Grand Slam glory for England

England ended a 13-year wait for a Grand Slam by coming out on top of their battle with France in Paris, winning 31-21.

Outscoring their hosts by three tries to none, England held their nerve when it has let them down so often in the past.  The best side in this year's Six Nations now have a Grand Slam to their name.

France were kept in the contest both by their willingness to play, typified by Virimi Vakatawa and Scott Spedding, and the metronomic boot of Maxime Machenaud who scored all of their 21 points.

For the first time in the Eddie Jones era England were made to sweat for a full 80 minutes, and as they have been throughout the tournament, they were good — in fact very good — but never quite excellent.

The missed tackles will have irritated defence coach Paul Gustard, while their penalty count is bound to have rattled Jones as it has all tournament.

But those are the negatives.  England were more clinical.  They hounded France at the lineout with steals from Maro Itoje and George Kruis, with both locks outstanding.  And now they have won five games out of five.

France produced their best half of the tournament in the first 40 minutes but still went in trailing, not capitalising on the holes they found in the English defence as Vakatawa's moments of promise ended without points.

Two quick penalties against Anthony Watson and Itoje set Machenaud up to knock over the first points, as France took a 3-0 lead.

Farrell responded instantly after Watson was taken around the neck from the restart, knocking over his penalty off the post.

France's rolling maul looked effective, just like the flying Vakatawa as he broke a tackle from Jack Nowell on an early charge.

Les Bleus were hungry, a sharp break and pass from Spedding to Vakatawa deserving more than a ball into touch.  Chances such as those had to be taken.

Danny Care was less wasteful.  Spotting the gap around the side of the ruck he always had too much speed for the chasing Jefferson Poirot, fending him off to sprint away for the game's first try.

The loss of François Trinh-Duc rubbed salt in the wound after Care's score, but first blood at the scrum went France's way after Mako Vunipola dropped his bind.  Machenaud obliged, making it 6-10.

With their use of Vakatawa and Spedding from deep France were finding space and making real ground in their own half, and yet again, England were the next try scorers.

This time it was Dan Cole, quite literally rolling his way over the line after not being held as England finished a stint in France's 22 which all started from a cross-field kick by George Ford to Watson.

France and their supporters beseeched referee Nigel Owens to chalk it off for obstruction on Guilhem Guirado, although he had no interest even with the input of the TMO.  A longer look may have produced another outcome, as Farrell's conversion meant England led 6-17.

Guirado responded by winning a kickable penalty at the breakdown for Machenaud to knock over, closing the gap to eight, and another Machenaud penalty, this time against Chris Robshaw, made that 12-17 having denied England down the other end.

England could have had the final say of the half but Farrell pushed a penalty wide to the left of the posts, keeping England ahead by five after missing 15 tackles in the first half.

Forced to turn to their scramble defence England did just enough to hold France out after yet another burst from Vakatawa, as Machenaud moved to five from five with another penalty, but France immediately conceded after giving Farrell a soft penalty to make it 15-20.

But again France reeled the visitors back in, Machenaud with his sixth penalty, as the contest grew chaotic with turnovers on each side.

Momentum for England had been rare when it came to their ball carrying until Vunipola at last began to motor from the back of a scrum.  The damage done from his burst freed up Ben Youngs, a replacement for Care, to scamper ahead, before his delicate grubber kick to the wing was met by Watson who held off Fofana to finish.

Machenaud though wouldn't let England get away, knocking over penalty number seven.

A long stoppage for treatment to Dylan Hartley gave both sides pause for thought with only 12 minutes remaining, England forced to try and finish the job without their captain with their lineout having run at 100 percent.

With a high tackle from Paul Jedrasiak on Youngs, Farrell had a chance to stretch England's lead out to seven again from a long way out, landing it superbly to make it 21-28.

Xavier Chiocci's yellow card and Farrell's subsequent penalty then put the stamp on the win England have craved for so long.

England are not just Six Nations champions, but Grand Slam winners too.  Deserved?  Absolutely.

Man of the Match:  So often France looked likely to score, and then George Kruis would pop up with a crucial steal.  He has come of age in this tournament.

Moment of the Match:  Owen Farrell's kicking wasn't perfect on the night but his long-range strike to make it 28-21 was absolutely vital.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Machenaud 7
Yellow Card:  Chiocci

For England:
Tries:  Care, Cole, Watson
Cons:  Farrell 2
Pens:  Farrell 4

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, Maxime Médard

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Manu Tuilagi, 23 Elliot Daly

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland end Six Nations on a high

Ireland ended the 2016 Six Nations with a second win after overcoming Scotland in Dublin with a 35-25 victory.

Four tries from last year's champions built upon 15 points from the boot of Jonathan Sexton as Ireland ensured a tough tournament would end on a high.

A battle for mid-table dominance had an extra edge with Scotland eyeing up three straight Six Nations wins, but aside from a brief period after Stuart Hogg's special try they were always chasing the scoreboard.

Their frustrations too with the officating by the end began to boil over in a spiky finish.

Following on from their thrashing of Italy the week before Ireland were full of running and Sexton, off the back of a fine tournament, shone with the ball in hand or on his boot, but drew heavy criticism for appealing for a card after he was flipped on his back by Alex Dunbar, and also finished his Six Nations in the sin-bin.

Scotland were full of energy and have certainly made strides in this Six Nations, but yellow cards for John Barclay and Dunbar in each half proved incredibly costly on each occasion as their game management left something to be desired.

Having 81 percent possession in the first half only produced an eight-point advantage for Ireland by the break, with Scotland having been penalised incessantly at the breakdown by referee Pascal Gauzère.

It was Sexton's boot after Scotland strayed offside which opened the scoring, although he oddly missed a straightforward effort minutes later.

That first penalty however moved him into second in Ireland's all-time points scoring rankings ahead of David Humphreys, with only Ronan O'Gara ahead of him.

Sexton made no mistake with his third kick after Scotland were penalised for a high tackle, all within the first 12 minutes, before Laidlaw finally put Scotland on the board at 6-3.  Sexton struck once more to restore the six-point gap before Ireland were stunned by a magical solo score from Hogg.

Arguably the premier full-back in this Six Nations, Hogg spotted a gap between Rory Best and Mike Ross before cantering through it into space and hitting the accelerator to score a magnificent solo try.

Laidlaw's conversion put Scotland ahead for the first time at 10-9 but Scotland paid for their earlier indiscipline with the loss of Barclay, on his 50th cap, to the sin-bin for coming in at the side.

In Barclay's absence Ireland pummelled the Scottish defensive line, eventually breaking it, through CJ Stander for his second Test try in a week, and Ireland were over again almost instantly.

Sexton's clever kick, off his left foot, found a gap in the defence and a calamitous mix-up from the Scottish defence allowed Keith Earls, also celebrating his half century, to gratefully scoop up and score.

Sexton couldn't convert and Scotland captain Laidlaw had the final say of the half with a penalty to make it 21-13.

Turning to their maul after the break Ireland notched up try number four, Conor Murray with a trademark snipe from close range catching out the tired Scottish defence as Ireland built an imposing 28-13 lead.

A response from the visitors was needed fast and it came through Richie Gray, the towering lock hitting the right line as he found a sizeable gap in Ireland's defence after Scotland had sucked in the tacklers to one corner, Laidlaw converting to close the gap to eight.

Scotland noticeably tried to lift the tempo but they were hamstrung by Dunbar's daft moment of indiscipline flipping Sexton over the horizontal, for which he saw yellow.

Ireland went to the corner from the resulting penalty and eventually Devin Toner crashed over for try number four before a scrap off the ball afterwards.

Scotland's frustrating afternoon was starting to spill over but a persistent stint in Ireland's 22, with Sexton yellow carded for coming in at the side, ended eventually with a try for Dunbar.

It was too late though for a fightback, Ireland rounding out a chippy contest with another victory as each side looks forward for better fortunes on their overseas tours later this year.

Man of the Match:  Jamie Heaslip again impressed but his back-row colleague CJ Stander will be waking up pretty sore on Sunday after a remarkable number of carries.  What a find he has been for Joe Schmidt.

Moment of the Match:  One of the tournament's top tries from Stuart Hogg, who once again showed his class with a special break to put his side ahead in the first half.

Villain of the Match:  Really poor from Alex Dunbar flipping Jonathan Sexton onto his back at the ruck at a pivotal moment, for which he was yellow carded, although the reaction from Sexton was also poor.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stander, Earls, Murray, Toner
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 3
Yellow Card:  Sexton

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Gray, Dunbar
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw 2
Yellow Card:  Barclay

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Lamont

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Alexandre Ruiz (France)

TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Nine-try Wales dispatch Italy

Wales made sure of second place in the Six Nations with a high-scoring demolition of Italy, winning 67-14 in Cardiff.

Still dissecting their oddly subdued first 50 minutes at Twickenham and trying to put a week spilling over with off-field distractions behind them, Wales started fast and never looked back in an open game where they offloaded perhaps more than throughout all of the four previous games in this year's Six Nations.

Italy, hampered by injuries, lacked the discipline and consistency to keep Wales at bay on a long afternoon where they rarely controlled possession and were outscored nine tries to two.

Jacques Brunel's last game in charge was a grim one.  His counterpart Warren Gatland meanwhile will have taken note of the performances of a returning Rhys Webb and early replacement Ross Moriarty as he begins to plan for Wales' tour to New Zealand later this year.

His side were never troubled, despite the absence of key leaders in Alun Wyn Jones and regular captain Sam Warburton.

For a contest with nothing riding on it — Wales unable to win the title, Italy unable to avoid the Wooden Spoon — this certainly wasn't dull.

Wales should never have had their first try allowed given their backs were offside ahead of the kick through by Dan Biggar, leading to a lineout from which Rhys Webb sniped over from close range to close the circle on his own personal nightmare.

It was against Italy on the same pitch that Webb suffered the injury which ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup, and despite Gareth Davies impressing his return is certainly welcome.

The visitors tried to fire back from a kick to the corner only to fail with their execution, Wales instead marching back up the field and adding three points through Biggar's boot.

Italy were labouring under Welsh pressure on their defence and set-piece, eventually paying the price when promising scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani was sin-binned.  Rather than turn the screw, Wales surprisingly opted to kick three more points through Biggar.

Through a combination of Wales' failure to execute and some impressive defence Italy held out with Palazzani off the field, only for Wales to strike immediately on his return.

A one-two from Dan Biggar and Jamie Roberts, after Davide Giazzon's missed tackle put Biggar through a gap, allowed the fly-half to run under the posts for his first Test try, adding the conversion, before a length-of-the-field move starting in Wales' 22 produced the best try so far as Jonathan Davies finished off a sweeping passage of play with Wales putting the ball through the hands.

Biggar's conversion made it 27-0, and it should have been more, while injuries for Italy to Mattia Bellini and Andrea Pratichetti compounded a horrible first half for the Azzurri.

Patient build-up in Italy's 22 then ended with a try for Roberts out wide, from a nice offload by George North, for a simple finish.

North went from provider to scorer not long after, pinning his ears back to tear through a gaping hole in Italy's defence before cutting in superbly to finish by the posts.

Italy at last had something to smile about through a try for Palazzani off the back of his pack's good work with the rolling maul but it was only a small reprieve, with Liam Williams adding to the Welsh tally with try number six.

Gonzalo Garcia, one of Italy's best players in the tournament, added more respectability to the scoreboard with his converted try to make it 46-14, but in truth the next try from Wales was never far away.

Having replaced the injured Justin Tipuric early on Moriarty finished off a driving maul attack for Wales to produce their next score, as Italy looked weary.

A second for Moriaty and final score from Gareth Davies, with the clock red, rounded off a record win for Wales in the Six Nations.  Not enough to make up for last week perhaps, but a fine performance.

Man of the Match:  A world-class finish for his try and George North was the pick of the Wales backs.  His fourth straight try after scoring against Scotland, England and France equalled the record set by Shane Williams.  Immense.

Moment of the Match:  Having ridden out the sin-bin period Italy conceded instantly through Dan Biggar's try to open the floodgates.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Webb, Biggar, J Davies, Roberts, North, L Williams, Moriaty 2, G Davies
Cons:  Biggar 5, Priestland 3
Pens:  Biggar 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Palazzani, Garcia
Cons:  Haimona 2
Yellow Card:  Palazzani

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

England win Six Nations after Scotland beat France

Scotland's 29-18 win over France at Murrayfield means that England have won the 2016 Six Nations with one round to go.

Scotland scored three tries, and secured consecutive Six Nations victories for only the third time in history, with a belligerent triumph over France in Edinburgh.

The visitors were largely beleaguered, errors stifling their attacking play, but crossed early through Guilhelm Guirado, and again when Gaël Fickou scored with the clock red at half-time.

On his 50th cap, skipper Greig Laidlaw kicked 11 points, but it was Stuart Hogg who stole the show.

The full-back bagged a neat try, a sublime assist, and boomed over a long-range penalty with Duncan Taylor and Tim Visser also touching down.

Everywhere you look in the championship, this Scotland team battles desperate statistics.  Victory in Rome arrested one barren run of defeats, a solitary loss short of their all-time record.

This time, having never in the tournament's 133-year tenure lost eight successive home matches, having not beaten France in ten years, and only once in the last 18 meetings, and having failed to win back-to-back Six Nations matches in all but two from 16 attempts, the burden of history remained.

In the opposition camp, for too long have France employed a monotonous bludgeoning approach, perpetuated by players capable of such magnificence.  It's akin to buying a luxury Rolls Royce and driving it like a tractor.

Their opening try though was an exercise in timing and flair, Virimi Vakatawa striding up the touchline into Scotland's 22, finding Wesley Fofana on his inside shoulder, who flipped on to captain Guirado in turn to plunge over.

Finn Russell, the Scots' cherished young pivot, was concussed in the build-up, and as François Trinh-Duc hooked the conversion wide, Russell was replaced by Peter Horne.

It was Horne who was caught offside from a lineout with 10 minutes gone, allowing Trinh-Duc to line up a straightforward shot at goal.  Again, the fly-half pulled his effort wide.

Alexandre's Flanquart's slowing down of the ball allowed Laidlaw to bang over Scotland's first points.

And as Guirado buckled under the Scottish eight's squeeze in the scrummage, the skipper slotted his second to nudge the hosts ahead.

With Russell gone, the playmaking duties fell to Horne and Stuart Hogg, the gifted full-back.

With seven minutes of the first half remaining, the former stepped and jinked his way towards the French posts, offloading to the towering Richie Gray, and from the next phase, Hogg cut sharply inside Fickou to reach the whitewash.

Laidlaw's conversion attempt faded wide, but then came a moment that saw Murrayfield erupt — as much in surprise as euphoria.

From a tap penalty near halfway, Taylor, the Saracens centre, caught France cold, striding dynamically from Vakatawa's grasp and sprinting all the way home down the right touchline.

Referee Glen Jackson consulted his TMO amid suspicions Laidlaw had tugged back a covering defender.  He allowed the try to stand, and this time, the captain was accurate from the tee.

Scotland ought to have carried the precious 18-5 lead they held into the break.  A maddening ruck transgression, though, stifled their impetus and allowed France one final assault in the home 22.

The hulking French forwards laid the platform with a barrage of punishing carries, Fickou capitalising to arc in at the corner, and Maxime Machenaud, kicking instead of the faltering Trinh-Duc, converted.

Hogg restored Scotland's two-score lead with a thunderous penalty from inside his own half seven minutes after the interval.

Machenaud soon cancelled out that strike when Ross Ford entered a ruck at the side, and failed to stay on his feet.

And the French heavy artillery came within inches of a try after Scott Spedding barrelled down the left flank in pursuit of his own kick.  They earned a penalty, kicked for touch, and again assembled the monsters of the pack.  Scotland held firm.  Machenaud was caught, the ball fumbled, and the hosts cleared.

That wayward handling became a feature of the French attack, but Machenaud cut the gap to three points with another penalty as the final quarter beckoned.

Guy Novès turned to the brutes lurking on his bench.  In this French team, perhaps more so than anywhere else, big is beautiful.  On rumbled Uini Atonio and Sébastien Vahaamahina, over 260kg between them.  But it was a game-breaking intervention from Hogg that wedged Scotland firmly in the driver's seat.

With Scotland deep in French territory, the full-back produced a sumptuous volleyball-style tip over his own head, leaving Visser with a clear dash to the corner.

Laidlaw's conversion fell just short, but Vern Cotter's side harried and pestered France in their own 22, eventually grinding out a penalty Laidlaw decisively curled over.

The French behemoths mobilised for a final raid on the Scottish line with time ticking away, but their maul was infiltrated and the ball cocooned.  There ended their hope.

It's been an awfully long time — 37 months, in fact — since Murrayfield has had a Six Nations victory to savour.  At last, the cavernous bowl rocks to the sweet sound of success.

Man of the Match:  Undoubtedly, Stuart Hogg.  With Russell absent, his involvements were timely and precious.

Moment of the Match:  Tim Visser's try propelled Scotland two scores ahead with ten minutes to play.  Overturning that deficit was a task too great for this embattled French outfit.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Taylor, Visser
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 3, Hogg

For France:
Tries:  Guirado, Fickou
Con:  Machenaud
Pens:  Machenaud 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Lamont

France:  15 Scott Spedding,14 Virimi Vakatawa, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Wesley Fofana, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, Maxime Médard

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England on course for Slam after Wales win

England set their sights on winning a first Grand Slam since 2003 next week in Paris after a 25-21 win over Wales at Twickenham.

Billed as revenge for their World Cup humbling, perhaps no victory could make up for that disappointment, but instead England delivered what had all the makings of an impressive win before a late surge from Wales left them clinging on.

Manu Tuilagi's key tackle into touch on George North made sure of a result that England deserved, but nearly let slip.

Wales for the most part were dire — slipping off tackles, penalised incessantly by referee Craig Joubert at the breakdown and generating little through their one-dimensional attack — until they threatened to suckerpunch England all over again with late tries from George North and Taulupe Faletau.  They turned up all too late.

Their first points in the 53rd minute came from an England error through Dan Biggar's chargedown try rather than anything creative and even that effort could only make it 19-7, before England looked to have pulled away thanks to the boot of Owen Farrell who finished with 20 points.

Maro Itoje, named Man of the Match, produced a truly outstanding display, his first half stats alone worthy of honours after multiple turnover and lineout steals to go with his assist for Anthony Watson's try.

Eddie Jones did his best before his debut to quell the hype around the Saracens 21-year-old lock but good luck to him doing so moving forwards, because the secret is out — he is a very special talent.

Wales by contrast were abject early on, appearing lost with little to no energy about them in one of the worst halves of Warren Gatland's tenure during the first 40 minutes when they missed 19 tackles.

England's attack led to those figures but the hosts should have led by more than 16-0 at half-time given the number of chances they created, twice correctly denied by the TMO.

First blood at the scrum after levels of obscene hype throughout the week went the way of Wales, although against Dan Cole rather than the world's most-watched prop in Joe Marler.

Illegally slowing the ball down at the ruck allowed Farrell to put England ahead with a first penalty.  Dictating territory, England's forwards unleashed a set of short-range drives at the Wales line with Cole ultimately ruled to be held up by the TMO.

Forcing a penalty out of the following five-metre scrum allowed Farrell to double England's tally and the centre made no mistake again after Dan Lydiate failed to release Billy Vunipola to make it 9-0.

England's back three — Jack Nowell, Watson and Mike Brown — continued to skip through tackles suggesting a score wasn't far away, but instead it was Itoje, carrying round the corner and freeing up his arms after sucking in the Welsh defenders who released Brown, in turn giving Watson the time and space to get away from Liam Williams for the game's first try.

Farrell's finely struck conversion from out wide allowed England to take into half-time a 16-0 advantage which they more than deserved, with Wales yet to turn up.

A fourth penalty by Farrell maintained his perfect record after the break prior to Wales at last coming to life.

Spending minutes camped in England's 22 proved fruitless until having done all the hard work, Ben Youngs' poor pass combined with a forced kick under pressure from George Ford allowed Biggar to rush up for a chargedown try as he calmly grounded the ball.  Out of nothing, suddenly Wales had a sniff.

Any comeback was going to have to happen without their captain after Sam Warburton was stretchered off following a lengthy stoppage in play.

Moments of indecision from Ford threatened to cost England again before he was replaced by Manu Tuilagi after 60 minutes, to the an almighty roar from the home supporters before from his first carry he won a penalty, Farrell converting to make it 22-7.

A sixth penalty from Farrell gave England an 18-point cushion but they were left to finish the match with 14 men after a yellow card to Dan Cole having conceded a run of penalties in their own 22.

Wales' next immediate chance of a score was wiped out after a penalty against Tomas Francis for making contact with the eyes of Cole, with a citing no doubt to follow, but they crossed not long after through George North to close the gap at 25-14 after clever handling from Jonathan Davies.

Now bursting with energy Wales crossed again through Taulupe Faletau, Priestland converting as the whole of Twickenham tensed fearing another disaster whilst watching the clock.

Instead a tackle into touch by Tuilagi on North settled it, forcing the winger out with Danny Care booting the ball to touch from the resulting lineout.

England now advance to four wins out of four, and having pocketed the Triple Crown and with their eyes on more silverware next Saturday.

Man of the Match:  Coming-of-age Test for Maro Itoje, whose athleticism offers England something different in their pack.

Moment of the Match:  Turning what seemed an unlikely comeback into a very real one, Taulupe Faletau's try set up a nervous finish for the home supporters.

Villian of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report given that at present we don't know whether Tomas Francis' contact with the eyes of Dan Cole was intentional or not.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Watson
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 6
Yellow Card:  Cole

For Wales:
Tries:  Biggar, North, Faletau
Cons:  Biggar, Priestland 2

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Anthony Watson, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Danny Care, 22 Manu Tuilagi, 23 Elliot Daly

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland run Italy ragged

Ireland delivered a nine-try hammering on Italy in Dublin on Sunday to pick up their first win of the Six Nations with a 58-15 victory.

Ireland's first win of the tournament came all too late with the title set to head elsewhere, but this was a welcome respite after a punishing opening trio of matches.

Italy frankly imploded, producing the kind of performance many feared before the start of the tournament when their squad looked short on quality.

Early optimism after they pushed France close in Paris has now completely gone.  This really was a shambles.

Operating at a faster tempo and producing more offloads than we've seen so far in the tournament enabled Ireland to pick Italy apart at will, and their head coach Joe Schmidt will have been happy to watch Ireland play with plenty of confidence after coming up short at Twickenham.

The result truthfully looked like a certainty well before half-time.

Gonzalo Garcia's drag of a foot across the touchline prevented Italy from getting the perfect start as Ireland's scrambling defence reached the centre before he could cross the line.

Garcia couldn't make the hosts pay for a slow start and they responded well, Leonardo Sarto's mad decision to bat the ball backwards after a high kick being pounced upon by Payne, before Ireland recycled to put away Andrew Trimble for a score in the corner.

All the momentum now was Ireland's, as a Robbie Henshaw grubber kick handed Ireland the territory which ultimately led to their second try through Jack McGrath from a short pick-and-go, Sexton converting for a 12-0 advantage.

A breakdown penalty enabled Edoardo Padovani to knock over three points on his first start for his country but it was Ireland, full of running, who always looked poised to score the next try with Sexton in full flow.

The fly-half released Keith Earls into space off an inside ball to position Ireland five metres out, before CJ Stander did the rest from close range.

Italy were on the verge of being cut adrift down 20-3 prior to half-time but their efforts were thwarted, with Ireland going up the other end to produce the try of the tournament so far.

All starting from Zebo's break inside his own half, the full-back combined with Sexton and Trimble before Ireland spread the ball to find Heaslip in the corner.

Sexton couldn't convert but Ireland still held a dominant 22-point advantage going into half-time.

Italy didn't exactly help themselves when a gift of a loose pass from Padovani was snapped up by Payne for one of the easiest tries of his career, the returning centre running under the posts for try number five.

Heaslip added to the rout with his second try as Ireland felt comfortable enough up 39-3 to withdraw Sexton before the 50-minute mark.

Sean Cronin, replacing captain Rory Best, sauntered through a gap for Ireland's seventh try through some unacceptably poor tackling as the scoreline ticked over in the hosts' favour.

David Odiete's in the corner offered Italy some consolation although it was only a brief respite, Ian Madigan grabbing Ireland's eighth try to take them over the half century.

Sarto and Fergus McFadden both crossed for late scores as Ireland completed an enormous triumph over an Azzurri outfit who deservedly look set to finish bottom ot the table.

Man of the Match:  All about attitude and Jamie Heaslip backed up his wise words in the week with a two-try performance.

Moment of the Match:  The sublime break by Zebo up the touchline which after going through multiple sets of hands set up Heaslip for a spectacular try in the first half.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble, McGrath, Stander, Heaslip 2, Payne, Cronin, Madigan, McFadden
Cons:  Sexton 3, Madigan 2
Pen:  Sexton

For Italy:
Tries:  Odiete, Sarto
Con:  Padovani
Pen:  Padovani

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Nathan White, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

England stay on track with Ireland win

England made it three wins out of three in the Six Nations after coming out on top of their tussle with Ireland at Twickenham with a 21-10 victory.

Two quick tries from Anthony Watson and Mike Brown turned the game in England's favour after Conor Murray had put Ireland ahead following a low-scoring first half.

Prior to that England had failed to convert long periods of pressure into points and looked on the brink of paying for that neglect.  But their composure shone through, cancelling out the threat of an Irish revival, despite England's physicality sometimes crossing the line and them requiring more than one case of last-ditch defending.

Two yellow cards and a hatful of penalties will also have frustrated Eddie Jones, but he was unsurprisingly all smiles come the final whistle after winning his first home game in charge of his adopted country.  His side did however leave points out on the field.

England's 21-10 lead came under real pressure from Ireland in the final quarter but the visitors couldn't find a breakthrough, as the defending champions' title bid slipped away.

Too often Ireland laboured at the lineout and their handling lacked the usual polish.  Despite that Joe Schmidt will have been pleased with an exuberant debut from centre Stuart McCloskey with his collection of impressive carries, along with the good work of two other new caps in Josh van der Flier and Ultan Dillane.

Steve Hansen, the All Blacks head coach watching on in the stands, realistically however won't have been shuffling in his seat after what he saw on the flight back to New Zealand by what he saw from either side.

Jonathan Sexton struck first, turning a penalty win for Ireland at the scrum into a 3-0 lead from 40 metres out, Farrell's response coming not long after to level the scores — redemption after he had been penalised for a neck roll.

Indiscipline was becoming a problem for England — coughing up field position in Irish territory, on another occasion allowing them to kick to the corner — so it came against the run of play when Robbie Henshaw was penalised for obstruction well within Farrell's range.  Farrell though couldn't make him pay, his effort grazing the right post.

Ireland's breakdown work helped them clear their lines but they were struggling to contain the runs of Billy Vunipola.  One blindside break from the number eight took multiple tacklers to bundle him into touch short of the line.

With all of the momentum England's captain Dylan Hartley thought he had done enough to cross the line under the posts, only to be denied by the TMO for double movement.

Having nothing to show from such a long passage in Ireland's 22 would have been unacceptable but England had to take that on the chin, potential try-scoring chances wiped out by the odd loose pass or rash decision.

Frankly, the skills levels were poor.  At the same time Ireland's defence deserved huge credit for weathering the storm.

Smart defence was followed by a clueless attack which set Devin Toner up to be turned over — Farrell's resulting penalty moving England ahead for the first time at 6-3.

Ireland's need for some kind of spark was answered by Henshaw, an angling run promising more than it delivered ahead of half-time.

Boldly the visitors opted against letting Sexton attempt a kickable penalty after the break, initially failing to convert after going to the corner.

Back they came however after James Haskell's yellow card for a high tackle on Murray, with the Irish scrum-half then darting under the attempted cover tackle of Joe Marler to score.  Ireland's gutsy call had paid off, Sexton converting for a 10-6 lead.

Farrell chipped back following an obstruction penalty on Toner to cut the gap to a point, and with handling errors stopping Ireland at source, England finally capitalised.

Jack Nowell's break up the right touchline had the defence back-tracking before an Irish arm colliding with a pass looked to have ended the attack.  The ball instead favourably bounced for Chris Robshaw, whose looping pass found a waiting Anthony Watson ready to finish in the corner.

England's second try wasn't far behind as Farrell's pass gave Mike Brown enough space to race over, two scores in four minutes, as the game threatened to get away from Ireland.

Another Henshaw break silenced that prospect, with only a superb try-saving tackle from Nowell dislodging the ball as the Irish centre dove for the line, preventing a certain score.

Ireland threatened again after a one-two pass from two of the debutants, Van der Flier and Dillane, was illegally stopped short of the line.

What followed was bizarre — with Romain Poite first showing a yellow card to Brown for what looked like reckless use of the boot on Murray, ruled accidental, before consulting with his assistants and instead sin-binning Danny Care for not rolling away.

Van der Flier's impressive second-half continued when he was held up over the line by new England cap Elliot Daly, as Ireland prowled the whitewash, only for a penalty win at the scrum by Dan Cole easing the hosts' nerves and ultimately confirming their third win of the tournament.

Man of the Match:  Once again the carrying of Billy Vunipola was pivotal for England, constantly luring in Irish defenders before throwing them off his sizeable frame.

Moment of the Match:  England could have wondered if this would be their day as another attack threatened to stall, but Anthony Watson's try put them on track.

Villain of the Match:  Despite being ruled accidental by the officials Mike Brown should expect a citing for some loose footwork on Conor Murray.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Watson, Brown
Cons:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 3
Yellow Cards:  Haskell, Care

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murray
Cons:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Anthony Watson, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Danny Care, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Alex Goode

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Simon Zebo

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Scotland get job done in Italy

Scotland claimed their first victory of this year's Six Nations Championship as they saw off Italy 36-20 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Tries from back-row duo John Barclay and John Hardie along with a late effort from wing Tommy Seymour saw the Scots come out on top.

But it was the boot of captain Greig Laidlaw that proved decisive as his 21 points from the tee saw him pick up the Man of the Match award.

As for Italy they now have three losses to their name, with their tries coming through hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini and second-row Marco Fuser.

Scotland were 17-10 ahead at the turnaround but in truth the margin should have been greater as they had multiple opportunities to pull clear.

Losing number eight David Denton to injury before kick-off meant a reshuffle for the Scots as Ryan Wilson moved up from the bench while Josh Strauss was called into the 23, despite having played 75 minutes for PRO12 outfit Glasgow Warriors against the Dragons on Thursday.

The late disruption to their starting line-up did not affect Scotland though as after a ninth minute penalty from Italy fly-half Kelly Haimona, the visitors moved through the gears with two tries in six minutes that made it 14-3.

Barclay scored the first effort when full-back Stuart Hogg's break down the left wing led to the flanker collecting the offload for the score.  Captain Laidlaw landed the difficult extras in what turned out to be an impressive day at the office off the tee for the number nine.

Laidlaw would convert Hardie's effort soon after, this time after fly-half Finn Russell split the Azzurri's midfield defence.  It was now 17-3.

Italy though struck back on the half-hour through Ghiraldini after nice offloading between centre Gonzalo Garcia and full-back David Odiete, with Haimona on target from wide out before a 40th minute penalty miss from Laidlaw meant the margin was just seven points at half-time.

Scotland returned from the break and duly fed off Italy's indiscretions, with Laidlaw in excellent form off the tee, starting on 46 minutes.

Italy hit back four minutes later following pressure on the Scottish line but again their discipline then let them down so it was 23-13, with Laidlaw adding his fourth penalty of the game just before the hour, meaning that Scotland had a 13-point cushion for the run-in.

That didn't last long, however, as the Italians capitalised on fly-half Russell's yellow card for hands in the ruck and went for the corner.  Their gamble paid off as Fuser managed to ground the ball over the whitewash, making it 26-20 to set up a grandstand finish in Rome.

Fortunately for Scotland their goalkicker could not miss and made it 29-20 soon after, which helped their fans breathe a little easier when Italy launched a period of promising, sustained pressure on the visitors try-line.

But Scotland survived and would also have a third try to their name before the final whistle as excellent work from Hogg set up Seymour, securing their first win of 2016, with Italy now staring the wooden spoon in the face.

Man of the match:  It has to go to Greig Laidlaw.  Brilliant from the kicking tee and a real leader on a superb day for the Scots.  Every member of Scotland's side did their job though in a real team performance.

Moment of the match:  Let's go for the John Hardie try in the first-half that made it 17-3.  Keeping Italy at an arm's length was always going to be crucial and so it proved as Scotland got the job done in Rome.

Villain of the match:  Despite two yellow cards for Scottish players, there was nothing dirty to report in an enjoyable Six Nations fixture.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Ghiraldini, Fuser
Cons:  Haimona 2
Pens:  Haimona 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Barclay, Hardie, Seymour
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 5
Yellow Cards:  Russell, Nel

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Andrea Pratichetti

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Wales put away struggling France

Wales moved top of the Six Nations table with a victory to forget over France in Cardiff on Friday, winning 19-10.

George North's comical try in the second-half proved to be the key score as Wales went on to keep an uninspiring French attack at bay.

A Grand Slam is beyond Wales, but another championship?  Whatever happens between England and Ireland on Saturday, the journey to Twickenham for Warren Gatland's troops is already looming large.

Wales were solid in the set-piece, more than competent defensively and even when their execution was far from perfect still won by more than enough points.

Guy Novès can at least move forward without wins glossing over how much work France have left to do to become competitive again.

For starters they need some identity, but that takes time, and Novès deserves all the sympathy he can get after having to watch his players come through a gruelling Top 14 weekend whilst Wales' stars had their feet up.  Shaun Edwards' defence gave France no free opportunities.

This first-half won't exactly be remembered fondly with true chances at a premium.

Two penalties from Dan Biggar outscored one effort from Jules Plisson, but neither were perfect off the tee.

Instead this was a half best remembered for the continued efforts of Wayne Barnes to try and set a scrum which fidgeted prior to almost every engagement, chewing away at both the clock and the enthusiasm of all watching on.

Virimi Vakatawa's break highlighted just how rare a defence-splitting attack had been, with the winger looking this way and that before slipping into a tackle.  Somewhat poignant.

It looked as though Gareth Davies might be the difference as he burst free before the interval, only for Wales to be denied at the breakdown under the French posts to thankfully bring the half to a close.

Jonathan Danty's tip tackle allowed Biggar to make it 9-3 minutes into the second-half as Wales showed a fraction more intent.

What followed naturally was a calamitous try perfectly suited for the occasion.

Haring after a kick from Jonathan Davies, somehow North went to control the ball with his foot and missed, only to watch with glee as a chasing Plisson blunderingly hacked the ball into North's path for a second bite, from which he scored for a commanding 16-3 lead.

A remarkable counter-drive from France short of the line, from which afterwards Dan Lydiate looked offside, halted a driving maul as they responded trying to somehow get back into the contest.

Full of momentum France had to capitalise on a long spell inside the Welsh 22 but on every occasion they dared to go wide they looked aimless, lacking the penetration from a backline which looked undersized in comparison to their opponents.

France in the end were repelled in what was fast becoming a test of character for Novès and his side, facing their first defeat of the year.

A fourth Biggar penalty came after that failed French stint in Welsh territory, which totalled 19 minutes, more or less settling the contest at 19-3.

One saving grace for France was the introduction of François Trinh-Duc.  Judging from the horrorshow Plisson endured it would be no surprise to see Trinh-Duc come in against Scotland based on the direction he added to their attack.

France captain Guilhem Guirado, who deserved better for his efforts, grabbed a late consolation try which meant nothing to the result.

Man of the Match:  Liam Williams and Rob Evans both went well but Gareth Davies always looked a threat when given a half-chance.

Moment of the Match:  After so many phases inside the Welsh 22, France left with nothing as Dan Biggar's fourth penalty killed off the contest.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  North
Con:  Biggar
Pens:  Biggar 4

For France:
Try:  Guirado
Con:  Trinh-Duc
Pens:  Plisson

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Virimi Vakatawa, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Antoine Burban, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Yoann Maestri, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Gaël Fickou

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (RFU), Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

Joseph treble inspires England

Three second-half tries from centre Jonathan Joseph helped England brush off the challenge of Italy on Sunday as they won 40-9 in Rome.

Leading by just two points at the interval, the pre-game script went to form after the turnaround as England moved through the gears to claim their second victory in as many rounds, with George Ford and Owen Farrell scoring their other tries in what was ultimately an easy win.

The Six Nations now takes a week's break before a confident England play host to Ireland while Italy take on Scotland at this same venue.

As expected it was a rugged first-half with little given by the Italians, who enjoyed a decent slice of possession and territory in Rome.

In fact they took the lead in the ninth minute when a wayward English line-out led to an offence and Carlo Canna did the rest off the tee.

England soon levelled courtesy of a strong scrum as Farrell stepped up to make it 3-3 in an even opening twelve minutes to the game.

What was noticeable was a fired-up Italian side and centre Michele Campagnaro was leading that hunger in defence, making two massive tackles and one strong carry that lifted the crowd.  As coach Eddie Jones watched on, he might have regretted his pre-game public message.

Fortunately for England they would get back into the Italian red zone on seventeen minutes and when the hosts failed to release a tackled player on the ground, Ford stepped up in the absence of Farrell, who was off for a Head Injury Assessment, to nudge his team back in front.

It didn't last long though as soon after England lock George Kruis was caught doing the same offence, Canna making it 6-6 off the tee.

The first-half looked like being try-less until the 25th minute when a high testing kick from Ford led to Italy scrum-half Edoardo Gori being put under pressure and turned over.  From there the recycled ball saw Farrell set up his fly-half nicely as Ford ran in on the left sideline.

Farrell struck the post from the resulting conversion so Italy remained very much in touch, however losing inside centre Gonzalo Garcia to a leg injury was a worry.  A Canna penalty before the break helped cushion that, coming from Ben Youngs' high tackle on Sergio Parisse.

Italy withstood a strong English start to the second-half and could have moved in front had Canna landed a penalty.  But it was to be England who opened the account in fortuitist fashion when centre Joseph intercepted Leonardo Sarto's pass for a clean run-in to the try-line.

Farrell added the simple extras to make it 18-9 and it was 25-9 before the hour mark when replacement scrum-half Danny Care's nice grubber through found Joseph for his brace.  That try arrived after the English crowd had cheered the arrival of Maro Itoje in place of James Haskell.

More was to the come from England, who had now thrown on their bench for the remaining fifteen minutes, as Joseph powered over on the left for his hat-trick.  Farrell could not land the difficult conversion but at 33-9 the game was done as England looked for more five-pointers.

One more did arrive when replacement hooker Jamie George offloaded to Farrell for a walkover under the posts, as the English march into Round Three sitting pretty at the Six Nations summit, leading France on points difference.

Man of the match:  It's tough to look past Jonathan Joseph as his treble will take the headlines in Rome.  After a difficult first segment of the season, England will be delighted to see him in this kind of form.

Moment of the match:  Italy were trailing by just two points until minute 53 when a loose pass from Leonardo Sarto gifted England a try.  From there the visitors did not look back as they cruised to victory.

Villain of the match:  Nothing unsavoury to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pen:  Canna 3

For England:
Tries:  Ford, Joseph 3, Farrell
Con:  Farrell 3
Pen:  Farrell 2, Ford

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Andrea Pratichetti

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Maro Itoje, 21 Jack Clifford, 22 Danny Care, 23 Alex Goode

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Wales rally to edge Scotland

Tries in the second half from Jamie Roberts and George North secured a 27-23 win for Wales over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The most entertaining game of the 2016 Six Nations to date was far from flawless but Wales kept faith in Warrenball over width to get back to winning ways after that draw in Dublin, before North's solo effort — his first try in six Tests — took the game away from the visitors.  Duncan Taylor's consolation score came too late to change the outcome.

Wales though were behind at the break thanks to the boot of Greig Laidlaw, the Scotland captain, trying to propel his side to victory after they hadn't won in Cardiff since 2002.  It was also nine long years since their last triumph over Wales, a scoop of extra motivation if any was needed after fluffing their lines against England.  This was a vast improvement but in the end an almighty opportunity missed as Vern Cotter's side faded.

Broken field of course is Gareth Davies' best friend and the scrum-half sped into it for the game's first points.  From Dan Biggar's short chip over the top the ball rebounded perfectly into the hands of the livewire scrum-half, who turned Tommy Seymour inside out on a superb 50-metre sprint to the try line.

Scotland's response was more a less instant — patient build-up controlled by Laidlaw and the Scottish carriers reaching 21 phases, before Finn Russell chipped over the top of the defence to the corner where Tommy Seymour was ready and waiting.  Laidlaw's conversion from the touchline made it 7-7.

Line breaks were at a premium, John Barclay's burst a moment of promise that ended by the flanker opting to kick — just as Russell did the week before against England — when a pass was the better option.

Wales' preference to test Seymour under the high ball ended without success, the winger rising to the challenge in a brilliant first half an hour.

Scotland though were hit by the early loss of Stuart Hogg to injury shortly before Laidlaw's first penalty put the visitors ahead for the first time, after John Hardie's success at the breakdown.

On top at the scrum, the Welsh pack squeezed another penalty out of Scotland for Biggar to tie the score again at 10-10.  Their visitors however had the final say of the half, winning another kickable penalty for Laidlaw as the captain sent Scotland into the break ahead at 13-10.

Thanks to the brilliant break of North it was the hosts who responded first after the interval, a second Biggar penalty levelling the scores.

Seeking more energy from his tight five Warren Gatland brought on Gethin Jenkins, Ken Owens and Bradley Davies only seven minutes into the second half, as Scotland continued to pressure Gareth Davies on his clearance kicks.

A contest seemingly destined to hinge on one mistake, Liam Williams' knock-on under the high ball presented Scotland with a vital opportunity and their scrum delivered, winning a penalty for Laidlaw to restore the lead at 13-16.

A break however from Tom James up the touchline threatened to turn the tide, stopped only by Taylor's covering tackle, as Scotland rallied initially before coughing up a five-metre scrum from which Wales eventually scored.

It took multiple resets before Roberts fulfilled his objective by crashing over from short range for a second Welsh try.

After Roberts had battered down the door North ran through it, ending his Test match drought.  Cutting back on the angle onto an inside ball from Biggar, the wing hit an outstanding line and had too much pace for the defence to catch him.

And while Taylor held off the defence to go over for Scotland shortly before full-time, his efforts were in vain — Wales doing enough to secure their first win of the Championship.

Man of the Match:  One of Tommy Seymour's best games for Scotland but Jamie Roberts capped off another productive, if unglamourous, afternoon with a key try to flip the lead in the second half.

Moment of the Match:  We've waited for a glimpse of George North at full flight for some time and he delivered with an outstanding solo score to put Wales out of reach.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  G Davies, Roberts, North
Cons:  Biggar 3
Pens:  Biggar 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour, Taylor
Cons:  Laidlaw, Weir
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

France muscle past Ireland

France made it two wins out of two in this year's Six Nations after they beat Ireland 10-9 in a dour clash in Paris on Saturday.

Ireland did lead 3-9 at the break but after the turnaround it was all France as a Maxime Médard try came on the back of a solid scrum, moving les Bleus top of the standings.  The Irish meanwhile are left to contemplate how they remain without a win as they head home empty handed.

In wet weather conditions it was a first half lacking in attacking quality but the physicality was clear to see as Ireland lost three players to either injury or the blood bin.  They were Sean O'Brien, Dave Kearney and Mike McCarthy with the former sustaining a worrying knee injury.

Jonathan Sexton was the man taking most of the punishment however as a late shoulder charge on the fly-half gifted him the opening points.  The Leinster man made no mistake from 40 metres as Ireland led before flanker O'Brien's rotten luck with injury struck on 20 minutes.

Nine minutes later the lead was doubled when, after enjoying plenty of possession and territory, Ireland added a second penalty as France offended at ruck time.  Again Sexton was on target, this time from his left, amid another change as Fergus McFadden came on for Kearney.

France finally got some field position after the opening 30 minutes and it didn't take long for them to turn that into points, with Devin Toner going off his feet at the ruck to allow Jules Plisson to strike.  The playmaker would later miss a snap drop goal as the home side rallied.

Fortunately for Ireland that French territory was short-lived as a powerful scrum earned the visitors three points to stretch the lead back out to six.  But when Toner failed to collect the resulting restart and Andrew Trimble held on in the tackle, Plisson had the chance to make it a three-point game.  He missed that kick as Ireland went into the dressing rooms to dry off 9-3 to the good, but thinking it could have been more.

Guy Novès was clearly unhappy with his troops and changes soon followed after the break as Hugo Bonneval replaced Teddy Thomas on the wing while a brand new front row also entered the fray, although captain Guilhem Guirado's absence was only temporary as he returned after treatment.

Still trailing 9-3 the French continued to ring the changes as Maxime Machenaud and Paul Jedrasiak soon appeared as they set up camp in Ireland's final third.  However, handling errors in the rain continued to hurt their game, Ireland easily keeping them out as the hour mark neared.

France would keep banging on the door though and came close to scoring when Damien Chouly was over the line from a short carry.  But he was judged to have not grounded after TMO intervention.  Still Ireland led by six but a five-metre les Bleus scrum kept up the pressure.

Eventually, after several penalty resets, France got their reward and it came thanks to a good angle from full-back Médard, with Plisson's conversion pushing the hosts in front for the first time in the game.  At 10-9 up, the French had nine minutes to hold on for an ugly triumph.

They comfortably did that as the hosts ended the second half well on top, with Ireland left to ponder how they failed to win as one point from two games means their Championship crown is slipping away from their grasp.

Man of the match:  In a match short on quality, the contest was ultimately won up front and hooker Guilhem Guirado was a key part of this French victory.  Solid in the scrum and also the tackle — Dave Kearney can vouch for that after receiving a heavy impact from the captain — Guirado was also at the heart of France's try in a series of attacking scrums.  A mention for Maxime Médard too for landing the vital blow.

Moment of the match:  It took 71 minutes for the game's first try and Maxime Médard got it after running a nice line from ten metres out.  That took the wind out of Ireland's sails as it was a second-half to forget at the set-piece, with France dominating the forward battle.

Villain of the match:  Other than that late Yoann Maestri hit on Jonathan Sexton, it was a relatively clean Six Nations contest in Paris.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Médard
Con:  Plisson
Pen:  Plisson

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 3

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Hugo Bonneval

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Nathan White, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Richard Strauss, 17 James Cronin, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland and Wales draw in Dublin

Ireland and Wales couldn't be seperated after 80 minutes, the two sides drawing 16-16 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The first draw between these two nations since 1974 hands them both just one point after both failed to find a late breakthrough with the clock ticking down after an exhausting physical battle.

Ireland through Conor Murray's try and two Jonathan Sexton penalties raced out into a 13-0 lead, but it's a testament to the experience of Wales in this tournament that they never panicked, chipping their way back to level the scores ten minutes into the second half.

Jamie Roberts' spearheaded an impressive defensive effort from Wales, a second-half tackle on Robbie Henshaw angering the crowd despite being clearly legal.

Unglamorous perhaps, but no less impressive as his side gradually ground down Ireland's lead before Rhys Priestland's penalty gave them a late advantage.  Sexton however held his nerve to level the scores once more as the game ended 16-16.

CJ Stander started brightly in his long-awaited debut for Ireland after belting out the national anthem before kick-off, carrying hard to force a penalty against Wales which Sexton converted after six minutes for a 3-0 lead.

Persistent pressure from the hosts forced Wales into putting in a high number of tackles, eventually resulting in a penalty against the visitors for not rolling away as Sexton doubled his tally.

The early departure of in-form Dan Biggar seemed crucial for Wales, Rhys Priestland entering the fray months after his international future looked momentarily over following his move to Bath.

The momentum of the first half hour continued to flow Ireland's way, culminating eventually in the game's first try.

Ireland's big runners were effective and after carries from Robbie Henshaw and Stander, Murray darted his way over around the fringes for an efficient score.

That bright start however nearly came undone after Keith Earls appeared to make a dangerous tackle on Liam Williams, a late call-up at full-back for Gareth Anscombe.  The Ireland winger escaped a yellow card but Priestland did convert the resulting penalty to put Wales on the board.

Taking the initiative Wales continues to hit back and despite an unsteady scrum, Taulupe Faletau was able to power his way over from close-range, having too much energy and strength for Sexton as Ireland looked weary towards the end of the first half — leading 13-10 at the break.

Priestland's early drop goal attempt at the start of the second half fell wide but he made no mistake with a penalty not long after to tie the scores at 13-13.

As the physicality rose so did the number of handling errors from each side in a contest now filled with tension, the Dublin crowd bursting into a rare roar when Sexton cut through the defensive line and delivered a perfect pass wide to Andrew Trimble only for the winger to be bundled into touch.

A monster set of phases from Wales in Irish territory, 28 in total, resulted finally in a penalty at the ruck for Wales to take the lead for the first time with eight minutes remaining.  Priestland rose to the challenge, converting to make it 16-13.

Naturally based on how close the contest had been Ireland were given an immediate chance to reply, the Aviva Stadium descending into a hush as Sexton delivered to make it all square.

Priestland missed once again going for a drop goal to snatch victory with two minutes left and Ireland had a chance to kick the ball out from a scrum with time up on the clock, but instead went for the win.

There was to be however no final score, Ireland and Wales settling for a 16-16 draw and nursing some battered bodies heading into Round Two.

Man of the Match:  A superb debut for CJ Stander but the tackling of Jamie Roberts was so impressive for Wales in midfield.

Moment of the Match:  After all those phases Rhys Priestland finally put Wales in front with less than ten minutes to go, his penalty appearing to complete an impressive comeback until Sexton responded.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murray
Cons:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 3

For Wales:
Tries:  Faletau
Cons:  Priestland
Pens:  Priestland 3

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Nathan White, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jerry Cronin, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Dave Kearney

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Alex Cuthbert

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

England win to lift Calcutta Cup

England got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start at Murrayfield on Saturday, edging Scotland 15-9 to lift the Calcutta Cup.

Eddie Jones hinted it wouldn't be pretty but a victory is all the English wanted to start their new era on a positive note after a poor World Cup.

Tries were scored by second-row George Kruis and wing Jack Nowell, with Owen Farrell kicking five points to Greig Laidlaw's nine for Scotland.

It was a pulsating first-half in Edinburgh as England edged the opening quarter before Scotland finished strongly, making the 7-6 scoreline a fair reflection of the first 40 minutes.  Those points came via England lock Kruis' converted score and two Laidlaw penalties in reply.

However, Scotland would rue a Laidlaw penalty miss and also a 40th minute drop-goal attempt from fly-half Finn Russell that went well wide.

England had a pot shot of their own in the first opportunity of the game on ten minutes as George Ford sat back in the pocket.  That effort drifted just wide of the post but the visitors did not have to wait long before Kruis reached out after a series of close carries for 7-0.

At this point England were enjoying 80 percent of possession in decent areas so when Scotland came to life in the 17th minute, Murrayfield was full of relieved faces as their charges began to improve.  Laidlaw landed a penalty for some reward after Chris Robshaw didn't roll away.

It could have been 7-6 on the half-hour mark when Ford was penalised for not releasing under pressure from Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour.  But Laidlaw was off-target as Scotland had to wait until the 38th minute for their next points, this time Joe Launchbury the man not releasing.

As mentioned though, Vern Cotter's side would possibly feel they should have gone into the dressing room in front after that Russell miss.

The momentum continued to be with Scotland after the turnaround but once again they had little to show for their dominance, with a second crooked lineout throw from hooker Ross Ford not helping their cause, allowing England to clear their lines for a much-needed respite.

Enter Mako Vunipola whose fine form this season in club colours continued for his country, with lovely hands leading to Nowell racing over on the right wing.  Farrell though could not land the difficult touchline extras which meant Scotland remained within a score at 12-6 down.

It was predicted that England's powerful bench would have a say on proceedings and that proved to be the case coming up to the hour as they set up camp in the home 22.

Fortunately for Scotland a loose pass from Ben Youngs gave them a welcome escape up to halfway.  However, had that ball been kept in hand there was more than a chance of a breakout try.

The clearance wouldn't shield them from three key points in the game though as a scrum penalty led to Farrell sending one over to make it 15-6.

Scotland were gifted a route back into the game on 69 minutes when England replacement Courtney Lawes was caught offside from a Mike Brown kick, Laidlaw making no mistake from in front of the uprights as the gap was cut to six points with plenty of time still on the clock.

But England held on and deservedly won the match, seeing out the clash on the front foot as the Jones era began on a positive note.

Man of the Match:  A force throughout at number eight for England, Billy Vunipola gets the nod for our star man.  Scotland struggled to keep a lid on his power as Vunipola made good metres with his carries.  Despite a mixed day off the tee, and one careless penalty, centre Owen Farrell was also impressive.

Moment of the Match:  Maybe Scotland fly-half Finn Russell will be kicking himself for booting the ball upfield after intercepting a pass in his 22.  Had he looked to his left he would have found full-back Stuart Hogg who would surely have won a foot race with George Ford.  Costly.

Villain of the Match:  All in all, a clean game with no mischief.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

For England:
Tries:  Kruis, Nowell
Con:  Farrell
Pen:  Farrell

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Duncan Taylor

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Alex Goode, 23 Ollie Devoto

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Plisson’s penalty holds off Italy

Jules Plisson's late penalty was enough for France to hold off Italy 23-21 in a gripping Six Nations opener at the Stade de France.

Virimi Vakatawa crossed on his debut as France outscored their visitors three tries to two, but Sergio Parisse's late drop-goal attempt nearly snatched victory for the Azzurri, only for his effort to miss.

As tactical performances go this was one of Italy's finest for years and they surpassed all pre-tournament expectations, arguably deserving more for their efforts in an entertaining contest.

There is so much hope around France's new caps, four of which started in Paris with Yacouba Camara an early replacement for Louis Picamoles.  That experience felt like a burden until their fly-half Plisson, just 24 himself, landed the crucial penalty with only minutes remaining.

Written off in a hurry before the tournament, this was a fine response from Italy.  Competitive as ever in the set-piece, whenever their passes stuck they appeared a real threat, exposing France's flawed defence.  It almost goes without saying that Parisse was excellent such is his class, but this was one of his finest games for some time.

Leonardo Sarto came so close to a moment of brilliance chasing down Edoardo Gori's box kick but their bright start was rewarded through a drop-goal from Carlo Canna.

Vakatawa's try shortly followed, despite his foot coming dangerously close to the touchline, but it came at a cost as Picamoles trudged off the field helped by the French medical staff.

A missed penalty and conversion from Sébastien Bezy prevented France's lead from being healthier after the opening quarter.

By persistenly testing Vakatawa's positioning with kicks over his head Italy eventually struck back, forcing Maxime Médard to turn and find the safety of touch with his boot.  Attacking from the resulting five-metre lineout, Parisse was found at the bottom of the pile after Italy's maul rumbled over the line to score.

The quick-thinking of Gaël Fickou, taking a tap penalty after Parisse's deliberate knock-on, helped to spin the ball through the hands allowing Damien Chouly to finish in the corner.  Bézy missed his third kick of the contest from out wide.

Canna had the chance to put Italy ahead just before the break, but his penalty drifted wide yet again to leave Italy trailing 10-8 at the interval despite banging on the door late on through Michele Campagnaro who was stopped just short.

Italy's young fly-half found his range with a first penalty after the break to put the Azzurri ahead, but what happened next stunned the Stade de France.

With so much space on offer Italy profited by getting their runners into gaps at speed, Parisse's carry putting him on the verge of a second score were it not for Vakatawa's try-saving tackle.  After Italy recycled Canna was there to touch down, converting to make it 18-10.

Now under pressure France looked short of both leadership and also direction in their attack, trying to spread the ball as often as they could with little success.  Plisson's chip and chase was a rare exception, even if the attack came to nothing.

France at last clicked with a sweeping score, started by Vakatawa's thunderous carry as he dragged tacklers into the 22.  Wide the French went as Danty released Hugo Bonneval to score right in the corner.  Plisson's conversion made it a one-point game.

The switch in kickers paid off with a Plisson penalty with 11 minutes to go, putting France back ahead at 20-18, only for replacement number ten Kelly Haimona to swing the lead back Italy's way with six minutes left.

Parisse, shaking his head after being penalised for playing the ball after being tackled, then watched his Stade Français team-mate Plisson hammer over a monster penalty to make it 23-21.

Italy did their best to force a penalty out of JP Doyle through the scrum, and then for a drop goal — bizarrely taken by all people by Parisse in familiar territory.  The number eight's effort desperately missed, France clinging on.

Man of the Match:  Contenders from both sides, with Canna excellent for Italy, but Jules Plisson's late kicks were absolutely vital when France needed direction.

Moment of the Match:  Parisse, penalised for trying to carry on after being tackled, and Plisson's huge penalty thereafter to secure the win.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Vakatawa, Chouly, Bonneval
Cons:  Plisson
Pens:  Plisson

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Canna
Cons:  Canna
Pens:  Canna, Haimona
Drop:  Canna

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Hugo Bonneval, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Sébastien Bezy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Jedrasiak, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Jefferson Poirot, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Yacouba Camara, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Maxime Mermoz

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)