France set for Six Nations glory

Les Bleus weather fine Welsh performance

France look set for Six Nations celebrations after they beat off a commendable effort from Wales to record a 21-16 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Wales almost put the cat amongst the pigeons with a stunning performance that saw them taking a lead into the final 10 minutes of a pulsating game.

Ireland could yet deny the French a champagne evening in Cardiff but the men in green need to put 34 points past England at Twickenham to clinch the title.

It took 73 minutes for France to take the lead, when a late flash of brilliance from Frédéric Michalak created the opening for Florian Fritz to score under the posts.

Victory meant that only a convincing Ireland win over England at Twickenham would deny France the title -- but the irony is that up until Fritz's score Les Bleus had looked nothing like champions.

A superb try from Hal Luscombe and eight points from the boot of fly-half Stephen Jones earned Wales a deserved 13-6 half-time lead.

France, who had struggled to create anything in the face of some high-pressure defence, hit back through replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski but Wales retained their lead until just seven minutes from time.

Defeat was ill-deserved for Wales but after a turbulent season wrecked by injuries, defeats and damaging controversies, home fans head into the summer with their hopes for the future lifted.

Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips, in for the injured Dwayne Peel, produced an immense performance on his first start since the autumn, closely followed by the recalled No.8 Alix Popham.

Both men had points to prove -- though to whom is still up in the air with the Welsh Rugby Union to begin a worldwide search for a new head coach on Monday.

But the behind-the-scenes politics was for another day, because today was about pride and Wales showed it in barrel-loads.

With Italy losing to Scotland in Rome, Wales had escaped the ignominy of crashing from Grand Slam champions to wooden spoon chumps in the space of a season.

Perhaps that lifted the pressure somewhat.  Either way, Wales started like a steam train and barely relented for the whole first half.

The French defence strained under the early pressure and conceded a fourth-minute penalty, which Stephen Jones converted from in front of the posts.

France lacked a cutting edge and had to settle for a penalty from Dimitri Yachvili after Ian Gough was spotted holding on at the breakdown.

Wales, in contrast, were attacking France at pace, supporting in numbers and offloading quickly to severely test the blue defence.

Matthew Watkins jinked expertly past French hooker Raphaël Ibañez and offloaded on the angle to Stephen Jones.

Robert Sidoli was tackled off the ball while in support by the retreating Ibanez, who was sin-binned for his efforts.

Wales, back in the lead after Jones landed from the subsequent penalty, made sure they took full advantage of that extra man.

Luscombe escaped down the left wing and slipped a pass inside to Shane Williams, who swerved around Thomas Castaignède.

Williams was scragged just short of the line by Yannick Nyanga but hooked a brilliant one-handed pass back to Luscombe who touched down for his second Test try.

Yachvili slotted a second penalty to make it 13-6 at the interval -- but he did not survive to see the second half as French coach Bernard Laporte introduced Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Cédric Heymans for Castaignède.

France, their title hopes on the line, reacted well and replacement hooker Szarzewski burrowed over in the corner from a lineout.

But Wales retained a narrow lead, thankful that Elissalde's conversion hit the post and both the scrum-half and centre Damien Traille had missed with penalty attempts early in the second period.

Wales had been forced to make half-time changes themselves and although the introduction of Gavin Henson for Lee Byrne received a mixed reaction, the "Tanned One" soon had the Millennium Stadium on their feet with a towering 50-metre penalty.

Wales came within inches of extending their lead further as France again found themselves strangled in the face of some high-pressure defence.

Shane Williams toed the ball into the French try-zone after it squeezed out from a ruck.  Michalak appeared to have dived over the ball and the Wales winger touched down.

But Italian television official Giulio de Santis ruled Michalak had applied downward pressure with his torso and denied Wales the score.

France took full advantage of the escape, surging down the other end.  Fritz scored under the posts and Elissalde's simple conversion took France ahead for the first time in the game.

Phillips refused to give up the ghost and burst through a huge gap at the back of a line-out, but the Cardiff scrum-half did not have the pace to beat Aurelien Rougerie on the outside and the chance of an immediate response went begging.

Elissalde booted France five points clear with a penalty -- but still Wales piled forward and it required a try-saving tackle from Michalak to secure the win after Shane Williams had wriggled past Rougerie.

More to follow...

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Luscombe
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 3

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Fritz
Con:  Elissalde
Pens:  Yachvili 2, Elissalde

Yellow cards:  Ibañez (France) -- off-side, 24

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Dafydd James, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Owen (captain), 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Andy Williams, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Gavin Henson.

France:  15 Thomas Castaignede, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Thomas Lievremont, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibañez, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Olivier Magne, 20 Jean Baptiste Elissalde, 21 Ludovic Valbon, 22 Cedric Heymans.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Scotland snatch a win in Rome

Last-gasp penalty gives Scots three from five

Scotland and Italy punctuated exciting Six Nations campaigns with a lethargic encounter at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday, with a last-gasp penalty from Chris Paterson handing the visitors a 13-10 victory -- Scotland's first away win for almost four years.

The scores were locked at 10-10 and Italy looked on course to secure a second successive draw when Paterson accepted a chance from 43 metres out with just three minutes remaining.

Scotland's last win in the Six Nations was in Cardiff in 2002 and on their last visit to Rome they crashed to a 20-14 defeat.

But Frank Hadden has revitalised the side since he took over last year and this success on the road comes on the back of famous Murrayfield triumphs over France and England.

Paterson was the hero on the field, not only keeping his cool to kick the last-gasp penalty but also crossing for Scotland's try and adding the conversion, while Gordon Ross dropped a goal just before half-time.

Italy, who took the lead in the sixth minute through Mirco Bergamasco, looked to have salvaged a draw when Ramiro Pez levelled matters midway through the second half.

But they are now consigned to the wooden spoon again despite making progress under new coach Pierre Berbizier this season, including claiming their first ever Six Nations point away from the Eternal City.

Scott Lawson, in for Dougie Hall at the problem position of hooker, started well, an accurate throw securing Scotland possession at the first line-out, but moments later Hugo Southwell's attempted clearance was charged down in his own 22.

Italy had numbers on their left side but a knock-on from Bergamasco ended what could have been a dangerous move.

The Azzurri maintained their early pressure thanks to some clever kicking from Pez, though, and that superiority was rewarded in the sixth minute.

Veteran stand-off Pez's chip over the top was collected by Bergamasco and he crashed over from close range, the Perpignan number 10 adding the simple conversion.

Scotland were dealt another early blow when Chris Cusiter was forced off with a shoulder injury -- his recall lasting less than 10 minutes -- to be replaced by Mike Blair.

The Edinburgh scrum-half was immediately involved, darting from the base of a ruck to be held up just short but, after a tremendous clean-out by Nathan Hines, Paterson picked up and dived over.

Paterson added the extras to draw his side level and moments later the Edinburgh winger was bundled into touch a couple of yards short of a second try after a terrific move down the left with Sean Lamont.

Like Cusiter, Cristian Stoica's return to the side was brief as the veteran Montpellier back hobbled off after 20 minutes to be replaced by Parma's Ezio Galon.

Scotland were certainly on the offensive for the second part of the first half but some unforced errors -- notably a knock-on from Jason White -- hampered their efforts to seize the lead.

In the final seconds of the half the visitors did take the lead when Ross dropped a goal from just 15 yards to edge his side ahead at the interval.

Scotland started the second period extremely sloppily, first allowing a ball to bounce in their own 22 which should have been swallowed up and then Lamont almost gifting the home side a try.

The Northampton winger attempted to flick the ball back to Blair just inside his 22 but Pablo Canavosio got to it first and only a fine tackle from Lamont and the ball being knocked forward as the Italy flyer tried to pass to Pez preserved Scotland's lead.

Berbizier freshened up his pack within 15 minutes of the second period as Andrea Lo Cicero and Alessandro Zanni entered the fray and Hadden responded by bringing prop Craig Smith on for Bruce Douglas.

Scotland immediately conceded a penalty for an infringement in the scrum, with Lawson looking the guilty party, and Pez made no mistake to draw his side level.

Italy sensed another victory in Rome over Scotland and Berbizier sent Carlo Festuccia on instead of Fabio Ongaro to further fire the front front-row battle, as well as lock Carlo Antonio Del Fava.

Hadden replaced Ross, who had done little wrong, with Parks.  And the Scotland coach also substituted Scott Murray, equalling Gordon Bulloch as his country's most capped forward with 75, with Alastair Kellock.

Italy were looking the more likely to claim the lead and it took splendid scrambling defence from the Scots -- notably from Hines -- to keep an aggressive Bergamasco run at bay.

That move had come from a loose Lamont pass and it was clearly one too many for Hadden's liking as he immediately replaced him with Simon Webster.

A big hit from White caused a turnover for Scotland in the 76th minute and Italy were penalised as they tried to retrieve possession.

Paterson stepped up and from just inside the home side's half kicked Scotland to victory with little over two minutes remaining.

Man of the match:  Italy centre Mirco Bergamasco confirmed what we have come to believe -- that's he is the "find" of the Six Nations.  Sergio Parisse and Paul Griffen also did well for the home side.  Chris Paterson looked lively when he popped up at fly-half (hint, hint!) but our award goes to Hugo Southwell who had his best game of a good championship and proved to be an absolute rock under the high ball.

Moment of the match:  A few notable breaks from both sides but this game won't live long in the memory.  The passionate home support was superb -- how the crave more wins -- but the most poignant moment was the full-time whistle and the look of relief on Scottish faces as they realised that their long search for a win on the road was over.

Villain of the match:  Poor old Sean Lamont had an absolute shocker, but he's a great player and we can't hand him this hideous gong for one bad day at the office.  No award.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Bergamasco
Con:  Pez
Pen:  Pez

For Scotland:
Try:  Paterson
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson
Drop:  Ross

The teams:

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri, 6 Sergio Parisse, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martín Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Carlo Del Fava, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Rima Wakarua, 22 Ezio Galon.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Jon Petrie, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Stuart Webster.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)

Ireland grab the Triple Crown

Horgan's last-second try snatches a thriller for Ireland at Twickenham

Ireland took the inaugural Triple Crown trophy with a epic 28-24 Six Nations victory over England on Saturday, sealed with try by wing Shane Horgan two minutes from time.

In a thrilling match the lead changed hands four times before the video referee ruled Horgan's late stretch for the line in-goal and not in touch.  Andy Goode's flawless second-half kicking display looked to have stolen the spoils for the home team when he landed his fourth penalty to make it 24-21 with seven minutes to go, but it was not to be.

England finish fourth, with a host of questions unanswered and a number of heads likely to be on the Twickenham chopping block in the coming weeks.  Ireland appear to have emerged from their November slump, and are building well ahead of the looming 2007 Rugby World Cup.

It was a fitting finale to this tournament.  Not perfect in terms of pure quality, but with a competitive edge, and ebb and flow of momentum, that kept all observers in thrall right up until the final twists in the tale.

It also contained a bitter aftertaste of officiating controversy for England, who will be judged on the criminal virtues of international defeat but will point in shallow mitigation at the television replay which clearly showed Shane Horgan's first try to be invalid, the ball scuffing the touchline before Horgan hacked ahead into the in-goal area.

Then there is the replay which showed Ben Cohen's quick line-out to be valid in the 58th minute.  The touch-judge ruled it invalid, and England were forced to throw again.  From that line-out, Denis Leamy pounced for Ireland's second try.

That mitigation will be shallow indeed though, for the English had many chances to kill the game off, and were helped to no small extent by referee Nigel Whitehouse, whose exemplary policing of the breakdown ensured all ball that should have been quick was quick.  England frequently had the platform from which to do their stuff.  All too frequently they stuffed it up, either figuratively by making mistakes, or literally, up their shirts when men were free.

In the cold light of day, there will be plusses for England to look at.  The team was unquestionably a hundred per cent better than the limp lot that folded like so many crêpes last week in Paris.

The scrum was formidable, and harried five penalties out of the Irish scrum.  The forwards, in the second half especially, built up heads of steam and sequences of possession that would have yielded tries in most games.

Mike Tindall ran with purpose and speed, as did Stuart Abbott, who made several threatening thrusts.  Lee Mears translated flashes of his club form up to the higher level on his first Six Nations start, and Andy Sheridan's work-rate was noticeably higher than it had previously been.

Ireland's hour of glory -- fittingly on St. Patrick's Day weekend -- is richly deserved, irrespective of the slices of fortune they feasted upon.  Their game, which unravelled completely for fifty minutes in Paris, has come fully together again.

In the first half especially, the defenders attached themselves to every English runner like iron lumps to a magnet.  They won eight penalties in that first half, and turned over the ball five times in open play.  The open stuff was not so impressive in the second half, but the form of attack had changed:  England lost well over half of their line-outs in the second half, including the one that led to Leamy's try.

In attack, Geordan Murphy gave a sublime display of running lines and adventure, while Shane Horgan underpinned it with the work-rate of an industrial motor.  Up front, the loose trio of David Wallace, Simon Easterby and Denis Leamy was magnificent.  Only in the front row was there a weakness to be found, but hooker Jerry Flannery in particular made up for that in the loose.

It all started so brightly for the home team.  Paul O'Connell missed the kick-off, and the ball bounced loose.  A scrum ensued at which the Irish front row was penalised for binding issues.  Harry Ellis tapped and spun the ball wide, and Jamie Noon bulldozed his opposite number for the opening score after 74 seconds.

Goode missed that conversion, and missed two other kicks in the half as he struggled to find his rhythm.  By the time he had missed his second, England were 8-5 behind, courtesy of an O'Gara penalty and the first Horgan try, which will have English fans fuming tomorrow.

O'Gara kicked from open play and the ball went towards Ben Cohen.  Whatever Cohen's intentions were, they did not include catching the ball, and he let the ball bounce past him before springing into action and slipping on the loose turf.  Horgan skipped past him and hacked the ball ahead.  Touch-judge Rob Dickson's flag shot up to head height, and then ducked back down behind his back just as quickly, as Horgan dived on the loose ball for the try.  Television replays clearly showed the ball touching the line.  But then, if Cohen had done something, anything, in fact, beyond standing as though petrified, Horgan could never have even got to the ball.  Who is really to blame?

Cohen had a miserable first half, and it is to his credit that he later turned things around.  On 25 minutes, with Ireland now 8-5 ahead, he scrambled to secure another regulation high ball, and then hoisted an extraordinary kick into space where only Irish runners were lurking.  Ireland forced two penalties as a result, and should have taken three points.  Instead they went for a tap, and England turned over and cleared.

Ireland did make it 11-5 on 32 minutes, for a trip on Stringer by Simon Shaw, who was sin-binned for his efforts.  From the restart, Simon Easterby obstructed the chasers, and Goode made it 11-8.

Ireland had two more clear chances to extend the lead before the break, first Gordon D'Arcy over-ran Brian O'Driscoll on the overlap, and then Flannery popped up in the line outside O'Driscoll with the speed of a greyhound but the co-ordination of a baby Llama.  11-8 it stayed until the break.

Goode and O'Gara swapped two further penalties in the opening two minutes of the second half, but now was England's best period.  Between minutes 45 and 53 they laid siege to Ireland's 22, using a mixture of their wrecking-ball forward running and the crowbar-like openings created by Abbott, Cohen and Tom Voyce.  Eventually Steve Borthwick popped up on a Tindall-like angle and broke through to go under the posts, making it 18-14.

Whatever England gained by hammering away, Ireland clawed back through the line-outs.  While England dominated the third quarter, they lost every single line-out bar one.  From one, David Wallace broke to make some 50m before England turned over and cleared to touch.

Ireland were then gifted the lead back.  The maligned Cohen chased back an O'Gara kick, which bounced into touch five metres from the England line.  Cohen took the ball, and took a quick line-out to himself, but the touch-judge ruled he had stepped onto the pitch, television replays once again showing otherwise.  The throw was ordered again.  Nobody jumped for Mears's throw though, an unforgivable error, and Leamy took the ball at the back and sprung over the line, with O'Gara making it 21-18.

Still England bashed and bashed, but Ireland closed up superbly, and once again England's reluctance to look outside proved costly on a couple of occasions -- not least when Lewis Moody had Mark Cueto screaming for the ball outside him, yet chose to run diagonally until all Cueto's space had been eaten up before giving Cueto the ball.  Horgan put Cueto ineffectually into touch, and O'Gara cleared from the line-out.

But a high tackle on Goode by Easterby -- for which he was sin-binned -- and an errant Irish hand at a ruck gave Goode two penalties to slot, and England led 24-21 with six minutes to go.  The doors of the jail were open.

Then they were slammed firmly shut again by a piece of magic.  O'Gara's chip bounced away from Cohen -- who was more unlucky than culpable this time -- and O'Driscoll took the ball at pace.  He timed his pass to Horgan superbly, but Horgan was tackled 7m short of the line magnificently by Moody.  Ireland ran the ball inside for two phases, before O'Driscoll once again found Horgan with Moody breathing down his neck.  Same pair, same corner, same situation, but this time the Irishman stretched out an arm and plonked the ball on the line like an empirical flag on new-found territory.

O'Gara converted, and officials began tying green ribbons on that sparkly new Triple Crown trophy.

Man of the match:  For England, Andy Goode and Martin Corry stood out for distribution and work-rate respectively, and Lee Mears added extra dimenisons to hooker play.  For Ireland, Shane Horgan was superb with the ball in hand, as was Geordan Murphy.  the loose trio were instrumental in frustrating england at key moments.  Those five are all tied for the runner-up spot, but for a spot of work well above the expected level:  namely the try-saving tackle on a flying winger with a minute left on the clock, Lewis Moody gets himself a nose in front of the rest and wins our award for man of the match.  Referee Nigel Whitehouse should also be mentioned for an excellent performance.

Moment of the match:  Would have been the try, but it was ruined by the need for the video referee.  So Lewis Moody's try-saving tackle gets the nod.

Villain of the match:  Could have been the touch-judges who made the crucial mistakes, but something even more unpleasant happened on the pitch, when Jerry Flannery's hands flew to his face in horror at a playground slap from Matt Dawson.  Listen carefully:  Rugby -- players -- do -- not -- fake -- injury.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Noon, Borthwick
Con:  Goode
Pens:  Goode 4

For Ireland:
Tries:  Horgan 2, Leamy
Con:  O'Gara 2
Pens:  O'Gara 3

The teams:

England:  15 Tom Voyce, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Stuart Abbott, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Julian White, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Danny Grewcock, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Matt Dawson, 21 Dave Walder, 22 Mike Tindall.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 18 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eion Reddan, 20 David Humphreys, 21 Girvan Dempsey.

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

France leave England for dead

Robinson and his troops flunk French test

The odds on a French victory in the 2006 Six Nations shortened dramatically in Paris on Sunday as Les Bleus recorded a comprehensive 31-6 victory over England courtesy of a cultured and controlled performance that left the English rooted to the spot like so many oaks.

Worcester scrum-half Andy Gomarsall caught an early morning flight to France after Matt Dawson awoke feeling less then himself.  But at least he woke up.  The rest of his team-mates slept-walked into "Le Crunch" and were 10 points to the bad after just five minutes of play.

The English never recovered from their poor start and were guilty of making careless mistakes, skewing clearances, dropping balls and conceding penalties.

Despite bags of possession and more huff and puff than a pack of Big Bad Wolves, the visitors never once manage to penetrate the well-marshalled French lines.

France scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili added the kicks following Florian Fritz's try in the opening minute of the game and France had opened a 16-3 lead before Damien Traille and Christophe Dominici rounded off the victory with second-half tries.

All England could manage was two penalties -- one from Charlie Hodgson and one from his second-half replacement, Andy Goode.

The defeat, England's seventh in 14 Six Nations starts since winning the World Cup in 2003, equals their worst margin of defeat against France, having lost by 25 points in Paris 34 years ago.

Late in the second half, France lock Lionel Nallet, on as a replacement for Fabien Pelous, got the ball under pressure.  He did a little dart and shuffle and was pulled down.

It was a tiny moment in the match and probably of no consequence except that in that little moment he looked livelier and brighter than either of the big English centres looked in the match.  It may just be here -- in skill sacrificed for muscularity -- that England lost the match.

Any line-breaks and any creative skill came from the French.  England did well enough at getting possession and in territory but they at no stage did they look like scoring a try.  They had a five-metre line-out and that was stillborn as Lewis Moody caught the ball and instead of the traditional English maul they had Martin Corry peeling round the front and getting thumped.

French defence was excellent and they used the rush defence system which produced an intercept try.

All the real line-breaks came from France with breaks by Thomas Lièvremont, Frédéric Michalak, Thomas Castaignède and Yannick Nyanga in the first half and Michalak, Castaignède, Florian Fritz and Damien Traille (twice) in the second half.

The French wings, Aurélien Rougerie more than Christophe Dominic, got passes while the English wings had to be content in trying to run back French kicks.

Some of the English handling was poor, notably in France's first and third tries.

England missed a penalty kick at goal, while France missed two penalty kicks at goal and two drop attempts that were distinctly goalable.  Goaled, they would have made the score huge, even more humiliating for the English than it was.

England acknowledged its parlous state at the break.  Charlie Hodgson did not reappear in the second half, a tough departure for the pivot who has spent so much of his career in the shadow of Jonny Wilkinson and was getting his first chance to play against France in Paris.

Andy Goode came on his place, and nothing improved for England, even if Goode scored the first points of the second half with a penalty goal when Olivier Magne was penalised for deliberately knocking on, the third penalty he had conceded of six against France up until that point.

Other fresh troops were thrown in -- Harry Ellis and Tom Voyce -- were on eagerly in the second half.  And with 20 minutes to go Lee Mears, Andy Sheridan and Lawrence Dallaglio were on -- and nothing improved for England.  They lost the first half 16-3, the second 15-3.

All of that said, in the intensity of the match, the muscularity of the confrontation, the determination of the defences, all three of France's tries came from English error.

The first came after just 41 seconds of first whistle.

From well within his own half, Michalak hoisted a high kick down the middle of the field towards the England 22 where Jamie Noon and Josh Lewsey contrived to miss the ball entirely.  Damien Traille was there to snap it up and pass to Florian Fritz in his right and the big centre raced over for a simple try, which Dimitri Yachvili converted.  7-0 after 41 seconds!

There were two in the second half.  The first came at a scrum near the half-way line and near the touch-line on France's right.  England were penalised and Yachvili tapped and darted.  Out the ball went to Traille who forged ahead before kicking at the goal-line.  Back for it were Ellis and Mark Cueto.  Haring after it and just behind the English duo was Fritz.  The trio dived at the ball -- and missed it!  But Traille was on hand to gather and plunge over for the try.  Yachvili's conversion hit the upright and stayed out.

The third try came at the death.  Andy Goode threw a long pass to his left -- straight to Christophe Dominici who was somewhere in midfield.  The French left-wing caught the ball, accelerated and then dropped to a grinning jog, looking around as he dawdled towards the posts, ending it with a dive for the try.

Lièvremont acknowledged his team-mate's score with a little Parisian mime, knocking imaginary nails into an all too real English coffin -- it was all over.

The surprise of the half-time score is that England were only 13 points behind, for most of the half belonged to France.

Following Fritz's early score, Joe Worsley was penalised for holding on at a tackle and Yachvili made it 10-0.

After Yachvili had missed a penalty and Michalak a drop, England made a foray into French territory.  Lièvremont was penalised for an air tackle in a line-out but Charlie Hodgson's kick hit the upright and stayed out.

Yachvili then made it 16-0 when Matt Dawson was penalised.

Just before half-time England mounted their best attack of the match when Matt Stevens barged some headway in the middle and then, going left, Hodgson grubbered towards the French line.  Castaignède gathered but Jamie Noon tackled him into touch for a five-metre line-out to England.

After Corry had been stopped at the ensuing maul, England went right, Magne was penalised for being off-side and Hodgson goaled the simplest of kicks.

Voyce's entry into the match was far from auspicious.  He dropped the first ball kicked to him and then was penalised for holding on.  Yachvili missed the kick at goal.

Michalak then kicked a bomb and Lewsey -- nothing like as secure as Castaignède under the high ball -- knocked on straight to replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski who ploughed ahead.  Fritz carried it on but Jérôme Thion knocked on five metres from the line.  That gave England a tough scrum five metres from their own line.  The scrum was reset four times until France were penalised when Szarzewski collapsed.

Throughout the match, the French scrums had had no problems but England's were unhappy, regularly reset.

In seven England scrums there were eight resets and three penalties.  Martin Corry, who played the whole match this time as Dallaglio replaced Worsley, had regular conversations with the referee about France's scrummaging methods.

But Corry's consternation was probably down to more than just France's tactics at the scrum.  Les Bleus now have a third Six Nations title in five years in their sights while the English trudge home to pick over the pieces of another failed campaign.

England can still win the Six Nations title by thrashing Ireland on Saturday after hearing news of a Welsh victory over France in Cardiff -- but that is highly unlikely on this evidence.  France have their tails up and they are strutting towards the silverware.

Man of the Match:  It was not a good match for England -- too clumsy and error-ridden, which may mean that the players were too tense.  For France there were several players who caught the eye -- athletic Yannick Nyanga, busy Raphaël Ibañez, lively Dimitri Yachvili, forceful Florian Fritz and dominant Damien Traille.  But our man of the match was that mixture of genius and courage, Thomas Castaignède, who gave the match its electricity.

Moment of the match:  That start for Florian Fritz's try which was the forerunner of things to come -- English bungling and France's light-footed enthusiasm.

Villain of the Match:  Tense though it was, the manners were good.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Fritz, Traille, Dominici
Cons:  Yachvili 2
Pens:  Yachvili 4

For England:
Pens:  Hodgson, Goode

The teams:

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille (Ludovic Valbon, 76), 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Thomas Lièvremont, 7 Olivier Magne (Julien Bonnaire, 58), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Lionel Nallet, 66), 3 Pieter de Villiers (Olivier Milloud, 51),, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (Dimitri Szarzewski, 60), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Unused replacements:  20 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 22 Cédric Heymans.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall (Tom Voyce, 58), 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 40), 9 Matt Dawson (Harry Ellis, 58), 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley (Lawrence Dallaglio, 62), 5 Danny Grewcock (Simon Shaw, 71), 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Julian White, 2 Steve Thompson (Lee Mears, 61), 1 Matt Stevens (Andy Sheridan, 61).

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis, Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland douse Scottish fires

Irish give Lansdowne Road a decent send-off

Ireland kept their Six Nations hopes burning courtesy of a frantic 15-9 victory over Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday -- giving the ramshackle heap a happy competitive send-off before it undergoes redevelopment.

Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara booted all of Ireland's points and Eddie O'Sullivan's men travel to Twickenham next weekend where they will hope to clinch their first tournament title since 1985.

All of Scotland's points came from the boot of Chris Paterson with defeat ending their own Six Nations title challenge.

Rain bucketed down on the pitch for the half-hour leading up to kick-off, and although it kindly abated for much of the first half, the second half was not so blessed.  It all took its inevitable toll on Irish and Scottish ambition, although the aggressive defence which has marked Scotland's Six Nations also played a full role in the game, saving them from a much heavier defeat.

Scotland's limitations were underlined as they rarely threatened in attack, and Ireland were never likely to concede the possession that England and France had done previously.

The men in green appeared to have deciphered the Scots' line-out calls pretty early on, and from then on, with the conditions rendering the match a kicking duel, Ireland always had enough possession to win.

Man of the match Paul O'Connell, back after missing the 31-5 victory over Wales with a shoulder injury, had an immense game in the line-out and in the loose, and was substituted to a standing ovation.  Peter Stringer also continued his revival from a form slump with another lively display.

O'Sullivan had lamented the subdued atmosphere at Lansdowne Road for the Italy and Wales matches but he could have few complaints early this afternoon as a huge roar greeted kick-off, and most of the afternoon's events.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll had demanded his team give Irish supporters reason to cheer and they did exactly that by racing out of the blocks with an early assault on the Scottish line.

A turnover in midfield allowed Ireland to attack down the right through Jerry Flannery and Shane Horgan but a poor pass to Gordon D'Arcy after the ball had been recycled ended the threat.

They won a penalty on five minutes, however, which O'Gara sent between the uprights and Ireland continued to enjoy their best start in this year's Six Nations when the Munster fly-half kicked another penalty five minutes later.  Indeed, Scotland had been restricted in the opening ten minutes to only tackling, clearing, and creeping up offside as Ireland swamped the Scottish half.

Scotland fought back, and responded with two penalties from Paterson as the game lost its shape with poor kicking from both sides taking its toll.

Ireland did open up their opponents' defence in the 24th minute but just failed to make use of their overlap with Denis Leamy getting caught in midfield.  That was pretty much it as far as genuine opportunities went.  Neither team was overly negative in approach, but both could do little else than clear their lines and wait for mistakes from the opposition.

Once again the Scots were caught offside, just before half-time and O'Gara's boot punished the infringement but just as Ireland appeared to be back in the driving seat, a turnover allowed Scotland to ease the pressure.

Paterson slotted a penalty to make it 9-9 before a loose pass from O'Gara allowed the visitors to attack with Sean Lamont nearly touching down Dan Parks's grubber.

There was no shortage of possession to fuel Ireland's attacks late in the first half but Scotland were performing heroics in defence once again.  The pressure told though, and when Scotland were penalised for offside a fifth time, O'Gara gave Ireland a deserved half-time lead.

With the wind behind them for the second half, Eddie O'Sullivan's men pinned the Scots back in their own half.  The Irish line-out, which had been in the ascendancy in the first half, took control completely and It was all Scotland could do to keep the ball out of their 22 for long periods.

There were brief flashes from both teams in that second half, Geordan Murphy was always threatening and Simon Webster added some much-needed zip to Scotland's attack when he came on, but neither side ever managed to string together more than five phases, and the game became a raucous kicking fest.

O'Driscoll ran onto an pass from O'Gara at pace as Ireland cranked up the pressure but O'Connell then tried to go it alone when he should have used the men outside him.

Scotland were forced to repel waves of attacks with a fifth O'Gara penalty stretching the lead but their ongoing efforts to score a try remained frustrated.

Scotland had one final chance to run the ball as O'Gara's last-minute penalty drifted wide, but within two phases the ball had been knocked forward.  Ireland's players raised their arms in victory as the heavens opened over a match at Lansdowne Road for one last time.

Man of the match:  Geordan Murphy might have ruled the roost on a dry day, such was his willingness to attack from deep, and Brian O'Driscoll consistently broke the game line.  Jerry Flannery also played like a flanker for much of the game, and would also have benefited from a dry day.  For Scotland, the back-row trio once again stood out for special mention, and Hugo Southwell coped with the aerial assault well.  But on a mudbath of a pitch, it is only fitting that the award should go to one of the ground staff up front, and Paul O'Connell single-handedly ruled the line-out all game, which, on a day of kicking, made all the difference.

Moment of the match:  Not much in the game-play, but perhaps the sounds of the anthems ringing around the ground for one last time brought enough of a lump to the throat.

Villian of the match:  Perhaps the Rain Gods who reduced the match to the slippery kicking duel it became with their gifts.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 3

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (Donnacha O'Callaghan, 69), 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Unused replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eion Reddan, 20 David Humphreys, 21 Girvan Dempsey.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson (Simon Webster, 73), 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 60), 9 Mike Blair (Chris Cusiter, 60), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Ally Hogg, 6 Jason White (Jon Petrie, 77), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Bruce Douglas (Craig Smith, 58-65, 74), 2 Dougie Hall (Scott Lawson, 65), 1 Gavin Kerr.
Unused replacements:  18 Alastair Kellock.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Wales and Italy share the misery

Scrappy encounter ends in stalemate

Italy won their first ever away point in the Six Nations by claiming a dramatic 18-18 draw with Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday -- but neither side seemed entused with their portion of the shared spoils.

They say that misfortune is fortune that never misses.  If that's the case, Italy and Wales are proving enticing targets to they that toss the lightning bolts.

With the Welsh in self-destruct mode and the Italians continuously failing to add the cherry to the top of their daring creations, the result really should have been expected -- the sporting gods were never going to allow either of these sides to enjoy a moment of unadulterated happiness.

Tries by Mark and Stephen Jones proved insufficient for Wales as a controversial effort by Italy fullback Ezio Galon was ruled legal and Pablo Canavosio raced away to score after intercepting a wayward pass.

The sides scored a penalty apiece in the second period but the locals could not find any further breakthrough.

Wales had been boosted before the match as injury doubts Stephen Jones and Mark Jones both passed fitness tests and Shane Williams returned to the left wing after recovering from a dead leg.

Italy were forced into a late change when hooker Fabio Ongaro was replaced by Carlo Festuccia after going down with tonsillitis.

Flank Mauro Bergamasco was also out injured, while Cristian Stoica dropped to the bench with Galon the starting fullback.

Italy, having been forced onto the back foot with clever tactical kicking from Stephen Jones and then Lee Byrne, were penalised in the first scrum of the match and Jones slotted Wales into a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

Wales lost scrum-half Dwayne Peel with a shoulder injury but it did not disrupt their early momentum and a silky backs move carved open the Italian defence for Mark Jones to score in the corner.

Hal Luscombe's inside pass to Williams, who had looped round off his wing, created the overlap for Jones to score his eighth try in 20 Tests.  Stephen Jones missed the conversion and Italy's response was immediate as Galon scored in controversial circumstances.

The Azzurri had just had a score disallowed -- winger Canavosio was ruled to have been in touch before off-loading -- when Wales overthrew the lineout and Italy snatched possession back.

They spun the ball quickly wide for Galon to saunter untouched over the line.

But the fullback delayed his moment of glory and appeared to have slid over the dead-ball line.  But after the incident was referred to the television official, the belated verdict was a try to Italy.  Ramiro Pez missed the conversion.

Italy's defence remained under pressure and Stephen Jones found the breakthrough as he spun through tackles from Festuccia, scrum-half Paul Griffin and flanker Maurizio Zaffiri to score his sixth Test try and added the conversion.

Wales almost stung Italy with another score after 29 minutes when Luscombe hacked a loose ball out of his own half and bore down on the Italian try-line.  However, Bergamasco trailed him all the way and prevented the try.

Pez, after missing with a 47-yard effort, then opened his account from in front of the posts after Wales had been penalised for offside.

Wales were hammering away at the Italian line, forcing them into last-gasp defence as Matthew Watkins worked space for Robert Sidoli to gallop clear.

But that pressure was punctured two minutes before the interval when Canavosio picked off a pass Watkins had intended for Luscombe and sprinted 70 metres for the try.  Pez's conversion levelled the half-time score.

Pez missed the opportunity to kick Italy ahead just two minutes into the second half.

Bergamasco, one of Italy's star men this championship, launched a blistering counter-attack and chipped into space behind Byrne only for the Wales full-back to tackle him off the ball.

Byrne escaped the yellow card but this time Pez was successful with the penalty and Italy moved ahead.

The Azzurri had begun the second half with real purpose and Wales lost their composure.  Italy had to make their pressure count but Pez missed with another penalty attempt and Stoica, on for Canavosio, sent a drop-goal effort wide.

Wales were ringing the changes, with flank Alix Popham and prop Gethin Jenkins both introduced before the hour.

Jones levelled the scores again at 18-18 with a long-range penalty, but Wales were having to work hard for both possession and territory and could not eke out any further points.

Man of the match:  Wales fly-half Stephen Jones was his usual imperious self and took his try well, pirouetting his way to the line.  Matthew Watkins also showed some nice touches and strong breaks, as did the evergreen Robert Sidoli.  For Italy, Paul Griffen was as cool and collected as ever and Maurizio Zaffiri's defence was first-class.  But our man of the match is Micro Bergamasco who underlined his growing stature with a match-winning performance that encompassed startling defence, quick-witted offence and more heart than you'd find in a card shop on Valentine's Day.

Moment of the match:  Ezio Galon's try will live longest in the mind, if only for his controversial touch-down rather than its polished build-up.  But Micro Bergamasco outstripping Lee Byrne to ground the ball in the blue in-goal area sums up Italy's current fate -- the talent, nous and ability is most definitely there, they just don't seem to be able translate their increasingly impressive efforts into their own points.

Villain of the match:  No real fisticuffs or spear-throwing so we'll focus on Ezio Galon's bizarre try.  First reprimand goes to the myriad cameramen who failed to capture the incriminating moment on film.  The second to the TMO, Eric Darrière.  "Je crois que c'est un essai" doesn't really shout authority.  And finally, Galon -- what an earth was he thinking?

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  M Jones, S Jones
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Galon, Canavosio
Con:  Pez
Pens:  Pez 2

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel (Michael Phillips, 9), 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis (Alix Popham, 52), 5 Robert Sidoli Jonathan Thomas, 78), 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas (Mefin Davies, 76), 1 Duncan Jones (Gethin Jenkins, 58).
Unused replacements:  21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Gavin Henson.

Italy:  15 Ezio Galon, 14 Paolo Canavosio (Cristian Stoica, 47), 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri (Andrea Lo Cicero, 80), 6 Sergio Parisse (Alessandro Zanni, 78), 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè (Carlo Del Fava, 50), 3 Carlos Nieto (Marco Castrogiovanni, 29), 2 Carlo Festuccia (Fabio Ongaro, 71), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Unused replacements:  21 Simon Picone.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)

Ireland rub salt into Welsh wounds

Wales come unstuck at Lansdowne Road

Wales went into Sunday's Six Nations encounter with Ireland determined to exorcise the demons that have gathered around their camp during the past fortnight.  Instead, they picked up a few new spooks as the Ireland took full advantage of a hapless Welsh display to record a comprehensive 31-5 victory at Lansdowne Road.

Welsh rugby was already rocking from the sudden departure of Grand Slam-winning head coach Mike Ruddock amid rumours of player power being a major factor.

And now their grip on the title is effectively over with Ireland, Scotland, France and England tied on four points apiece.

Wales, without injured captain Gareth Thomas, made a dominant start inspired by fly-half Stephen Jones, and they took an eighth-minute lead through winger Mark Jones.

But Stephen Jones limped off injured after 19 minutes and that proved the turning point.

Gavin Henson, returning to Test rugby for the first time in a year, endured a miserable afternoon in his place and and must have wished he was still sunning himself on the beach in South Africa.  With the polemic celebrity author holding the reins, Wales lost all momentum.

Just 11 months after recording a first Grand Slam in 27 years, Welsh rugby has seemingly shot itself in the foot and, despite the best efforts of the union, cannot control the bleeding.

As far as Welsh fans were concerned, the finger of blame points towards player power and Welsh Rugby Union executives.

Either way, the national team has been left without a head coach -- or even a coach with any form of contract -- midway through the defence of their Six Nations title.

Such is the discontent and suspicion in the valleys that WRU chief executive Steve Lewis feels it necessary to go on the road and address the 245 member clubs directly.

To make matters worse, just days after Ruddock's departure the Wales captain Gareth Thomas gave an animated defence of his role in the saga, only to collapse later that night and be rushed to hospital in fear of his life.

Thomas was diagnosed with a damaged artery in his neck and will not feature again in the championship.

Of course, those who believe Ruddock was forced out by player power will argue there is no reason why Wales should have been distracted by the events of the last fortnight -- after all, they got what they wanted according to some observers.

But Johnson could not inspire a victory in his first Test in sole charge and how Wales missed Thomas's leadership and Stephen Jones's influence.

The fly-half took immediate control of the game.  The strong Lansdowne Road cross-wind hampered Wales's initial attempts at playing expansive rugby and they learned quickly.

Wales kept it tight, sniped around the fringes and punctured holes in the Irish defence.  Stephen Jones, who had already made one half-break, charged forward 20 yards.

Matthew Watkins chipped over the top and the ball bounced kindly for winger Mark Jones to dive and score in the corner.  The try was confirmed by the television match official Marius Jonker, though Stephen Jones missed the difficult touchline conversion.

Ronan O'Gara landed a penalty in reply but Ireland, statistically the slowest starters in the championship, remained under the cosh.

Then came the killer blow for Wales.  Stephen Jones, who had been enjoying a hugely productive afternoon, limped off after 19 minutes.

Henson entered the fray to a cacophony of boos and his first real act was to miss a tackle on Trimble as Ireland burst out of their own 22.

The momentum had swung permanently Ireland's way.  Denis Leamy just failed to ground the ball after a quick tap penalty but David Wallace charged over from the back of the resulting scrum and this time the busy Jonker awarded the score.

Henson was not enjoying a pleasant afternoon.  A sliced clearance was greeted by catcalls from the crowd and Ireland launched a silky counter-attack.

Hooker Jerry Flannery was stopped inches from the line by a last-ditch tackle from Shane Byrne -- who was an impressive understudy for Thomas -- but O'Gara landed a second penalty to extend Ireland's half-time advantage.

Wales had to score first after the break but Ireland were immediately on the front foot.

Brian O'Driscoll's break down the right forced Dwayne Peel to clear up, but soon afterwards Horgan found a giant gap in the Welsh defence and ran over untouched for Ireland's second try.

O'Gara converted and then landed a third penalty as Ireland raced clear.

Wales lacked shape and cohesion.  Henson was not in control behind the scrum, and it seemed a matter of time before Ireland scored again.

There was a long delay for Marcus Horan, who was taken off on a stretcher with his neck in a brace after being caught awkwardly as he attempted to secure a loose ball.

But Ireland duly finished with a flourish and scrum-half Peter Stringer dived over from close range with O'Gara's conversion completing a miserable afternoon for Wales.

Man of the Match:  David Wallace was all brave and effective endeavour for Ireland, Peter Stringer was as busy as ever and Brian O'Driscoll so effective, especially on defence.  Shane Horgan scored a splendid try and looked for work.  But one player stood out above disappointment, disorganisation and mediocrity -- Dwayne Peel, the Welsh scrum-half, a player of star quality and undoubted courage.

Moment of the Match:  Gavin Henson's appearance -- all of his appearance -- and his reception, a jeering reception that went on for the whole of his stay on the field.  When Stephen Jones went off injured early in the first half, Henson rose from the bench and removed his tracksuit bottom to reveal natty black shorts of the style dancing girls use at rugby matches.  He pulled on his white shirt and jogged onto the field, tanned in winter, hair sleeked back like Rudolph Valentino of silent films.  His arrival caused an outbreak of booing from the unforgetting Irish who remembered what he had had to say about their hero, Brian O'Driscoll.  The jeering went on and on.  Each time he touched the ball there was a mixture of boos and wolf whistles.  And, sadly, his performance had no star quality about it.  He was not the Sheik of Swansea riding to the rescue of his dragons in distress.

Villain of the Match:  Ireland loose forward Denis Leamy for his gratuitous stamp on the back of prone Michael Owen who was in no position to defend himself or retaliate.  It earned Leamy a yellow card, which suggests that there are people more intent on stamping out stamping than defending it in the O'Driscoll way.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Leamy, Horgan, Stringer
Cons:  O'Gara 2
Pens:  O'Gara 4

For Wales:
Try:  M Jones

Yellow card(s):  Leamy (Ireland) -- stamping, 76

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (Captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace (Johnny O'Connor, 74), 6 Simon Easterby (Mick O'Driscoll, 76), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery (Rory Best, 77), 1 Marcus Horan (Simon Best, 71).
Unused replacements:  Eoin Reddan, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Girvan Dempsey.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne (Barry Davies, 78), 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Dafydd James, 10 Stephen Jones Gavin Henson, 21), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis (Gareth Delve, 55), 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas (Mefin Davies, 60), 1 Duncan Jones (Gethin Jenkins, 44).
Unused replacements:  18 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Michael Phillips.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Scotland stun England at Murrayfield

No grand slams in 2006

Just as they did against France, Scotland defied all the odds and confounded all their critics with a famous 18-12 victory over England at Murrayfield on Saturday.  The stunning result -- Scotland's first win over the auld enemy since 2000 -- leaves England's Grand Slam dream in tatters and leaves the way open for a Scottish Six Nations title.

Scotland wing Chris Paterson kicked five penalties and fly-half Dan Parks dropped a goal to give Scotland their first Calcutta Cup win since that famous 19-13 success at the turn of the century.

Just as on that day, the wind and rain lashed Murrayfield as the Scots went about deconstructing England's well-laid plans, nullifying their opponent's attacking options and quashing foreign sorties with ruthless efficiency and valour.

Scotland have now beaten England and France in Edinburgh this season in a remarkable turnaround under the new coach Frank Hadden.

All that now stands between the Scots and the title is a bit of luck and two little trips -- one to Dublin and one to Rome.

Scotland proved what many expected to be true.  England can smash and bash and control and drive and squeeze all they like, but once forced into chasing a game, the attack is found seriously wanting.  That there were no tries is more to England's discredit than to Scotland's.

Josh Lewsey provided plenty of sparks, as did Mark Cueto and Ben Cohen.  But there was nothing, absolutely nothing, from the centres.

Charlie Hodgson had an average game -- he wasn't best served by either Harry Ellis or Matt Dawson -- but when he looked at what people did with some of his passes he must have wondered why he bothered anyway.

Too often Cohen and Cueto ploughed into a crowded midfield off their wings, and when the ball should have been going out to them, they were either on the floor or hanging around in the centres.  Lewsey's best two moments out wide were supported by Hodgson and Danny Grewcock.  A winger was needed both times.

But nothing should detract from Scotland’s performance, they forced the errors and it is their hour.

The Scots produced a heroic performance in defence to wrest away the forward control that England enjoyed so much in the first half and they took every opportunity going.

English ball was turned over some eight times in Scotland's 22 -- another symptom of the malaise afflicting England's attack -- but also testament to the numbers that Scotland brought to every breakdown.  It was like watching wolves bringing down white-shirted bison, and opportunities to pick off the ball were seized on with vulpine efficiency.

In the second half, Scotland took advantage of England's apparent numbness after the break, and for the third quarter, enjoyed a 72 percent territorial advantage.  That was the period in which the game was won -- Scotland went from 6-3 down to 12-6 ahead.

Mike Blair and Dan Parks orchestrated all the loose possession with admirable calm.  And even when pressured in their own 22, the whole back-line passed and kicked and cleared with the coolness, stubbornness and detachment of unionised civil servants ordering paperwork.  Under the heaviest pressure, the whole team was unflappable all game and won because of that just as much as anything else.

The first two penalties of the match yielded scores, one for each side.  Chris Paterson put Scotland in the lead after two minutes with Andy Sheridan penalised for not rolling away, Hodgson equalised after seven minutes when a Scottish player was penalised for going in on the side.  That was the end of scoring for the first half, and England will rue that fact.  There were several other opportunities for England to move the ball wide which were simply ignored.

Hodgson worked a scintillating exchange with Lewsey after a loose kick from Hugo Southwell and the Sale playmaker chipped ahead over Paterson before colliding with the Southwell.  Referee Allan Lewis -- who was excellent -- decided it was not a penalty, which was a borderline call, but the replays did not suggest a definite penalty either.

All too frequently, England conceded penalties in the opposition's 22, which also undermined their forward dominance -- they stole half of Scotland's line-out ball in the first half.  For one, Julian White was admonished for use of a boot.  For another, Danny Grewcock was sent to the bin for a senseless challenge on Alastair Kellock.  It just wasn't tight or disciplined enough.

Hodgson missed another shot at goal after half an hour, but for fully five minutes after that -- and after Lewis Moody had just been brought down short of the line -- England had a series of scrums on Scotland's 5-metre line, most of which either collapsed or resulted in English penalties.

England coach Andy Robinson may question why there was no penalty try, but Cohen should have scored anyway from an Ellis pass at the final scrum.  He looked for a tackler when he should have been looking at the ball and duly coughed up possession, and that was half-time.

The second half began as the first had done, with a kick apiece.  England went first, Hodgson making it 3-6 after an offside, and Paterson equalising from a penalty for the same offence.

Blair and Parks used the boot to much better effect than Hodgson, and up to the hour mark the Scots gained territorial advantage because of it.  Not only that, but the tacklers came out briefed to stop Cohen and Cueto in the centres at all costs.

They did so perfectly, and from England there was not a semblance of a Plan B.  Paterson slotted a penalty on 49 minutes to make it 9-6, and Parks made it 12-6 with a drop goal on 58 minutes.

An England break down the right -- Cueto the instigator -- set up the passage of play which led to Hodgson's third penalty on 63 minutes, making it 12-9, and Lawrence Dallaglio and Simon Shaw were rolled on to increase the physicality of England's chargers.

The tension was tangible, but again, the only ones unable to cope appeared to be the English.

The replacements made not one iota of difference to the Scotland defenders, but Shaw's concession of a penalty with eight minutes remaining allowed Paterson to make it 15-9.  Scottish fans visualised one hand on the Cup.

Lamont's eagerness to make a tackle took him beyond the offside line with four minutes remaining, and Mike Tindall -- made captain after Martin Corry was called off -- decided to allow Hodgson to go for posts.  Hodgson scored, 15-12, but from the restart, the English pack let the ball bounce tamely into touch.

Urgency finally gripped England, but when they ran from their own 22, Noon was isolated and held onto the ball.  Paterson used up about half the remaining time to make it 18-12, and then Hodgson put the restart straight into touch.  Yet still England were within a score.

Scotland conceded two penalties in the final minute, an ideal opportunity for Dawson to kick for the corner, but again the calmness was found lacking -- in Dawson of all people.

He elected to tap, run into a crowd of navy blue shirts, and get practically eaten alive.  The ball squirted out to Joe Worsley, who was penalised for holding on.  Paterson hoisted the penalty to touch thinking it was the end, but Lewis said the line-out would still be played.  Scottish cheers gagged half-way out of throats.

England stole Scotland's line-out and the drama continued.  The ball went wide to Lewsey.  Breaths held all over the ground.  But Lewsey, then Noon, could find now way through.

The ball squirted out again, and Paterson picked it up.  All he had to do was kick it out, but he was swamped by white shirts before he could do so.  The ruck lasted an eternity as Scots fans screamed and eyes widened.  Then, finally, the ball popped out to Chris Cusiter, who thumped it into touch and started the party.

The Calcutta Cup is back up north, and as a by-the-way, both of Edinburgh's soccer teams made it to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup on Saturday as well.  It will be quite a night in Edinburgh.

Man of the match:  Scotland's skipper got the official vote, but we will compromise and award it jointly to Jason White and Allister Hogg, whose tackles and ceaseless support play were at the core of Scotland's victory.

Moment of the match:  It must be Dan Parks's drop goal.  As perfect a strike as you will see this season, and at 12-6, the victory suddenly became a likelihood.

Villain of the match:  England lock Danny Grewcock -- and this ain't his first appearance in this section.  Not only was it a pointless and cowardly shoulder-charge on a player who had his back to Grewcock, it was also after the referee's whistle.  When will he learn?

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 5
Drop:  Parks

For England:
Pens:  Hodgson 4

Yellow card(s):  Grewcock (England) -- playing the man without the ball, 22

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus Di Rollo (Simon Webster, 80), 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 65), 9 Mike Blair (Chris Cusiter, 65), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Scott MacLeod (Nathan Hines, 52), 3 Bruce Douglas (Craig Smith, 61), 2 Dougie Hall (Ross Ford, 59), 1 Gavin Kerr.
Unused Replacements:  19 Jon Petrie.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 50-63, 74), 8 Martin Corry (Lawrence Dallaglio, 65), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock (Simon Shaw, 69), 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Julian White, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan (Perry Freshwater, 40-41, 74).
Unused replacements:  16 George Chuter, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Tom Voyce.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)

Capricious France overhaul Azzurri

Parisians still not entirely satisfied

France set up an enticing Six Nations encounter with England by dispatch Italy to the tune of 37-12 at Stade de France on Saturday -- but the scoreline flatters the error-strewn Bleus and does not convey the contribution of the ever-improving Azzurri, who, to the dismay of the home crowd, took a 12-8 lead into the break.

Commentators had suggested that France's task in this all-latin meeting was two-fold -- to bag a straight victory over the rapidly evolving Italians and to win over their own fans.

If that was the case, France come away only semi-contented -- and with the vocal disapproval of the assembled crowd ringing in their ears.

But credit must go to the home side for absorbing the immense Italian pressure before hitting back, rope-a-dope style, in the final quarter of the match.

Yet this game could have had a very different outcome had it not been for just two moments of individual brilliance, namely a sublime crossfield kick from Jean-Baptiste Elissalde that lead to France's first try and a mesmerising dance-cum-break from Thomas Castaignède that set up their second.

In a perverse reverse of France's meeting with Ireland a fortnight ago, when France let a 41-3 lead slip to 43-31 in the second period, the home side saved their best for the second half and sent their fans home with the corners of their mouths twitching into near smiles.

But the fact that they scored all five tries of the match -- through Thomas Lièvremont in the first half and Yannick Nyanga, Pieter De Villiers, Aurelien Rougerie and Frédéric Michalak after the break -- illustrated that the win was deserved for Bernard Laporte's men.

Italy had put on a massive defensive performance in the first half and forced the errors out of the fickle Frenchmen while the trusty boot of stand-off Ramiro Pez gave them the edge in terms of points.

It was Elissalde who put the first points on the board with a penalty, but then three penalties from Pez turned the score 9-3 in favour of the youngest members of the Six Nations family.

A rare moment of invention from Elissalde then created the only try of the first half for recalled No.8 Thomas Lièvremont who had a simple task of touching down in the corner after an angled kick from the scrum-half had left the Italian defence exposed.

Pez still had time to show his kicking skills with a drop-goal that ensured the Italians led 12-8 at the interval to the clear consternation of the Stade de France crowd.

Shortly after the resumption it was 12-11 as Dimitri Yachvili, who had replaced Elissalde just before the interval, reduced arrears.  But the Biarritz man hit an upright with his next effort as the Italians defended their wafer-thin lead as France made a strong opening to the second half.

Pez then missed for the first time and the Italian lead remained at a single point with the game littered with handling errors from both sides.

However, when France did regain the lead it came with another touch of brilliance that had been largely absent from the match.

Italy fullback Cristian Stoica pumped a clearance towards Christophe Dominici who fed Castaignède and the Saracens star's mazy run created the opening that allowed him to offload to Nyanga who touched down in the corner for a try which -- like Lievremont's -- was not converted.

Yachvili missed another kick and then was made to look foolish as he fumbled the ball with the touchline beckoning although referee Tony Spreadbury had already halted play.

It was De Villiers's try after some extended forward pressure from France that effectively settled the match with Yachvili this time adding the extras.

Rougerie's late try, borne of expansive inter-passing, showed what Les Bleus can do when sitting on a comfortable cushions of points and raised a cheer from the team's hard-to-please onlookers.

Yachvili converted before Michalak redeem a hatful of early errors by picking his way through the defeated Italians to score under the posts.

As the Basque bands stuck up some tunes, Laporte's running debate with the fans mellowed into something resemble a lovers' tiff rather than the prelude to a divorce.

But questions still remain about this France team and the quizmasters will be wearing white.

As for Italy, another gutsy performance, another gutsy defeat.  But it will surely come good for them soon -- they are too good to end this campaign with nought but the Wooden Spoon.

Man of the match:  Who to pick?  Not for the first time in this tournament, plenty of hot and cold was blown by both sides -- could it be to do with the change of season?  Italy centre Mirco Bergamasco impressed yet again, fly-half Ramiro Pez overshadowed his illustrious opposite number, and Paul Griffen -- all blood and dreadlocks -- was his usual industrious self.  Raphaël Ibañez provided the grit to France's performance whilst Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and his replacement, Dimitri Yachvili, both supplied the go-forward.  Christophe Dominici had his best game in a France shirt for some time, but our man-of-the-match is Thomas Castaignède who injected moments of animated impetus each time France appeared to drift off to sleep.

Moment of the match:  Elissalde's crossfield kick to Thomas Lièvremont was straight out of the top drawer -- inch perfect and given a low trajectory in order to remove the cover defence from the equation.  But for that oh-la-la moment, look no further than Castaignède's break that lead to Nyanga's try.

Villain of the match:  Had it not been for the late tries, the French crowd would have built a fire on the centre spot and tied three players to three stakes.  Aurelien Rougerie and Damien Traille for missing simple kicks to the corner, and Frédéric Michalak who, at moments during the third quarter, looked incapable of catching his own breath let alone the ball.  But all three redeemed themselves, so we'll hand this award -- in good grace -- to Nigel Owens, the TMO who took an eternity not to award a try.  Several travelling fans managed a boat ride on the Seine in the interlude.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Lievremont, Nyanga, De Villiers, Rougerie, Michalak
Cons:  Yachvili 3
Pens:  Elissalde, Yachvili

For Italy:
Pen:  Pez 3
Drop:  Pez

Yellow card(s):  Del Fava (Italy) -- killing the ball, 62

The teams:

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille (David Marty, 54), 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Dimitri Yachvili, 39), 8 Thomas Lièvremont, 7 Olivier Magne (Julien Bonnaire, 78), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jerôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Lionel Nallet, 79), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez, 1 Olivier Milloud (Sylvain Marconnet, 52).
Unused replacements:  16 Sebastien Bruno, 22 Cédric Heymans.

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Luciano Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen (Simon Picone, 9-11, 63), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole (Alessandro Zanni, 80), 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto (Martin Castrogiovanni, 73), 2 Fabio Ongaro (Carlo Festuccia, 75), 1 Salvatore Perugini (Andrea Lo Cicero, 75).
Unused replacements:  19 Valerio Bernabò, 22 Ezio Galon.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Nigel Owens

Wales too much for 14-man Scotland

Murray sent off in Cardiff

Wales kick-started their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 28-18 victory Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.

But the game will be remember for the dismissal of Scotland lock Scott Murray who kicked out after being late-tackled by Ian Gough.

Murray, the first Scottish player to be red-carded in a Test match since 2002, departed after just 22 minutes, with New Zealand referee Steve Walsh also sin-binning Gough for a late tackle on Murray.

The Scots, cock-a-hoop after beating tournament favourites France last weekend, battled bravely following the loss of their lock but could not stay in touch.

It was a satisfactory Welsh response to their 47-13 drubbing against England at Twickenham last Saturday.

Wales attempted to produce their renowned wide game, and with scrum-half Dwayne Peel the architect of those confident attacking efforts, Scotland were ultimately run to a standstill.

Scotland's defeat means England -- who visit Murrayfield when the tournament resumes on February 25 -- are Six Nations leaders by two points, and now the only team who could clinch a Grand Slam this season.

Wales, meanwhile, will travel in confident mood to Dublin, where Ireland await in a fortnight.

What a first half!  What drama!  You could watch many, many halves of Test rugby without seeing one of those incidents, but here we had a penalty try and a sending off in the first half.  A red card, no less, with a yellow card limping behind it.

The sending off will be the big talking point as Scott Murray becomes just the second Scot in 135 years to be sent off playing for Scotland.  Nathan Hines, also a lock got in before him.

The penalty try came after just five minutes of play, the sending off after 21 minutes.

The outcome was pretty well decided then but it went on with lots of passing, lots of lateral running, some enjoyable tries and lots and lots of substitutions.  Eventually it was a game that lost its way and ended with two tries to Scotland in the last minute or so to make the score flattering.

The Wales penalty try came early.  It started with a great break by Matthew Watkins at centre.  He threw a brilliant pass to his right but Mark Jones was tackled into touch, giving Scotland a line-out five metres from their line.  They over threw it and Michael Owen accepted their gift and Wales battered.  The ball became unplayable and back they went for a five-metre scrum.

The scrum was reset three times and then Gavin Kerr was penalised for not binding in the scrum

Wales, who had the shove on in the scrum, opted for another scrum.  Again they shoved ahead and again Scotland were penalised as the scrum collapsed.  This time Bruce Douglas was the player singled out.

Wales opted for another scrum and this time they shoved at speed, and Jason White and Simon Taylor detached to get to the ball, and the referee decided that at that scrum a try was probable and awarded a penalty try.

The sending off was a moment of utter silliness by two experienced players.  The ball was going away from a line-out.  Scott Murray passed it to his left.  Long after he had passed it Ian Gough of Wales tackled him from behind.  It was late.  Murray ended on his back.  His feet were free of Gough, his legs bent upwards, and from that position jerked backwards with his boots into Gough's face.  The referee saw it.

He gathered the players with their captains and said, pointing to each player as he mentioned him as "you":  "Under the laws of the game, this man [Gough] tackled this player [Murray] late.  Unfortunately for you [Murray], you [Murray] retaliated and struck out and kicked him [Gough] in the head.  I have no option.  You [Murray] are red-cared and you [Gough] are in the sin bin.  Penalty against you [Murray]"

A medic is at that stage attending to Gough's face.  Murray, remarkably calm, leans in, touches Gough and says that he had not intended to kick him.

It was a sad moment but the Scots got on with the game and nothing untoward happened again in the match.

Doubtless the plethora of substitutions made by Scotland was to keep the energy of the seven forwards up and, to their credit, they were not again pushed about as they were in those opening scrums on their line.  Indeed, when they had a five-metre scrum against them in the second half they were able to wheel the scrum and win a put-in for themselves.

After the penalty try, the Scots worked their way back into he game.  Bruce Douglas had an astonishing burst for a prop down the left, smashing into a determined tackle by Gareth Thomas.  When Wales were off-side Paterson goaled a penalty to make the score 7-3 after 18 minutes.

Haldane Luscombe was off bleeding and Lee Byrne came on.  He went to fullback with Gareth Thomas moving into the centre.  he was in the centre as Wales attacked right, then left and were going right again in the face of the spread Scottish defence.  The Welsh captain chipped on an incline to his right, burst ahead and caught the kick and raced over under the posts.  Stephen Jones converted again.  In fact he converted each of Wales's four tries.

Just before half-time Paterson goaled a second penalty to make the score 14-6 at the break.

The second half was entertaining but somehow it had an air of unreality.  The sending off stayed close to the thoughts and yet Wales, a man up, did not really assert their authority as though some form of guilt or sportsmanship inhibited them.  They did not seek domination.  Maybe Scottish resolved kept them from domination.  The result was many passes, lots of the passing lateral.

Andy Henderson broke for Scotland and they threatened the Welsh line but Robert Sidoli brought off a great tackle on Ali Hogg and the move fizzled out with a pass that went into touch.

Wales's third try started when Scotland were on the attack.  Dan Parks chipped but running back Matthew Watkins caught the ball and claimed the mark in front of his posts.  He tapped, ran and passed to his right, and suddenly Mark Jones was scorching down the right wing.  He kicked long and low ahead where Paterson fielded the ball, but Luscombe swung him into touch for a line-out to Wales seven metres from the Scottish goal-line.

Scotland may well have been expecting a catch and maul but instead Owen played the ball straight down to Peel and the scrumhalf set his men going on the left.  Gareth Thomas drove strongly at the posts.  The ball came back to Peel who darted and then played inside to Sidoli who plunged over for the try.  21-6 with 26 minutes to play.

Peel had a big hand in the last Welsh try.  Paterson tried to ruin a kick back but, tackled, lost the ball forward.  Owen was there to pop the ball to Stephen Jones who gave to Peel.  The brilliant scrumhalf beat two defenders before giving Gareth Thomas a clear run to the line.  Over he went in the left-hand corner.

The benches which had been emptying now emptied as the match's formalities were played out.

Not quite, for the Scots are brave.  When Martyn Williams was penalised for a trip in front of the Welsh posts, Chris Cusiter tapped and darted close to the line.  The ball came back to Sean Lamont who took three defenders out in a muscular drove and then Gordon Ross flung the ball out to Hugo Southwell on his right and the fullback scored far out.  Paterson's conversion hit the woodwork and stayed out.

From the kick-off Wales went on a busy attack down the right and then came back left with a long pass, followed by a longer pass which Paterson accepted and ran three-quarters of the length of the filed for a try at the posts.  He converted his try, and the final whistle went.

It was a memorable match for the great resurgence of Wales after the battering of Twickenham, but is more likely to be remembered and enter history as the match in which a great forward was sent off the field.

Man of the Match:  Many Scots were energetic and brave, including Mike Blair, Ali Hogg and Bruce Douglas.  Perhaps their best player was Sean Lamont who has a great work rate and great confidence.  But Wales had outstanding players of their own -- Duncan Jones, Robert Sidoli, Gareth Tomas and Matthew Watkins and our Man of the Match Dwayne Peel with so much energy and effective skill.

Moment of the Match:  A black moment -- the sending off of Scott Murray.

Villain of the Match:  Scott Murray obviously and bracketed with him Ian Gough who provoked the untoward retaliation.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Penalty Try, G Thomas 2, Sidoli
Cons:  S Jones 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  Southwell, Paterson
Con:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson 2

Yellow card(s):  Gough (Wales) -- late tackle, 21
Red card(s):  Murray (Scotland) -- retaliation, 21

The teams:

Wales:  15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Gareth Delve, 19 Adam M Jones, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Lee Byrne.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Ben McDougall, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Jon Petrie, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Gordon Ross, 22 Simon Webster.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Eric Darrière (France)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

England made to sweat by Italy

Rome scoreline flatters the visitors

England recorded their first away win for two years in the shape of a 31-16 victory over Italy at Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday -- but their heroic hosts gave the RWC-holders a major scare.

England's three previous Six Nations trips to Rome had seen them average 51 points a time, but Italy are made of sterner stuff these days and they briefly enjoyed a 9-7 advantage through two drop-goals and a penalty from fly-half Ramiro Pez.

The scoreline tells a far more flattering story than the witnesses.  England struggled to the win -- they were behind with 28 minutes remaining -- and only won by virtue of those old chestnuts, fitness and power.

Italy managed something nobody considered they might do:  they improved on last week's performance.  They will have to be careful, soon we will be expecting them to play like this.

The blue-shirted defenders -- led by a fabulous performance from Sergio Parisse -- swarmed all over the English runners and never gave them the vaguest bubble of breathing space.  The scrum -- some 6 kg per man lighter, held up all game, and the statistic that stands out the most for the Italian pack is the number of times England tried to catch-and-drive a try, and the number of times they succeeded:  9 attempts, 0 successes.  Outside the forwards they had done their homework as well -- Tom Voyce was marshalled by three tacklers every single time he had the ball.

When they had the ball, they moved it gamely left and right with a belief that no Azzurri Six Nations team has ever shown before.  The forwards were happy to charge forward to make the hard yards and create the space.

It wasn't just enthusiastic bluster either.  Ramiro Pez was found wanting in defence by Charlie Hodgson late in the game, but his control and decision-making with the ball was spot on for just as much time as Hodgson's was.  The centres crashed well into their opponents, and the supporting forwards made it near-impossible for England to disrupt the ball.

Less streetwise teams than England would have conceded more tries, but Italy still lack a game-breaker out wide.

England?  They were clinical, composed, and painful at times.  By the hour mark they had finally run down their counterparts, and then a three-quarter movement yielded a sumptuous try.  Yet even for the final minutes they refused to spread the ball any further than the centres or the forward runners coming off Hodgson's shoulder.

You can argue that it was in respect of the danger Italy posed, but England had already boh sliced their opposition open and worn them down.  Hodgson eventually started running on his own, such was his frustration.

It is not as if the close runner tactic was mightily effective, and a team more seasoned than the Italians would have negated it for the full eighty minutes.  England will need something more imaginative to beat Scotland in a fortnight's time.

The close runners -- Grewcock, Borthwick, and Moody were the chosen trio -- were the feature of the opening twenty minutes, with England enjoying most of the possession.  Italy tackled out every opportunity England could create, and should have taken the lead with a penalty after ten minutes, but Pez hit the upright.

Italy could also have taken the lead shortly before, when a fine set of passes through the three-quarters sent Ludovico Nitoglia on his way to the line.  Nitoglia backed himself -- a reasonable decision -- but he needed to make the ball available and ofload when he was tackled.  He did not, and Ongaro was left to flap his arms in frustration.

Between 15 and 25 minutes, England enjoyed near-total dominance.  They had a sequence of three penalties close to the Italian line, and with the scrum not making yards, opted to catch and maul every time.  Italy's forwards dug their studs into the turf and held off drives for fully five minutes in a magnificent display of defence, and eventually forced England into conceding a penalty themselves, after England's final drive had been ruled held up in-goal by the video referee.

Finally, England broke through though, with Tindall crashing through the 10/12 gap for the opening score after 27 minutes.  Hodgson converted.

Where Italy may concede they made a tactical error was in the choice not to contest England's defensive line-outs.  Pez, Canale, and Cristian Stoica all placed raking kicks down into England's 22, but the English were allowed to clear virtually unopposed.

Eventually Pez slotted a penalty after 33 minutes, and the percentage kicks paid off even more when a tapped penalty in England's half took Pez to within range, and he dropped a goal two minutes before the break.

The cheers that greeted that were nothing to the cheers that broke out as Italy took the lead two minutes into the second half.  A dreadful mistake by Danny Grewcock at the kick-off gave Italy an attacking scrum, the ball was moved wide twice, crashed up the middle once, and Pez dropped another goal to make it 9-7.  At that moment more than any though, the lack of a line-breaker in Italy's attack was glaring.  They really should have been thinking of a try.

England then rumbled into another spell of forward crashing by the Italian line, but still the blue wall held firm, and all Andy Robinson's men could show for ten minutes of pressure was another Hodgson penalty.

Matt Dawson came onto the pitch after 55 minutes, and his first touch was a scoring pass.  Joe Worsley led a charge into Italy's 22, Dawson found Hodgson on the short side, and Hodgson scored under the posts with a searing break.  His conversion made it 17-9.

Then the England bench entered the fray, and took control against the tiring Azzuri.  Stoica was left isolated from a deep Hodgson clearance and conceded a penalty which Hodgson smacked against the upright.  From the drop out, Hodgson again found Pez exposed on his outside and broke superbly, but there was no supporter and the move broke down.

With 13 minutes remaining, England scored a fabulous try, which begged to be encored against the cramping Italians.  Tindall found Cohen on his inside, the Northampton winger stormed through the line and timed his pass to Mark Cueto perfectly.  Hodgson's conversion was spot on, making it 24-9.

Still England crashed dully, and still the Italians were happy to stand their ground and soak up the pressure -- in the second half alone they made three times as many tackles as the English.  Had England moved the ball, they could have given the scoreline a cruel look, but there was simply nothing offered.  Italy waited and tackled and waited, and then seized on their chance.

Canale finally broke away, paused for his support brilliantly, Mirco Bergamasco came on a tight angle and broke the two tackles for the try that was the most just of rewards.

16-24 would have been a fair scoreline, but Italy paid for adventure in the final play of the game when James Simpson-Daniel picked up a dropped ball to coast home unopposed.  Hodgson made it 31-16 with the final kick of the game.

Man of the match:  For England, Charlie Hodgson stood out for his adventure, and Joe Worsley and both locks were superb driving forward.  For Italy, Ramiro Pez delivered a mature performance and the props stood up admirably against their illustrious counterparts, but for an all-round powerful, driving, tackling, and courageous performance Sergio Parisse gets our vote for man of the match.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Mirco Bergamasco
Con:  Pez
Pen:  Pez
Drops:  Pez 2

For England:
Tries:  Hodgson, Tindall, Simpson-Daniel, Cueto
Con:  Hodgson 4
Pen:  Hodgson

The teams:

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Antonio Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Silvio Orlando, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Rima Wakarua.

England:  15 Tom Voyce, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Matt Dawson, 21 Andy Goode, 22 James Simpsn-Daniel.

Referee:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland fail to catch fickle French

Irish stumble out of the slips

France exorcised their Scottish demons by recorded a bizarre 43-31 victory over Ireland in Paris on Saturday, racking up six tries before their guests mounted a brave but late response.

The French seemed on course for a resounding victory as they opened up a 43-3 lead over the error-prone Irish.

Ireland rallied to touch down through Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, Donncha O'Callaghan and Andrew Trimble in the second half but France had done enough.

Cédric Heymans and David Marty scored two tries apiece for France after Aurelien Rougerie had justified his recall by starting what, for an hour, looked like being a rout in the third minute.

The afternoon started badly for Ireland as Rougerie found space to touch down out wide and Olivier Magne, also restored to the side, added a second after eight minutes.

Marty charged down a kick to claim his first and a poor Geordan Murphy pass allowed Heymans to intercept and add another before the interval.

Heymans claimed his second five minutes after the restart and Marty made it 43-3 three minutes later.

Ireland scored what seemed a consolation as O'Gara found his way in by the posts on 56 minutes but D'Arcy followed him over four minutes later.

O'Callaghan then forced his way over from close range and Trimble set up a remarkable finish with another moments later.

Despite further pressure, it was all too late for Ireland, however, and France held on.

France made a blistering start with Ireland pushed back at two consecutive scrums but there was worse to come with their line breached in just the third minute.

The second buckling scrum saw the ball released to the backs where Tommy Bowe's missed tackle on Heymans created an overlap which Rougerie finished in the right corner.

Brian O'Driscoll made a couple of darting runs as Ireland searched for an immediate reply and scrum-half Peter Stringer almost wriggled over before being shoved back.

But their good work was undone when France ran in their second try thanks to the vision of Heymans whose quickly taken 22 drop-out found acres of the space on the left.

Denis Leamy and Geordan Murphy covered across but the ball bounced cruelly and fell to the onrushing Frédéric Michalak who supplied the scoring pass to Magne.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde added the two points and the problems continued for Ireland when one promising move ended with openside David Wallace running out of space with no support.

By the 18th minute Ireland looked dead and buried as France had extended their lead to 19 points after David Marty charged down Ronan O'Gara's clearance, gathered and touched down.  Elissalde converted.

Ireland looked to bring in Shane Horgan off the wing as often as possible and the tactic worked with the Leinster winger frequently crossing the gain-line.

But they were often losing the ball at the breakdown with France's back row gaining ascendancy in the loose.

O'Driscoll lost the ball in the tackle as Ireland probed down the left touchline, allowing France to clear their lines, while Geordan Murphy and Gordon D'Arcy sent two passes into touch, squandering valuable possession.

O'Gara booted Ireland off the mark with a penalty but Elissalde replied in kind, and it was not long before France had extended their lead with a fourth try.

O'Sullivan will be furious with the manner in which it was scored as Murphy floated a loose pass to no-one in particular and the impressive Heymans easily intercepted and romped home.

Elissalde booted the extras to give France a 29-3 interval lead which Ireland had no hope of overcoming given their desperate lack of direction in attack.

France began the second period as they had the first, and Marty worked Heymans into the corner for a simple run-in in the 44th minute and Elissalde rubbed salt into the Ireland's wounds by kicking the conversion.

Just when Ireland thought it could not get any worse it did three minutes later when O'Gara kicked the ball straight at Marty who caught and dashed over the whitewash from 20 yards out.

Murphy provided some inspiration as the Irish went close to crossing, breaking from deep before the ball found Wallace via D'Arcy only for the Munster openside to be tackled five metres short.

The visitors maintained the pressure by launching waves of attacks and eventually the French defence collapsed with O'Gara scampering home and the converting his own try.

Ireland hit back again in the 70th minute with D'Arcy finishing a break from Stringer but a raft of substitutions had left France looking disjointed.

Donncha O'Callaghan barged over and O'Gara converted to slash the deficit to 43-24 and there were a few worried faces when O'Driscoll set up Ireland's fourth try for Andrew Trimble.

But they could not add to the score in the last 10 minutes as relieved France held out for the victory.

Man of the match:  Ireland were awful in the first half and sublime in the second.  France were sublime in the first half and awful in the second.  Given the bizarre circumstances, it's hard to know where this award should be thrust.  Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Paul O'Connell all put in brave showings but their lack of cohesion in the early stages rules them out of contention.  David Marty and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde sparkled for France, but it was the old warhorse from London Irish who caught the eye -- Olivier Magne.  And they say he's passed it ...

Moment of the match:  France's opening blitz will live long in the memory -- and so will Fabien Pelous's face of incredulity as the final whistle ushered in a chorus of jeers from the French crowd.  There's no tougher crowd then Paris!

Villain of the match:  Could it be the receptionist at Ireland's hotel?  The visitors clearly didn't receive their wake-up call.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Heymans 2, Magne, Marty 2, Rougerie
Cons:  Elissalde 5
Pen:  Elissalde

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble, O'Gara, D'Arcy, O'Callaghan
Cons:  O'Gara 4
Pen:  O'Gara

The teams:

France:  15 Christophe Dominici, 14 Aurélien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 David Marty, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez, 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastien Bruno, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Rémy Martin, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Benjamin Boyet, 22 Ludovic Valbon.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Reggie Corrigan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Rmon Best, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)