France claim Six Nations crown

France have claimed the Six Nations crown, exceeding the 23-point winning margin target Ireland had set them by four points with a 46-19 win over Scotland at the Stade de France.

That doesn't tell the story.  Not even a little bit.  In a finale that could not have been scripted by Hollywood's finest, it was left to Irish TMO Simon McDowell to award the try that cost his country the title, taking over a minute to decide that Elvis Vermeulen had indeed grounded the ball in the in-goal area in the final play of the game.

Only 20-14 ahead at the break, the French backs unleashed a mesmerising display of running rugby when they re-emerged, running in two scintillating tries to add to what ought to have been the all-important fifth from prop Pieter de Villiers.

But Scotland produced a ferocious assault on the French line in the final ten minutes, culminating in a try for prop Euan Murray and the French team found its resolve tested to the limit in a pulsating finale, needing to score a try within the final four minutes.

From a line-out, the French forwards, with the indomitable Imañol Harinordoquy at its heart, drove and drove and drove again, patiently looking for the inches of space they needed as the clock ticked down, until the fresh-legged Vermeulen delivered the coup de Grâce by plonking the ball down.

But the drama never stopped unfolding.  It was a terrific game of rugby in its own right, never mind that it had so much at stake.  France were tipped to win at a canter, smarting from defeat to England and anxious to prove a point in their World Cup year in front of their fans.

That point they proved today, and in the best way possible.  Not only did they claim the title, they also recovered from the shock of having it in their grasp and losing it again.  The collective calm with which they recovered their lost booty in the final four minutes will serve them well in October, when, most believe, France may host the All Blacks here in the Rugby World Cup final.

Yet Scotland are always awkward customers, and they reminded the French that they too had a role to play on the day.  Scotland's pack drove and drove the French back into their own 22 in the first couple of minutes, and then forced three penalties out of their creaking counterparts.

The third was kicked to the corner, and after a succession of mauls near the French line.  Dan Parks hoisted a kick high over to the left corner, where Nikki Walker used his height advantage over Vincent Clerc to great effect for the opening try.

Paterson, who had missed a sitter of a penalty in the second minute, made far lighter work of a much harder conversion and Scotland led 0-7, and were threatening to ruin the French party.

However, that was seven minutes in which, for a variety of reasons, the French had not one iota of ball.  Once they got the ball, it was when rather than if, and more importantly, how much?

France's control of the ball once they had their hands on it, was for the large part magnificent.  Imañol Harinordoquy and Serge Betsen both commanded every breakdown, while Jérôme Thion strode around the pitch, dominating the landscape as though he were the Eiffel Tower itself.  Then, at one glorious moment for the French, the pack heaved and shoved and drove the Scots off their own scrum ball.  It defined the discipline and effort the French put in to their task.

Outside, the backs bade their time in patience terrifically.  Yannick Jauzion and David Marty both crashed and fed off each other in turn and in harmony, while Cédric Heymans added an extra soupçon of penetration from the wing.

France just had so much ball from minute seven on.  Overall, Scotland had about 20 minutes of ball possession, France had about 30.  Take off that first seven minutes, and 30-13 signifies just how dominant and controlled the French were.

Lionel Beauxis got the first French points; after missing a longer penalty in the tenth minute, he clipped over a much easier one after 18 to make it 3-7.

Another period of French domination was ruined by Beauxis, who tried to pass out of a pirouette, but ended up flinging the ball some 10 yards forward, and when Paterson hacked through, Clément Poitrenaud was on hand ot cover and save the day.

France promptly drove back down the other end, and opened the scoring properly.  Heymans danced around the more cumbersome Nathan Hines, and Poitrenaud was just closed down in time.  However, the Scots infringed at the breakdown, and a quick tap saw Harinordoquy over in the right corner.  Beauxis converted majestically.

Moments later, and France had stretched the lead with a magnificent try.  Pierre Mignoni, whose added zip was just the pick-me-up last week's sluggish French backs needed darted through a gap and around a flat-footed Chris Cusiter, chipped Chris Paterson, re-gathered, and off-loaded to Heymans, who was in under the posts in a jiffy.  Beauxis had an easier job this time, 17-7.

Moments later again, Beauxis made it 20-7 with a penalty, after Raphaël Ibañez picked off a Scots line-out, and forced a penalty from the retreating defence.

At 20-7 ahead, the French had surpassed more than half their required target winnnig margin of 24 points and would have been well pleased at half-time, but a brilliant individual Sean Lamont try put paid to that right on the whistle, with the bleach-blonde winger first making 50m with a break, and then the remaining 20m tapping a quick penalty when Heymans wouldn't get off him at the tackle.

20-14 at half-time.  Neutrals, and probably many nervous watching Irish might have thought that France's quick burst of scoring was their purple patch.  They might have thought that France had shot their bolt.  They were profoundly wrong.

The French controlled possession every bit as confidently and patiently from minutes 41-50, and while Scots discipline ensured Beauxis couldn't stretch the lead, the tense wait for more French points morphed into a twitchy expectancy each time the forwards drove or the backs lined up.

Some of the handling was exquisite, and the rucking was flawless ... even the footwork was fancy:  at one point, a ball that squirted out of the back of a ruck was nonchalantly chipped into Beauxis's hands by Mignoni under pressure from onrushing flankers.

The dominance paid off in wonderful fashion.  Ibañez once again led a charge forward, and Yannick Jauzion once, then twice made the hard yards, before Beauxis took the ball looping of Jauzion and whipped it out to David Marty in the corner via Heymans.  Beauxis made it 27-14 with the extras.

Then, on the hour mark, it was Heymans again the finisher on the left, with Jauzion and Marty quickly turning turnover ball into a prized try.  Beauxis couldn't convert this time, 32-14.

It took just a minute for France to score the crucial try that took them 25 in the lead.  Another wide move had Marty chipping Rory Lamont with the Glasgow winger taking Marty out.  You would think the highlights would set them apart well enough, but referee Craig Joubert, on the advice of his touch-judge, promptly sent Sean to the bin.

The French pack, with the bit between their teeth and no thought now of penalty goals accepted the line-out possession in the corner, lunged twice for the line with Harinordoquy marshalling, and then drove over en masse, with Olivier Milloud touching down.  Beauxis made it 39-14, and the title was now in French hands with nineteen minutes to go.

Perhaps the French should not have decelerated.  Perhaps they ran out of steam.  Either way, the rather non-Gallic determination to close out the game allowed Scotland a lease of life.  A rare Scotland penalty got the Scots down into France's 22, and player after player bashed at the white wall, before the ball was spun wide to prop Euan Murray of all people, who went over unopposed in the corner.  Advantage Ireland, and only four minutes to go.

As soon as France reclaimed the restart, there was a sense of something special building.  It was a mesmerising four minutes.  The French were admirable for their coolness and sturdy grit in going through the same motions that had served them so well up to then, driving into Scottish bodies and inching toward that line.  On came the fresh legs of Vermeulen, to replace Harinordoquy who had wring everything he could muster out of his frame.

Then a penalty!  But three points no use, and so Beauxis angled a kick to the corner.  More fresh legs, this time Pascal Papé, claimed the ball.  Onward drove the relentless French, Scotland's brave standing in their way.  On towards the line, to the line, over the line, and a mass of Gallic and Celtic sweat tumbled to the ground to the acclaim of 80,000 raucous voices.

One final ironic twist to the tale.  Joubert referred the decision for a try upstairs, to where Irish TMO McDowell had the agonising decision.  We waited for over a minute as he ran through his camera angles, straining eyes for the ball.  Then Craig Joubert got the nod, raised his arm, and Paris passed into pandemonium.

Man of the match:  So many performances -- too many to iterate here.  But at the heart of so much of French dominance, in terms of turnover ball, yardage gained, opponents driven away, was Basque back-row Imañol Harinordoquy, who rose just above the rest to collect this award.

Moment of the match:  So many moments too!  But the final minute drama that claimed the title, and Elvis Vermeulen's drive and score wa the moment that defined the match.

Villain of the match:  Not a peep.  Rory Lamont's late tackle that earned his brother a yellow card was too harmless to be villainy.

The scorers

For France:
Tries:  Harinordoquy, Jauzion, Marty, Heymans, Milloud, Vermeulen
Cons:  Beauxis 5
Pens:  Beauxis 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Walker Lamont, Murray
Cons:  Paterson 2

Yellow card:  Sean Lamont (61, late tackle)

The teams:

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibanez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Nicolas Mas, 17 Sebastian Bruno, 18 Pascal Papè, 19 Elvis Vermeulen, 20 Jean-Baptise Elissalde, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Christophe Dominici.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson (captain), 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Rob Dewey, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Marcus Di Rollo, 22 Rory Lamont.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie

England prevail at Twickenham

England pulled out a fine performance to defeat France 26-18 at Twickenham on Sunday, keeping their Six Nations hopes alive and ending French hopes of a Grand Slam in the process.

Did the chariot ever swing as low and as sweetly as it did on this sunny Sunday in London?  It will go down as a great England victory, because it was so unexpected, such a contrast with the performance against Italy and the humiliation against Ireland -- and it was so comprehensive.

France were completely outplayed.  It started up front and then filtered backwards all the way to the fullback.  They were made to look docile, clumsy, lethargic and planless.

Their backs who were expected to run rings around ageing Mike Catt and slow Mike Tindall, but the visitors fumbled, plodded across field and never once looked like creating a try.

England never let them off the hook and have now thrown the Six Nations wide open with each of Ireland, France and England beaten once -- and their next opponents are all in the bottom half of the championship.

The England pack, beaten in Dublin, won hands down in London.  Early on they started their pick-'n-go to take the battle to the French eight.  They mauled well and stirred the crowd with their mauling.  They scrummaged well and competed in the line-out and at the tackle.  They, in a word, ruled possession, leaving tatty scraps for the French.  And tatty scraps do not make a banquet.

The spark in the backs pretty well all came from England.  True David Marty, Yannick Jauzion, Vincent Clerc and Pierre Mignoni had good moments but not even when Clerc and Marty got the ball to the English line was there confidence of a try and in any case Raphaël Ibañez lost the ball forward.

Those little moments were nothing like what Toby Flood (off a chip and catch), Josh Lewsey, Mike Catt, Shane Geraghty and Jason Robinson managed.  Nothing like.

England had the game in thrall and the French made no manful effort to liberate themselves.  At no stage was there any French suavity or elan.  They just were not there.

London's England looked nothing like Dublin's England -- a fact that must bring huge relief to the whole of the kingdom.  Two tries to nil speaks more loudly than the eight points' difference.  It must be a huge relief to those who chose the team.

Martin Corry was an inspiration at lock.  Toby Flood, and then Shane Geraghty, performed with confidence and competence.  Mike Catt, after a dainty start, got right into the game, steadying things and producing the electric moment when his 35-year-old legs broke, kept him upright and produced England's first try.

The scoring in the first half was fairly genteel -- four kicks to three in France's favour.

Tim Payne held on and David Skrela scored with a long kick.  Skrela hurt an ankle soon afterwards and was replaced by young Lionel Beauxis at half-time.  Not that that was a reason for losing, but Beauxis was noticeably unable to give his backs any direction.  The cross-field running started with him.

Serge Betsen, who was ineffective in a beaten pack, was penalised for diving in at a tackle/ruck and Flood sent the penalty soaring over from just inside the French half.  That must have been great for his confidence.

Skrela kicked a second when the touch judge reported Corry for using his boot on a player away from the ball and a third when Flood was penalised at a tackle/ruck.  That made it 9-3 to France after 21 minutes and it seemed that, despite England's dominance France were going at some stage to burst out into Six Nations Champions with another Grand Chelem.

France then did a funny thing.  They had a penalty just outside their 22 on their right and for some reason Dimitri Yachvili tapped, pivoted and kicked way across the field towards his left.  Strettle got the ball and started running -- fast and deceptively strong for one so slight and pale.  That may have been a spark for England.  "We can run at these fellows if we run straight."

When Olivier Milloud was off-side Flood made it 9-6 but then made it 12-6 when George Chuter went into a tackle at the wrong angle.  A minute later Sébastien Chabal, who had a poor game as England shut him down and proved that he was not as strong as he looks, held on at a tackle and Flood made the half-time score 12-9.  England actually had two other chances from penalty goals.  Flood was just off target with one long one and just short with another from inside his own half.

After mauling from a line-out England bashed and bashed at the French line and got close but the French rushed them back to beyond their own 22 and the chance looked dead.  Suddenly phoenix Catt brought it to life as he sliced past Ibañez and into Clément Poitrenaud who decided to meet the old man chest on.  But Catt stayed firm in the conflict, turned and passed the ball perfectly to Flood on his left and the tall fly-half went sweeping round for a try at the posts.  The game had been broken open.  England led for the first time, 16-12 after 48 minutes.

Sweet Chariot rose up into the Twickenham air.  The faithful, who had barely dared to hope, suddenly gathered belief.  "Coming for to carry me home."

Annoyingly that man Yachvili, who had been an instrument in France's last three wins over England, kicked a penalty when Tom Rees got a rough one at a tackle and another when Tindall played a man without the ball.  18-16 to France with 23 minutes to play.  Were the chariot's wheels wobbling?

Flood went limping off with a sore knee at this stage and on came Shane Geraghty.

Robinson had a good run as Catt played back to him coming off his wing but Lionel Nallet nailed him.

Tindall had a chance as he made the best of a bad pass but when he chipped Clerc had no difficulty in beating him to the ball.

Then Strettle broke the game apart as he attacked from deep racing with speed and strength over acres of French territory from just inside France's half to close to the their line.  England attacked, Imanol Harinordoquy went off-side and Geraghty calmly score his first points in international rugby.

England led 19-18 at this stage but were in fact much further ahead than one point.  They were well on top.

Yachvili kicked downfield, a feeble kick and Geraghty ran onto it and with it, racing from 30 metres out to within 10 metres of the French line.  Falling in a tackle he bowled the ball back to his left over Catt's head but there was Tindall, stretching out, getting a hand to the ball, holding the ball and plunging over for the try.  Geraghty converted.  26-18 with eight minutes left to play.

At no time did the clumsy French look like scoring in those eight minutes.  A knock-on produced a scrum to England and Shaun Perry hoofed the ball into the crowd for the final whistle.

England's team and supporters were joyful, the rest of the rugby world surprised.

Pity about work tomorrow.

Man of the Match:  They were all Englishmen and if one were true it should probably be the Tight Five, but if we are, invidiously in a team game, to select an individual then Tom Rees would be the loose forward choice, loyal Martin Corry the tight forward and amongst the backs the man who above all sparked England's running belief -- David Strettle.

Moment of the Match:  It has to be Mike Catt's break that led to Toby Flood's try -- for the belief it gave.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Flood, Tindall
Cons:  Flood, Geraghty
Pens:  Flood 3, Geraghty

For France:
Pens:  Skrela 3, Yachvili 3

The teams:

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Jason Robinson, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Mike Catt (captain), 11 David Strettle, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Martin Corry, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Stuart Turner, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Shane Geraghty, 22 Mathew Tait.

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 David Skréla, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Sébastian Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Sébastian Bruno, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Pierre Mignoni, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Cédric Heymans.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Wales left fuming at the death

Italy followed up their conquest of Scotland by claiming an historic 23-20 win over Wales in Rome on Saturday, coming from behind to edge a thriller at the Stadio Flaminio.

Ireland can crush the Azzurri next week, but that won't dampen Roman festivities.  Regardless of that result, this win over Wales ensures that 2007 will go down in history as Italy's most successful Six Nations campaign to date.

Things aren't quite so rosy for the Welsh -- the wooden spoon and a whitewash await if they don't manage to repel England next weekend.

And Wales's pain will be compounded by the manner in which they conceded the loss to Italy.  Indeed, one can expect a sense of injustice to linger long in the minds of Welshmen everywhere.

With just seconds left on the clock and three points down, the visitors were awarded a kickable penalty.  James Hook appeared to ask referee Chris White if there was time for a line-out.  White is alleged to have given the nod, but he then blew for no-time as the ball was being collected from the stands.

The shrill three-beat blast of the whistle sparking wild celebrations among the Italians but furious complaints from the visitors.

Whether Wales were unfairly denied a crack at a try from the restart is a debate that will rattle around pubs for years to come, but they were hardly robbed of a win -- Italy deserved the spoils.

The locals led 13-7 at the interval courtesy of six points from fly-half Ramiro Pez and a try from Kaine Robertson after Wales wing Shane Williams had scooted over.

Wales surged ahead after the interval with 13 unanswered points, including a try from Matthew Rees, and appeared to be on course for their first win of the campaign.

But Italy summoned up a second wind and Mauro Bergamasco latched onto Pez's chip to touch down for the match-clinching try to punctuate a dour but effective Italian performance.

Prior to the game, Wales coach Gareth Jenkins had remarked that the Italians were "formidable but limited", and this they were.

No-one can accuse the Italians of being flash, nor are they blessed with many players of outstanding natural ability, but they know how to play to their strengths and they know how to boss a game.

Wales, meanwhile, wouldn't be languishing at the bottom of the Six Nations tables if rugby was scored in the manner of gymnastics.  Magical things happen whenever the men in red had the floor, but Italy's stranglehold on proceedings meant these opportunities were few and far between.

Wales knew they were in for a claustrophobic afternoon from the moment they stepped off the bus: the pitch had mysteriously shrunk overnight, losing a good couple of metres in width.

The new dimensions stymied Wales's wider ambitions, but -- surprise, surprise -- they suited Pez's probing boot.

And so it was that Italy took the game by the scuff of the neck from the off and never relinquished complete control.

Hearts were in Welsh mouths as early as the second minute as Gonzalo Canale cut an immaculate angle through the Welsh lines before lofting the ball out to Matteo Pratichetti who slide over the line, only to be pulled back for the forward pass.

After Pez had booted Italy into the lead with a penalty, Wales responded with a darting break from Kevin Morgan but his grubber kick was just too strong for Shane Williams and Mauro Bergamasco cleared up.

Wales then worked a two-man overlap but Shane Williams could not release either Kevin Morgan or Mark Jones before being swallowed up by Italy full-back Roland de Marigny.

Pez extended the Azzurri's advantage with his second penalty but Italy lost Gonzalo Canale, a powerful force in their midfield, to a leg injury after he had crashed into Tom Shanklin's tackle.

Wales had very little room to work with and seemed to lack both the confidence and organisation required to get outside the Italians.

But a moment of clarity from Hook finally picked the lock.

The precociously talented centre chipped the on-rushing Italians, allowing Shanklin to collect the perfectly weighted kick.  The burly centre then absorbed two tackles before off-loading to Shane Williams who had a clear passage to the sticks for the converted try.

But Welsh insecurities remained.  Stephen Jones soon blew a golden opportunity with a laboured pass to Morgan when a flat, quick ball would have exploited a huge overlap.

Jones then took a swinging arm to the face from Mauro Bergamasco and disappeared to the blood bin, to be replaced for the remainder of the half by Gareth Thomas.

While he was off Wales blew two more opportunities as their basic finishing skills were found wanting.

Shane Williams sparked a counter-attack but a poor inside ball from Morgan went to ground and when Hook carved through the Italian defence he failed to spot Morgan on the outside.

Italy then bit back.  Kane Robertson spied a half-acre of space behind the pressing red line.  He sent up the up-and-end and set off in hot pursuit, his opponent in the footrace was a petrified Ian Gough -- no prizes for guessing who won.  Pez converted and Italy took a 13-7 lead into the break.

Wales must have taken the mother of all rollockings at half-time and they started the second period like a steam train, scoring 13 unanswered points inside 12 minutes.

Stephen Jones returned to the fray but Hook took over the kicking duties, booting his first penalty.

Wales returned to Italian territory where Rees peeled around the tail of the line-out, threw a dummy and raced off to score.

Hook converted and landed a second penalty soon after, extending Wales's advantage to a converted try.

Italy, though, had history to think about and pitched their tents on the Welsh line.

De Marigny bulldozed for the line and Alessandro Troncon took it on again as they hammered forward in search of a try.

Italy won a five-metre scrum but the Welsh defence held firm, halting Mauro Bergamasco and hooker Carlo Festuccia.

Pez reduced the arrears with a simple three points and Italy snatched back possession immediately and earned another penalty.

This time Pez aimed for touch.  Italy drove their line-out to within touching distance of the Welsh line.  Wales withstood wave after wave of attacks before Pez dabbed a neat chip over the top and Mauro Bergamasco won the race to score.

As the clock ticked into injury time, Hook kicked the Welsh penalty opportunity for touch in search of a victory only for White to blow full-time.

The controversy will be lost on the Azzurri and their fans -- these are good days for Italian rugby.  It's not easy to shift soccer from the cover of Gazzetta dello Sport, but Alessandro Troncon's mug managed to do so on Saturday -- Sunday should see the team edge the politicians off the front page of La Republica.  And why not? They deserve it.

Man of the match:  Plenty of big performances from Italy's pack -- with Sergio Parisse to the fore.  Mauro Bergamasco also had a brave match, but he misses out on this award as he's up for a gong in a completely different category.  Meanwhile, Alessandro Troncon was his usual bossy self and Ramiro Pez orchestrated his side beautifully.  Pretty ordinary performance from the Welsh, but a couple of players stood out.  James Hook had a typically thoughtful outing, and Martyn Williams and Alix Popham got through heaps of work in difficult conditions.  But we'd like to reward the imp-like Shane Williams for yet another irrepressible performance of heart, commitment and courage.

Moment of the match:  For better or for worse, it has to be the final kick of the game.  We're sure to be hearing about that moment for months!

Villain of the match:  Easy one.  Mauro Bergamasco for the swing arm that left Stephen Jones with four stitches above his right eye.  And to cap it, the hirsute Italian followed up with an early tackle on Kevin Morgan that might have proved pivotal.  Many Welsh fans will undoubtedly wish to push this award towards Chris White, but we'll reserve judgement until our investigation is complete.  But rest assured that he is bound to receive the first degree from his Welsh wife!

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Robertson, Mauro Bergamasco
Cons:  Pez 2
Pens:  Pez 3

For Wales:
Tries:  S Williams, Rees
Cons:  Jones, Hook
Pens:  Hook 2

Italy:  15 Roland De Marigny, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Maurizio Zaffiri, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Andrea Scanavacca

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Alun Wynn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Rhys Thomas, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Brent Cockbain, 20 Jonathan Thomas, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Gareth Thomas

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Douglas Kerr (Scotland)

Ireland struggle, but retain Triple Crown

Ronan O'Gara's boot came to Ireland's rescue on Saturday, as Ireland survived a scare to retain their Triple Crown trophy with a 19-18 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

O'Gara scored all of his team's points, including an opportunist late first-half try, but Chris Paterson's boot had had the Scots 18-13 ahead with just 15 minutes remaining before Ireland's pack responded to squeeze out the crucial penalties.

Well, well, well, the form book was nearly thrown out of the window -- oh, so nearly.  In some ways the one-point defeat was a kind of victory for the brave Scots as they stood up to the Irish who were starting to get a world-beaters tag.

It was not a great match at Murrayfield but a gripping one as the scores kept the teams so close.  In the end it was yet again a gift try that cost Scotland dearly.  There had been three against Italy but only one this time, one but enough to give Ireland victory.

There were only two points' scorers in the match -- Ronan O'Gara for Ireland and Chris Paterson for Scotland, and it was O'Gara who got the try.

The scores were level at 3-all when Scotland won a line-out going left and hear the half-way line.  Dan Parks looked to hoist a high kick to his left but O'Gara was quickly on him for a text-book, hands-forward-to-the-ball charge down.  He collected the bounce in midfield and ran.  Challenged, he gave to Gordon D'Arcy on his left.  He played back to Simon Easterby who gave to O'Gara on his left and the fly-half was over under the posts.  10-3 to Ireland.

Ireland may have been up 10-3 but there was the uncomfortable feeling that the predictable was not going to happen.

Ireland started off brimming with confidence, spreading the ball wide to left and right, and their pressure was rewarded when Scotland conceded their third penalty in quick succession -- Kelly Brown this time, and O'Gara scored.

It was all Ireland at this stage but that confidence soon proved brittle.  On their first raid into Irish territory, Brian O'Driscoll was found off-side and penalised.  Paterson kicked the goal to make it 3-all, and from then on Scotland were energised -- no longer apologising but standing up fiercely to the men who had come to fetch the Triple Crown.

Sean Lamont had much to do with it when he got an Irish kick at his 22 he burst into counter-attack and raced down before giving to Paterson who looked about to score till on the Irish 22 Denis Hickie cut him down from behind.  Paterson was penalised for holding on, and a scrap ensued.

There was another scrap, a more serious one, when Paterson swung an arm at O'Gara's head and O'Driscoll objected.  In the end O'Driscoll was the one called out and penalised.  "Only me?" he asked calmly.

After O'Gara's try, Paul O'Connell knocked on the kick off and Gavin Kerr grabbed and the Scots were attacking down the left.  They had a scrum five metres from the Irish line on the home side's left.  They went right.  Parks sent a long pass to Hugo Southwell who went for the line leaving Paterson unmarked on his outside.  Southwell was injured and a golden opportunity went astray.

In the last four minutes Paterson kicked a penalty, O'Gara kicked a penalty and Paterson kicked a penalty to make the score 13-9 at the break.

Ireland started the second half in a different vein from the first.  Instead of going wide they stayed as close as possible with pick-and-go.  When Nathan Hines was penalised and, not for the first time, sent to the sin bin, Ireland had a five-metre line-pout and a maul.  They got to the line but lost the ball to a "use it or lose it" maul.

O'Driscoll had a great break past Rob Dewey, as D'Arcy had done in the first half, but the move was shipwrecked on a poor pass by Shane Horgan.

Hickie had a strong run and looked certain to score till Sean Lamont came across in cover and tackled him into the corner post for a drop-out.

When O'Connell came in at the side of a tackle/ruck Paterson made it 13-12 and then Hines came back.  During his absence the Scottish forwards, to a man, had been brave and concentrated in their defence.

A kick into the box by Parks gave Scotland an attacking line-out and when Peter Stringer was offside, Paterson made it 15-13 to Scotland with 20 minutes to go.

Things were even better for Scotland when David Wallace was penalised and Scotland led 18-13 with 15 minutes to go, but in the next five minutes O'Gara kicked two penalties.  Ireland led 19-18 with ten minutes to go.

In those ten minutes Scotland tried to run but by and large Ireland had them in a grip and could well have scored when O'Driscoll made a scoring opportunity out of nothing.

The final whistle went with the match in midfield and O'Driscoll went up the stairs to collect the Triple Crown trophy from the Princess Royal.

Man of the match:  There were lots of brave Scots and it was their two wings who gave them most -- Chris Paterson of the unerring boot and Sean Lamont who started the Scots on a more confident path and saved a certain try with a cross tackle.  Then there was the bravery of their whole pack especially when Hines was off.  For Ireland, who would not have enjoyed nearly as much as they did the Croke Park encounter in the rain, Denis Hickie was good -- saved a try but should probably have scored one -- Paul O'Connell, of course, and points' machine Ronan O'Gara, who ran, tackled, kicked and scored the only try -- our Man of the Match.

Moment of the match:  The charge-down by Ronan O'Gara which led to the try.

Villain of the Match:  Possibly the captains -- Chris Paterson and Brian O'Driscoll who lost their rags when, above all they should have kept theirs.

It was Ireland's sixth successive win over Scotland.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 6

For Ireland:
Try:  O'Gara
Con:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 4

Yellow card:  Hines (42, Scotland, deliberate offside)

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson (c), 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Rory Lamont.

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan,
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Neil Best, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

English bounced out of Croke Park

It was Ireland's Croke Park party and England were the possible gatecrashers, but the Irish sent the English crashing to earth with a 43-13 humiliation at Croke Party on Saturday.

The Irish put on a show of intensity not seen since New Zealand's infamous victory over France in November 2004, and the English were powerless to prevent the green tide that washed over them, leaving few survivors in its wake.

History was made in Dublin on a rainy, rainy day.  The rain was nothing out of the ordinary but playing the foreign game in the temple of the GAA was.  And there was more.  Ireland did not just win the match.  They set a new record, their biggest ever defeat over England, the 30-point margin surpassing the 22-0 of 60 years ago.

The Soldier's Song and Ireland's Call and Athenry never sounded sop glorious as it did when over 70 000 Irishmen sang it at Croke Park.

The most ardent of GAA men must have raised a glass in satisfaction for what Brian O'Driscoll and his men did.

England started off well enough and then the rest of the match belonged to Ireland.  It started up front where they disrupted the English line-out where the only stability was provided by Martin Corry, and they destroyed the England scrum, especially in the period when Danny Grewcock was watching from the sin bin while Ireland scored 14 points.  His side really suffered while he, not for the first time, was off the field.

With the tights on top the Irish loose forwards overshadowed their English counterparts.  Each one of the Irish loose trio had an effective game.

It was a match of intense collision at every tackle.  The players' concentration was absolute.

Then the Irish backs were superior.  Ronan O'Gara had a much bigger effect on the game than ball-starved Jonny Wilkinson, and outside of that there was no contest.  The Irish centres were much better.  The Irish wings were much better than the English wings and the Irish fullback did far more than the English full-backs.  In fact the England back three were largely anonymous, except for three moments from newcomer David Strettle.

The Irish backs seemed able to ignore the wet and their first try was the result of daring passing in the wet.

The score was 9-3 to Ireland at the time.  They had their best chance to score when Simon Easterby had a great run.  They were close to the line when Grewcock was, to say the least, impetuous and went off to think about his life.

Their try came after they had battered from a maul and were right at the line.  Back it came and Peter Stringer fired his impeccable service to the right.  Gordon D'Arcy flicked a pass on.  Bian O'Driscoll picked up the low ball and gave a perfect pass to Girvan Dempsey who scored with Shane Horgan unused on his outside.  O'Gara converted.  16-9.

By this time Ireland were well and truly on top.

They came close soon afterwards when Horgan cut back on a long sharp runt.  Mat Tait saved England with a brave tackle and then as Ireland continued to threaten George Chuter saved with a tackle on Paul O'Connell, who lost the ball forward.  Five-metre scrum to England.  Ireland destroyed the England scrum and got a five-metre scrum of their own on the right.  They went blind and TMO Romain Poite was able to confirm "un essai pour les Verts".  O'Gara converted.

England kicked off and seemed filled with wild determination but it fizzled out.

Grewcock returned 14 points later.

Ireland started the second half well and had England rattled but the visitors rallied and had their best passage of play in the match, crowned by an excellent try by Strettle in the corner as two Irishmen tried to get to him.  Wilkinson goaled from touch.  26-10 to Ireland after 47 minutes.

Wilkinson tried a penalty from the half-way line when O'Connell was penalised for "crossing" but he was short.  Leamy was penalised shortly afterwards at a tackle and Wilkinson made no mistake with the easier kick, cancelled out two minutes later when Phil Vickery was penalised at a scrum.  29-13 after 57 minutes.

O'Driscoll was over in the left corner but Mike Tindall held up O'Driscoll.  That gave Ireland a five-metre scrum on their left.  Leamy charged off on a diagonal going right and then the ball came back to O'Gara who exquisitely, breathtakingly, stabbed a long diagonal which Horgan plucked out of the air, falling to ground for a wonderful try, which, ineluctably, O'Gara converted.  36-13 with 14 minutes to play.

Ireland had good moments when Denis Hickie counter-attacked, when O'Driscoll intercepted, and when only a horrible bounce denied David Wallace a try.

Ireland sent all the troops from the bench to savour the history of the moment and one of them delighted the whole of Ireland.  England got the ball from a scrum in midfield.  Shaun Perry went right, changed his mind and threw a long pass to his left, which Isaac Boss intercepted and off he raced some 40 metres towards Hill 16 for a try at the posts.

When Paddy Wallace kicked the last penalty out and the final whistle went, great jubilation erupted into the Dublin night.

Man of the Match:  There were lots of Irish candidates from Girvan Dempsey to skilful Marcus Horan.  Perhaps the halves deserved it a bit more.  Perhaps the loose trio also deserved special mention but the man who seemed the king of that Dublin night, the great Irish champion, was our Man of the Match, Paul O'Connell who competed for everything at line-outs and at the tackle and in the scrums -- a worthy combatant.

Moment of the Match:  Shane Horgan's try.  It would have delighted the hearts of every Gaelic Football man -- that pinpoint punt across the field, the tall man reaching up to pluck the ball out of the sky, the try.  It was a score fitting of Croke Park.

Villain of the Match:  Danny Grewcock -- but we doubt he will learn.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Dempsey, Wallace, Horgan, Boss
Cons:  O'Gara 4
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For England:
Try:  Strettle
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Wilkinson 2

Yellow card:  Grewcock (28, England, deliberate offside)

Ireland:  Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer/ Isaac Boss, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Neil Best, 19 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Isaac Boss/ Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

England:  15 Olly Morgan, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mat Tait

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Romain Poite (France)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Italy's show on the road at last

It has taken 33 matches and some heart-breaking close failures, but Italy finally have claimed an away win in the Six Nations, beating Scotland 17-37 in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Had they not won though, it would have been a calamity, as Scotland presented their visitors with a 21-point head start within the first seven minutes!

But after nearly forty minutes of rock-like defence as the Azzurri fought off the Scottish comeback, the Italians dominated the final ten minutes to make the game safe.

Rome, the Eternal City, is history.  There is history at every turn.  The whole of Italy is one great miracle of history.  But today Italy made history in Scotland.  Hadrian built a wall to keep the Picts out, for the Romans had no stomach to invade Caledonia stern and wild.  Today Marco Bortolami went where Hadrian did not go.  He went to the heart of Scotland and made history.  For the first time Italy won a Six nations match abroad and won it well.  Afterwards exhausted and exhilarated Alessandro Troncon, heaving for breath, announced that this was "the start of anew era for Italian rugby".

What a day, what a victory -- and what a muzzle for those who have been preaching Italy out of the Six Nations.

If New Zealand had been playing Brazil -- at rugby that is -- and after six minutes the full might of the All Blacks had scored three tries and led 21-0, you would not be surprised and the All Blacks would feel pleased with themselves.  But this was not All Blacks against Sambas.  This was Italy against Scotland at Murrayfield, and after six minutes Italy led 21-0.  It must be a unique situation in the annals of the International Championship however many nations were playing.

Three tries in six minutes!

Murrayfield was stunned.

For the first two the loudest sound in Murrayfield was produced by Italian voices.  For the third the Italian voices were drowned by the ugly sound of Scots booing Scots on a wintry afternoon.

The first try came after 18 seconds.  Italy kicked off, the Scots secured the ball and for some reason Phil Godman of the highlighted hair opted to chip.  Flying Mauro Bergamasco charged the chip down, gathered the ball just short of the goal-line and plunged over for the try.

Mistake 1, try 1.

The Scots spread the ball wide across the field, expansive but going nowhere till Chris Cusiter passed to his left towards Rob Dewey but into the arms of Andrea Scanavacca who raced 40 metres to score under the posts, for Hugo Southwell was on the attack.

Mistake 2, try 2

And just four minutes had passed as Italian voices echoed around Murrayfield.

That was it, one thought, let's settle down to reality.

Again Scotland went through their side-to-side, going-nowhere routine till Cusiter fired a long looping pass towards Southwell on the left wing, but Kaine Robertson leapt up and the Italianate New Zealander raced off over the acres to score at the posts.  21-0 after six minutes.

21-0 after six minutes.  There has never been anything like it in the International Championship, and the Scots booed Scots.

For the rest of the match the Scots had the majority of possession and for most of the rest they had the majority of territory.  Time and again they eschewed penalty kicks at goal in favour of attacking line-outs but the Italians tackled like heroes, every man an Horatio, keeping the Gaelic attackers back from their line.

Oh, Scotland got a try, a funny one.  First they knocked on, yet again, but Sergio Parisse did something silly off the ball and they had a chance to make another line-out.  They attacked and then Dewey squeezed through a gap with lots of referee assistance.  He almost stopped running as he expected to be called back.  He was not called back and fell to the ground as Troncon attacked.  Falling to the ground gave him the weird try that made the score 21-7.

Penalties kept Scotland on the attack.  They had eight penalties before Italy had one, 10-4 in the first half, 20-10 in the match as a whole.

But then Italy got on the attack.  Italy were penalised, Troncon tapped and Italy were at the Scottish line, right under their posts.  Simon Taylor hung on and was yellow-carded.  Italy kicked the goal and led 24-7.

There was no scoring while he was away though Scotland eventually kicked a penalty at goal when Troncon used his hands illegally at a tackle/ruck of sorts.

The half ended 24-10 to Italy.

Italy attacked first in the second half but Scanavacca knocked on.  Twenty minutes went with the Scots keeping things tighter.  One way to avoid the intercept is to keep on with pick-'n-go!

The Scottish try -- a proper one and a great one -- came after twenty minutes in the half when they went midfield from a line-out and then back to their left where Paterson sliced between Bortolami and Salvatore Perugini to speed nearly 50 metres for a try which he converted.  24-17.

The Scots had a sniff of unlikely victory, but, just as Italy had started so brilliantly, so they finished the stronger of the two as they throttled the life out of Scotland keeping them pinned in their own territory till the match was lost and won.  When Allen Jacobsen was penalised at a scrum, Scanavacca lobbed over the kick.  27-17 with 14 minutes to go.

They came back and could have had another simple kick had Perugini not had a rush of madness and stamped gratuitously on a prone Scot.  The penalty was reversed and Scotland cleared but still the Italians were hammering at the door.

Sean Lamont was Scotland's great hope, it seemed, for they kept hurling the ball his way in the hope that the big wing could work a wonder.  But when he was penalised and then vocalised his dissent, Scanavacca made it 390-17 with eight minutes left.  The Scots were well and truly cooked.

But it got worse as the Italians set up a camp in the Scots left corner and mauled and mauled as Generalissimo Troncon directed till eventually he, Troncon, scored the try which the television match official conformed was indeed a try.

Scanavacca converted from far out.

The Scots had their best attacking period in the last two minutes, Gonzalo Canale was sent to the sin bin for a tackle offence and still the Italians hurled them back.  With three seconds left for play they sent on Ramiro Pez and Paul Griffin so that the whole squad could win historic caps.

Imagine the overflowing of joy at this most famous victory.

Man of the Match:  There were all those heroic Italians who deserve medals but none as much as Alessandro Troncon.

Moment of the Match:  Take your pick of those three tries in six minutes.  But there was a telling moment at a break in play after 60 minutes when Chris Cusiter stood there looking downhearted and bewildered and Alessandro Troncon gave him a pat on the head.  Cheering up was not possible but it was a decent moment, also an indication of relative fortunes.

Villain of the Match:  Who wants villains on such an historic day?

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Dewey, Paterson
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pen:  Paterson

For Italy:
Tries:  Mauro Bergamasco, Scanavacca, Robertson, Troncon
Cons:  Scanavacca 4
Pens:  Scanavacca 3

Yellow cards:  Taylor (Scotland, 20, deliberate infringement);  Canale (Italy, 80 deliberate infringement)

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson (c),10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Dave Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Jim Hamilton, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Nikki Walker.

Italy:  15 Roland De Marigny, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Maurizio Zaffiri, 21 Paul Griffen, 22 Ramiro Pez

Referee:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assessor:  Patrick Robin (France)

Clerc's try breaks Irish hearts

Vincent Clerc's last-minute try stole France a 17-20 Six Nations victory in Dublin, maintaining France's momentum towards both a Grand Slam and their Rugby World Cup in September.

In a pulsating game of rugby, in which the momentum ebbed and flowed, Ronan O'Gara's penalty with four minutes remaining looked to have sealed the victory for Ireland at 17-13 ahead, but Clerc broke through some weak tackling at the last to score the vital points, and leave Ireland once again wondering what could have been.

What a thriller!  What a finish!  It was one of those finishes where ecstasy turned rapidly to soggy gloom for one lot and gloom burst into ecstasy for the others.  This was the sort of great divide between winners and losers that a World Cup final produces.

It was a beautiful Dublin day with the sun shining on the magnificence of Croke Park, the beautiful stands and Hill 16, the uncovered terraces near the railway line which commemorates the 1916 uprising.  Somehow the singing of Amhrán na bhFiann, The Soldier's Song, in Gaelic was all the more appropriate at Croke Park.

To some this was billed as a Six Nations final.  After England's poor, retrogressive performance against Italy, France against Ireland was regarded as the decider for the championship, and Ireland seemed to have it in the bag.

On 14 minutes France scored a try and converted it to lead 13-3.  They did not score again for 65 minutes but when they did it counted.  Most of the second half had been a try-desert and then ten points blossomed in the last two minutes.

The Irish trudged off with sorrowful face.  It was so confoundingly close.

It was the match the whole country had been looking forward to -- rugby, the English game, played at Croke Park, the temple of the Gaelic Game.

But perhaps Bishop Croke, on his throne in heaven, may have blessed the moment, however disappointing the result of the match, for the reconciliation it represented.

The second half had few points but it was gripping with thrust, parry, counterthrust, parry, counterthrust.  But Ireland had gone into a one-point lead with 23 minutes to go.

As time ebbed away, replacement Lionel Beauxis kicked a soaring drop which rebounded off an upright.  Back came Ireland and France were penalised when they collapsed a long Irish maul.  Ronan O'Gara kicked the goal.  17-14 with two minutes to play and out of dropped goal range, but the glee was short-lived.

France got the ball back from the kick-off and went right where David Marty accelerated ahead into the Irish 22 and Yannick Jauzion carried it on.  They won quick ball from the tackle and Pierre Mignoni fed Beauxis who threw a long pass to his left -- to Vincent Clerc in a centre position.  The wing darted between John Hayes and Neil Best, swerving past groping Denis Hickie and away from stretching Paul O'Connell to score as Shane Horgan approached, horror on his face.

The French were delighted and hoisted Clerc on high.  Beauxis converted.

Time was still not up but, unlike Ireland, France secured the kick off and mauled it bit by bit 20 metres or so down the field.  Mignoni chatted to the referee and asked how much time was left.

"Five seconds."

Mignoni got the ball out of the maul and hoofed it out over the touchline.  That took up five seconds and broke Irish hearts.

The match was played in constant noise.  Not even a French kick at goal produced silence, for it seemed that Croke Park had not imported Lansdowne Road's unique manners.

Ireland played into the declining sun in the first half and kicked off.  From the very start it seemed France would blow the Irish away.  They mauled the first line-out and sent the ball wide to their right where David Marty had a strong run.  Denis Leamy interfered at the tackle and David Skréla goaled.  In less than a minute France led.

Ireland lost their first line-out and as "Fields of Athenry" sounded at the first scrum, the French silenced it by taking a tighthead heel against the head.  Ireland looked out of it.

They went right, left and right again and then Rory Best leant over a tackle/ruck and grabbed Mignoni who did not have the ball, slap in front of French posts.  6-0.  The pockets of Frenchmen in the 83,000 crowd were having fun.  France looked so much better.

But Ireland managed to nudge their way into French territory and Skréla was penalised for diving in on a tackle and O'Gara made it 6-3 after 12 minutes.

Then France took over again, dominating possession, clearing tackles at speed, running with direction and skilful handling.

Their first try came when O'Gara kicked out and Clerc threw in quickly to himself from the touchline on his left.  France went wide right where Marty powered ahead.  They came back wide left where Raphaël Ibañez came in on a close route inside flimsy Geordan Murphy for a try.  Skréla converted.  That made it 13-3 and the omens were that France was set fair for a big victory.

Ireland started to get ball but their O'Driscoll-less backs looked disjointed and unskilful.  They made a mess of the first three occasions when they tried to run the ball.  But when Christophe Dominici was offside, O'Gara made it 13-6.

Skréla, whose defence was excellent, won a turnover, Ireland had a strong maul against the powerful French battalion, Murphy caught a Garryowen in magnificent fashion, Horgan kicked a cross-kick and then Clément Poitrenaud sliced a kick into touch on his 22.

Ireland went right and then came back left with exquisite handling for a thrilling try.  It went from O'Gara to Hickie, then Horgan and then David Wallace out on the left.  The flank turned his back as a posse of Frenchmen grabbed him and offloaded a pass to O'Gara looping round.  The pass was behind the fly-half but he stuck back a right hand to pull it in and score the try.  O'Gara missed the conversion and the whole of Croke Park groaned a groan that must have reverberated to all corners of Ireland.

Now Ireland were scrapping for everything and France were not having their own way.  But they had their chances.  Skréla missed two penalty attempts and then, when Mignoni's kick near the half-way line was charged the ball ricocheted into the arms of Imanol Harinordoquy who charged downfield past Girvan Dempsey.  He was eventually brought to ground but France quickly spun the ball left and a try looked a dead certainty till Murphy managed to intervene and save the Irish line.

The score at half-time was 13-11 to the French, which did not do them justice.

With the bit of breeze and a lot of energy, Ireland fought back in the second half.  Gordon D'Arcy who looked less at home at outside centre, had a great break, Ireland had a long maul, Hickie a long run and "Fields of Athenry" sang of Irish dreams.

In the second half of the match Ireland were not penalised once, France five times (The overall penalty count was 10-4).  O'Gara kicked two of those penalties to set up that excruciating finish.

In Week 1 of the 2007 Six Nations the best match was saved for last.  It was true of the Week 2 as well.  Maybe it was playing on Sunday that did it.  Perhaps the organisers should think of having all Six Nations matches on Sundays!

Man of the Match:  It was a match of many heroes -- Ronan O'Gara, Isaac Boss, Denis Leamy, Paul O'Connell, Marcus Horan for his skill outside of the scrum, Sébastien Chabal charging wide from scrums to make an overlap for his backs, David Marty, Vincent Clerc and our Man of the Match Pierre Mignoni for the speed with which he got his backs going and for the way he snapped up unconsidered trifles.  His concentration was absolute.

Moment of the Match:  Vincent Clerc's try.  Otherwise it would have been Ronan O'Gara's try.  Otherwise it would have been Raphaël Ibañez's try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody at all.  The match was a credit to rugby football.  That old cliché -- Rugby was the winner.  Ireland would probably have preferred it to have been Ireland.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 2

For France:
Try:  Ibañez
Con:  Skréla
Pens:  Skréla 2

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Geordan Murphy, 13 Shane Horgan, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Neil Best or Jamie Heaslip, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Andrew Trimble.

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 David Skréla, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Sebastian Chabal, 7 Imañol Harinordoquy, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements:  16 Yannick Bru, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 Jérôme Thion, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Cédric Heymans.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Fortress Murrayfield repels the Welsh

Scotland once again punched above their weight at home, sending Wales packing 21-9 in an abysmal Six Nations game on Saturday and maintaining an impressive Six Nations record at Murrayfield.

Seven penalties from Chris Paterson put paid to the Welsh, who simply could not find any cohesion and were left steam-rollered by some crunching Scottish defence.

All week this has been billed as a game to thrill, with both sides opting to go for an attacking approach and throw caution to the wind, which was blowing strong at a wet Murrayfield.

Yet it transpired into a poor and frustrating encounter that Scotland deserved to win on two counts, Chris Paterson's kicking and the shocking standard of play produced by Wales.

Wales were poor, verging on the brink of abysmal, the fact Scotland were only marginally better afforded them a shaky platform from which Paterson was able to win the game with his flawless kicking display, the only area of the game that was mistake-free.  The rest of this dour affair was infested with basic errors and needless infringements, made increasingly more by Wales as the game wore on and kick by kick slipped from their grasp.

Credit must be given to Scotland for the way they bounced back from their demoralising defeat against England, but one can only think that a performance better than that which Wales offered would have been enough to beat Scotland.

Only one area of the Welsh game will come away from Edinburgh with any credit and that was the defence, but for the large part it was only when they were under severe pressure that they started defending with any intent.  Too often in the middle of the park Wales were left wanting in the tackle.

Yet when their line was under threat the defence picked up several notches as a handful of players earned themselves some credit for their efforts, notably Martyn Williams and Mark Jones.

Whereas Wales never once looked like scoring a try Scotland at least had chances, but were sadly unable to take them.  After leading 6-0 with a quarter of the match gone, through two Paterson penalties, Rob Dewey made the first telling break leading to Paterson coming within inches of scoring.

Dewey brushed aside the half-hearted attempt at a tackle from Dwayne Peel and thundered into the 22.  As the ball was moved wide it seemed as if Scotland must score with a two-man overlap, yet their backs drifted across the pitch eating up what room was left before Paterson took the ball.  But for a monstrous tackle from Mark Jones, one of the game's highlights, Paterson would have scored.

Stephen Jones finally got Wales on the scoreboard with a simple shot at goal, but that was soon cancelled out by Paterson's third effort, this time Wales were guilty of being offside in the backs.

As half time approached Jones added a second penalty to pull Wales within three points, the closest they would come to Scotland for the remainder of this encounter.

The second half was slightly better than the first, as Scotland mounted several raids on the Welsh line, the closest resulting in Allan Jacobsen being held up over the line by a heroic double tackle from Tom Shanklin and Alun Wyn-Jones.

Chris Paterson, who was at the heart of the few bright moments in the game, came agonizingly close moments before Jacobsen was held up after gathering a poor Jamie Robinson pass.  Having chipped and gathered he seemed certain to score but a slight stumble and a brave tackle from Stephen Jones denied the Scottish captain.

As it was it was left to the boot of Paterson to add the nails to the Welsh coffin, one by one.  Stephen Jones, for the record, did add a third Welsh penalty moments before Rhys Thomas gave Paterson his sixth, which earned Thomas a spell in the sin-bin.

With the game up and Scotland assured of victory it was only fitting that Paterson put the final nail in the coffin with his final penalty, a kick that leaves Wales floundering at the bottom of the Six Nations pile, while Scotland have restored some pride after their opening day defeat.

The fact that the game's main highlights were a series of bone-crunching hits from Mark Jones, as well Paterson's kicking, goes a long way to accentuating just how poor the skill levels were.

Wales will need to rethink and focus on their basics heavily, and to be fair Scotland will need to do the same.  Their only saving grace was the ability to string phases of play together when it was needed to give Paterson his chances.

Man of the Match:  It is hardly surprising that this game produced only a few candidates for this award.  Mark Jones and Martyn Williams were prominent for Wales in defence, with Williams single handedly keeping Wales in the contest at times with his work at the breakdown.  Even Scotland failed to provide too many more candidates, Simon Taylor and David Callam worked valiantly in the back-row throughout.  But it was Chris Paterson for his kicking and near-try who takes this award.

Moment of the Match:  There were few to mention but for us it was Paterson's chip and chase that almost brought him and his country a much deserved try.

Villain of the Match:  There was no real villain on this occasion.  Rhys Tomas was given the game's only yellow card but it was hardly a villainous moment, rather the culmination of a series of idiocies.

The scorers

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 7

For Wales:
Pens:  Jones S 3

Yellow card:  Thomas (Wales, 58, hands in the ruck)

The Teams:

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Chris Paterson (c), 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Simon Webster, 22 Nikki Walker.

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 James Hook, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Stephen Jones (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Robert Sidoli, 3 Adam Jones, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Ian Gough, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Michael Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Tom Shanklin.

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Chris White (England), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Rob Debney (England)
Assessor:  Douglas Kerr (Scotland)

England quickly lose their sparkle

England managed to eke out a 20-7 victory over Italy in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday, but all similarity with the dominant rampage past the Scots a week ago ended there.

Jonny Wilkinson gave the worshipping crowd something to crow about, when his third-minute penalty took him past Neil Jenkins' total of 406 which Wilkinson had equalled against Scotland last week.

That was one true nugget of gold.  The rest was like so much unwashed iron pyrites.  The watching Princes William and Harry spent most of the match with their chins on the heels of their hands, as England ignored the fact that they had the beating of Italy out wide and spent the match trying to plough through Italy's roughnecks in the cold winter mud.

England, awesome last week, descended once again into the awful, and indeed were fortunate at times that Italy's current trough shows no sign of rising towards their peak of last November.

If England came to Twickenham this Saturday in the hope that the Calcutta Cup sparkle would turn into champagne, they must have been disappointed indeed to be dished up flat beer that resembled dishwater.

There was no sparkle at all, and even people like the ebullient Harry Ellis became plodders.  With ten minutes to go Jonny Wilkinson dropped for goal, as if that was needed to make the match safe for his side.  With five minutes to go, he kicked a penalty and some people booed their national treasure.  With 24 seconds to go he kicked for touch.

It was that drab.

In the end it was a try apiece.  Not once in the second half did England score a try or look like scoring a try.  Italy got a try and promised to score on other occasions as they dominated the half.

In the match as a whole England had the better of possession, Italy the territory.  And in the end Italy were the ones running and looking like an all-round side while England kicked or played one-at-a-time rugby.

I say again:  it was a drab match.

At one stage the loudest noise was when Wilkinson kicked the ball out and it hit a photographer.  Later the crowd did a Mexican wave.  "Sweet Chariot" was muted.

Hats off to the Italians who stood up manfully and redeemed themselves from last week's poor performance in Rome.  They lost on the scoreboard but won in many other ways.

Asked after the match if they should not have tried to run the ball earlier, returning veteran Alessandro Troncon said:  "Yes.  We played very simple, very structured."

For England it was a soundbite echoing back to the bitter ashes of November.

And Harry, Wills and Kate were there to provide more interest than the rugby!

The set pieces worked well enough for both sides and England won the penalty count 13-6.  Wilkinson goaled five kicks for England, Andrea Scanavacca missed two for Italy.

The England backs were devoid of fluidity.  Big men Andy Farrell and Mike Tindall posed little threat to Italy and, when Italy came alive, were overshadowed in attacking ability by Gonzalo Canale and the best centre on the field, Mirco Bergamasco.  Before they began running Italy resorted to a futile series of high kicks varied by an equally futile series of diagonal kicks, both of which were simply transferring possession to England.  But England seemed never to consider using their backs as a way of breaking the shackles on the game.

Throughout the match the delivery from the tackle/ruck was slow, slow, slow, and more than anything knocked the pace of the game flat.

The mauling, except for two by Italy, was painfully static.

At the final whistle the vanquished had broader smiles than the victors.

England kicked off and within three minutes had three points on the board as, when Martín Castrogiovanni was penalised for collapsing an England scrum, Wilkinson goaled a penalty to become the highest scorer in the International Championship, passing Neil Jenkins.

Wilkinson kicked another penalty on 15 minutes and a third on 23 minutes.

At this stage Denis Dallan broke his ankle.  It was a simple as that.  He was chasing a kick and tripped over the lower leg of Sergio Parisse.  There was a long wait while he was taken off in agony.

England came close but Tindall was brought down at the five-metre line which he may have thought was the goal-line, but a poor clearance by Roland de Marigny gave England a five-metre line-out on their right.  Italy lost their captain Marco Bortolami to the sin bin for coming in at the side of a promising England maul.  While he was absent England scored a try.

England eventually went wide to the left where Josh Lewsey patted on a pass to Jason Robinson, who, with Kaine Robertson sucked in, scored in the corner.  That was a minute before half-time and meant that England led 14-0 at the break.

In that half England had had three five-metre line-outs without being over to brush aside the Italian defence.  The spirit of Horatio was still there!

England set up camp in their own territory in for much of the second half and on a rare sortie out of it scored when Wilkinson kicked a penalty.  17-0 after 55 minutes.

It was then that Italy livened things up and Troncon had much to do with it as he played quickly and Italy got quicker ball from the tackle/ruck than England ever did.  Josh Sole and Carlo Festuccia were close to scoring and then they had a five-metre line-out as Wilkinson cleared weakly.

England survived but then came the best bit of rugby in the whole match, a sparkling jewel set off by dull foil.  From well within their own 22 and not far from the touch-line on their left they started to counter with clever running and passing by Mirco Bergamasco, Matteo Pratichetti and Scanavacca who set Sole running at the line.  Sole was brought down but Scanavacca got it from the ground and ran unchallenged for some 12 metres to score under the posts.  Italian glee was barely controlled.

Scanavacca converted to make it 17-7, and in the last 15 minutes Wilkinson kicked a penalty and Italy played the better rugby till the final whistle went.

Man of the Match:  Harry Ellis was a contender and so was Martin Corry.  For Italy there were Mirco Bergamasco, Josh Sole and our Man of the Match Alessandro Troncon, playing his 93 Test with verve, skill and commitment, looking like Italy's leader.

Moment of the Match:  Andrea Scanavacca's try.  No other moment came close.

Villain of the Match:  Not really, not even mortified Marco Bortolami and his little yellow card.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Robinson
Pens:  Wilkinson 5

For Italy:
Try:  Scanavacca
Con:  Pez

Yellow card:  Bortolami (35, Italy, collapsing a maul)

The teams:

England:  15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Nick Easter, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Shaun Perry (Bristol), 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mathew Tait.

Italy:  15 Roland De Marigny, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Denis Dallan, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martín Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Salvatore Perugini (Toulouse), 18 Valerio Bernabò, 19 Roberto Mandelli, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Ramiro Pez, 22 Matteo Pratichetti

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Ireland complete another Welsh mission

Ireland made a winning start to their Six Nations campaign on Sunday, beating Wales in Cardiff 19-9 in a fabulous game of rugby.

It doesn't sound like much of a scoreline, but it tells a false tale.  Both teams conjured up a thrilling brand of rugby to wow the crowd, with Ireland's belligerence and discipline on the ball just winning through in the end.

Wales and Ireland certainly saved the best rugby of the weekend for last.  At Cana of Galilee the wedding organisers were almost accused for saving the best wine for last.  This match was a climax to the weekend and a glorious reaffirmation of the virtues of rugby after two one-sided Six Nations matches and much bumbling and fumbling in the not-so-super Super 14.

It was a match played with intensity, skill, adventure and courage -- the best of rugby.  Afterwards Eddie O'Sullivan, unsmiling, described it as a "rough and tumble" game -- which did it no justice at all.

Ireland scored three tries to nil, which suggests a comfortable victory but it was not so.

After the match Dwayne Peel remarked that Wales had dominated the first half, and indeed they had.  But Ireland had three chances to score in the half and scored on two of those occasions.

The first try was after 45 seconds.  Ireland kicked off, Wales kicked back and Ireland attacked with -- an omen -- Gordon D'Arcy running at the Welsh.  Back the ball came from the tackle and Peter Stringer kicked down towards the Welsh left where young, late-replacement Chris Czekaj could have let the ball bounce out but chose instead to grab it and turn it in to Stephen Jones who kicked, aiming at the touch-line.  The ball did not get there because Brian O'Driscoll charged it down.  Hooker Rory Best was on hand to scoop up the ball and plunge over for the try.  5-0 after 45 seconds.

Not downhearted Wales then took over and attacked.  An Irish Off-side gave Jones a simple penalty.  5-3.

Then came Ireland's second chance to score, the chance they did not take.  Again it was D'Arcy who set it going with a strong break going left.  Ireland were battering at the line when Denis Hickie did a corkscrew and darted at the line, passing to David Wallace, who did not take the pass with nobody between him and a stride to the line, and Wales survived.

A counterattack by lively Kevin Morgan set Wales going again and a penalty against Donncha O'Callaghan for collapsing a maul gave Jones his second easy kick and Wales the lead (6-5) after 19 pulsating minutes.

Wales at this stage varied their game with clever kicking, sharp handling and tapped penalties to keep the Irish under pressure.  To their credit the wise Irish heads did not panic and their defence always looked in control.

But another Irish off-side gave Jones another penalty.  Wales led 9-5 after 24 minutes.  They were not destined to score again in the match.

In one attack Hickie suffered a scalp wound and went off with a blood-laced face.  He came back later with a scrum cap to cover his five stitches.  While he was away Geordan Murphy replaced him.

Hickie was not the only bleeder in the match for Ryan Jones and Ian Gough were also off for patching.

Then came Ireland's third chance.  Ronan O'Gara kicked a long kick down towards his left.  It rolled and carried on rolling.  Young James Hook stood and watched it roll, perhaps hoping it would roll into touch-in-goal.  But a rugby ball has its own inbuilt perversity and the ball rolled out five metres from the Welsh line.  Wales won the line-out and Peel kicked high downfield but not out.

Murphy caught ran and kicked high and long, haring after the ball.  Taller than Peel he jumped above him and caught the ball to set Ireland attacking on their left.  From here they sped the ball to the right margin of the field where O'Driscoll cut inside Czekaj to stretch and score in the corner.  O'Gara converted from touch.

Bread of Heaven yielded to the Fields of Athenry as half-time came and Ireland led 12-9.

Ireland were close early in the second half when Czekaj was free and then grubbered speeding in blue boots after the ball but he was impeded by Simon Easterby.  Some cried for a penalty try but the referee settled for an Irish five-metre scrum and Peter Stringer cleared.  It was Wales's best chance to score a try in the match.

A score in the half was a long time coming but the match remained enthralling as the teams' energies seemed never sapped.

O'Gara had a long run as he broke.  Andrew Trimble was close.  Ireland made a penalty into a five-metre line-out -- and then overthrew the ball.  Ireland attacked but a turnover saw Gough kick clear -- but when passing may have been a more productive option.

Ireland bashed from another five-metre line-out but when they spread the ball wide they lost a turnover when O'Driscoll was tackled.

After replacement Aled Brew had knocked on near his 22 on the Irish left, Ireland spread the ball with long passes from the ensuing scrum.  They skipped D'Arcy who went on the loop, cut past two defenders.  Three Welshmen hauled him down at the line, but the ball came back to Ireland and Stringer scrambled it to O'Gara on his right.  The fly-half was strong enough to keep Jamie Robinson's tackle to get the ball down.  The referee checked with the television match official who had a much easier time than his counterpart at Twickenham had had in awarding Jonny Wilkinson's try.  It was a try, and O'Gara converted it from touch.

Man of the Match:  Wales had Martyn Williams, Dwayne Peel, Kevin Morgan and Ryan Jones who were outstanding in a team that was outstanding.  Ireland had Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer, Paul O'Connell and our Man of the Match Gordon D'Arcy, so effective on attack and so hard on defence.

Moment of the Match:  If one were to pick just a moment, a single moment, it would probably Geordan Murphy's high kick, chase and catch that led to Brian O'Driscoll's try.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody -- absolutely nobody for it was a match of great good manners in the midst of so much passionate intensity.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Pens:  Jones 3

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best R, O'Driscoll, O'Gara
Cons:  O'Gara 2

The Teams:

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Hal Luscombe, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 James Hook, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Stephen Jones (c), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Robert Sidoli, 19 Gavin Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Aled Brew.

Ireland:  15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Trimble,13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 19 Neil Best, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Referee:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Old guard brings new England home

Jonny Wilkinson notched a personal haul of 27 points -- including one highly dubious try -- as England roared back onto the international scene with a 42-20 win over Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.

This was the dawn of a new era for England under the watchful eye of Brian Ashton for the first time, but there was so much of the old England on display -- the England who won the World Cup in 2003.

There was the powerful surging mauls from the forward pack, a fluidity to the back-line play that has been missing for so long, and then there was that familiar name all over the score sheet again, Jonny Wilkinson.

On his first game back in an England shirt since he dropped that goal in Sydney in 2003 Wilkinson produced an impeccable display of goal kicking, helping himself to a personal haul of 27 points, including a highly controversial try.

England fans the world over will be asking themselves, "what if Jonny had been fit for the last three years?".  His goal kicking alone justified his selection in the side, after just 43 minutes of rugby since his latest injury.  But there was an air of the old Wilkinson as he settled back into the shirt he made his own for so long before injuries separated him from it.

However it was not just a case of Wilkinson winning England the game, despite being involved in all that was good from the men in white, as England looked a different side from that which plummeted into the depths last November.  Vickery was an inspiring captain, ever ready and willing to lead by example, Corry looked revitalised at the base of the scrum, and Joe Worsley was close to his marauding best.

Then there was Andy Farrell.  So much had been made of his move to rugby union and after a long awaited debut in his new code many felt he was not the answer England were desperately searching for.  His display today may have been overshadowed by Ellis and Wilkinson but if anything that suited him perfectly.

He was able to quietly go about his business, and how he went about it.  His running was direct and he made crossing the gain line look easy.  With Wilkinson kicking so effectively it allowed Farrell to concentrate on his distribution, an asset he used to full effect in midfield releasing those outside of him.

The spotlight may have been on Wilkinson but it was his half back partner Harry Ellis who stole the show, if that is possible when Wilkinson is involved.  Ellis made countless breaks around the tired Scotland fringes racking up the yards in the process.  He also offered England a useful kicking option, which resulted in a Jason Robinson try, albeit after Sean Lamont had made a hash of grounding the ball.

Scotland came to Twickenham in confident mood, but will leave with their tails firmly between their legs after they were outclassed.  Having given the home fans an early fright through a Simon Taylor try, they slowly faded from the game as legs became heavy and missed tackles came more often.

There would have been a sense of déjà-vu for England fans, as Wilkinson kicked three penalties and a drop goal in the first half, effortlessly resuming where he last left off in an England shirt.  So too did Jason Robinson, who bagged a brace of tries, although he seems to have lost a yard of pace since coming back from retirement.

The first of his tries came at a crucial time.  Leading by two points with half time approaching Robinson dummied the drifting defence before scooting over the whitewash.  The try was made by Farrell's direct running and a superb flick on by who other than Jonny Wilkinson.

Trailing by just seven points at the break Scotland would have felt that they were still in touch of England, and when a Chris Paterson penalty reduced the gap to just four points English nerves would have been jangling.  That was before Wilkinson continued his onslaught in the second period.  Two more penalties eased England further ahead before Robinson was in again.

As they did all day England's forwards laid the platform with a dynamic rolling maul before Ellis slid a clever grubber kick in behind Sean Lamont.  With Robinson bearing down on him Lamont seemed to have the kicked covered, and then he seemed to slip and lose his footing, allowing Robinson to apply the downward pressure for the easiest of tries.

With Wilkinson adding the touchline conversion one could sense the Scottish heads drop as they admitted defeat.  As if he hadn't done enough already Wilkinson rounded off a perfect afternoon for England and himself by adding a try to his collection of kicks.  Ellis laid the foundations with a sharp break before finding Wilkinson in support.  As he dived for the line it appeared as if his foot was in touch at the time of the grounding.  The TMO was called upon and despite all of the technology available to him failed to see the stray foot and allowed the try -- a truly shocking decision.

By this stage Scotland were tired and defeated, which is probably why they failed to see Magnus Lund lurking on the blindside of a maul allowing him a simple try to compound Scotland's woes.  Wilkinson missed the conversion but it was insignificant by this stage, England had announced their reemergence on the international stage.

Content with their efforts England switched off in the closing stages to allow Rob Dewey in for a consolation try, a just reward for their efforts as while they were outclassed they never threw in the towel.  David Callam was outstanding in fighting a losing battle, and Chris Cusiter was a thorn in the England rose.

But the day will belong to England, their new coach, Brian Ashton, their new captain, Phil Vickery, and their same old Jonny Wilkinson, as they reclaimed the Calcutta Cup in some style.

Man of the Match:  A mention for Scotland as they had star performers, but not enough to spoil the party.  David Callam was in superb form, tackling himself to a standstill.  Chris Cusiter gave his all behind a struggling pack and Dan Parks kicked with aplomb.  But it is no surprise the award goes to an English man, but which one?  It is hard not to be drawn to Jonny Wilkinson and the way he shook off three years of injury heartache and produce a masterful display.  However we have gone for his half-back partner Harry Ellis.  Ellis was in sensational form, sniping around the fringes and making breaks at will.  He bossed his forwards to great effect and turned in a superb performance in general.

Moment of the Match:  Rather than a single moment we have gone for a collective group.  In his first game back in an England shirt for almost four years Jonny Wilkinson provided a superb kicking display to keep England ticking over all afternoon.

Villain of the Match:  With both teams intent on playing rugby there was nothing of note from the players.  Instead it was Donal Courtney, the TMO, who scooped this award when he mysteriously awarded Jonny Wilkinson a try.  Everyone could see his foot was clearly in touch before the ball was grounded.  Yet despite seeing replays from several angles on more than one occasion he somehow awarded the try.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Robinson 2, Wilkinson, Lund
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Pens:  Wilkinson 5
Drop goal:  Wilkinson

For Scotland:
Tries:  Taylor, Dewey
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pens:  Paterson 2

The teams:

England:  15 Olly Morgan, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Chris Paterson (c), 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 James Hamilton, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Rob Dewey, 22 Rory Lamont.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)

"Sea-bass" stars as Italy flounder

France started their 2007 Six Nations campaign in perfect style with a convincing 3-39 victory over Italy at Stadio Flaminio on Saturday.  Having looked rusty in the opening quarter France finally found their straps and dominated for the remainder of a one-sided affair.

We thought Italy might give France a scare, maybe even a nasty surprise.  In the event, the mental fragility under pressure that has gnawed away at Italy's progress in other areas once again undermined their efforts.

Pierre Berbizier accused his counterpart Bernard Laporte of wasting playing resources this week, but the majority of the wastage came from his own team, who enjoyed stacks of possession yet barely crossed the gain-line most of the time, never mind the French defensive line.

The Azzurri were not short of opportunity, but the execution was shocking -- never better exemplified than just before half-time, when Fabio Ongaro butchered a two-man overlap and instead lost possession in the tackle.

Italy also had two penalty kicks in the first five minutes, both eminently kickable, but Andrea Scannavacca missed the first when he slipped on the threadbare, sandy turf, and Roland de Marigny's attempt looked as though he had booted a set of bagpipes.  It barely made the try-line.

Thus did a lot of good Italian build-up play, particularly from both Bergamasci and Sergio Parisse, go to waste, and thus did the confidence wane.  For much of the second half, they rarely rose beyond three-quarters pace, with the backs standing flat and the forwards not producing clean enough ball.

France, on the other hand, look to have made significant steps forward since November.  Pierre Mignoni's brisk service and acceleration at scrum-half added some zip to the play around the pack fringes, which was France's main avenue of attack.

Sébastian Chabal finally brought shades of his Sale form to the blue shirt around those fringes, and David Skréla looked comfortable at fly-half, although he was provided with plenty of space by his pack and by Mignoni.  Stiffer tests might exploit a slight slowness of service, but experience might speed it up too.

The French pack as a whole proved more than equal to the Italian pack, and the first score of the game came as a direct result, when Olivier Milloud scrummed Carlos Nieto to pieces on the Italian 22.  Skréla kicked the penalty to make it 0-3 after eight minutes.

The next score came as a direct result of that poor Italian execution.  After Parisse and Mirco Bergamsco had made good ground, out the ball came left to De Marigny, but his pass for Ongaro went to ground and Dominici hacked on, and on again, before picking up on the bounce and sauntering under the posts.

That score -- Skréla made it 0-10 with the conversion -- was after 24 minutes, and it was a lone bright spark in some pretty grim stuff.  Any Italian breaks got bogged down by slow support, and France were conservative in approach, and effective in their conservatism.

Only once did the backs stitch some passes together, with Clément Poitrenaud, Mignoni, Skréla and Florian Fritz all involved, but the latter chipped when an offload would have been more appropriate and gave the ball away.

France extended the lead on the half-hour mark with a try that owed everything to Mignoni's will to attack.  When the scrum-half sucked in two defenders on the blind side, his flat pass was expertly flicked on by Skréla to Cédric Heymans, who was clean down the left and also went under the posts, Skréla making it 0-17.

Sébastian Chabal scored his first try for France right on half-time, with Mignoni once again making some yards around the fringe, and Raphaël Ibañez driving on to 2m from the line before the number eight's enormous hirsute figure ploughed over the line.  Skréla hit the post with the conversion, and at 3-22, that was the end of a disappoiting first half.

The second half barely rose above the pedestrian.  France were quite content to close proceedings out away from their own half, and even more so after Chabal had taken Mignoni's clever flat pop for his second try after 44 minutes, with Skréla's conversion making it 3-29.

Bar a brief flurry from the backs early on, Italy offered nothing, and worryingly for them, the substitutes didn't make any difference either.  France, as a whole, shut up shop magnificently, but there was nothing Italy could find to pick the locks open.

From another Italian handling error, Skréla nearly claimed his first try in French colours when he hacked through another dropped Italian pass, but was denied in the corner by Mirco Bergamasco.

Then on the hour mark Jauzion did claim the sixth try, after Poitrenaud and Heymans had won back a high Skréla kick and drawn the covering defence.

Substitute Lionel Beauxis claimed his first points in French senior colours, landing a late penalty judiciously kicked while Chabal was treated after a heavy collision, and rounding off the scoring.

So plenty of firsts for the French, and a new dawn of sorts after November's dark patch, but precious little light for Italy, who have seven days to forget this performance before stepping into England's HQ.

Man of the match:  Has to be French.  Mauro Bergamasco and Gonzalo Canale played well for Italy in parts, and Pierre Mignoni has confirmed his presence on France's healthy list of top-notch scrum-halves.  But today's excellence was France number eight Sébastian Chabal, whose running and strength, as well as his two tries, gave France the perfect platform to go forward.

Moment of the match:  Cédric Heymans' try, or more specifically, David Skréla's sleight of hand that set the Toulouse winger on his way.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.  Italy were too submissive and France too focussed for any villainy.

The Scorers:

For Italy:
Pen:  Pez

For France:
Tries:  Dominici, Heymans, Chabal 2, Jauzion
Cons:  Skréla 4
Pens:  Skréla, Beauxis

The Teams:

Italy:  15 Roland de Marigny, 14 Denis Dallan, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martín Leandro Castrogiovanni, 19 Roberto Mandelli, 20 Alessandro Troncon, 21 Ramiro Pez, 22 Kaine Robertson

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 David Skréla, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Sebastian Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (c), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Vincent Clerc.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  Dave Pearson (England), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)