David McHugh no alternative but to ask the TMO again.  This time Giacomel denied Wales the try, but Wales had a five-metre scrum.

Wales managed to work the ball down their line, but the French defence held out when it mattered, especially in Rougerie's case as his textbook tackle around James's ankles saw the Bridgend wing's feet go into touch before he could ground the ball next to the corner-flag.

Man of the Match:  Tons of contenders here.  The main points-scorers of the day -- Stephen Jones and Gérald Merceron played important roles, as did Aurélien Rougerie, who scored his try at a crucial stage in the match, and of course made that try-saving tackle.  Welsh captain Scott Quinnell had his copybook blotted by spending 10 minutes in the sin bin, but in the end, French flanker Serge Betsen gets our vote.  Betsen, 27, was the senior member of the French loose trio with Imanol Harinordoquy debuting and Steven Hall playing in his second Test, but he did not shirk from his responsibilities on the pitch.  He tackled and chased for 80 minutes and his tackle on Scott Quinnell in the dying minutes of the match summed up his performance.  In the past Betsen has been used by France as an impact player, but this was certainly his best performances in 15 Tests for his country.

Moment of the Match:  Rougerie's try-saving, and ultimately match-saving, tackle on Dafydd James during extra-time.  Wales had hit the French with wave after wave of attack, and even though James had minimal space to work with, Rougerie did not let him out of his sight before dragging him into touch.  If he had missed the tackle ... he could easily have qualified for our villain of the match!

Villain of the Match:  Scott Quinnell may have been one of many contenders for the Planet Rugby Man of the Match award, but he wins our Villain of the Match award hands down!  His shoulder charge on Brusque ultimately cost his side the match as France scored 13 unanswered points.

The teams:

Wales:  1 Chris Anthony, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Spencer John, 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Craig Quinnell, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Tom Shanklin, 13 Andy Marinos, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Duncan Jones, Rhys Williams, Barry Williams
Unused:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Thomas

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez (c), 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 8 Steven Hall, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Xavier Garbajosa, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Fabien Pelous, Alexandre Audebert, Sebastien Bruno, Olivier Milloud
Unused:  Alexandre Albouy, Francois Gelez, Jimmy Marlu

Referee:  Mchugh d.t.m.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Budgett N.J. 1, Morgan K.A. 1, Quinnell J.C. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 3
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 4

France
Tries:  Rougerie A. 1, Marsh T. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 4, Traille D. 1
Drop G.:  Merceron G. 1

England 45 Ireland 11

A rampant England surged to the top of the Zurich World Rankings after racking up six tries in a 45-11 win over Ireland at Twickenham in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship.

A lightning and mesmerising first half showing ensured that this game was over as a contest after 40 minutes, with tries from Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Cohen, Will Greenwood and Joe Worsley being added to in the last period by Ben Kay and a second for Greenwood.

Ireland could only manage one try from replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara on an afternoon when they were completely outclassed for early portions, although it would be hard to single out one area of the team for special criticism on a day when England went as close to perfection in the first half, as Twickenham has ever seen

A 16-point win was all that was required for England to surpass New Zealand into the rankings' top spot -- one small step for a team, one giant leap for the northern hemisphere game.

Bright sunshine and a calm climate made sure that all the ingredients were there for both sides to play running rugby, and get the ball out wide they did, Jason Robinson troubling the Irish defence as early as the first minute as he showed frightening pace and movement down the left wing.

Greenwood and Wilkinson showed glimpses of spark early on too, but not even the most optimistic of England fans could have predicted the Blitzkrieg 40 minute spell which was to follow from the men in white.

David Humphreys put Ireland in front after eight minutes with a penalty from 25 metres, but the visitors were only in the lead for three minutes, Wilkinson levelling the scores with a penalty himself soon after.

The Irish cause had been dealt a blow when livewire wing Geordan Murphy limped from the pitch after a nasty twist in the tackle saw his knee and ankle come under considerable strain, Ireland forced to bring on centre Rob Henderson to replace him -- and paying for the lack of pace out wide.

England prop Graham Rowntree also left the field early, with Jason Leonard coming on to witness four tries in the space of 20 minutes, the first coming after Humphreys had missed a penalty for the Irish, and Ben Cohen had fallen just short of the tryline for England.

Twickenham erupted with noise on 22 minutes when Ben Kay swung a superb long pass out to hooker Steve Thompson on the left, with the Northampton man standing-up Humphreys before sensibly releasing an inside ball to Wilkinson on the diagonal for a run-in under the posts, and an easy conversion for the Newcastle No.10.

The feat was topped two minutes later with what must already be a hot contender for the try of the Championship award, Ben Cohen finishing off a superb length of the field move.

It started in the England 22 with Healey and Robinson getting the ball out wide quickly, before Kyran Bracken broke through the Irish midfield round halfway.

The Saracens scrum-half found Mike Tindall on the diagonal, who had the presence of mind to lay the ball off well in the tackle for Hill, who found Joe Worsley at pace, the Wasps man putting in Cohen near the right corner for one of the greatest tries ever seen at the famous stadium, Wilkinson adding the extras.

Humphreys struck back with a penalty for Ireland as they continued to be blasted off the park by rampant England, Stringer ensuring a supply decent ball for Ireland, but their back-row struggling to compete on the back foot.

England were by no means done for the half though, and Will Grenwood grabbed their third after Wilkinson went down the blindside, standing up the flat-footed Irish tacklers before finding Cohen, who calmly threw a short inside ball to Greenwood on the burst, with Stringer and Dempsey in no-mans' land, Wilkinson again adding the extras for a 24-6 lead.

With no sign of the white machine slowing down, Wilkinson showed great vision in a static midfield by chipping over the heads of the flat Irish defensive line, picking out Healey with perfect execution, the Leicester wing breaking two tackles before being held up over the line by Ireland wing Denis Hickie, who showed great skill in the tackle to prevent the try.

The stunned Irish could not stem the tide for long though, and No.8 Joe Worsley rounded off one of the finest halves of rugby ever seen on their home ground, when he dived in at the left corner for a try.

It was good work by hooker Steve Thompson from a short lineout which made the gap, Worsley going over the tryline under the tackle of Kevin Maggs, but having to wait all of four minutes for video referee Didier Mene to finally give the green light, Wilkinson again converting for an emphatic 31-6 half-time lead.

England roared out of the blocks as the second half got underway, and they compounded Irish woes when Ben Kay powered over the tryline after an inside ball from Jonny Wilkinson for a try, surging through the attempted tackle of David Humphreys, who had been forced into playing as a makeshift winger due to the half-time departure of replacement Rob Henderson- Ronan O'Gara coming on to assume duties at fly-half.

Ireland were gradually having more of a say in proceedings as Shane Byrne came on at hooker for Frankie Sheahan, Brian O'Driscoll getting more of a run with the ball in loose play, but still being hampered by an English defence very much playing on the front foot in their own half.

It was England who got the next try though, when a timely half-break from Wilkinson gave him a chance to lob a basketball-style chest pass out of the tackle to Austin Healey at pace.

With a 2-on-1, Healey drew Irish fullback Dempsey and put in Greenwood on his right for the unopposed run-in to the posts, with Wilkinson converting to seal his perfect record for the day as his side steamed into a 45-6 lead.

Ireland did show creditable character as the game entered the last quarter, and the way in which Eddie O'Sullivan's side dominated the last periods of play show that their commitment at least, cannot be questioned.

Indeed, Ireland were rewarded for their increasing momentum when a run from David Wallace in the 22 saw a ruck set up under the posts, from which Peter Stringer whipped the ball out left to O'Gara from five metres, the Munster fly-half dropping a sidestep before dancing out of Wilkinson's attempted tackle for the try, Humphreys drifting the conversion wide from left of the posts.

England then went down a gear, to the frustration of the management, but Clive Woodward's decision to withdraw captain Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey on 63 minutes took considerable spring away from the English step, as Danny Grewcock, Lewis Moody and Iain Balshaw made their cameos.

The rest of the game was spent by and large in the England half, Malcolm O'Kelly coming on from the Irish bench to dominate the lineout, and Denis Hickie once again showing that he was by far the best green-shirted player on the pitch with a string of diagonal runs and solid tackles.

The pace of the final exchanges was considerably slower than the lightning first 40, and proceedings petered out to a predictable but frustrating lull, on a day which will be talked about for years among those who were there.

For Ireland, scant reward can be claimed for their final surges, given the leaky and stagnant 60 minutes which preceded it, although it is hard to argue that many defences -- if any -- on the planet could have contained England in that sort of form.

So the English finally break the southern hemisphere stranglehold on the Zurich World Rankings.  Their form over the last two years has certainly merited it, whatever the arguments might be about World Cup performances and their record below the equator.

Can they capitalise on their No.1 spot?  Who knows?  But they could have hardly asked for a tougher assignment to do so, a trip to Paris in two weeks' time.

Ireland have a home date with last season's Grand Slam dream destroyers Scotland, but it is hard to look past this England team as the benchmark of the northern hemisphere game, on a day when they showed that they are finally the top dogs in the global game -- for the short term at least.

Man of the match:  Jonny Wilkinson
The England fly-half had arguably his best 40 minutes of rugby in a memorable first half, mixing his usual solid kicking with a running game given added vigour and sharpness.  His decision-making was divine early on, although some missed touch kicks in the second half blotted the copybook a little.  Ben Kay in the England second-row is unlucky not to get our award, but Wilkinson's seven kicks from seven attempts seals it.  Sole contender from a well-beaten Ireland team has to be wing Denis Hickie, who saved one try with a magnificent tackle on Healey, and tried to inject some pace to the attack when the rest of his team were content to be on the back foot.

Moment of the match:  Ben Cohen's try
24 minutes into the second half, England found themselves with the ball in their own 22, but adventurously chose to run instead of clear their lines, Healey and Robinson taking the ball down the left wing past the Irish defensive line.  Bracken picked it up in midfield and ran forwards, before offloading to Mike Tindall on a left to right diagonal.  Tindall was tackled ten metres from the line, but threw a perfect pass from the contact area to Richard Hill, who found Joe Worsley, the Wasps back-rower passing to Cohen for an easy run-in, but a remarkable length of the field score which will grace the highlights reels for years to come.

Villain of the match: Clive Woodward
Hard to criticise a man whose side have just reached the summit of the Zurich World Rankings, but the England manager's decision to remove Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey took the spark out of a second half which could have seen a record win for the home side.  A sensible injury-saving move it may have been, but a frustrating one nonetheless.  The fact that our criteria for the "villain" award is so picky, shows what a largely well-tempered and officiated game this was.

The teams:

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Nick Duncombe, Charlie Hodgson, Lewis Moody
Unused:  Dorian West

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Rob Henderson, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  Simon Easterby

Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers

England
Tries:  Kay B.J. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Worsley J.P.R. 1, Cohen B.C. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 6
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Humphreys D.G. 2
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Italy 12 Scotland 29

An impressive performance by fullback Brendan Laney steered Scotland to their first-ever Test win on Italian soil as they beat the Azzurri by 29-12 in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations clash in Rome.

The New Zealand-born fullback -- known as "Chainsaw" -- scored 24 points to help give Scotland the victory, their first of the 2002 Championship.

Laney's form with the boot seems to have finally solved one of the great problems facing coach Ian McGeechan in recent seasons, the absence of a genuine international class goal kicker.

The No.15 was only handed the responsibility after Scotland's nominated kicker Chris Paterson flunked an early shot at goal, but once he had slotted his first penalty in the 18th minute, Laney never looked back.

Indeed, the confidence he demonstrated in his kicking seemed to translate to the rest of his game, with a late try providing the knockout blow to fell Italy.

With just two minutes to go of the contest, Scotland effected a turnover on the right of the pitch, enabling Townsend to fling out a wide pass left to his backline.  Laney came into the line at pace, transfixing the Italian defence with a delightful dummy and then accelerating on an arching run to score a well-taken try.

That try was definitely the highlight of a fairly unstructured, dour match that saw the referee hand out three yellow cards handed out for indiscipline.

While there was no lack of passion on display at Stadio Flaminio, this clash had the unmistakable air of a bargain-basement, wooden spoon dogfight, with neither side possessing the necessary skill levels to match their ambition to play a wide-ranging game.

An eventful first half saw both sides manufacture a series of gaps in the opposition defence but all too often the try went begging through errors, both sides having to rely instead on the sharpshooting skills of Diego Dominguez and Laney for any points.

With the score poised at 9-all at half-time, Dominguez and Laney scoring three penalties apiece, Scotland began to get into their stride for the first time in the match, holding onto possession for long stretches and asking questions of the Italian defence.

But, as in Paris a fortnight ago, the turning point in the match for Italy was an act of indiscipline by one of their forwards as Santiago Dellape took a swing at Jason White in an off-the-ball incident in the 50th minute.

After an intervention from the touch judge, Dellape duly trotted off to spend ten minutes in the sin-bin but, more crucially, this enabled Laney to level the scores to 12-all.

A further Laney put Scotland further ahead a few minutes later and then Scotland fly-half Gregor Townsend seized an opportunity to put some daylight between the sides.

Townsend took advantage of some lax Italian handling by replacement centre Luca Martin to intercept and race 40 metres for a crucial try.  With Laney on hand to provide the conversion, Scotland at last looked ready to make history.

With Laney having the last word in the 78th minute, Scotland sealed the victory and will now look forward to their next encounter -- against Ireland at Lansdowne Road -- in good heart.

Man of the Match
There are only two candidates for this award and both of them were wearing Scottish jersies.  Gregor Townsend's interception struck a telling blow against Italy, but it was fullback Brendan Laney who earns the accolade, having scored 24 of his side's points.  As well as showing great form with the boot, Laney also scored an excellent individual try to finish off the Azzurri.

Villain of the Match
A bit harsh to single out Santiago Dellape for this award considering that the punch that earned him his second-half sin-binning was hardly a Martin Johnson-like haymaker and was only thrown in retaliation for an elbow in the face from Scotland backrower Jason White.  But the Italian lock's indiscipline cost his side the lead and restricted them to 14 men during a crucial period in the match.

Moment of the Match
Has to be Brendan Laney's cheeky dummy before he cruised in for his second-half try.  With Chris Paterson seemingly ready to explode onto the pass, the Italian defenders took their eyes off the Scotland fullback for a crucial few seconds -- enough for Laney to retain the ball and accelerate over for the try.

The teams:

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Federico Pucciariello, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Marco Bortolami, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Roberto Pedrazzi, 15 Paolo Vaccari
Reserves:  Andrea Lo Cicero, Luca Martin, Mark Giacheri, Alejandro Moreno, Aaron Persico, Ramiro Pez
Unused:  Juan Manuel Queirolo

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  George Graham, Martin Leslie
Unused:  Jon Petrie, Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Kenny Logan, Robbie Russell

Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 4

Scotland
Tries:  Laney B.J. 1, Townsend G.P.J. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 2
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 5

Ireland 54 Wales 10

Two tries from winger Geordan Murphy helped a classy Ireland to a record 54-10 win over a sorry Welsh side in their opening game of the 2002 Six Nations in front of a delighted Lansdowne Road crowd.

It was an excellent start to new coach Eddie O'Sullivan's regime, his charges demonstrating power, pace and poise to dispose of a bedraggled Welsh outfit that simply could not gain parity in any department.

The first half was virtually one-way traffic for Ireland with Wales' incursions into Irish territory all too infrequent as Irish fly-half David Humphreys pinned the Welsh back into their own half, drilling the ball into the corners with a series of rolling touchfinds.

Meanwhile, the Irish forwards' game plan could be summed up in one line:  "It's our ball and we're keeping it" as the Welsh were deprived of possession for vast stretches of time, their lineout stuttering badly and ball being turned over by a rampaging Irish backrow.

On the rare occasions when they did have the ball, Wales tended to be in their own half and could make little headway through the green defensive wall which swept towards them.

Admittedly Wales' efforts were disrupted by a double injury blow before a bare ten minutes of play had lapsed, lock Chris Wyatt and centre Jamie Robinson both limping off the field to be replaced by Ian Gough and Andy Marinos respectively.

The loss of Wyatt was of particular detriment to the Welsh cause and the dragons were to badly miss the Llanelli man's athleticism and physical presence over the next 70 minutes.

His absence also deprived the Welsh of another ball-carrier in the pack with skipper and No.8 Scott Quinnell almost single-handedly having to take the game to the Irish with ball in hand.

By the time Wyatt and Robinson had retreated to the sidelines, the visitors were already 7-0 down after Ireland signalled their attacking intentions in the opening salvos of the encounter.

Launching a mighty drive from a lineout just outside the Welsh 22, the Irish pack drove straight through their red-jerseyed counterparts before setting back the ball in textbook fashion to Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer who wasted no time in feeding No.10 David Humphreys.

With the Welsh defence seemingly convinced that the ball would be immediately shipped out to the talented Irish midfield and drifting across field, Humphreys instead gave a deft inside pop to flanker David Wallace who came onto the ball at breakneck speed, running towards the Welsh posts before being stopped just yards short.  Staying on his feet in the tackle, he deftly fed Geordan Murphy and the Leicester back dived in for a try, converted by Humphreys.

A few minutes later, Wales were again on the rack as Ireland strung together a series of quick ruck balls.  Wales crept up offside allowing Ireland's No.10 to stretch his side's lead to 10-0.  Ireland inched up 13-0 in the 20th minute through a Humphreys penalty, before the superiority of the Irish forwards was again demonstrated a few minutes later.  New cap Paul O'Connell won clean ball in the middle and the Irish pack moved as one, driving inexorably over the tryline.

As the referee signalled for the try it was O'Connell who gained the credit but he had seven of his mates to thank for the five-pointer, which went unconverted by Humprheys.

Another penalty from Humprheys and then Brian O'Driscoll was nearly over for a try after 35 minutes, chipping ahead and just missing out on the chase for the touchdown as the ball rolled over the Welsh tryline.

Another successful penalty from Humphreys just before half-time and Wales were staring a record defeat in the face.

Finally, Wales opened their account deep into injury time with a well-struck penalty from 39 metres for Stephen Jones.

Any thoughts of a Welsh revival soon faded as play went into the second half.  After two minutes, Wales were again pinned back into their own 22 following a superb touch find from Humphreys.

Wales were able to win the lineout and edge back upfield but Jones' tactical kicking game was no match for that of Humphreys.  To be fair to Jones, he was not exactly overflowing with options with the Quinnell brothers and flanker Nathan Budgett the only players able to break the gainline on a consistent basis.

Still, Wales did manage to hold onto possession for a protracted period early in the first half, Scott Quinnell, Ian Gough and Dafydd James making good yardage to force a penalty.  But Jones was uncharacteristically off-target with the kick and once Ireland had regained possession they came up with a score from long range effort that typified Ireland's team ethic as forwards and backs linked to conjure up a try.

Wales centre Iestyn Harris spilled the ball forward in the tackle in midfield and the ball obligingly popped into the arms of loosehead John Hayes who drove on, before front row partner Peter Clohessy continued, switching Kevin Maggs who cut through the welsh defence before being brought to ground.  As he hit the deck, the Bath centre popped the ball up to Murphy who cruised in for his second try.

Humphreys scored another penalty to stretch Ireland's lead but as humiliation beckoned for Wales, they were spurred into their best period of the entire match.

Craig Morgan made 10 yards down the left wing, before the ball was switched right to Craig Quinnell who recycled just inside the Irish 22.  Stephen Jones picked up and span over the line under a heap of bodies for a try.  The fly-half converted his own try to put Wales at 37-10.

But the revival was shortlived with Ireland finishing strongly after making a raft of replacements going into the last ten minutes, a tactic that was to push them into record-breaking territory.

Humphreys found another defensive hole in the Welsh 22 and set off for the the right hand corner before off-loading to Denis Hickie who dived in at the corner.

Then replacement forward Keith Gleeson scored with his very first touch of the ball, benefiting from a breathtaking counter attack from Brian O'Driscoll.

With another flowing movement resulting in a try for replacement No.10 Ronan O'Gara, the rout was complete for Ireland who got their campaign off to the best possible start.

After that display Eddie O'Sullivan's men will look ahead to their next challenge, against England at Twickenham in two weeks time, with no little confidence.

Wales, on the other hand, will be shattered by the margin of their defeat and must regroup, and regroup fast, if they are to rescue their 2002 Six Nations campaign and the career for former "Great Redeemer" Graham Henry, a man whose stock is falling faster than Enron's.

Man of the match:  There were many Irish heroes in a great team victory but David Humphreys was the man who kept the green machine running forwards, drilling the ball into the corners with an excellent display of tactical kicking to keep Wales pinned back into their own territory.  The Ulsterman also managed to kick a few points too, racking up 22 points to help bury Welsh hopes.

Moment of the match:  Geordan Murphy's second try typified Ireland's devotion to the creed of "total rugby" with props Peter Clohessy and John Hayes linking like centres in the build-up to the score.

Villain of the match:  The Welsh pack.  Excepting the brave efforts of skipper Scott Quinnell, the Dragons' eight were out-powered and out-though up front with th result that Rob Howley and his backline had to make do with scrappy possession, often supplied from a retreating platform.  If there is not a vast improvement from Wales up-front, the season could carry on in this nightmare fashion.

(Half-time:  Ireland 24 Wales 3)

Referee:  Pablo Deluca (Arg)
Touchjudges:  Kelvin Deaker (NZ), Rob Dickson (Scot)

The teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Rob Henderson, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Keith Gleeson, Ronan O'Gara

Wales:  1 Chris Anthony, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Spencer John, 4 Craig Quinnell, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Jamie Robinson, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Duncan Jones, Dwayne Peel, Andy Marinos, Barry Williams
Unused:  Rhys Williams, Brett Sinkinson

Attendance:  49000
Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Gleeson K.D. 1, Murphy G.E.A. 2, O'Connell P. 1, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 6

Wales
Tries:  Jones S.M. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 1