France seal first win

France were left holding the wooden spoon despite battling to a 23-16 win over Scotland in the final match of the 2013 Six Nations.

France battled to a 23-16 win over Scotland on a wet night in Paris in the final match of the 2013 Six Nations.

The visitors were impressive in defence during the first half as they repelled multiple phases of French attacks, with two Greig Laidlaw penalties putting them 6-0 ahead going into the break.

But France were rejuvenated in the second half, the introduction of Maxime Machenaud transforming their fortunes as they first took the lead thanks to three penalties from Frederic Michalak and then further with two tries from Wesley Fofana and Maxime Médard.

It concluded a miserable tournament for France who finish bottom of the table for the first time since 1999, but Scotland will take heart from their showing in Paris as they improved on negative pre-tournament expectations given the interim head coaching appointment of Scott Johnson.

France tore up the fragile pitch with a series of impressive scrums in the opening five minutes, but it was Scotland who took the lead thanks to a penalty from scrum-half Laidlaw.

Laidlaw furthered the Scots lead minutes later after good French pressure, the hosts unable to put points on the scoreboard early on.

A series of French scrums near the Scottish try line took up a fair chunk of the first half and frustratingly failed to yield any points, with Scotland escaping thanks to consistent defence as boos rang around the Stade de France.

A clever piece of skill from Vincent Clerc kept a Michalak cross-field kick in play, volleying the ball into the path of Yoann Huget, but the French attack eventually broke down following a knock on from Fofana.

Scotland looked the brighter attacking threat going into half-time, replacement Max Evans chipping through but he was beaten to the ball by Maxime Médard.  No further scores before the interval meant France were without any points by half-time.

France did finally find their way onto the scoreboard five minutes into the second half, Michalak adding a penalty after good pressure at the scrum.

The hosts then drew level with another Michalak penalty a few minutes later, before completing the turnaround with a third Michalak strike on 54 minutes to take a 9-6 lead.

Laidlaw levelled the scores with a third penalty, but then France took control.

Wesley Fofana capitalised on some fine offloading down the right hand side to grab the game's first try, with Michalak converting.

Bastareaud's break then led to a second French score from Médard as France opened up some daylight between themselves and the visitors.  Michalak was forced to retire hurt, receiving warm applause from the crowd after a difficult Six Nations, leaving Machenaud to convert.

Scotland then went from 22 to 22 to score a breakaway try for Tim Visser, giving the Scots hope as time ticked away.  They were unable to seal another victory though as France clung on, easing the pressure on Philippe Saint-André but meaning that they finish the championship at the bottom of the table.

Man of the match:  A real game-changing substitute, the introduction of scrum-half Maxime Machenaud switched the home sides's fortunes as he worked with first Michalak and then François Trinh-Duc.

Moment of the match:  A half-time rollicking from Philippe Saint-André appeared to snap France into life, as they took the lead with three penalties after the break and then ran in two tries.

Villain of the match:  That man Michalak again baffled with his selection, and was forced to leave the field due to injury as a respite after a nasty forearm earlier on.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Fofana, Médard
Cons:  Michalak, Machenaud
Pens:  Michalak 3

For Scotland:
Try:  Visser
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

The teams:

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Antonie Claassen, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Florian Fritz or Gael Fickou.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans.

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)

Italy shock Ireland in Rome

Italy defeated Ireland for the first time since 1997 as they edged their visitors 22-15 in Rome on Saturday, claiming their second win of Six Nations 2013.

It was the perfect send-off for Italian prop Andrea Lo Cicero as the Azzurri finish the Championship in fourth, above the struggling Irish and French.

The victory was Italy's first over Ireland in Rome.

For Ireland though the worst could be yet to come as should France beat Scotland by 16 points with a try, then the Wooden Spoon would be theirs.  It is also their worst-ever run in the Championship.

Italy wing Giovambattista Venditti was the game's only try scorer early in the second half while the Irish were left to rue three sin-binnings and three early injuries at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Ireland had the early momentum though and Paddy Jackson put the first of his 15 points on the board with a sixth-minute penalty after Leonardo Ghiraldini was blown for a tackle on Conor Murray.

However the visitors' luck soon ran out in a half which saw several of their players come off injured and iconic centre Brian O'Driscoll, possibly playing his last Ireland international, sent to the sin-bin.

Ireland were robbed several times at their own lineout and it was after Sergio Parisse out-jumped Donnacha Ryan deep in Irish territory that the referee whistled for a penalty which Orquera fired over to level on 13 minutes.

Italy resumed in positive fashion, Edoardo Gori dancing through several green shirts before offloading to Parisse at the halfway line where a lineout was called after he failed to release the ball quickly enough.

When Sean O'Brien failed to get up quickly enough after a tackle, Italy were awarded another penalty but Orquera's effort from 40 metres came off the upright.

It failed to faze the hosts, who went 6-3 up thanks to Orquera's penalty after Cian Healy failed to roll away after tackling Parisse.

Ireland suffered further setback when Keith Earls was brought down and forced off after appearing to injure his shoulder.  Luke Marshall was then forced off holding his arm and O'Driscoll was sin-binned for a needless stamp on the chest of Favaro.

Italy ultimately failed to capitalise and it took a penalty from Gonzalo Garcia just before half-time to bring up their lead to 9-3, only for Ireland to reduce the arrears through another Jackson penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Italy had Ireland on the ropes in the opening few minutes of the second half and were finally rewarded with their only try of the game thanks to Venditti, who squeezed the ball over on the right.  Orquera, from 35 metres out, converted to give Italy a 16-6 lead which had the crowd in raptures.

Ireland, however, came fighting back and cut the deficit through a Jackson penalty after Parisse was sent to the sin-bin for a trip on Madigan.

Jackson was spot-on again from over 40 metres moments later after Italy had failed to release, taking the score to 16-12 just before the hour.

With Parisse still sidelined, Ireland began to push deep into Italian territory and came close to making the breakthrough after a dominant 20-phase spell in which they finally had to settle for a penalty.  Jackson converted for 16-15.

Parisse returned, but moments later it was to say farewell to a tearful Lo Cicero who ended his Italy career in the 64th minute and was replaced by Michele Rizzo.

Another chance to extend the lead was spurned when Garcia's penalty effort was short and wide.  But when Orquera was restored to kicking duties minutes later he sent Italy 19-15 in front with another low effort 10 minutes from the final whistle.

After Parisse was brought down by several green shirts as he charged down the left Murray was sin-binned for a tripping offence.

Italy won yet another lineout and a subsequent penalty, with Orquera sealing victory in the final minute.

Man of the match:  Italy scrum-half Eduardo Gori impressed at the base but for back-to-back strong showings from number fifteen, we go for Andrea Masi, whose chip into his hands before causing opposite number Rob Kearney to cough up the ball into touch was pretty special.

Moment of the match:  It was an emotional occasion when Italy prop Andrea Lo Cicero left the field to a standing ovation in his final Test, but we have to go for the key try scored by Giovambattista Venditti.  That score put Italy ten points up, which turned out to be enough of a cushion.

Villain of the match:  Four yellow cards so take your pick …

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Venditti
Con:  Orquera
Pen:  Orquera 4, Garcia
Yellow:  Parisse (51 mins — trip)

For Ireland:
Pen:  Jackson 5
Yellow:  O'Driscoll (30 mins — stamp), Ryan (68 mins — collapsing maul), Murray (79 mins — trip)

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Alberto de Marchi, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c) 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Wales win Six Nations 2013

Wales claimed the Six Nations title on Saturday as they emphatically shut out rivals England 30-3 at the Millennium Stadium in a humdinger of a match.

Two tries from Alex Cuthbert, who ends with four scores to his name, proved to be the turning point in the game after a first-half that ended try-less.

It was a performance that brought back memories of their 2011 World Cup form and showed the potential this Welsh team has going into 2015.

Put simply, England were outplayed and could not cross the whitewash — now having done so just once in their last four games — as the Six Nations and Grand Slam both disappeared into the night.

As it was the defending Grand Slam champions that bettered a 108-year-old record to clinch their biggest ever win over England, surpassing the 25-point margin recorded in a 25-0 win in 1905.

The first-half was a rip-roaring affair in Cardiff as both teams went at each other hammer and tongs in an entertaining spectacle that had both fans in the stadium and viewers watching at home on the edge of their seats.

After building a 12-3 lead early in the second-half, through four penalties by full-back Leigh Halfpenny to one from England ten Owen Farrell, Wales surged ahead through Cuthbert.

That Welsh try — like in 2012 for Scott Williams — was one that came from the English losing possession in contact and when the ball found its way to Cuthbert on the right wing, the finisher fended off England back Mike Brown en route to a 35-metre run in.

That put them 17-3 in front and minutes later Farrell missed his second shot out of three.

Dan Biggar added a drop before Cuthbert stormed in for another try after good work from Sam Warburton and then Justin Tipuric, with Biggar completing the rout with a penalty.

This was Wales's second victory in a row over England, with the Welsh the only side to defeat the English in Six Nations action since Stuart Lancaster became coach in 2012.

Man of the match:  So many Welsh players put their hands up as the pack as a whole, Dan Biggar, Jamie Roberts et al all stood tall in Cardiff.  But we go for Justin Tipuric, whose fine showing on the openside flank was capped off by a superb assist for Alex Cuthbert.

Moment of the match:  At 12-3 with over 50 minutes gone, the ball squirting out of a ruck and eventually finding Alex Cuthbert was the last thing England needed.  The Cardiff Blues wing showed great pace to go around Mike Brown for a massive score in the context of the game.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Cuthbert 2
Con:  Biggar
Pen:  Halfpenny 5, Biggar

For England:
Pen:  Farrell

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), John Lacey (Ireland)
Television match official:  Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

England toil to defeat Italy

England were left frustrated by a resurgent Italian performance as the hosts kept their Grand Slam hopes alive with an 18-11 win.

Six penalties from Toby Flood kept England ahead on the scoreboard as Italy recovered from a 15-3 deficit at the start of the second half to leave Twickenham on edge in a dramatic finish.

The Azzurri resembled the side that were so impressive in their opening game of the championship against France — hounding England in defence and creating ample attacking opportunities in the second half against an opponent who they have never defeated.

Only desperate defence from England going into the final 10 minutes kept the hosts clinging on to the lead, with all thoughts of a first Grand Slam in a decade put firmly on hold.

England signalled their intent early on with a penalty from Toby Flood after just three minutes — the Leicester fly-half coming in for the injured Owen Farrell.

Mike Brown came close to the opening try after Luciano Orquera's kick was charged down, but the ball eluded him as he tried to make the grounding.

The hosts enjoyed all the possession throughout the opening minutes but were unable to find the opening try, Flood settling for another three points to leave England 6-0 up after 15 minutes.

Italy responded on their first visit to England's half with a penalty from Orquera after an effective driving maul, lifting the voices of the visiting fans.  The Azzurri supporters grew even louder minutes later when Alessandro Zanni burst down the left touchline after Sergio Parisse's inside flick — only for the ball to be knocked on.

England's large swathes of possession created another try-scoring opportunity for the hosts, but Flood's attempted score was ruled out.  Italy then lost scrum-half Edoardo Gori to the sin-bin for taking out Flood off the ball.

The hosts' power at the scrum was again capitalised on by Flood, who added a further three more points after a fine break from Brown to leave England 12-3 up going into the interval after a frustrating half for the home fans.

Another Flood penalty at the start of the second half extended the gap and left Italy chasing the scoreboard, Orquera responding with a penalty of his own after England collapsed at the scrum.

Care's sloppy box kick was then taken out of the air by Andrea Masi and Orquera's delicate chip across to the left wing was snapped up by Luke McLean to score in the corner.

Giovambattista Venditti then carried down the right touchline to leave English tacklers on the deck, but Orquera's resultant penalty attempt fell well wide to the right — failing to make the most of a passage of play where England lost control.

The introduction of Ben Youngs steadied Flood and England crept back to a seven-point advantage thanks to another penalty from the Leicester number 10.

Italy however continued to produce some of their best rugby in this year's championship, finding space down the left-hand side through McLean.

It meant that England were clinging on desperately to their lead as time ticked away, until a knock-on five metres from their own try line led to a collective sigh of relief from the 82,000 crowd.

Twickenham expected a thrashing — the humbled crowd left booing and counting their blessings.

Man of the Match:  A whole host of Italian candidates to choose from in defeat, with Alessandro Zanni getting the nod ahead of his captain Parisse, Masi and winger McLean.

Moment of the Match:  Courtney Lawes' crucial line-out steal with two minutes remaining that helped England ease the Italian pressure.

Villain of the Match:  Starting his first Test for some time, Toby Flood may have kicked well off the tee but struggled to get England's backs firing.

The scorers:

For England:
Pens:  Flood 6

For Italy:
Try:  McLean
Pens:  Orquera 2
Yellow Card:  Gori

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Joe Marler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Simone Favaro, 22 Tobias Botes, 23Tommaso Benvenuti.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Tied result at Aviva Stadium

A try from powerful France number eight Louis Picamoles salvaged a 13-13 result against Ireland as they left the Aviva Stadium with a point.

The Toulouse man's try six minutes from time, converted by Frederic Michalak, ensured the French ended their run of three straight defeats.

It had looked like Ireland would hold on to pick up a priceless Six Nations win but a series of injury concerns over Brian O'Driscoll and Luke Marshall left the hosts scrambling for fit players before Picamoles crashed over in the 73rd minute.

It was the second successive draw between the two sides but extended France's winless streak over the past two Six Nations to seven, their worst run since 1926-27, and leaves them needing to beat Scotland at home next Saturday to have any chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.

The Irish made the early running in terrible weather conditions and were rewarded after a superb tactical kick deep into the French 22 by O'Driscoll set up a lineout.

Peter O'Mahony won the ball and from the resulting driving maul Heaslip squeezed over the line to score his eighth international try — Jackson belied concerns over his place-kicking, after a disastrous performance against Scotland, by landing a superb conversion.

France were presented with a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit in the 16th minute but Michalak, whose selection had raised eyebrows after three poor performances, missed his penalty from close range.

Ireland were very much in control but Jackson missed a chance to make it 10-0 in the 23rd minute as his penalty from long range drifted wide.

Michalak made no mistake with his second chance in the 27th minute as he slotted over a penalty to make it 7-3.

However, the Irish scrum were forcing the French into infringement after infringement and Jackson, assuming responsibility when the Irish could have kicked for the corner, opted for a kick at goal from long range in the 30th minute and converted it to restore the seven point advantage.

The 21-year-old, playing in only his second test, was showing little fear and he punished the French again three minutes later as he stroked a penalty over from about 45 metres for 13-3 which even had injured first choice fly-half Jonathan Sexton grinning and applauding from the stands.

Michalak's woeful first-half finished on a suitably low note as given the chance to give France a filip on the stroke of half-time he sent another kickable penalty wide to leave the Irish sitting comfortably enough at the break.

Jackson had an early chance in the second-half to extend the lead but his effort fell just short.

The Irish were still controlling the game but prop Mike Ross conceded a penalty in the 54th minute and Morgan Parra stepped up, replacing the misfiring Michalak, and converted it for 13-6.

Parra, though, proved he too was fallible, missing a tough penalty attempt just before the hour mark as the French started to pressure the hosts into a series of errors.

The visitors pressed forward desperate to redress the balance but saw a chance go begging as with extra men wide out to the right they failed to push home the advantage and the Irish defence held firm.

However, eventually the French breached the line as Picamoles took advantage of Ireland dithering after a penalty was awarded and tapping it quickly he touched it down for his fifth try for his country — Michalak stepped up to the task and converted for 13-13.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Heaslip
Con:  Jackson
Pen:  Jackson 2

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Con:  Michalak
Pen:  Michalak, Parra

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c) 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Halfpenny boots Wales to victory

Wales downed Scotland with a 28-18 victory in a penalty-ridden goalkicker's dream at Murrayfield in the Six Nations.

A match dominated more by the whistle and boot than any real memorable moments of attacking flair, Scotland and Wales racked up a total of 28 penalties between them as both sides continued to displease referee Craig Joubert.

Leigh Halfpenny ended his afternoon with seven penalties to his name and missed three earlier in the first half, while Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw also reaped the rewards from persistent indiscipline with six penalties of his own.

Neither side was able to generate any sustained tempo due to an imposing performance from the Welsh scrum and countless idiotic penalties from Scotland, in a replica of their discipline against Ireland two weeks ago.

A promising start from Wales at the scrum lead to a simple penalty opportunity for Halfpenny, handing the visitors a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

Greig Laidlaw responded with a long-range penalty that snuck over the crossbar minutes later, before Scotland took the lead when Wales were caught offside outside their own 22.

Scotland's penalty count continued to rise but Halfpenny wasted two penalty chances to let the hosts off the hook.  The full-back's fourth attempt ricocheted off the post.

George North's break down the right-hand side gave Wales excellent field position, and they capitalised with a try from Richard Hibbard, regaining the lead with Halfpenny converting.

Rare field position for Scotland yielded a penalty at the scrum to the hosts, Laidlaw going for goal from the limit of his range and sending it through the posts.

Sale lock Richie Gray was stretchered from the field after a lengthy stoppage in play, causing concern for is club side Sale and also the selectors of the British and Irish Lions.

Laidlaw continued to maintain his accuracy going for goal, putting Scotland ahead just before half-time with another 40 metre effort to put the hosts into the lead.

Wales though were handed an attacking scrum in Scotland's 22 after a knock-on from Sean Lamont at the restart, winning a penalty after Jim Hamilton infringed for Halfpenny to restore the Welsh lead in Edinburgh — 12-13 to the visitors at the interval.

Laidlaw fell short of the posts with his fifth penalty attempt at the start of the second half, his first miss of the afternoon as he struggled kicking into the wind from 46 metres out.

Halfpenny had no such problem from a much shorter distance after a Welsh attack, stretching the gap to four points before Laidlaw responded in the latest chapter of the Murrayfield kicking exhibition.

Wales were presented with a chance to produce some attacking rugby from a five metre lineout, but inevitably the ball was lost forward.  Another penalty to the visitors from the scrum saw Ross Ford cautioned, with Halfpenny converting.

The full-back struck again with yet another penalty to stretch the Welsh lead to 22-15 nearing the 60 minute mark.  The kicking pendulum inevitably swung back Scotland's way as Laidlaw then added three more points of his own.

Halfpenny added his fifth and sixth penalties of the afternoon to open up an 18-25 gap for Wales going into the final 10 minutes as their scrum continued to ruthlessly dominate the Scottish pack.  Another penalty chance, another three points for Halfpenny.

Scotland threw everything at Wales late on as they attempted to claw their way back into the match, but there was to be no breakthrough against a revitalised Welsh defence.  The title decider between Wales and England next weekend is very much on.

Man of the Match:  Hounded by his critics in recent weeks, Sam Warburton's work ethic was exceptional throughout with 13 tackles to his name.

Moment of the Match:  After missing three consecutive kicks, Leigh Halfpenny nailed a difficult touchline conversion after Richard Hibbard's try and never looked back.

Villain of the Match:  Frustrating for supporters, the high penalty count ruined the game as a spectacle.  Eyes on you Mr Joubert.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 6

For Wales:
Try:  Hibbard
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 7
Yellow Card:  James

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Max Evans.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Ryan Jones (capt), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Scott Andrews, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Scotland stay in the hunt

Scotland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive thanks to a hard fought 12-8 victory over Ireland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

It's the first time since 2001 that the Scots have won back-to-back Six Nations matches.

After trailing 8-0 early in the second half, the hosts put 12 unanswered points past their Celtic rivals thanks to the boot of scrum-half Greig Laidlaw that helped his team to an unlikely win and that effectively ends Ireland's Six Nations challenge.

It certainly wasn't the most memorable Championship clash ever witnessed, as the two teams served up a borefest in the first half with Ireland — who dominated possession throughout — heading into the break with a slender three-point lead.

However, Scotland's fightback in the second half breathed some life into a tight contest.

Ireland started the game with a roar and a hiss, with centre Luke Marshall breaking the Scots' defence with ease in his Test debut.  But Ireland failed to convert pressure into points — even against 14 men after Scotland prop Ryan Grant was sin-binned — and only had a 35th-minute Paddy Jackson penalty to show for their dominance.

Ireland finally found the breakthrough they deserved when wing Craig Gilroy crossed early in the second half out wide.  The tricky conversion from Jackson, who missed three times from the tee, was unsuccessful.

That try only seemed to give Scotland the wake-up needed to mount a comeback and it didn't take long for Laidlaw to put his team on the scoreboard with his first penalty kick of the match on 53 minutes.

Jackson pulled another penalty wide two minutes later, but Laidlaw showed the Irish rookie how it was done with his second three-pointer of the afternoon that cut the deficit to just two points and suddenly the crowd came alive.

Laidlaw continued to find his target and made no mistake with two more accurate kicks to give the Scots a four-point cushion entering the final five minutes of what was turning into a gripping finale.

But Ireland weren't prepared to roll over yet, and threatened to steal the match from their hosts when they awarded two attacking scrums 10m out from Scotland's tryline.

However, Scotland dug deep in defence and there was no way through for the Irish whose knock-on sent Murrayfield into raptures.

Man of the match:  Scotland lock Jim Hamilton won the official gong, and his hard work at the set-piece was a real standout for the hosts.  But we've opted for hero of the day Greig Laidlaw, who's four perfect kicks at goal handed Scotland victory.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many.  But those last few minutes that so nearly ended in heartbreak for the hosts was a real nail-biter.

Villain of the match:  Ryan Grant's sin-binning didn't prove as costly as Paddy Jackson's three missed kicks at goal which ultimately cost his side dearly.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 4
Yellow card:Grant (15th min)

For Ireland:
Try:  Gilroy
Pen:  Jackson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.
Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)

England conquer the French

England sidestepped their latest challenge on their way to a Grand Slam with a punishing 23-13 victory over France at Twickenham.

France were transformed from the sluggish side that were abysmal against Wales a fortnight ago — aggressive at the breakdown and benefiting from moving Wesley Fofana back into the centre after his ill-fated stint on the wing.

England were more clinical in the second-half and gained the lead thanks to a fortuitous try from Tuilagi, who enjoyed an excellent afternoon against his French counterpart Mathieu Bastareaud.

A brutally physical clash worth of its affectionate title, saw frequent crunching tackles whilst the scrum was a contest initially dominated by France, before England gained parity as the match progressed.

It was far from the greatest performance under Stuart Lancaster, but a crucial result that leaves England with Italy and Wales in their path on the way to a first Grand Slam since 2003.

Farrell opened the scoring for England after just two minutes following an infringement from Thierry Dusautoir at the breakdown.

France were unable to exploit a three-man overlap on the outside when Bastareaud knocked on, but with advantage being played Morgan Parra opened his account with a penalty from 39 metres out.

The visitors grabbed the initiative in the scrum to force England into conceding two consecutive penalties, with France benefiting from a smoother surface than the pot-holed Stade de France from a fortnight ago against Wales.

Both sides struggled to convert large periods of possession in attack — conceding penalties when faced by a physical backlash from the opposition at the breakdown.

An attacking line-out created the base for a promising English attack after Manu Tuilagi burst through the midfield, only for Farrell's chip across for Chris Ashton to go too deep.  Farrell converted England's penalty advantage however to make the score 6-3 after 27 minutes.

Fofana then broke through several English tackles down the left flank to score the game's opening try, Ashton's tap tackle unable to bring the Clermont centre down as he crossed in the left-hand corner, with Parra converting.

Farrell hit back with a penalty to cut the deficit to one point with five minutes left before half-time, before Parra attempted to respond with a penalty of his own at the end of the half from long-range which fell wide to the left.

France showed no let-up in the scrum at the beginning of the second half, forcing the penalty, but Parra was unable to convert.

A punishing maul from England then handed Farrell the chance to regain the lead, with the Saracen again successful to move England 12-10 ahead.

England then furthered their lead thanks to Tuilagi, the Leicester centre snatching up a loose ball at the back of the French ruck to canter into the corner.

France struck back with a penalty immediately from the restart, substitute Frederic Michalak coming on to convert and leave the score at 17-13.  More strict officiating at the breakdown from referee Craig Joubert handed England an opportunity to add more points, Farrell lining up a 48 metre attempt which fell low to the left.

A burst up the left from Picamoles had England scrambling, before Michalak failed to take a low pass having begun the passage of play with a perfect chip over the top of the English defence.

Another brilliant surge from Tuilagi left Bastareaud flat on his back in midfield, setting up a grubber kick for Toby Flood behind the French defence which was well fielded by Vincent Clerc.

England though were in the ascendency at the breakdown, with Michalak penalised to allow Toby Flood the easiest of opportunities to stretch the home side's lead.  He made no mistake — sending England into a 20-13 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Another error at the breakdown handed Flood a further three points to give England a solid cushion heading into the closing minutes.

The home side's defence held despite a late French surge, confirming their victory on a bitterly cold night at Twickenham and condemning France to one of their worst starts to a Six Nations ever.

Man of the Match:  Despite the presence of Tuilagi, Tom Wood was outstanding for England from the base of the scrum.

Moment of the Match:  With a lucky break needed, Manu Tuilagi could scarcely believe his luck as he picked up a loose ball and scored England's first try.

Villain of the Match:  Not the greatest of substitute appearances for Frederic Michalak, whose little errors gave up key points in the second half.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Tuilagi
Pens:  Farrell 4, Flood 2
Yellow Card:  Cole

For France:
Tries:  Fofana
Cons:  Parra
Pens:  Parra, Michalak

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Jocelino Suta, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Florian Fritz.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Victory for Wales in Rome

Second-half tries from Jonathan Davies and Alex Cuthbert helped Wales to a 26-9 victory over Italy in the Six Nations in Rome.

A severe downpour before kick-off hindered the handling ability of both sides through the first half, with Leigh Halfpenny adding three penalties for the visitors and Kristopher Burton responding with two for the hosts.

Wales though stepped up the intensity in the second half and were worthy winners as Italy struggled to find a breakthrough past the advancing Welsh defence, Burton twice settling for drop goal attempts that both sailed wide.

The result will further lift Welsh spirits with their second victory on the road in this year's championship, leaving them in contention for the title should other results go their way over the coming weeks.

Wales opened the scoring through a penalty from Leigh Halfpenny following a series of drives in the Italian 22, as both sides gradually adjusted to the difficult conditions.

The Italians won the first battle at the scrum, Martin Castrogiovanni getting on top of Gethin Jenkins to create a kicking opportunity for new fly-half Burton to level the scores at 3-3 after ten minutes.

Wales hit back however on the next engage to hand Halfpenny another opportunity for points, with the full-back regaining the lead with a penalty.

Further dominance at the scrum handed Wales another penalty chance after 18 minutes, with Halfpenny duly converting for a 9-3 lead.

A penalty to Italy on the half-way line saw Burton opt for the corner rather than attempting the long-range shot at goal, but his execution was poor and fortunately for the Italians a handling error from Alex Cuthbert handed Italy an attacking scrum five metres from the Welsh line.

Fast defence from Wales limited the Italian's progression metres out from the try line, with Burton opting for a drop-goal attempt which missed narrowly to the left.

Another surge of pummelling rain created more handling errors from both sides — before Italy chipped back at the Welsh lead through a penalty from the scrum.

A charged down box kick on Edoardo Gori by Jenkins put the Italians under pressure in their own 22, with Wales winning a consequent penalty at the breakdown to go 12-6 in front as half-time approached.

The hosts had the better opening period in the second half, keeping possession in the Welsh half, with Burton sending another drop goal attempt wide of the posts.

Italy then floundered trying to regather a chip over the top into their 22 and Jonathan Davies pounced for Wales to snatch the game's opening try.

A probing kick from Andrea Masi put Wales under pressure with a lineout metres from the try line as Italy searched for a foothold in the second half with the score at 16-6.

Burton then clocked three more points after a penalty to bring the Azzurri within seven.

Halfpenny responded after another dominant scrum inside the Italian half, extending the gap once more to ten points with half an hour remaining.

More disruption from the Italian scrum led to referee Romain Poite sending captain Castrogiovanni to the sin-bin, and Wales wasted no time to extend the gap on the scoreboard.

A well-taken line by Alex Cuthbert cut through a gap in the Italian's defence, with the Cardiff Blues winger going over in the left corner for the second Welsh try of the afternoon to make the score 26-9.

Another penalty opportunity for Wales presented itself with Italy down to 14 men — with Ryan Jones opting to go for the corner rather than the extra points, but Wales were unable to capitalise.

Neither side were able though to add to the scoreboard as Wales kept their hopes of a possible title alive dependent on England's result against France, whilst Italy's stunning victory over France now feels more and more like a one-off success.

Man of the Match:  16 tackles summed up the hard-work and commitment of Wales captain Ryan Jones, whose rich vein of form continues.

Moment of the Match:  A comical mix-up between the Italian half-backs allowed Jonathan Davies to simply pounce on the loose ball for the game's opening try.

Villain of the Match:  The woes of the Italian scrum were summed up by Castrogiovanni's sin-binning on a poor afternoon for Italy's stand-in captain.

The scorers:

Italy:
Pens:  Burton 2

Wales:
Tries:  Davies, Cuthbert
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

The teams:

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Ratu Manoa Vosawai, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Dublin triumph for England

England picked up an impressive 12-6 victory over Six Nations rivals Ireland on Sunday in an absorbing 80 minutes at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Stuart Lancaster's outfit put in another mature effort that leaves them as the last remaining unbeaten side in the 2013 Championship.

No tries were scored in the spectacle but the English displayed an edge that denied Ireland, who had crossed for three tries against Wales, any real opportunity to get over the whitewash.

Owen Farrell kicked all of England's points, but it was their intelligence with and without the ball that ultimately won the game as Ireland struggled to get into the match, due in part to losing Simon Zebo and Jonathan Sexton to early injuries.

Farrell gave England an early lead with a second-minute penalty but Dublin tempers flared in the fourteenth minute when Ireland prop Cian Healy's apparent use of the boot on England tighthead Dan Cole at a ruck sparked a mass brawl.

Both packs managed to slow their opponents' ruck ball and neither side had a genuine chance of a try in the first-half of a match featuring several candidates for the Lions tour.

In such a tight contest, discipline was especially important, and Farrell punished Ireland for coming round the wrong side of a ruck with a superb penalty from nearly 50 metres out.

Ireland lost fly-half Sexton with a hamstring pull just after the half-hour mark, although the wet conditions put a premium on the kicking game for which Ronan O'Gara is renowned.

But when O'Gara, Ireland's most capped player, held on too long in the tackle, following good work by England defensive linchpin Brad Barritt, it gave Farrell a long-range penalty chance on the stroke of half-time.  However, his kick just went wide.

Early in the second period Ireland won a scrum penalty and O'Gara cut the deficit in half.

Coach Lancaster stiffened his side's physical presence by bringing on centre Manu Tuilagi for Billy Twelvetrees and Courtney Lawes for lock Joe Launchbury in the 48th minute.

England, though, were a man down in the 57th minute when blindside James Haskell, was yellow carded by French referee Jérôme Garces for kicking the ball out of a ruck.

O'Gara landed the ensuing penalty to tie the match at 6-6 heading into the final quarter.  Yet despite being reduced to fourteen, England then outscored Ireland 6-3 in the ten minutes.

Farrell's clever kick ahead set up an England line-out close to Ireland's line and then Tuilagi was just unable to get a touch for a try after a neat chip ahead by scrum-half Ben Youngs.

However, Garces had already awarded England a penalty from inside the 22 and Farrell made no mistake to nudge his side into a 9-6 lead.  And that became 12-6 when the composed Farrell landed his fourth penalty after Ireland infringed by not releasing.

Ireland then saw O'Gara miss an eminently kickable penalty from just outside the 22 and England's defence held firm for a result that puts them two points clear at the summit.

Man of the match:  While the official award went to captain Chris Robshaw, who was superb as a leader, we believe that Ben Youngs had a slightly better shift in Dublin.  He organised his pack well while his kicking for position was outstanding in difficult conditions.  Rarely does Danny Care not make it onto the field but today Youngs was not to be disturbed.

Moment of the match:  After Ronan O'Gara had kicked three points following England's James Haskell kicking the ball out from a ruck, the visitors showed real character to record their own points while the flank was in the sin-bin.  In such spells wins are earned.

Villain of the match:  There were two occasions when Cian Healy lost his cool and it is now expected that the Irish loosehead prop will face a trip to a hearing.  The first indiscretion saw him stamp on Dan Cole's ankle before he led with the elbow in a ruck.  Not good at all.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pen:  O'Gara 2

For England:
Pen:  Farrell 4

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Mike McCarthy , 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Keith Earls.

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Manu Tuilagi.

Referee:  Jérôme Garces (France)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Wales win at last in Paris

Wales ended an eight-game losing streak with a hard-fought 16-6 victory over an uninspired French side at the Stade de France on Saturday.

A solitary late try from wing George North handed Wales the spoils in a dour game that culminated to the sound of boos and whistles from the Parisian crowd.

The result leaves pre-tournament favourites France rooted to the bottom on the Six Nations Championship standings after their shock loss to Italy last week.

'Crisis' might be too harsh a term to define the French situation at the moment, but all is clearly not well in Philippe Saint-André's camp.  Most worrying was the lack of intensity and commitment in the French defence in the last quarter, when the game was still there for the taking.

The pressure was evident in what was a must-win game for both sides, as the fear of failure seemed to dominate the attacking spirit that has served these teams so well in the past.

A first-half characterised by conservative tactics and wasted opportunities on both ends came to a close with the scores locked at 3-3 and the spectators voicing their displeasure.

Wales had enjoyed the lion's share of possession but the French came closest to crossing whitewash, only to fluff two great chances with poor decision making.  The only thing worse than the quality of the spectacle was the state of the playing surface which, was once again, took a beating at every scrum.

The French half-back duo of Frederic Michalak and Maxime Machenaud came under heavy fire for their showing in Rome last week and they did their chances of being selected for next week's trip to Twichenham no good with some poor passes and options while full-back Yoann Huget failed to offload to frustrated wing Wesley Fofana on his outside with the tryline begging.

Wales started the second half well though and Leigh Halfpenny was able to give the visitors the lead with his second penalty.

The home crowd howled when Francois Trinh-Duc — playing at full-back after coming on for wing Benjamin Fall at the break — missed an easy drop goal when France were camped on the Welsh line.

Michalak drew the hosts level with a penalty (against the Welsh scrum) with half-an-hour left on the clock.

The hosts' scrum had become their primary weapon but it couldn't help them when Dan Biggar chipped over the top for North, who did brilliantly to evade the touchline and score in the corner in the 71st minute.

A long-range penalty from Halfpenny in the dying moments sealed the deal to leave France with plenty to think about.

Man of the match:  Not many stand-out performers but Leigh Halfpenny was very solid, making very few errors and landing crucial kicks.

Moment of the match:  There was only one.  North's try was the game changer and a rare highlight.

Villain of the match:  No nasty stuff, but if you're French, a guy called Philippe won't be on your Christmas card list right now.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Michalak 2

For Wales:
Try:  North
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Florian Fritz.

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Venue:  Stade de France, St. Denis (Paris)
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Sensational Scotland hammer Italy

An exceptional effort at the breakdown helped Scotland to a confident 34-10 victory over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Four tries, including a brilliant length of the field interception try from Stuart Hogg, led to a memorable victory for Scotland in front of a vocal home crowd at Murrayfield, compensating for the performance against England at Twickenham last weekend.

Interim head coach Scott Johnson had bemoaned his side's lack of intensity in the tackle area against England in Round One, but there was to be no let-up from the Scots at Murrayfield — throwing their bodies into the breakdown and forcing the Italian platform that stood solid against France to collapse.

That pressure on the half-backs was illustrated by the performance of Luciano Orquera.  Sensational against Les Bleus, Orquera fumbled, shanked and laboured against Scotland — a shadow of the player who was so impressive six days before in Rome.

Both sides played with a level of ambition that this fixture has witnessed too little of in previous years, with Italy still riding high after last weekend's victory over France.

Handling errors were a plenty though and it took a penalty from Greig Laidlaw after 15 minutes to open the scoring, handing Scotland the lead.

Little errors continued to compound long periods of Italian possession throughout the opening quarter, with Scotland frustrating the Azzurri at the tackle area, Laidlaw adding another further three points to hand Scotland a 6-0 lead after 25 minutes.

A howling missed kick from Tommaso Benvenuti handed Scotland centre Matt Scott the opportunity to score in the left corner, only to be denied by a brilliant try-saving tackle from Tobias Botes.

The missed chance though was a warning shot — Ruaridh Jackson creating the space for Tim Visser minutes later down the left-hand side and the Edinburgh flyer jinked his way through for the opening try.

Italy looked to have the final say in the first half and Orquera's made no mistake with his second penalty attempt to leave the score at 13-3 going into the break.

Scotland's dominance continued after the interval — an attacking lineout producing a second try as Matt Scott dived over following a great offload from Sean Maitland in midfield.

Stuart Hogg then hammered the nail into the Italians coffin, intercepting a two-on-one that would have certainly led to a try for Italy to scamper down the length of the pitch himself, his second exceptional try of the Six Nations stretching the lead to 27-3.  Orquera, his final act of the afternoon being the pass that set Hogg free, swiftly left the field.

Fortune continued to work against Italy as the half wore on, a strong attacking position in front of the Scottish posts snuffed out by a powerful drive in the scrum from the home pack.

Maitland looked to have made another fine assist for Scott in the right-hand corner later on, but his pass was marginally forward as Scotland sought to pile on the humiliation with a fourth try.

They did not have to wait long.  Sean Lamont pouncing for his ninth international try, a loose ball at the back of the Italian ruck snatched up by the centre who raced away to score under the posts on a dream afternoon for the home side.

Italy did work a consolation score, a well-worked scrum resulting in an inside flick from Parisse into the grateful path of Alessandro Zanni who powered over for the try.

But this was Scotland's day — a great response to the criticism thrown their way after their defeat at Twickenham and a feast of tries for Murrayfield to savour.

Man of the Match:  Scotland's pack were so strong that this honour is split between Euan Murray and Kelly Brown — each player making 15 tackles in an excellent defensive performance.

Moment of the Match:  Undoubtedly Stuart Hogg's breakaway score that put Scotland out of sight.  A potential Lion in waiting.

Villain of the Match:  The wild missed hack from Giovambattista Venditti was both hilarious and tragic, but more importantly nearly cost his side a try.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Visser, Scott, Hogg, Lamont
Con:  Laidlaw 4
Pens:  Laidlaw 2
Yellow Card:  Cross

For Italy:
Try:  Zanni
Con:  Burton
Pen:  Orquera

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.

14-man Italy prevail in Rome

Italy condemned France to a shock 23-18 Six Nations defeat at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.

It was a sensational victory for the Azzurri who have now managed to beat Les Bleus twice in the last two years following their famous win in 2011.

France — favourites to win the Championship heading into this match — must now pick themselves up for next Saturday's clash with Wales in Paris.  Italy, in contrast, now have critical momentum that will serve them well when they make the trip to Edinburgh to tackle Scotland.

It's been a highly entertaining opening round of Six Nations rugby and this final hit-out of the weekend certainly didn't disappoint as both sides produced two tries apiece in a pulsating match filled with some heart-stopping moments at the death (no pun intended).

Indeed, Italy and their supporters were put through a frantic finale with France desperately seeking a late score to win the match.  Despite being under sustained scrum pressure after replacement hooker Davide Giazzon was sin-binned two minutes from time, Italy held on — giving them an opening weekend Six Nations win for the first time since 2003.

Italy raced out of the starting blocks first and struck the opening blow after five minutes courtesy of sublime brilliance from fly-half Luciano Orquera.  His ability to freeze the opposition defence surfaced in all its glory, with three French defenders transfixed as he broke out of Italy's half before delivering a scoring pass to captain Sergio Parisse.

Orquera's conversion made it 7-0.

Despite some resilient defensive work from Italy after keeping Florian Fritz inches out from the tryline, France spread the ball to the left and hit back through number eight Louis Picamoles who didn't need a second invitation to score.

Frederic Michalak failed to find his target, but France were on the board.

Italy were once again in territorial control, and it was that man Orquera who extended his team's lead thanks to a cheeky drop-goal and a penalty in the 15th and 18th minutes respectively (13-5).

Michalak managed to raise the flags with his first penalty attempt after Italy were pinged at scrum-time, and then put his side in front for the first time of the match after converting Benjamin Fall's try in the 33rd minute.

It was Yoann Huget who sparked the move that hauled Les Bleus level, running aggressively from just inside Italy's half to leave Fall with a clear run-in besides the posts.

The seven-pointer secured France a 15-13 lead at the break.  And the big question on everyone's lips was whether Italy would keep within striking distance of their French rivals in the second half.

At first, it didn't seem that way when Michalak landing a long-range penalty.

But when prop Martin Castrogiovanni powered over after another piece of magic from Orquera, the home crowd could sense another upset on the horizon.  Even more so when Orquera's conversion put Italy back in front (20-18).

Replacement pivot Kris Burton then ultimately sealed the deal with a well-struck drop-goal that meant France needed to score twice to win.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Man of the match:  Italy skipper Sergio Parisse once again led from the front, but fly-half Luciano Orquera ran the show majestically — setting up two tries, kicking a drop-goal, two conversions and a penalty for a personal haul of 13 points.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick!  All four tries were out of the top drawer, but the final minute of the match left everyone watching this tense spectacle on the edge of their seats.

Villain of the match:  Replacement hooker Davide Giazzon may have been given his marching orders, but luckily for him, it didn't prove costly.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Castrogiovanni
Cons:  Orquera 2
Pens:  Orquera
Drop:  Orquera, Burton
Yellow card:  Giazzon (79th minute)

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Fall
Con:  Michalak
Pens:  Michalak 2

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi , 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Canale.

France:15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé (c), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)

England see off Scotland

A strong performance from England saw them defeat Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup.

The hosts enjoyed large portions of possession in both halves and arguably should have come away with more points, despite racking up four tries through Chris Ashton, debutant Billy Twelvetrees, Geoff Parling and Danny Care.

Scotland were not without their moments — a brilliant break from full-back Stuart Hogg leading to the first try of the afternoon for the visitors — but they were forced into defence too often and conceded needless penalties at the breakdown when momentum was behind them.

Owen Farrell produced one of his best displays yet in international rugby, a long pass securing England's third try, whilst Twelvetrees lived up to the billing he has been given in recent weeks in the build-up to the beginning of the Six Nations.

The victory means that England will travel to Dublin with confidence, but also aware that there is plenty to work on if they are to finish this year's championship with a title.

A burst from Ben Morgan set England on their way early on, winning the penalty phases later which Farrell converted for a 3-0 lead after two minutes.

England controlled the opening phases, going close with attacks from Wood and then Ashton with little errors causing them to lose possession — but it was a stunning break from Hogg that brought Scotland into the game as he scorched though frozen English tacklers and ended up close to the line.

Scotland controlled possession metres out before Greig Laidlaw drew the tackle of Geoff Parling to put Sean Maitland in the corner to score on debut.

Farrell responded with a penalty to give England a 6-5 lead.  A loose pass from Richie Gray then put Scotland under intense pressure on their own 22, England winning the penalty at the breakdown for Farrell to add another three points.

England were immediately penalised from the restart for entering the side of a ruck, handing Laidlaw a penalty chance on the edge of the 22 which he duly converted to narrow the gap to a single point at 9-8.

The hosts struggled to convert several chances in the red zone before a chargedown off the back of Farrell created another opening — Twelvetrees gliding through a gap before Chris Ashton squeezed under two tacklers to score England's first try.

Neither side was able to establish a foothold in the opposition's half during the closing stages of the opening 40 minutes, until a high tackle on Morgan led to another penalty for Farrell to send through the posts.

Johnnie Beattie responded with a powerful run for the Scots which ended in a penalty nearly 30 metres out, Laidlaw converting to leave the score at 19-11 at the interval.

England started the second half with a bang — Billy Twelvetrees eventually crashing over for a try on debut after a great pass from Ben Youngs.

Farrell continued to turn up the pressure in an assured performance, pinning Scotland back into their half.  Any momentum generated by the Scots a few minutes later was then killed off for a simple penalty, putting England back on the attack.

The hosts fluidity and power eventually proved too much for Scotland to handle, with Joe Launchbury appearing to cross over for a third try before the play was called back for a high tackle.

A burst from Ben Youngs however threw England back into Scottish territory, Farrell spinning a brilliant wide pass to Geoff Parling to go over in the corner for England's third try.

Scotland's defence continued to struggle throughout the second half, but a turnover near their own life breathed life into their attack, Alex Goode was wrapped up by four blue shirts to concede a penalty in his own half with Jackson kicking to the corner.

Their efforts though were in vain as replacement David Denton knocked on heading for the try line.  The resulting scrum did not go England's way and Scotland had another chance, but their efforts once again were undone at the breakdown.

England continued to show the greater invention in attack but a breakaway score from Hogg gave Scotland hope — Maitland's kick gathered by the rapid Hogg who scored in the corner with Laidlaw converting.

An error from Mike Brown then saw him penalised for holding on inside England's 22, handing Scotland an opportunity with a five metre lineout which they failed to make the most of.

England switched the momentum back their way and finished things off with a fourth try in the 80th minute, replacement Danny Care sniping around the fringes to leave the final score at 38-18.

Man of the match:  Excellent handling, pace and kicking from Billy Twelvetrees on debut saw him cap it off with a try on debut.

Moment of the match:  After being disallowed a third try, Ben Youngs had Scotland scampering and ultimately led to the score from Geoff Parling, putting the game out of reach.

Villain of the match:  Scotland's 19 missed tackles meant that today was always going to be a struggle.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton, Twelvetrees, Parling, Care
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Hogg
Cons:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 David Strettle.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.

Ireland win classic in Cardiff

Ireland produced a brilliant first-half display to clinch the opening fixture of the Six Nations with a 30-22 win over Wales in Cardiff.

A dire performance from Wales in the opening 40 minutes left them with a mountain to climb in the second-half, at which they threw everything to bounce back from a 30-3 scoreline to 30-22 in an utterly dominant half.

Ireland appeared to mentally crumble under the depth of their 27-point lead, producing brilliant defence at times but unable to escape their own half as Wales pounded away at the visitors try line, falling short of cutting down the whole deficit in a classic.

Superb hands from Brian O'Driscoll built the opening opportunity for Simon Zebo to touchdown in the left hand corner for the first score of the afternoon, with Jonathan Sexton converting.

Sexton's control with the boot and sharp hands from the Irish backs kept Wales pinned back and after a set of punishing phases, Ireland were held up in the right-hand corner.  Wales held out from the resulting phase of play and Sexton settled for a penalty to stretch the lead to 10-0.

Best then charged down Biggar's kick before gathering the loose ball and sending the ball wide first to Heaslip before an audacious bit of skill from Zebo saw him use his feet kept the attack going, Cian Healy pouncing from close range to leave Wales on the ropes.

Another Sexton penalty stretched the lead to 20-0 with half an hour gone, Wales imploding with another loose pass from Davies going straight into touch in the Irish 22.  Healy's attempt to drive out of his 22 resulted in a penalty at the breakdown to Wales, with Halfpenny putting his side on the board.

Warburton's cheap block on Zebo handed Ireland another attacking lineout, with O'Brien setting the foundations for a final flourish in the first half.  Another penalty against Wales at the breakdown yielded one more opportunity for Sexton, who slotted the kick to leave the half-time score at 23-3.

Ireland carried on where they left off at the start of the second half, a scrum on the Welsh 22 setting up a series of relentless drives before O'Driscoll clawed his way over the line from the bottom of a ruck for Ireland's third try.

A response from Wales was essential and it came through sustained drives forward into the Irish half, hard yards culminating in a Welsh lineout five metres out from the try line.  A pre-planned move saw Toby Faletau held up narrowly short, before Alex Cuthbert found space between the rushing Irish defenders to score the first try of the afternoon for Wales.

Cuthbert's score seemed to light a fuse under Welsh backsides as they went for broke, Faletau storming down the left touchline before a crucial hand from O'Driscoll brought the surge to a halt.

A tap penalty sent Wales backwards rather than nearer to the line as the Irish defence turned desperate, Gilroy producing a memorable tackle on Halfpenny before Romain Poite sent Rory Best to the sin-bin for entering from the side.

The extra space was then capitalised on by Halfpenny, the full-back burrowing under the double tackle of Rob Kearney and Jamie Heaslip to score in the right corner, missing the conversion to make the score 30-15.

There was to be no let up in the Welsh response as Cuthbert thundered down the right wing, but breakdown defence from Healy was enough to relieve the pressure with a penalty.

A crucial Welsh scrum yielded a penalty for Biggar to find the corner once more, Ireland mentally struggling with the hosts resurgence.  Faletau appeared initially to crash the ball against the base of the post, falling marginally short as Conor Murray was sent to the bin.

Wales were utterly dominant but unable to cross the Irish line, Davies missing a simple overlap as the green wall heroically held firm with time running out.

The hosts inevitably came again though — Craig Mitchell appearing to dive over the line before the TMO confirmed Wales third try of the afternoon, narrowing the score to 30-22.

Ireland finally relieved the pressure by pinning Wales deep in their own half to close out a brilliant opener to this year's tournament — a classic with each side forcing the other into submission for lengthy periods in each half.  Ireland march on dreaming of a title.  Wales have hope.

Man of the match:  Streetwise, skilful, a magnificent return to form from Brian O'Driscoll stole the show in Cardiff.

Moment of the match:  An outrageous piece of footwork from Simon Zebo to control possession in the build-up to Ireland's second try.

Villain of the match:  Unnecessary petulance from Mike Phillips after being brought back from a tap penalty was needless.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Cuthbert, Halfpenny, Mitchell
Con:  Halfpenny 2
Pens:  Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Tries:  Zebo, Healy, O'Driscoll
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 3
Yellow Card:  Best, Murray

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Olly Kohn, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Keith Earls.