England and Scotland draw Calcutta Cup thriller

A late George Ford converted try denied Scotland a famous come-from-behind Calcutta Cup win at Twickenham in a contest that finished 38-38.

It was a quite stunning 80 minutes on Saturday as the Scots appeared to have done the unthinkable when they came back from 31-0 down to go 38-31 in front with four minutes remaining on the match clock.  But with time up in the clash, Ford had other ideas to save English blushes.

England‘s other try scorers were Jack Nowell, Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May while for Scotland Stuart McInally, Darcy Graham (2), Magnus Bradbury, Finn Russell and Sam Johnson crossed in a match high on entertainment, bringing down 2019’s Six Nations curtain in style.

England were rampant from the off and raced into that big lead after half-an-hour courtesy of five crossings as Scotland were on the ropes.

They got the ball rolling with one minute played when slick handling and decoy runners allowed Henry Slade room to feed Nowell who finished well, cutting back inside off the right wing nicely.  Owen Farrell added the conversion and it wouldn’t be long before the tee was on again.

Their second came seven minutes later as a penalty nudged into the corner led to Curry burrowing over from a line-out rush to make it 14-0.

England were motoring and the only negative from the early stages was an injury to Ben Moon that saw him replaced by Ellis Genge.  The prop was immediately into the action and his carry and combination with fellow front-row Kyle Sinckler created Launchbury’s score on 14 minutes.

Farrell would then add a penalty to his conversion on 25 minutes as the lead was stretched to 24 points before a quickly taken penalty saw Slade race down the left wing before throwing a lovely inside pass to May who finished with ease.  Scotland looked in danger of a hammering.

Fortunately for Gregor Townsend’s men they would get on the board before half-time when McInally showed good pace to cross from 60 metres, this after he charged down Farrell’s attempted cross-kick.  The busy hooker intelligently changed his angle of running to get over in time.

Crucially for Scotland’s hopes of a revival they also scored first after the break when Graham finished well for 31-12 after good handling.  That was added to when Bradbury raced over on 51 minutes as suddenly Scotland had pulled themselves back into the match at just 31-19 down.

Indeed the match had now turned on its head at Twickenham and when the lively Graham raced over on 57 minutes on the right wing, Scotland had themselves a try bonus point to their name as it was now the English who were reeling, with head coach Eddie Jones stunned in his seat.

Amazingly, the game was tied at 31-31 on the hour when Russell intercepted Farrell’s loose pass before running under the posts from distance and the stunning comeback looked to be complete on 76 minutes, Johnson bouncing off would-be tacklers en route to the line for a 38-31 lead.

But England somehow managed to pick themselves up off the canvas and Ford’s last ditch try salvaged a draw to end an unbelievable meeting.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Nowell, Curry, Launchbury, May, Ford
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford
Pen:  Farrell

For Scotland:
Tries:  McInally, Graham 2, Bradbury, Russell, Johnson
Cons:  Russell 2, Laidlaw 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 George Ford, 23 Ben Te’o

Scotland:  15 Sean Maitland, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Wonderful Wales thrash Ireland to claim Grand Slam

Wales secured their third Grand Slam under the stewardship of Warren Gatland following an outstanding 25-7 triumph over Ireland at the Principality Stadium.

Saving their best performance for the final game, they were magnificent, opening up an early 7-0 advantage through Hadleigh Parkes’ try, before Gareth Anscombe carried on their good work by kicking three penalties for a 16-0 lead.

In contrast, Joe Schmidt’s team were abysmal.  Ill-disciplined and lacking any creativity, they never particularly looked like breaching the hosts’ stout defence.  Instead, it was the Welsh that looked assured in difficult conditions and Anscombe added three more three-pointers to complete a wonderful campaign.

Their winning streak now stands at 14 and it was the ideal way to mark Gatland’s final Six Nations game in charge, while they have very much put themselves in the World Cup mix.

In their three previous Grand Slam campaigns, Wales have been at home in the final match and they once again used the energy of the crowd to put the visitors under immediate pressure.

Gatland’s outfit were on the front foot in the opening minute, winning a lineout on the opposition 22 and forcing the away side to infringe.  From the penalty advantage, Anscombe’s trademark chip over the top was well collected by Parkes and the hosts already held a seven-point buffer.

Ireland immediately looked to respond, testing the Welsh defence with some neat kicks, and Johnny Sexton almost caught them out by finding Jacob Stockdale out wide.  However, that man Parkes, who has been outstanding over the past couple of games, was aware of the danger and put last season’s championship top-scorer into touch.

Buoyed by the centre’s superb effort, Wales upped the intensity once more and another Irish infringement allowed Anscombe to make it 10-0.

Schmidt’s men were struggling and they were evidently rattled.  As a result, they continued to make mistakes and the hosts’ kicker was on hand to punish any indiscretion, moving them 16-0 ahead at the interval.

Even at half-time, the champagne was on ice and it got even better for Gatland’s charges as Anscombe extended their lead at the start of the second period.

It was a brilliant display in tough conditions and Ireland had no answer to their opponents’ excellence.  Although it may not have been pretty, the weather dictated that and the forwards did their jobs superbly, regularly forcing the visitors into reverse.

They duly gave Anscombe opportunities off the tee and the Cardiff Blues man was in no mood to miss, adding two more for an insurmountable lead.

Ireland battled to get something from the contest and Jordan Larmour did go over, but it didn’t dampen Wales’ spirits, who never faltered and deservedly claimed another Grand Slam under Gatland.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Parkes
Con:  Anscombe
Pens:  Anscombe 6

For Ireland:
Try: Larmour
Con:  Carty

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

France end campaign on a high after beating Italy

France finished their Six Nations campaign on a high courtesy of a hard-fought 25-14 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.

In a tightly contested affair, momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed but it was France who got the rub of the green in the end as they outscored the Azzurri by three tries to one.

The result was in the balance until the game’s dying moments but a try from Damian Penaud secured the win for Les Bleus after Italy wasted try-scoring opportunities at the other end just before that.

The victory is France’s second of the tournament while Italy finish winless for the fourth successive year and extend their drought in the Six Nations to 22 matches.

Italy dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 6-0 lead after Tommaso Allan succeeded with two penalties.

France were slowly getting into the game and in the 16th minute Penaud gathered a pass from Maxime Medard close to the halfway line before setting off on a brilliant run down the right-hand touchline.  He cut infield and beat Tito Tebaldi with deft footwork before offloading to Antoine Dupont, who went over for the opening try.

Romain Ntamack slotted the conversion which gave his side a 7-5 lead but Les Bleus were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when their captain, Guilhem Guirado, was forced off the field with a rib injury.

Despite that setback, France still held the upper-hand and midway through the half Ntamack extended their lead via another penalty after Andrea Lovotti slowed the ball down illegally at a ruck.

Italy were soon camped inside Les Bleus’ 22, however, and in the 24th minute Allan stabbed through a well-weighted grubber kick which caught the French defence by surprise.  Marco Zanon gave chase but the ball bounced off the padding of an upright and the debutant centre knocked on.

Two minutes later, the Azzurri were denied again when Braam Steyn went over the whitewash under a mass of bodies, but television replays were inconclusive whether he grounded the ball.

It was all Italy during the rest of the half but despite spending most of the closing stages on the attack inside France’s half, they could not add to their points tally and the teams changed sides at the interval with Les Bleus holding a slender 10-6 lead.

Italy continued the second half like they finished off the first and in the 42nd minute Allan added another penalty after Yacouba Camara infringed at a ruck.

The visitors regained the initiative, however, and they did so in style courtesy of a brilliant try from Yoann Huget.  This, after France’s forwards laid the groundwork with some strong carries.  A long pass from Ntamack was gathered by Medard, who offloaded to Huget and the winger did well to outpace the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Ntamack’s conversion was successful which gave the visitors some breathing space with the score 17-9 in their favour.  Italy had an opportunity to narrow the gap in the 49th minute, when France strayed offside on defence but Allan’s was off target with his penalty attempt.

The Azzurri put that miss behind them and five minutes later Tebaldi crossed the whitewash from close quarters after an extended period in Les Bleus’ 22.  Allan’s conversion attempt was wide of the mark but with the home side trailing by just three points, they were back in the match and continued to attack.

France needed a response and that came in the 63rd minute when Ntamack landed a drop goal from inside Italy’s 22 after Camille Chat did well in the build-up with a strong carry.

The next 10 minutes was a frantic affair as Italy launched several attacks in a bid to narrow the gap.  In the 66th minute, Tebaldi thought he was over for his second try but his effort was disallowed after he lost the ball forward before regathering and dotting down.

In the 72nd minute, Les Bleus suffered a setback when Chat halted a maul illegally from Italy close to his try-line and he was sent to the sin bin for his efforts.

With a numerical advantage, Italy dominated proceedings but in the 75th minute Zanon blew the chance to score his side’s second try when he had the ball knocked from his grasp while crossing the try-line.

The tackle was made Penaud, who finished the game as Les Bleus’ hero when he gathered a pass from Ntamack before racing away to score the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Tebaldi
Pens:  Allan 3

For France:
Tries:  Dupont, Huget, Penaud
Cons:  Ntamack 2
Pen:  Ntamack
Drop goal:  Ntamack
Yellow Card:  Chat

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 David Sisi, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Gregory Alldritt, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Arthur Iturria, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Thomas Ramos

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland beat France to set up Wales showdown

Ireland will go into the final round with an outside chance of claiming the Six Nations title following a dominant 26-14 triumph over France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.

The Emerald Isle are currently third in the table, two points below leaders Wales, and they will have to beat Warren Gatland’s side and hope that England fail to win against Scotland for them to defend their championship.

Joe Schmidt’s men prepared well for their gargantuan contest next week, however.  They combined physicality with some nice touches with ball in hand against Les Bleus to score three tries and go into the break 19-0 in front.

Rory Best, Johnny Sexton and replacement Jack Conan all touched down as they effectively ended the game as a contest in the opening 40 minutes.

Keith Earls then sealed the bonus-point in the third quarter to secure the win and complete a miserable day for the French, despite Yoann Huget’s and Camille Chat’s late consolation efforts.

It was another abysmal display from Les Bleus as a slack defence made it all too easy for the hosts to get over the gain line.  CJ Stander and Tadhg Furlong needed no invitation and the visitors were consistently sent into reverse.

Those facets were all in evidence with the opening try when they set up a maul and powered towards the whitewash.  The result was inevitable and Best splintered off to touch down for an early 7-0 advantage.

The hosts were impressive but no one was taking responsibility for France.  Antoine Dupont, so spritely and confident against Scotland, was indecisive and his lack of control almost cost them a try, only for Cian Healy to let them off with a knock on.

Ireland were not to be denied, however, and a trademark Sexton wraparound saw the visitors take the bait.  Huget and Gael Fickou rather comically collided and the home side’s fly-half simply touched down by the right-hand upright.

At 14-0 down, it was already an uphill battle, particularly with Jacques Brunel’s charges showing few signs of creating anything of note.  Ireland were dominant aerially and in the kicking game, and the pressure resulted in a number of errors from the visitors.

Another turnover in their own 22 saw Les Bleus cede possession once again and Conan barrelled his way over for a 19-0 lead at the break.

France were slightly better in the early stages of the second half, winning a couple of penalties and taking play well into the opposition half, but their attack was stagnant and a swarming Irish defence halted any potential threat.

Instead, Ireland turned over the ball and exposed the French’s poor organisation in backfield.  A period of play in the away team’s 22 ensued before a lovely set-piece move resulted in Earls scampering clear to confirm the bonus-point.

It was well and truly game over, but the French did manage to avoid suffering any further embarrassment as Huget and Chat went over late on.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best, Sexton, Conan, Earls
Cons:  Sexton 3

For France:
Tries:  Huget, Chat
Cons:  Serin 2
Yellow Card:  Aldegheri

Ireland:  15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Jack Conan, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Felix Lambey, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Maxime Medard

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England put 50 past hapless Italy

England returned to the victory trail in the Six Nations when they claimed a 57-14 bonus-point win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair with England dominating most facets of play and they eventually outscored their visitors by eight tries to two with Manu Tuilagi and Brad Shields crossing for a brace apiece.

The result means England are still in second position in the standings but they have narrowed the gap to a point behind table-toppers Wales, who beat Scotland earlier on Saturday.

England made their intentions known from the outset by running the ball from all areas of the field and they were soon camped inside the Azzurri’s half.  In the eighth minute, Jamie George opened the scoring when he barged over off the back of a driving maul deep inside Italy’s 22.

That try did not deter the visitors, who also gave the ball plenty of air, and they opened their account shortly afterwards.  This, courtesy of a fine try from Tommaso Allan, who spotted a gap in the English defence before selling Joe Cokanasiga an outrageous dummy on his way over the try-line.

Allan dusted himself off and added the conversion from close to the touchline, which meant the sides were level at 7-7 after 15 minutes.

But that would be the last time Italy would add points during the half as England scored three further tries which secured them a try-scoring bonus point before the interval.

First, Elliot Daly made a superb line break before offloading to Jonny May, who cantered in for his fifth try of the tournament.  Then, midway through the half, Tuilagi’s power and speed proved too much for his opponents as he set off on a barnstorming run from the halfway line before scoring his side’s third five-pointer.

Owen Farrell added the extras before slotting a penalty which gave his side a comfortable 24-7 lead by the 26th minute.

And in the 32nd minute, Shields ran onto a pass from Tuilagi and outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line to notch his first Test try.

Farrell succeeded with his fourth conversion and England were cruising as the teams changed sides at half-time.

The home side’s dominance continued during the early stages of the second of half and Tuilagi was rewarded with his second try in the 47th minute after forwards and backs combined in the build-up.

Despite being comprehensively outplayed, Italy did not surrender and in the 55th minute Luca Morisi gathered a long pass from Allan before diving over in the left-hand corner.

But just like the first half, the Azzurri could not build momentum after scoring points and England regained the initiative with further tries from George Kruis and Dan Robson which gave them a 50-14 lead by the 69th minute.

And just before the end, Kruis charged down an attempted clearance from Tito Tebaldi before Shields regathered the loose ball to cross for his second try which sealed an emphatic win for England.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  George, May, Tuilagi 2, Shields 2, Kruis, Robson
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford 3
Pen:  Farrell

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan, Morisi
Cons:  Allan 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nathan Hughes, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Henry Slade

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Castello

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Paul Williams (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Wales grind past plucky Scotland

Wales consolidated their position at the top of the Six Nations standings courtesy of a hard-fought 18-11 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In an attritional affair, characterised by several massive hits and constant physicality, both sides deserve plenty of credit for making this the entertaining spectacle that it was and the result was in the balance until the game’s closing stages.

If truth be told, this was a game of two halves with Wales dominating proceedings during the opening stanza but a different Scotland came out of the changing room and dominated the second half.

But in the end, Wales held on for the win – their 13th successive one – and will play for the Grand Slam against Ireland in Cardiff next weekend.

The match started at a frenetic pace and Scotland eventually opened the scoring in the 11th minute courtesy of a Finn Russell penalty after Josh Navidi infringed at a lineout.

That lead did not last long as two minutes later, Wales struck back with a superb try.  This, after Jonathan Davies got a pass out to Josh Adams down the left-hand and, although the flyer still had plenty of work to do, he did brilliantly to beat Blair Kinghorn with deft footwork before crossing the whitewash.

Gareth Anscombe slotted the conversion but Scotland were soon on the attack deep inside the visitors’ half thanks to a mazy run from Darcy Graham in which he beat five defenders.

Despite Graham’s brilliance on attack, Scotland were not rewarded with a try but had to settle for another penalty from Russell which meant the match was evenly poised with Wales holding a slender 7-6 lead.

The game’s intensity levels were incredibly high and Scotland came off second best in most of the collisions.  They lost Jamie Ritchie to a HIA, although he later returned to the field, while Tommy Seymour was forced off with a rib injury and Blair Kinghorn hobbled off with an ankle knock – all by the half-hour mark.

Ritchie was replaced by Hamish Watson but he too had to leave the field with a blood injury with back-up hooker Fraser Brown Brown taking his place while Wales also lost the services of Adam Beard to a HIA.

Wales continued to control the pace of the game as the half progressed and Anscombe added another penalty in the 25th minute to give his side four-point lead.  And on the half-hour mark, Jonathan Davies crossed for their second try after the ball was taken through 24 phases with Hadleigh Parkes and George North particularly impressive with strong carries in the build-up.

Anscombe converted which gave his side a 15-6 lead and, although there were more pointscoring opportunities for the visitors during the half’s closing stages, they would not add to their tally.

Scotland upped the ante on attack after the restart but, despite several forays into Wales territory during the first 15 minutes of the half, they did not score any points during that period.

The dam wall eventually burst in the 58th minute when Graham went over for a well-worked try.  Russell did brilliantly when he threw an inside pass to Byron McGuigan, after a lineout just inside Wales’ 22.  Although McGuigan still had work to do, he did well to offload to Adam Hastings, who got a pass out to Graham and the winger went over in the right-hand corner.

Russell’s conversion attempt was off target which meant Wales were leading 15-11 but, despite that miss, they were back in the game and continued to attack.

That tactic nearly backfired when, shortly afterwards, Hastings lost possession inside Wales’ half.  Adams booted the ball upfield but, although he regathered, the bounce of the ball forced him wide deep inside Scotland’s 22 and there was no reward for the visitors from that attack.

Scotland launched several further attacks inside Wales’ half over the next 15 minutes but a combination of unforced errors and solid defence from the Welsh kept them at bay.

Wales eventually found themselves on the attack inside Scotland’s 22 during the game’s closing stages and a breakdown infringement from the hosts allowed Anscombe to slot his second penalty which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Graham
Pens:  Russell 2

For Wales:
Tries:  Adams, J Davies
Con:  Anscombe
Pens:  Anscombe 2

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Darcy Graham, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Byron McGuigan

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Spirited Italy give Ireland a scare

Ireland were given an almighty scare by Italy on Sunday, before registering a hard-earned 26-16 victory in their Six Nations Test in Rome.

Despite heading into this match on a 19-game losing streak in the tournament, Italy were competitive throughout and even held a 16-12 lead at half-time after a superb showing during the opening stanza.

In the end, Ireland fought back bravely in the second-half and eventually secured a crucial bonus point after outscoring their hosts by four tries to two.

That means the champions move into third place in the standings – one point behind England and three adrift of table-toppers Wales.

As expected, Ireland were fastest out of the blocks but despite having most of the possession in the game’s early stages, they committed several unforced errors during that period.

They eventually settled down and took the lead in the 11th minute when Quinn Roux barged over from close quarters for their opening try after Chris Farrell was stopped short of the try-line in the build-up.

Johnny Sexton slotted the conversion but five minutes later Tommaso Allan lined up a long-range kick at goal and although he had the distance, he pushed his shot wide of the posts.

Soon after, Sean O’Brien was blown up for illegal play on defence and Allan made up for his earlier miss by converting the resulting penalty, which meant the visitors were leading 7-3 midway through the half.

The Azzurri forwards failed to claim the ball from the restart and in attempt to regather, Michele Campagnaro knocked on.  Jacob Stockdale pounced on the loose ball before racing away from the cover defence to score his side’s second try.

Despite that setback, Italy were soon on the attack inside Ireland’s half and the hosts reduced the deficit via another penalty from Allan in the 26th minute after Sean Cronin strayed offside on defence.

The game’s momentum swung in the 33rd minute when Ireland lost possession at a line-out inside their half and after a good run from Jayden Hayward, Italy were camped close to the visitors’ try-line.  The ball was recycled quickly and Allan did well to deliver a superb long throw to Edoardo Padovani, who had an easy run-in for his side’s opening try.

Although Allan failed with the conversion attempt, Italy finished stronger and in the 39th minute they took the lead courtesy of an excellent try from Luca Morisi.

Tito Tebaldi deserves plenty of credit for his role in the score as he did brilliantly to win a turnover inside his half before setting off towards his opponents’ try-line.  Tebaldi then booted the ball upfield and Italy did well to regather deep inside Ireland’s 22 where Padovani was stopped close to the right-hand corner.  Italy then shifted the ball to the left where Luca Morisi powered his way over the whitewash despite the attentions of Farrell.

Allan was off target from the kicking tee again but the Azzurri were buzzing as the teams changed sides at half-time.

Ireland seemed shell-shocked and the interval came at just the right time for them.  They regathered their composure and regained the lead in the 51st minute when Keith Earls stepped past a couple of defenders inside Italy’s 22 before diving over.

The next 15 minutes was a slugfest and although Ireland had most of the possession and territory, they could not breach their opponents’ defence.  But, despite being frustrated during that period, Ireland remained patient and they were rewarded in the 67th minute when Conor Murray scored their bonus-point try, off the back of a line-out drive deep inside Italy’s territory.

Despite securing their bonus point, Ireland could not rest on their laurels as Italy continued to attack.  The closing stages were frantic and Italy had a chance to gain a losing bonus point when Ian McKinley lined up a shot at goal.  His effort was off target, however, and although Ireland tried to attack from behind their posts, they soon committed a handling error which brought proceedings to a close.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Padovani, Morisi
Pens:  Allan 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Roux, Stockdale, Earls, Murray
Cons:  Sexton, Murray 2

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Maxime Mbanda’, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian Mckinley, 23 Tommaso Castello

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Wales go top after epic win over England

Wales took a giant step towards winning this year’s Six Nations title when they claimed a hard-fought 21-13 triumph over England in Cardiff on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising duel, characterised by several huge collisions, England’s defence kept Wales at bay for long periods.  Wales finished stronger, however, and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one with both the home side’s five-pointer scored in the game’s closing stages.

The win means Wales move above England at the top of the table and they have now won a record 12 successive Tests.

Both teams came into this fixture as the only unbeaten teams in the competition which meant there was plenty of hype in the build-up.  And that was certainly justified as the sides gave their all for the full 80 minutes.

The match started at a frenetic pace with Wales doing most of the early attacking and although they had the bulk of the possession and territory, they were frustrated by the superb defensive efforts of their opponents.

England had an early opportunity to open the scoring when Elliot Daly lined up a long range shot at goal – after Justin Tipuric was blown up for a no-arms tackle on Billy Vunipola – but his effort was wide of the mark.

Wales held the upper-hand over the next 15 minutes but despite their dominance, they could not breach the visitors’ defence.

And it was England who eventually took the lead in the 18th minute courtesy of an Owen Farrell penalty, after an indiscretion at a scrum from Wales.

Wales didn’t take long to respond and in the 24th minute Gareth Anscombe restored parity with a penalty of his own after Kyle Sinckler was punished for a late tackle.

That penalty seemed to rally English spirits and three minutes later, during a rare visit to Wales’ 22, Tom Curry burst through a hole around the fringe of a ruck and crossed for the opening try.

Farrell added the extras which gave his side a 10-3 lead and although both sides spent time inside their opponents’ 22 during the half’s closing stages, neither side would add to their points tally.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first with Wales having little reward despite numerous incursions in England’s half.

They eventually narrowed the gap to three points when Anscombe slotted another penalty after Jonny May held onto the ball at a breakdown.

And in the 57th minute, Anscombe made it a one-point game when he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee after Sinckler was blown up for a dangerous tackle on Alun Wyn Jones.

However, England struck back in the 63rd minute when Farrell added another penalty, after Hadleigh Parkes infringed at a ruck.

Wales needed a response and that came five minutes later when, after taking the ball through 34 phases in the build-up, Cory Hill crashed over from close quarters to give his side the lead for the first time.

Dan Biggar slotted the conversion which meant Wales led 16-13 and the game was up for grabs.  Wales finished stronger and in the 78th minute Biggar launched an inch-perfect cross-field kick which Josh Adams gathered before crossing the whitewash for the try which sealed his side’s win.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Hill, Adams
Con:  Biggar
Pens:  Anscombe 3

For England:
Try:  Curry
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

France see off Scotland to claim first Six Nations win

France registered their first victory of this year’s Six Nations when they beat Scotland 27-10 in an entertaining contest in Paris on Saturday.

After suffering defeats to Wales and England in their two previous matches, Les Bleus came in for plenty of criticism, but they delivered a much-improved performance in this fixture and were full value for their win.

By contrast, Scotland battled to get going as they committed too many unforced errors, although they held a slight edge in the possession and territorial stakes.

In the end, France were deserved winners as they were better on attack and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to one.

The opening exchanges were frantic with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and France thought they had opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Damian Penaud dotted down in the right-hand corner.  His effort was disallowed, however, as television replays revealed a knock on from Antoine Dupont in the build-up.

France put that disappointment behind them but continued to attack and in the 13th minute Thomas Ramos tore the Scottish defence to shreds with a mazy run in which he beat four defenders.  He got a pass out to Penaud, who was brought to ground inside the visitors’ 22 but the ball was recycled quickly and Romain Ntamack did well to glide through a gap before crossing for his first Test try.

Ramos slotted the conversion and added a penalty in the 18th minute after Scotland were penalised at a breakdown.

Shortly afterwards, Greig Laidlaw had an opportunity to open his side’s account from the kicking tee but his effort struck an upright.

Laidlaw had a chance to make up for that miss in the 26th minute – when Mathieu Bastareaud infringed at a ruck – and he did just that which reduced Les Bleus’ lead to seven points.

In the 28th minute, France were dealt a blow when Yoann Huget was yellow carded for slowing the ball down cynically at a ruck just inside his half.

Despite that setback, they stayed true to their attacking roots with Ntamack shining with his playmaking skills and in the 31st minute he delivered a superb chip kick which was gathered by Gaël Fickou, who crossed the whitewash.  Their joy was short-lived, however, as there was a knock-on from Wenceslas Lauret in the build-up.

Soon after, Ramos lined up another shot at goal from close to the posts but his effort was a horrible one and wide of the target which meant the match was evenly poised with France leading 10-3 at half-time.

France were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and they went onto the attack from the restart.  Penaud, Bastareaud and Louis Picamoles came to the fore with strong runs before Dupont got a pass out to Huget, who stepped past a defender before dotting down.

The rest of the half saw Scotland upping the ante on attack but despite several forays into Les Bleus’ half, they could not convert those chances into points.

France finished stronger though, with their forwards particularly impressive, and in the 75th minute they put in a huge shove at a scrum on Scotland’s five-metre line before Gregory Alldritt barged over from the base of the scrum.

That gave Les Bleus a 20-3 lead but Scotland struck back from the restart when Pete Horne broke through the home side’s defence before throwing an inside pass to Ali Price, who scored under the posts.

That try did not deter France though and just before full-time Alldritt dotted down again but his effort was disallowed due to a double movement.  France were awarded a penalty, however, and they opted to take a scrum and shortly afterwards Alldritt powered his way over the whitewash for his second try which secured a bonus point win for his team.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Ntamack, Yuget, Alldritt 2
Cons:  Ramos, Serin
Pen:  Ramos
Yellow Card:  Huget

For Scotland:
Try:  Price
Con:  Hastings
Pen:  Laidlaw

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Félix Lambey, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Maxime Medard

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Jonny May scores three as England dominate France

Jonny May scored a hat-trick inside half-an-hour to set England on their way to an excellent 44-8 triumph over an awful France side at Twickenham.

Eddie Jones’ men benefited from Jacques Brunel’s muddled selections as the back three were constantly exposed by the hosts’ kicking game.

Damian Penaud, Yoann Huget and Gael Fickou failed to deal with the threat and May took advantage, touching down three times in the first half, while Henry Slade also crossed the whitewash.

Penaud did get over for Les Bleus but they were outplayed by Jones’ side and a penalty try and Owen Farrell added to their pain, with the fly-half finishing with 17 points overall.

England duly secured their second bonus-point victory in the Six Nations to move to the top of the table and set up a mouth-watering clash against Wales.

Scoring early tries has become a habit for the Red Rose and they set the tone immediately.  Brunel’s men had looked to go through the phases but, following a knock on, Daly counter-attacked and weaved his way through several would-be tacklers.

The full-back then kicked through and May’s pace took over as the Leicester Tigers man scampered through and touched down for a 5-0 advantage.

England were in control and Farrell rewarded their early dominance with a three-pointer before the visitors got on the board through Morgan Parra.

They then showed a couple of nice touches as a neat cross-field kick got them well into opposition territory but that was as good as it got in the opening 35 minutes.

Instead, the home side dominated and their fly-half extended their buffer before the kicking game exposed France’s frailties.  Brunel’s outfit were utterly abysmal at dealing with the accuracy of the English, while Penaud and Huget were often caught out.

May duly thrived and scored for the second time following a lovely step off his right foot, but he was not done there and had a hat-trick within the first half-hour.  This time it was Chris Ashton that obliged with the deft grubber through and his fellow back three player excellently collected and finished.

It was embarrassing by France but they at least responded with a well-worked effort.  Huget partially put his earlier issues behind him by going on a mazy run and Penaud was on his shoulder to take the pass and score in the corner.

However, normal service was resumed when Ben Youngs kicked ahead, Ashton picked up and Kyle Sinckler moved the ball left for Slade to step inside and cross the whitewash.

England were dominant and led 30-8 at the break but, despite controlling the early exchanges of the second, they were initially unable to add to their lead.

Jones’ outfit were overplaying slightly and, as a result, the hosts were making mistakes, but they could always rely on the French to gift them a score and they almost inevitably threw a loose pass for Slade to collect.

The centre showed good pace to get away and kick ahead to Ashton, but the wing was illegally tackled off the ball by Fickou, leading to a penalty try and yellow card.

France were perhaps unfortunate, with the ball going away from the England player, but they only had themselves to blame and it summed up a terrible effort from the visitors.

Matters only got worse, however, as Youngs and Farrell combined for the fly-half to extend their buffer going into the final quarter.

England’s intensity then unsurprisingly dropped in attack, allowing Les Bleus to gain some possession, but the Red Rose’s defence remained solid as they secured a dominant win.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May 3, Slade, penalty try, Farrell
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 2

For France:
Try:  Penaud
Pen:  Parra
Yellow Card:  Fickou

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Jack Nowell

France:  15 Yoann Huget, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Gaël Fickou, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Félix Lambey, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Gregory Alldritt, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Romain Ntamack, 23 Thomas Ramos

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Wales grind out victory over Italy

Wales moved to the top of the Six Nations standings on Saturday with a hard-fought 26-15 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

After starting their campaign with a narrow come-from-behind win over France in Paris last week, Wales opted to rest most of their first-choice players for this encounter and it showed as they battled to build momentum on attack.

Both sides eventually scored two tries apiece although four first-half penalties from Dan Biggar proved the difference between the sides in the end and he also added a conversion to finish with a 14-point haul.

The result means Wales have now won 11 successive Tests, which is a record for them in the professional era, while Italy are on a 19-match losing streak in the Six Nations.

Wales dominated from the outset and took a 3-0 lead courtesy of a penalty from Biggar after the Azzurri were blown up at a breakdown.

Italy continued to infringe as the half progressed and Biggar slotted another penalty in the 14th minute after the home side’s front-row were gulity of illegal scrummaging.

Shortly afterwards, the Azzurri were caught offside on defence and Biggar made no mistake from the kicking tee before succeeding with his fourth penalty on the hour-mark to give his side a deserved 12-0 lead.

But despite dominating in the possession and territorial stakes, Wales could not breach Italy’s defence and the home side actually finished the half stronger.

On a rare occasion that the Azzurri ventured into Wales’ half they were awarded a penalty within goal-kicking range but instead of lining up a shot, Tommaso Allan opted to kick for touch and put the ball out deep inside the visitors’ 22.

The gamble paid off and after setting up a couple of phases close to Wales’ try-line, Braam Steyn spotted a gap and barged over from close quarters for the opening try.

Allan slotted the conversion which meant his side were only trailing by five points and he had a chance to make it a two-point game when he took a shot at goal – after Adam Beard played Sebastian Negri in the air at a lineout – on the stroke of half-time.  His kick struck an upright but Wales were fastest to the loose ball and managed to scramble the ball into touch before with the score 12-7 in their favour at the break.

Italy made the brighter start to the second-half and narrowed the gap to two points courtesy of a penalty from Allan.

Wales took control of proceedings in the 55th minute when Liam Williams burst through a tackle from Jayden Hayward just outside Italy’s 22 before getting a pass out to Josh Adams, who crossed for a deserved try.

That score gave Wales more breathing space and they upped the ante on attack.  In the 64th minute, Jonathan Davies crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed a handling error before he dotted down.

Despite that setback, Wales continued to attack and they sealed their win in the 70th minute when Owen Watkin dived onto an inch-perfect chip kick from Gareth Anscombe behind the home side’s try-line.

The closing stages was a frantic affair as both sides gave the ball plenty of air and Italy were rewarded when Edoardo Padovani crossed for a consolation try in the 75th minute after good work from Allan in the build-up.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Steyn, Padovani
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

For Wales:
Tries:  Adams, Watkin
Cons:  Biggar, Anscombe
Pens:  Biggar 4

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 David Sisi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Hallam Amos

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Ireland see off Scotland to return to winning ways

Ireland were made to graft but eventually got the job done as they beat Scotland 22-13 in their Six Nations Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In a fast-paced encounter, Ireland were deserved winners as they committed less unforced errors and eventually outscored their hosts by three tries to one.

The victory is an important one for the defending champions as it is their first of this year’s competition, although they will be kicking themselves as they failed to secure a try-scoring bonus point which could prove costly later on.

Scotland made the brighter start and opened the scoring in the seventh minute courtesy of a Greig Laidlaw penalty after Bundee Aki infringed at a breakdown.

Things went pear-shaped in the 10th minute for the home side, however, when Ireland replied via a Conor Murray try which came against the run of play.  This, when Tommy Seymour fielded a kick inside his 22 before throwing a wild pass to Sean Maitland, who failed to gather.  Murray pounced on the loose ball and had an easy run-in over the try-line.

Scotland suffered another setback in the 17th minute when Stuart Hogg was forced off the field with an arm injury.

Blair Kinghorn had barely come on as Hogg’s replacement when Ireland struck again via a try from Jacob Stockdale.  Peter O’Mahony and Johnny Sexton combined superbly in the build-up to create space for Stockdale, who gathered a pass from Sexton just inside Scotland’s half, and he did well to outsprint the cover defence before crossing the whitewash.

Despite trailing 12-3 on the scoreboard, the Scots did not panic and they reduced the deficit in the 29th minute when Sam Johnson crossed for their opening try.

Ireland were initially on the attack close to the halfway line but Finn Russell intercepted a pass from Joey Carbery, who had replaced the injured Sexton, and the home side’s fly-half did well to set off on a 45 metre run before his progress was halted by a fine tackle from Keith Earls.  Russell managed to free his arms, however, and offloaded to the on-rushing Johnson, who crossed for his first Test try.

Laidlaw slotted the conversion which narrowed the gap to two points but, although the home side had the better of the half’s closing stages and spent long periods camped inside Ireland’s 22, they could not score further points before the interval.

Half-time came at the right time for Ireland as they regrouped during the break and regained the initiative after the restart.

In the 56th minute, Carbery, who struggled up to that point, left his stamp on the match with a telling break before throwing a long pass to Keith Earls, who scored his side’s third try.

Carbery added the extras but Scotland struck back when Laidlaw slotted a penalty shortly afterwards which meant Ireland held a 19-13 lead as the game entered its final quarter.

Despite that kick, the visitors held the upper-hand and went further ahead in the 68th minute when Carbery slotted a penalty which gave his side a 22-13 lead.

Scotland needed a response but they committed several errors in a bid to haul in their opponents, who held on for the win with a solid defensive effort during the game’s closing stages.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Johnson
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Murray, Stockdale, Earls
Cons:  Sexton, Carbery
Pen:  Carbery

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Blair Kinghorn

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 John Cooney, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Superb England stun Ireland in Dublin

England made a brilliant start to their 2019 Six Nations campaign courtesy of a 32-20 bonus-point win over defending champions Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

As expected, this was a spellbinding and uncompromising encounter characterised by great physicality from both sides.

The collisions were brutal but, in the end, England got the rub of the green and outscored their hosts by four tries to two with Henry Slade leading the way with a deserved brace.

The result is a significant one for England as it is their first triumph over Ireland in Dublin since 2013 and ends a six-match winning run for Ireland in the Six Nations which stretches back to March 2017.

England made a terrific start and two minutes into the match Jonny May rounded off superbly in the left-hand corner.  This, after Manu Tuilagi played a prominent role in the build-up with two strong carries before the ball was recycled quickly and Owen Farrell delivered an inch-perfect long pass to Elliot Daly, who did well to offload to May before he dotted down.

Farrell held his nerve to slot the conversion from close to the touchline but Ireland reduced the deficit in the 11th minute courtesy of a Johnny Sexton penalty after a Kyle Sinckler infringement at a ruck.

One minute later, England suffered a setback when they were reduced to 14 men – Tom Curry sent to the sin-bin for a late tackle on Keith Earls.  And although Ireland held the upper-hand during Curry’s stint on the sidelines, England’s defence held firm and they did well to prevent the home side from scoring points during that period.

But despite that, Ireland did not panic and shortly after Curry returned to the fray Cian Healy spotted a gap at a ruck and barged over from close quarters to register his side’s first try.

Sexton’s conversion gave them a 10-7 lead but that did not last long as three minutes later, an error from Jacob Stockdale was pounced on by Daly, who scored England’s second try.

Stockdale did well initially, when he fielded a grubber kick from Daly close to his try-line, but he lost possession after Jack Nowell put pressure on him with a solid tackle.  The ball spilled over backwards behind Ireland’s tryline and Daly was first to react by diving on the ball.

Farrell added the extras which gave the visitors a 14-10 lead and he slotted a penalty just before half-time when Ireland strayed offside in the build-up to a disallowed try from Mako Vunipola.

The ruthless nature of this match continued in the second half, although both sides were initially more measured in their approach.  And we had to wait until the 55th minute for the opening points of the half which came via a Sexton penalty after an illegal tackle from Sinckler.

On the hour-mark, Farrell had a chance to restore his side’s seven-point lead – after Sexton played the ball on the ground – but his effort was wide of the mark.

That did not prove costly, however, as five minutes later May found himself in space down the left-hand touchline inside Ireland’s half before booting the ball ahead.  He was taken out after his kick but Henry Slade gave chase and outsprinted the cover defence before diving on the ball behind Ireland’s tryline.

That score meant Ireland were under the cosh and in an effort to get back into the game they committed numerous unforced errors.

Farrell added another penalty in the 70th minute which gave his side a 25-13 lead before Slade intercepted a pass from Sexton, deep inside Ireland’s half, and scored his second and his side’s fourth try.

That sealed the result, although Ireland did not surrender, and just before full-time John Cooney crossed for a consolation try.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Healy, Cooney
Cons:  Sexton 2
Pens:  Sexton 2

For England:
Tries:  May, Daly, Slade 2
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 2
Yellow Card:  Curry

Ireland:  15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 John Cooney, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Chris Ashton

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Blair Kinghorn stars as Scotland beat Italy

Blair Kinghorn scored a hat-trick as Scotland opened their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 33-20 triumph over Italy at Murrayfield.

Gregor Townsend’s men created a number of chances in the first-half but could only convert two of them as Kinghorn crossed the whitewash twice.

Tommaso Allan had given the Azzurri the lead but that was as good as it got for the visitors in the first three quarters of the encounter.  They were outplayed and the Scots secured the bonus-point through Stuart Hogg and his back three partner, who went over for his third.

It seemed a case of how many the hosts would score but they could only add one more before the end of the game when Chris Harris touched down.

Instead, Italy actually finished the stronger and were rewarded through scores from Guglielmo Palazzani, Edoardo Padovani and Angelo Esposito, but they succumbed to their 11th successive Six Nations defeat under Conor O’Shea.

Given the respective form of the sides in 2018, it was no surprise to see the hosts dominate the majority of the contest.  Although Allan opened the scoring from the tee following some loose play from Townsend’s outfit, the home side deservedly touched down for the first try soon after.

Kinghorn had already displayed his quality by scything through the opposition rearguard before the Azzurri gave him too much space on the left.  Finn Russell duly found him with a delightful cross-field kick and last season’s third place finishers had a 5-3 advantage.

It was awful defence from the Italians and their head coach was no doubt frustrated when Scotland – and their left wing – crossed the whitewash once again.

O’Shea has looked to bring more of an attacking game to the country but, when they attempted to run the ball out from their own line, the visitors duly knocked on.  From the resultant scrum seven metres out, Scotland made no mistake as Hogg off-loaded for the Edinburgh player to score.

Greig Laidlaw’s conversion made sure they had a nine-point buffer at the break and Townsend’s men continued to control matters against a poor Italy side, touching down for the third time early in the second period.

Laidlaw and Russell were dictating proceedings well from half-back and it was the latter who created their next try when his grubber through was finished by Hogg.  It was slightly controversial as there was more than a hint of a knock-on but it probably did not matter anyway with the hosts well in control.

That was proven by Kinghorn’s hat-trick effort after the wing scampered through some weak tackling to seal the bonus-point.

Harris then touched down in the move of the match, which saw excellent contributions from Hogg, Russell and Josh Strauss, but Italy responded well in the final 15 minutes.

The game was already lost but they pressurised the opposition line and, as a result, Simon Berghan was yellow carded.

With the prop off the field, the Azzurri remarkably scored three times as Palazzani, Padovani and Esposito all went over, but the contest had already been lost by then.

Townsend will be frustrated by his side’s performance in the final quarter but it was a solid start to the tournament by Scotland.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Kinghorn 3, Hogg, Harris
Cons:  Laidlaw 3, Russell

For Italy:
Tries:  Palazzani, Padovani, Esposito
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Jake Kerr, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berhan, 19 Gary Graham, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Italy:  15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 David Sisi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’ 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Tommaso Benvenuti, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Edoardo Padovani

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

George North double inspires Wales to opening round win

George North touched down twice as Wales came from 16-0 behind to defeat France 24-19 in the opening Six Nations encounter on Friday.

Les Bleus had deservedly gone into the interval comfortably ahead thanks to Louis Picamoles and Yoann Huget tries, while Camille Lopez also kicked a penalty and drop-goal, but they were awful after the break.

Jacques Brunel’s men failed to maintain their authority on proceedings and Warren Gatland’s outfit got themselves back into the contest via Tomos Williams and North.

Going into the final quarter, the French were just two points in front but Wales had the momentum and Dan Biggar gave them the lead.

Although Lopez restored the hosts’ buffer, North had the final say to give Wales a winning start to the tournament and set them up nicely for the rest of the competition.

The 2012 and ‘13 winners endured a dreadful start, however.  There had been plenty of positivity within the country going into this tournament but it was the hosts who were sprightly early on.  On his return to the team, Damian Penaud impressed while their big pack consistently got over the gain line.

They were creating space in the wide channels and it was no surprise to see the home team touch down first as Maxime Medard fed Picamoles and the number eight duly powered over.

It was a brilliant start from the French but they should have been pegged back when Liam Williams took an outstanding line and appeared to have scored.

The full-back, despite the difficult conditions, should have finished but the Saracens man knocked on and that was to prove costly with Les Bleus continuing to cause problems for the Welsh defence.

North was the one to succumb, poorly deciding to come inside and allowing Huget to sprint clear.  It was a brilliant offload from the impressive Arthur Iturria but the wing’s error was rather symptomatic of the visitors’ first-half performance.

Mistakes were prevalent and France pounced, opening their buffer further through Lopez’s penalty and well-taken drop-goal.

The early exchanges of the second period seemed to be heading the same way, with the match being peppered by errors from Gatland’s outfit, but a piece of individual brilliance from Josh Adams got the visitors back into the contest.

Adams spotted some space in the centre of a ruck and scythed through before finding the supporting Williams, who had the simple task of finishing the chance.

That altered the momentum and all of a sudden it was Brunel’s charges that were under duress.  Huget ceded and, ironically, it was North who benefited.  Roles were very much reversed as the Frenchman failed to deal with a grubber through and the British and Irish Lion was on hand to excellently pick up and score.

Gareth Anscombe, who had endured a poor day with the boot, kicked a second conversion before Biggar came on to the field to incredibly move Wales ahead.

Moving into the final 10 minutes, the visitors held a one-point advantage but, after being sent into reverse at a scrum, Lopez regained France’s lead.

However, the hosts then proceeded to press the self-destruct button as Sebastien Vahaamahina threw a shocking pass, which North intercepted and finished to snatch a remarkable win.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Picamoles, Huget
Pens:  Lopez 2
Drop-goal:  Lopez

For Wales:
Tries:  T Williams, North 2
Cons:  Anscombe 2, Biggar
Pen:  Biggar

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Romain Ntamack, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Arthur Iturria, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Greg Alldritt, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Gael Fickou, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)