Scotland finish on a high

Scotland finished their Six Nations campaign on a high when they claimed a deserved 29-0 bonus-point win over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for large periods — especially during the first half — although Italy will be disappointed with their effort and poor goalkicking from Carlo Canna, who failed to convert three penalties in the first half, meant they failed to score any points.

The result was a perfect send-off for Scotland's head coach Vern Cotter under whose guidance the Scots have made tremendous strides, and they finish the tournament with an unbeaten home record having won three out of five matches, which is their best performance with the New Zealander at the helm since he took over the coaching reins in 2014.

Scotland started brightly made an early statement of intent when they overpowered Italy at the opening scrum.

The Azzurri's forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging and Stuart Hogg opened the scoring when he slotted the resulting penalty from 45 metres out in the fifth minute.

The next 15 minutes was fairly even as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy although Italy missed a golden opportunity to open their account in the 21st minute when Canna was off target with a fairly straightforward shot at goal, after John Barclay was penalised for an indiscretion at a ruck.

Five minutes later, Huw Jones made a line break on the edge of his 22 but stumbled when trying to beat the final defender on Italy's five-metre line.  That was the Stormers midfielder's final act of this Test as he injured his ankle in that run and was then replaced by Matt Scott.

Scotland were eventually rewarded just before the half-hour mark when Finn Russell went over for the opening try after gathering a perfectly-timed pass from Ali Price close to Italy's try-line.

Russell dusted himself off and added the extras before Canna missed his second easy penalty attempt shortly afterwards after Jonny Gray was penalised for obstructing Sergio Parisse.

Scotland did not waste any time to extend their lead and just before half-time Scott got his name onto the scoresheet when he dived on a loose ball behind Italy's try-line, after Price delivered a teasing box kick which was knocked backwards by Hogg.

Russell failed with the conversion attempt and on the stroke of half-time Italy were awarded a penalty, but Canna's poor goalkicking continued as he failed with his third effort from the kicking tee.

Italy came out like men possessed after the interval and spent the first 15 minutes of the second half camped inside the home side's half.

The Azzurri restricted play mostly to their forwards but missed a golden opportunity to open their account when they did strike out wide with their backs, Hogg and Scott doing well to hold Angelo Esposito up in the tackle when he went over Scotland's try-line in the 49th minute.

Shorlty afterwards, Scotland were reduced to 14 men when their captain, Barclay, was sent to the sin bin for deliberately collapsing a maul close to his try-line.

But despite being a man down, Scotland launched a gallant defensive effort and kept the visitors at bay for the next 10 minutes.

This was best illustrated in the 51st minute when Edoardo Padovani knocked on a pass from Esposito with the try-line begging which summed up the lack of finishing power Italy had, having been largely in control since the break.

Ten minutes later, Scotland made them pay when Tim Visser beat Tommaso Benvenuti in a foot race to touch down after Hogg delivered a chip kick in the build-up.

Russell converted which sealed the win for the hosts, and when Tommy Seymour crossed for Scotland's fourth try, after running onto a pass from Hogg deep inside Italy's 22, they also had the bonus point in the bag to give Cotter the perfect send-off.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Russell, Scott, Visser, Seymour
Cons:  Russell 3
Pen:  Hogg
Yellow Card:  Barclay

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Maxime Mata Mbanda', 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Marcello Violi, 23 Luca Sperandio

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

England claim Six Nations title

England made it back-to-back Six Nations triumphs as they defeated Scotland 61-21 with a bonus-point at Twickenham on Saturday.

A hat-trick from outside centre Jonathan Joseph led the way for Eddie Jones' charges, with Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and Danny Care (2) also crossing as they move an impressive eight points clear in the table.

Scotland, who were a shadow of the side that beat Ireland and Wales, carded tries from Gordon Reid and Huw Jones (2) in a poor display.

They were immediately on the back foot, largely from their own doing, when hooker Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a tip tackle on England wing Elliot Daly.

The Wasps man was eventually permanently substituted for Watson and when Brown returned his side were 13-0 down.

The first England try came from quick lineout ball as fast hands led to Joseph slicing through from 30 metres out.  Owen Farrell made it 7-0.

Farrell was on-target again on seven minutes when Scotland had come offside at a ruck, the penalty meaning England had a 10-point buffer.

That became 13-0 after hands in the ruck, before Daly eventually made way, with Scotland then losing Stuart Hogg and also his replacement Mark Bennett to injury soon after.

It had been a truly disastrous opening to the game at Twickenham for a Scotland side looking out of sorts.

England showed no sympathy and were over again on 25 minutes when slick handling saw Joseph ghost through for a 20-0 lead with the kick.

Fortunately for the Scots Reid barged over to get them on the board but England chalked that off when Joseph supplied Watson for 30-7.

The start to the second-half was a carbon copy of the first as Joseph re-opened his team's account, taking a short ball off Ben Youngs for his hat-trick and the bonus-point.

England were now motoring towards the Calcutta Cup and the Championship, with Scotland trailing by 30.

Slim hope arrived for Vern Cotter's charges on 50 minutes when a period of pressure in the England 22 led to Jones barging over for 40-14.

But it was short-lived as England turned the screw again at the hour mark, replacement number eight Vunipola crossing from a driving maul as England closed to within two points of the half century.

At this point they'd replaced captain Dylan Hartley and hat-trick man Joseph.

Scotland's own stand-out centre, Jones, was over again on 70 minutes with a strong finish but shortly after England struck back through Care, with Farrell's kick making it 54-21 before Care grabbed a brace late on.

Those tries helped to seal a comprehensive win and the title with a round to spare on a day of records;  the most points England have ever scored against Scotland, as England matched New Zealand's Tier 1 win record of 18 victories in a row.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2
Cons:  Farrell 7
Pens:  Farrell 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  Reid, Jones 2
Cons:  Russell 3
Yellow Card:  Brown

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Anthony Watson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Bonus-point win for France in Rome

France broke away in the second half to secure a 40-18 win over Italy in Rome, earning a second victory of the tournament.

Italy took a surprise lead through Sergio Parisse but France responded in kind through Gaël Fickou, with three penalties from Camille Lopez to two from Carlo Canna giving France a 16-11 advantage by the break.

Virimi Vakatawa's try extended the French advantage and from there they never looked back, Louis Picamoles crashing over before Brice Dulin secured the bonus point in the final few minutes.

Under the Rome sunshine Italy started full of running, a multiple-phase attack concluding when Canna sold a dummy to the French defence to draw in two defenders, before freeing his arms to offload to Parisse for the opening score.

France hit back through a Lopez penalty after Edoardo Gori strayed offside at the scrum, but Italy had the perfect chance to respond after unlocking France's defence with a cute offload from Parisse.

With numbers to spare out wide, Lorenzo Cittadini's cut-out pass was the entirely wrong option and France escaped conceding a second try.

That mistake aside this was an outstanding display in the opening quarter from the Azzurri, whose confidence appeared high.  Canna punished France for not rolling away with a first penalty to make it 8-3.

France then punctured the mood with an attack straight off the restart.  Fickou's excellent mid-air take released Vakatawa down the touchline, and after testing the Italian defence France won a penalty which Lopez converted to cut the gap to two points.

Suddenly it was France who had their tails up, executing a brilliant attack from deep for their first try.

Rémi Lamerat and Vakatawa combined to chew up the ground ahead of them before the ball was kept alive and Fickou finished it off, slicing through following a brilliant show-and-go before scoring under the posts.  Lopez converted, with France ahead for the first time at 13-8.

Italy have crumbled after similar moments in the past but this was a little different, working their way upfield for Canna to land a second penalty and reduce the deficit.

Another Lopez penalty in response cemented France's advantage, with les Bleus holding a 16-11 advantage come the interval.

And the purple patch for Lopez off the kicking tee continued with another three points after half-time, stretching the lead to six, before France looked on the verge of putting the game to bed following another Fickou break.  Edoardo Padovani had other ideas, reeling in Vakatawa down the touchline.

The big winger couldn't be restrained for long however.  Setting up deep in Italian territory, Baptiste Serin's short pass caught Italy out around the fringes for Vakatawa to score under the posts, making it 26-11 with the conversion from Lopez.

Early optimism over Italy's prospects was now beginning to fade, Giorgio Bronzini denied by the TMO, with France instead going up the other end and powering over through Picamoles after Italy's forwards had been sucked into the rolling maul.

Eddy Ben Arous looked to have wrapped up the bonus point, only for the try to be brought back after Picamoles was adjudged to have a foot in touch.

With the game all but won, France handed a debut to exciting young scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and it took until the 76th minute for the bonus point to finally come.

Kévin Gourdon, in another outstanding performance, broke free and fed Dulin on his outside for the full-back ro race home, securing the bonus-point win in the process, with Angelo Esposito's late consolation try for Italy having no bearing on the outcome.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Esposito
Con:  Canna
Pens:  Canna 2

For France:
Tries:  Fickou, Vakatawa, Picamoles, Dulin
Cons:  Lopez 4
Pens:  Lopez 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carla Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Benvenuti, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Referee:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), JP Doyle (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

North double lifts Wales past Ireland

George North answered his critics with a brace of tries as Wales held off Ireland in a stellar Test match in Cardiff, winning 22-9.

North's try and a Leigh Halfpenny penalty handed Wales an 8-6 half-time advantage, after three-pointers in response from Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson.

North then grabbed a second score after good work upfront from the Welsh maul, Sexton keeping Ireland in the game with a penalty at 15-9.

That six-point gap made for a remarkable final quarter as Ireland threw everything at Wales only to come up short, as a late try from Jamie Roberts put the seal on the win.

Friday's result means that England can now win the Six Nations title a round early if they defeat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales head coach Rob Howley's decision to stick with the exact same starting XV felt less like a vote a confidence and more of a last chance warning, following that abject second half at Murrayfield.

And if reputations and places in the Test side were truly on the line, then those Wales starters will head into next week's training with a spring in their step.  On a skills basis it was never perfect.  But for heart and physicality, Wales could not have given anything more.

The stage to perform equally could not have been better, under Cardiff's closed roof and backed by a deafening crowd even by the high standards of the Principality Stadium.

It was Ireland who struck first, Sexton knocking over three points to make him the second Irishman to reach the 300-point Six Nations milestone after Ronan O'Gara.

Twice Ireland sprung out of the defensive early to make interceptions but the size of the early tackles, most of all an outstanding effort by Sean O'Brien, rightly drew approving roars from the crowd.  Both the consistency and quality of those huge hits rarely seemed to let up.

CJ Stander's tackle bust and sprint up the touchline was a rare instance of defensive line speed letting Wales down, even if the hosts escaped.

As so often in this Championship however Rhys Webb provided the spark, coincidentally minutes after Sexton left the field for a Head Injury Assessment.

Setting up as if to deploy a maul, Webb upped the tempo through a quick one-two with Scott Williams, before sending a perfect pass wide to Leigh Halfpenny who sent in North from ten metres out.

Created superbly by Webb, North simply had too much power and speed having charged up onto the ball, celebrating with relish after criticism over his recent performances.

Ireland soon led again, pressure on Wales resulting in a penalty for not releasing and the unwavering Paddy Jackson making it 6-5 before Sexton returned.

From one half-back injury to another Ireland were left sweating over the condition of Conor Murray's left bicep, as the hot favourite to start for the Lions was treated on multiple occasions after a collision at the ruck which seemed to affect the usual zip on his pass.

And as for so much of the first half the final minutes centred around Wales pressing around the fringes of Ireland's defence for an opening deep in the visitors' territory.

Awarded a penalty advantage Biggar's cross-field kick found Liam Williams, left in space by Keith Earls, and as Wales surged to the line Sexton failed to roll away, receiving a yellow card as a result.

Halfpenny knocked over the resulting penalty to make it 8-6, handing the hosts a slender half-time advantage.

Somewhat surprisingly Murray returned for the second half, but it was his foot falling into touch chasing back to cover a kick which left Wales in a golden position to attack five metres from the Irish line.

They duly struck, sucking in Irish bodies through the rolling maul before North was fed down the blindside to score his second try.  Halfpenny converted from the touchline, giving Wales a 15-6 lead.

Momentum, the fickle beast, felt completely with Wales and Ireland produced a fine response, surviving a period of defensive pressure before unleashing a multi-phase barrage on a tiring Wales.  After two penalties Ireland settled for a shot at the posts, cutting the gap to six.

Biggar clattered the post with a drop goal attempt not long after, eager to restore Wales' two-score lead, and the tension that resulted from that six-point gap was palpable, memories of the late defeat to England from last month still lingering.

Ireland underthrew at the lineout, Halfpenny uncharactersitcally knocked on under the ball, and when Biggar was charged down deep in his own dead-ball area it felt as though Wales were about to crack.

Robbie Henshaw's immaculate grubber kick duly forced Halfpenny into touch and from the ensuing lineout Ireland looked set to finally break Wales down, only to concede a penalty as their maul trundled towards the try line, Robbie Henshaw the guilty party for obstruction.  Irish chances repeatedly wasted.

And after Ireland had failed to find a way through from a five-metre scrum it was Wales who landed the knockout punch, Roberts the scorer after Taulupe Faletau charged down Sexton's kick.

Exhaustion, clear on both sides, summed up an excellent Test match played at peak physicality.  Yet there could only be one winner.  Welsh pride restored.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  North 2, Roberts
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Yellow Card:  Sexton

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

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Tommy Bowe

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England survive determined Italy

England survived a spirited Italian side to claim a 36-15 bonus-point win at Twickenham on Sunday.

Eddie Jones's men stuttered and fumbled their way through the first half allowing Italy's intensity to throw them off their game after Giovanbattista Venditti scored just before halftime it looked as though Italy were about to claim their second big scalp under Conor O'Shea after beating South Africa in November.

But England found new life in the after the interval, presumably after getting a stern talking to from Jones, and scored six tries to claim the victory.

England go back into the driving seat on the Six Nations points table with the win, taking the top spot from Ireland and now sit on 13 points after three games.  Italy couldn't do enough to get themselves off the bottom spot.

Owen Farrell who won his fifteenth cap on the day, wasn't in the finest kicking form, failing to convert on a number occasions missing three out of six attempts.

England had a terrible start to the game after number eight Nathan Hughes knocked on in the first two minutes of the clash before the loose-forward was found off his feet at ruck time, allowing Italy a shot at goal.  Luckily for the Fiji-born player the kick was missed and the scores stayed at nil-all.

The home team's discipline let them down in the first ten minutes which allowed Italy to camp in their half, but the visitors weren't potent enough to use their field position.

The hosts made plenty of unforced errors as balls were knocked on, not used or kicked out on the full which led to the home side looking fairly innocuous 20 minutes, at which point one would think the second best side in the world would have had some points on the board against Italy.

The Azzurri should have been ahead by six points after 10 minutes as after two opportunities to kick, Tommaso Allan missed both of them.  The hard work that Italy was putting in wasn't being translated into points but they didn't let that extinguish their zeal.

England finally had a legitimate opportunity to score after they attacked down the right wing only for Jonny May to knock the ball on to the palpable disappointment from the crowd.

England finally broke the deadlock after prop Dan Cole was pushed over the whitewash by his compatriots in a maul, after they were given a penalty on the Italian 22 metre line and kicked for touch before using their maul astutely to score.  The conversion was missed by Farrell and England were ahead 5-0.

The home side's sloppiness seeped into their game once again and after a slew of penalties and mistakes, Italy were five metres away from the English try-line and were looking dangerous.  But thanks to some Maro Itoje magic the Italians were stopped in their tracks and the ball turned over.

Italy's immense effort eventually translated into points after full-back Edoardo Padovani used his quick feet to send the English defence in disarray before consolidating their field position in the England 22 metre and then sending the ball back to Allan who sat deep in the pocket and slotted the ball through for the drop goal.

Danny Care then made an electric break, 30 metres from the Italian try-line after spotting a gap around the fringes of a ruck and took it brilliantly before putting in a nifty chip over Padovani to chase.

The full-back grabbed the ball in the air and stuck up his arm for the mark before Care tackled him over his try-line in feat of athleticism.

Italy were then given a penalty right in front of the posts after Italian lock Andries Van Schalkwyk was given a short pass and ran 20 metres towards the line before being taken down.

Hughes was found on the wrong side of the ruck once again and penalised.  Allan hit the up-right to the dismay of the Italians but their fortunes changed dramatically when winger Giovanbattista Venditti pounced onto the ball and dragged several players with him over the line to score.  Allan didn't miss conversion.

England then levelled the scores when they were given a scrum in the Italian 22 metre and after a strong scrum that turned the Italian pack, referee Romain Poite blew up Italy again, Care took the opportunity in the best way possible and darted through the bewildered Italian defence to score.

The kicking curse of the day plagued Farrell once again and the kick went wide.

The home side used their new-found momentum well when Itoje offloaded the ball out from the ruck who swung it wide to outside centre Ben Te'o who sucked in the cover defence and found an unmarked Elliot Daly who scored in the corner.  Farrell broke his kicking curse and slotted the conversion.

England replacement winger Jack Nowell's try was disallowed in the 57th minute when the player took it quickly from the back of the ruck and ran in front of one of his own players before touching down.

The referee looked confused as to whether his decision was correct or not, but was vindicated after TMO George Ayoub agreed.

Italy weren't done yet though, after some individual brilliance saw outside centre Michele Campagnaro receive the ball from a scrum on the 50 metre line before slipping through the English defence and leaving Mike Brown in his wake with a cheeky sidestep before sprinting over the tryline.

With Allan off injured Padovani took the kick but it went astray.

Moments later Farrell took a shot at goal from 50 metres out and missed it, failing to pull his side away from the Italians, the score stayed at 17-15 with 15 minutes left to play.

England were then given a five-metre lineout after a clever dab behind the Italian line sent their defence scurrying backwards to cover the loose ball with Daly racing towards it with serious speed.

The visitors were saved though when Carlo Canna came out of nowhere and kicked the ball out of Daly's control into touch.  They used the position perfectly as they mauled the ball right up to the Italian line, sucking in their forwards before spreading it quickly to Nowell who outpaced the Italian cover defence for the try.

The floodgates had opened after Nowell's try.  Replacement prop Kyle Sinckler made clever break through the opposition defence before being taken down on the Italian 22 metre.  The ball was given blind and Ben Te'o scored his first try in an English jersey.  Nowell bagged his second moments later.

The defending Six Nations champions ending the game with daylight between them and their opponents.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cole, Care, Daly, Nowell 2, Te'o
Cons:  Farrell 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Venditti, Campagnaro
Cons:  Allan
Drop Goal:  Allan

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mata Mbanda', 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Irish revival overcomes France

Johnny Sexton guided Ireland to a hard-earned 19-9 win over France in Dublin on Saturday in the Six Nations.

Both teams were unaffected by Dublin's rainfall and produced a passionate game of rugby that typified European rivalry.

The game did not decline into trench-style combat because of the weather but rather an exhibition of each team's undeniable skill, in particular Sexton, who was magnificent on the day.

Ireland's win sees them jump Scotland to the top of the table with England yet to play, a fine position to be in considering their defeat to Scotland in the first round of the competition.  France languish at fifth on the table with only Italy below them.

Scrum-half Conor Murray scored the only the five-pointer of the match, his try aided by the flawless kicking effort from Sexton.

France had an inspired start to the fixture, pulling off a magic moment it seemed with every minute on the field.

It started with an unprecedented cross kick from fly-half Camille Lopez close to their own line to winger Yoann Huget that parted the stunned Irish defence like the red sea, allowing the French to initiate a dangerous attacking movement up field which unfortunately didn't lead to a try for the visitors.

They were the first onto the board though, when Lopez slotted a penalty in the 13th minute silencing a passionate home crowd.

Lopez would then add to his side's lead seven minutes later.  France should have scored a try through outside centre Rémi Lamerat after France pulled off another brilliant move that led to the centre receiving a pop pass and curbing around the defence, which was disallowed by the TMO after it was ruled that Gaël Fickou had knocked it on before the movement.

Against the general current of the game, Ireland scored the first try of the match when Conor Murray took it over the line after a brilliant break from Sexton that would catalyse an Irish revival to the dismay of the passionate French.

Ireland nearly scored again moments later after they rumbled up field, generating some forward momentum when they found themselves on the French line but could not quite break a resolute French defence, before Murray tried to pop the ball back which didn't go as planned, rolling out of bounds.

Passions were high as Ireland's dogged intensity had now eclipsed France's enthusiasm as they pushed up field, almost exclusively through Garry Ringrose's Herculean effort as he grasped for every metre possible.  Murray used the field position astutely, spotted a gap and darted towards the line but was just taken down before the whitewash and offloaded, which came to no avail.

The half ended as a one-point game to the Irish, 7-6.

Ireland didn't let the break ruin their new-found vigour and put France under pressure from the first minute of the second half, the pressure eventually culminating with Sexton kicking a penalty over and making the score 10-6 in Ireland's favour.

The crowd was reminded of Sexton's keen eye for an opportunity when the mercurial number ten had the ball 30 metres out from the French try line and attempted a drop goal, and despite the Dublin wind and deluge it stayed true to its course and Ireland went up by another three points.

Sexton's boot punished the French once again after Ireland were awarded a very kickable penalty and the fly-half knocked it through making it a ten-point game.

The game became quiet after that as France made some desperate attempts to get back on the scoreboard.  But each time their plan was foiled by the cohesive Ireland unit that just kept them out after wave after wave of French attack.

With ten points between France and Ireland, the French used a penalty in the Irish 22-metre area to shoot for goal rather kick for line.  Lopez slotted the chance and it became a seven-point game with six minutes to play.

Ireland though replied quickly as replacement fly-half Paddy Jackson widened the gap to ten points once again.

With two minutes left to play Ireland were edging towards the French line once again and looked as though they were going to score their second try of the match, before Kieran Marmion decided that the victory was enough and kicked the ball into touch.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Murray
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Drop Goal:  Sexton

For France:
Pens:  Lopez 3

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Trimble

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Bernard le Roux, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Charles Ollivon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Henry Chavancy, 23 Djibril Camara

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Scotland defeat Wales at last

Scotland sealed a first victory over Wales in ten years thanks to a vibrant second-half comeback, winning 29-13 at Murrayfield.

They had waited a decade for a victory over Wales, their last success coming at Murrayfield with a 21-9 win back in 2007, and ultimately were more than worthy victors after tries from Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser, remarkably winning the second half alone 20-0.

Finn Russell and Leigh Halfpenny traded early penalties before Wales grabbed the first try, Liam Williams finishing in the corner after some fine passing.  Further points from both kickers made it 9-13 to Wales by the break.

However, Seymour's early try in the second half swung the lead Scotland's way, extended to 19-13 by another Russell penalty and despite significant Welsh pressure Visser was the next to score, set up brilliantly by Stuart Hogg, as Scotland opened up a 26-13 advantage, and from there the hosts never looked back.

Outstanding rush defence and work around the breakdown were both vital to Wales' success in the first half, when Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric were ruthless.

But Scotland then took full command of the second quarter, holding firm and riding their luck in defence while imposing themselves at the ruck and taking two key chances.

Wales welcomed back George North with open arms as Scotland came in without the leadership of Josh Strauss at number eight along with captain Greig Laidlaw, and they coped well in spite of those absences, led superbly by John Barclay.

Scotland's scrum was much maligned in the opening two matches but the first blood in that part of the set-piece went to the hosts.  From the ensuing attack Wales were penalised for not rolling away, allowing Russell to open the scoring with an easy penalty;  no repeat of his horrorshow conversion against France here.

Halfpenny responded to make it 3-3 after Scotland went off their feet in tentative, penalty-ridden start from both teams.

The frequency of referee John Lacey's whistle was already beginning to irritate the Murrayfield crowd, no more so than when Dan Biggar appeared to over-egg a contest for the high ball from Tim Visser and subsequently won a penalty.

After 22 minutes the deadlock was finally broken.  Opting for a quick tap from a free-kick, Wales then fizzed the ball wide through Scott Williams and Halfpenny to give Liam Williams enough space to use his speed, finishing in the corner.  Halfpenny's touchline conversion made it 10-3.

Not long after the future Saracens winger was away again, cantering down the touchline from Rhys Webb's pass, only for the play to be brought back after Webb was ruled to have illegally pulled back a chasing Tommy Seymour.

A second Russell penalty closed the gap to four points as tempers seemed persistenly on the verge of boiling over.

Wales however were on top, their rush defence shutting Scotland down with Sam Warburton winning a breakdown penalty which Halfpenny duly converted to make it 13-6, before a rare miss let Scotland off the hook.

Only a remarkable turnover by Justin Tipuric five metres from the Welsh line denied Scotland a chance to respond, their sweeping attack stemming from Hogg's grubber kick before Huw Jones did his best only to be hauled in by the cover defence.

Scotland did have something to show for their efforts after Warburton was penalised, Russell stepping up to make it 9-13, but it could have been more as Wales led by four points at half-time.

The home side tore into the start of the second half, Hogg's quick footwork and delayed pass freeing up Tim Visser first and then Seymour, who finished to put Scotland ahead despite a phenomenal cover tackle from Scott Williams.  Russell's touchline conversion went through courtesy of the post, making it 16-13, as Murrayfield began to make herself heard.

Wales should have instantly hit back, Jonathan Davies charging clear deep into Scotland's half from Ken Owens' pass, but the resulting offload missed Webb to let Scotland off the hook.

It was they who scored next, via a fourth Russell penalty, but Webb was inches away from scoring himself, a sloppy Scottish scrum seeing Webb snap up the loose ball and race clear before Visser managed to get him into touch.

Both sides looked for impetus from their benches as the toil of the first 60 minutes began to show.

Scotland suddenly began to sparkle.  A burst into Welsh territory continued to test the visitors' defence, Russell loitering for the drop goal, before Henry Prygos sniped through a few phases later the ball was spun wide with Hogg providing the delicate final pass as Visser finished.  Russell's conversion from out wide made it 26-13.

All the momentum with ten minutes to go seemed to be with Scotland as Russell knocked over a fifth penalty, a beaming smile across his face hinting at a belief that the win was in Scotland's hands.

He was right.  Ahead by 16 points, Scotland successfully wound down the clock thanks to more excellent breakdown work from early replacement Hamish Watson to start the celebrations.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Seymour, Visser
Cons:  Russell 2
Pens:  Russell 5

For Wales:
Tries:  L Williams
Cons:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

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

Referee:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France hold off Scotland for first win

France got their campaign back on track when they secured a hard-fought 22-16 win over Scotland in Paris on Sunday.

In an entertaining encounter, in which both teams kept the ball alive at every opportunity, momentum between the two sides ebbed and flowed, but it was the hosts who got the rub of the green in the end coming away with a deserved victory.

Scotland will be kicking themselves, however, as they were competitive for large periods, but could not repeat last week's heroics when they stunned Ireland at Murrayfield.

And although they outscored their hosts by two tries to one, they conceded too many penalties and when it was within goalkicking range, les Bleus pivot Camille Lopez made them pay and eventually finished with a 17-point haul courtesy of five penalties and a conversion.

France drew first blood courtesy of a Lopez penalty in the sixth minute after Josh Strauss played the ball on the ground but the game came alive ten minutes later when Scotland took the lead when Stuart Hogg rounded off a superb team try.

This after the ball went through umpteen phases in the build-up and Huw Jones deserves special praise as he did well to draw in Virimi Vakatawa before offloading to Hogg, who dived over in the right-hand corner despite a desperate tackle from Baptiste Serin.

The try was a fitting reward for Hogg in his 50th Test as it meant he became the fifth Scot to score a try in four successive Championship matches.

Greig Laidlaw's conversion attempt struck the cross-bar but France regained the lead when Lopez slotted another penalty two minutes later.

The visitors suffered a setback midway through the half when their captain, Laidlaw, left the field due to injury with Ali Price replacing him at scrum-half and Finn Russell taking over the goalkicking duties.

France took Scotland on at their attacking game and were rewarded in the 30th minute when, after taking the ball through 12 phases in the build-up, Scott Spedding offloaded to Gaël Fickou, who crashed over from close quarters with two defenders on his back.

Lopez added the extras but Scotland continued to fight and after Russell added two penalties, the hosts held a slender 13-11 lead at the interval.

Shortly after the restart, Scotland were dealt another blow when John Hardie was forced off the field with a head knock but his replacement, Tim Swinson, soon made his presence felt when, three minutes after entering the playing field, when he crossed for Scotland's second try.

This after Tommy Seymour had done brilliantly in the build-up.  The flyer found himself in space down the left-hand touchline and delivered a teasing kick ahead which bamboozled Spedding inside France's 22.

Seymour did well to regather and offloaded to the on-rushing Swinson who went over under the uprights.  Crucially, however, Russell failed to add the easy extras — when the ball fell off the kicking tee — which meant the visitors held a slender three-point lead.

France were soon level when Lopez added his third penalty in the 47th minute and although the next 25 minutes was a slugfest as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy, the hosts were gradually gaining the upperhand.

Lopez put his team back in front with another penalty in the 71st minute and five minutes later he sealed his team's win with his final three-pointer from the kicking tee.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fickou
Con:  Lopez
Pens:  Lopez 5

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Swinson
Pens:  Russell 2

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Julian Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Yoann Huget

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw(c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Hardie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

England fightback floors Wales

England extended their winning streak to 16 matches when a late Elliot Daly try secured them a 21-16 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

In an attritional encounter, in which both sides went at each other hammer and tongs for the full 80 minutes, Wales will be kicking themselves for losing this Test as they dominated for large periods.

For the second successive week, England had to dig deep and they showed again that it will take a special effort to dethrone them as Six Nations champions.

Both sides gave their all on attack and defence but England showed greater composure in the former department and eventually outscored their hosts by two tries to one.

They were trailing for most of the match but Daly's effort in the 75th minute, where he showed a superb burst of speed before shrugging off a tackle from Alex Cuthbert to score the matchwinning try, eventually secured them the result.

Although England battled for large periods there were several outstanding individual performances with Joe Launchbury and Maro Itoje deserving special praise for superb efforts in the battle up front.

The opening half was a thrilling affair with plenty of end-to-end action as both side gave the ball plenty of air in a bid to gain the ascendancy.  And although England had the better of the opening exchanges, Wales gained the upper hand as the half progressed and led 13-8 at the interval.

The home side took the lead as early as the third minute when Leigh Halfpenny opened the scoring from the kicking tee after Courtney Lawes was penalised for a ruck infringement.

England bided their time and were level by the 11th minute when Owen Farrell added a penalty after Scott Williams was blown up for a high tackle on Jack Nowell.

The visitors started to dominate and were rewarded in the 19th minute when Ben Youngs dived over from close quarters after Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury and Mike Brown were all stopped just short of the try-line.

That try saw Wales stepping up a few gears on attack and they spent most of the next 20 minutes camped inside England's 22.

Another Halfpenny penalty made it a two-point game and two minutes before the interval, Wales took the lead when, from an attacking scrum inside England's 22, Liam Williams glided through a gaping hole in the visitors' defence — after Scott Williams was used as dummy runner — before diving over next to the posts.

Wales had their tails up and were fastest out of the blocks after the break but could not convert their dominance into points.

England were battling to assert themselves in the forward battle which resulted in their captain Dylan Hartley being replaced by Jamie George after 50 minutes.

Five minutes later, Farrell reduced the deficit to two points when he slotted his second penalty but Halfpenny soon restored his side's five-point lead when he added his third penalty from the kicking tee on the hour-mark.

That would be the last time the hosts would score points, however, as another Farrell penalty in the 70th minute preceded Daly's stunning score which clinched the win for the visitors and kept alive their hopes of repeating last year's Grand Slam triumph.

The scorers:

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

For England:
Tries:  Youngs, Daly
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 3

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jonny May

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Pascal Gauzère (France), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Nine-try win for rampant Ireland

Ireland got their Six Nations title hopes back on track as they picked up a 63-10 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Bouncing back from a first round loss to Scotland, the Irish were superb against the Azzurri as they made it six points from two matches.

They did it without their captain Rory Best, who was a late withdrawal from the side due to an illness.  It mattered little as they cruised.

A CJ Stander treble stole the show and Keith Earls got two in the first 40 with Craig Gilroy (3) and Garry Ringrose scoring in the second.

Ireland came out of the blocks firing and were 28-10 ahead at the interval, thanks to a brace apiece from wing Earls and flanker Stander.

After enjoying a good deal of early territory and possession, which included Simon Zebo losing the ball over the line, eventually the Irish crossed on 12 minutes when Earls was put over by Paddy Jackson on the right wing.  His conversion moved Ireland seven points ahead.

Carlo Canna did pull Italy back to within four points with a penalty for Ireland coming offside but it was papering over the Irish domination.

Ireland had their second try on 18 minutes when Stander had a run-in on the left wing and when carries from the aforementioned flank and Sean O'Brien created space for Earls to grab his second try on 27 minutes, suddenly the visiting side were cruising at 21-3 to the good.

Italy did get on the board via a driving lineout soon after with referee Glen Jackson awarding a penalty try for a cynical collapse from Donnacha Ryan.  The second-row spent the next ten minutes in the sin-bin with Canna slotting the extra two points that made it 21-10.

Ryan though would have been pleased to see Stander barge his way over before half-time as the gulf in class again became evident.

That dominance continued after the resumption as patient rugby from Ireland led to Stander again slipping tackles for his hat-trick on 46 minutes.  It was their first Six Nations treble since Brian O'Driscoll in 2002, with Jackson slotting the extras to continue his 100 percent record off the tee.

At 35-10 the game as a contest was over but Ireland knew that a substantial points difference could boost their title hopes at the end of March.  But with wholesale changes made on both sides the game in Rome became somewhat fragmented heading into the final 20 minutes.

Their sixth try was to come though and it was replacement wing Gilroy, who stepped inside before racing under the posts for a 42-10 lead before Ringrose showed his class as he made his try number seven.  With Jackson's seventh successful conversion, Ireland were 49-10 up.

Ireland would add two more tries before the end as Gilroy first collected Stander's kick ahead on 78 minutes to run over for his brace, with Jackson adding the extras, before Jackson fed the wing for his own treble to wrap up an impressive victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Penalty Try
Con:  Canna
Pen:  Canna

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls 2, Stander 3, Gilroy 3, Ringrose
Cons:  Jackson 9
Yellow Card:  Ryan

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke Mclean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Maxime Mbanda, 5 Andries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Ornel Gega, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Craig Gilroy

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales win without bonus point

Wales got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start as they came from 7-0 down to beat Italy 33-7 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Despite falling behind to Edoardo Gori's try on 29 minutes, Rob Howley's men hit back through Jonathan Davies, Liam Williams and George North with Leigh Halfpenny contributing 16 points from the tee in an assured display.

Wales though will wonder what might have been as wing Williams came agonisingly close to scoring their fourth try at the death but lost the ball over the whitewash, meaning they would leave the game with just the four points.

The Welsh now look to prepare ahead of facing England in Cardiff next week while Italy welcome Ireland to Rome in a daunting fixture.

The pre-game downpour didn't inspire confidence of a free-flowing game but it was far from a dull opening half as both chanced their arm.

Italy regularly turned down three points in favour of utilising their dominant scrum while Wales went to their lineout drive for metres.

Howley's men did have the first attempt on goal however, on three minutes, when Halfpenny missed from distance.  There was then concern over captain Alun-Wyn Jones after he came off due to blood and replaced by Cory Hill.  The Osprey would return soon after though.

The slippy ball hindered both sides on occasions and following a period of Welsh line-outs near Italy's line, it was then the Azzurri on the attack thanks to a scrum won against the head 30 metres out.

Sergio Parisse led the charge before they snubbed the posts and went for another set-piece, which paid off as scrum-half Gori latched onto a well-worked maul and crashed over for the converted try.  It was 7-0.

That 29th minute score was the first in the game but Wales would get on the board before the break as Halfpenny punished the Italians for not rolling away on the ground.

As the sides headed for the dressing rooms it was clear that Conor O'Shea would be the happier head coach.

Howley had to make a change due to injury as Biggar was struggling with his ribs so on came Sam Davies with Wales needing him to impress.

It was Halfpenny who got Wales moving though with a 45th minute penalty after Italy failed to roll away, cutting the gap cut to one point.

The Welsh kicker would then nudge his side 9-7 in front when he punished flanker Abraham Steyn for his tip tackle on Ross Moriarty on 52 minutes, this amid wholesale changes being made by the respective head coaches in order to introduce fresh legs for the final half-hour.

Italy were now bleeding penalties and another shortly after — this time for Parisse being offside at a ruck — Halfpenny would strike again.

Due to those offences and Wales' superior fitness, the away side were turning the screw with Rhys Webb grounding just short of the line before loosehead prop Andrea Lovotti was shown a yellow card at scrum time before centre Davies crossed wide out.  Halfpenny made it 19-7.

It was all Wales as the game approached its final ten minutes and they were over again when Davies turned provider for Williams wide out.

Halfpenny again slotted the conversion as the Welsh suddenly sensed a bonus-point could be on.  They had 11 minutes to find two more tries.

North provided the first on 78 minutes despite having a thigh injury, crossing from distance in a wonderful display of finishing, sparking one last surge from Wales.

But they fell just short as Williams could not ground the ball with Wales having to settle for the four points.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Gori
Con:  Canna
Yellow Card:  Lovotti

For Wales:
Tries:  J Davies, L Williams, North
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mata Maxime Mbanda, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James King, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Referee:  JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees:  Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England hold off spirited France

England got the job done but were made to graft for their 19-16 win over France in their Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday.

Although their campaign started with a win — and they have now stretched their winning run to 15 successive Tests — the defending champions' boss, Eddie Jones, will not be happy with his side's effort as they had to dig deep to win this one.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter in which France's physicality in the tight exchanges seemed to surprise their hosts, both sides crossed for a try apiece.

France's pack deserve plenty of credit as they continued to dominate as the game progressed with inspirational number eight Louis Picamoles particularly impressive, while the likes of Sébastien Vahaamahina and Kévin Gourdon were not far behind as les Bleus won the collisions and held a slight edge in the tight exchanges.

If the truth be told, England were somewhat lucky to win this Test as they delivered a sluggish performance littered with unforced errors on attack and defence and it took a 71st-minute try from Ben Te'o to secure them the result.

The visitors had the better of the early exchanges and took the lead in the eighth minute when Camille Lopez opened the scoring with a penalty but that lead did not last as Owen Farrell drew his side level with a penalty of his own three minutes later.

England suffered a setback in the 13th minute, however, when Jonny May was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Gaël Fickou.

Lopez made the home side pay when he slotted the resulting penalty and added another three-pointer from the kicking tee in the 21st minute when Maro Itoje was penalised for a high tackle on Picamoles.

The hosts struck back three minutes later, when Farrell added his second penalty after Vahaamahina infringed at a ruck and three minutes before half-time they drew level via an Elliot Daly penalty from close to the halfway mark after France's front row were blown up for illegal scrummaging.

The sides went into the break deadlocked at 9-9 but England showed more urgency when they came out for the second half although they had little to show for their improved effort.

Shortly after the restart, Farrell had a chance to extend his side's lead from the kicking tee but his penalty attempt was wide of the uprights.  And shortly afterwards, Daly thought he had crossed for the opening try but his effort was ruled out when television replays showed he had a foot in touch after a superb cover tackle from Noa Nakaitaci.

England eventually took the lead in the 55th minute when Farrell slotted his third penalty after Lamerat was penalised at a breakdown but France stunned the Twickenham faithful when Rabah Slimani got over for the opening try after Vahaamahina and Gourdon combined brilliantly in the build-up.

Lopez added the extras and with less than 20 minutes left on the clock, the champions upped the ante on attack in a bid to regain the lead.

They were eventually rewarded ten minutes later when, after taking the ball through several phases in France's 22, Te'o ran a brilliant angle before gathering a well-timed pass from Farrell to cross for what would prove to be the matchwinning try.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Te'o
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 3, Daly
Yellow Card:  May

For France:
Try:  Slimani
Con:  Lopez
Pens:  Lopez 3

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Arthur Iturria, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Yoann Huget, 23 Jean-Marc Doussain

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Scotland weather Ireland fightback

Scotland claimed a well-deserved 27-22 win over Ireland in a spectacular display of running rugby at Murrayfield.

Greig Laidlaw secured his side the win after a spirited Irish fightback, with two penalties in the last ten minutes of the match.

Ireland were down 21-8 at half-time but, after they regathered, orchestrated a stunning comeback and scored some well-worked tries through Paddy Jackson and Iain Henderson.  Scotland looked spooked by their opposition's rejuvenation but were able to steel themselves and retake the lead.

The win sees Scotland top the Six Nations points table with four points with two other games still to play, while Ireland walk away with one point for being within less than seven points from the winners after the new law changes.

Set-pieces were a problem for both sides throughout the game with Scotland conceding three penalties at scrum time in just the first 20 minutes, while Ireland were never confident that they would get their own ball back at the lineout.

It was a nail-biter from start to finish as both sides played free-flowing, positive rugby that saw some electric tries being scored.

Scotland started off the game in a spirited fashion as they made it clear that they had left their conservative approach to the game behind them as they spread the ball to winger Sean Maitland twice in the first seven minutes.

The Scottish scrum was not up to scratch in the early stages but their loose play was fantastic and rumbled down field through some piercing runs until they landed just before the Ireland tryline, unable to cross due to some sturdy Irish defence.  Vern Cotter's men then spread the ball wide to Stuart Hogg who dodged a tackle before scoring the first points of the game and Greig Laidlaw secured the conversion.

Ireland then hit back quickly, after a barnstorming run from Sean O'Brien which took them right to the Scotland five-metre line.  The visitors were awarded a penalty and went for the line and used their position to launch a maul but couldn't quite get over for the try-line and Scotland were awarded a scrum.

Hogg then scored his second try of the match when the home side made a break from the halfway line which saw the full-back get possession in space with Sean Maitland outside him who looked like the eventual receiver.  Hogg then faked a pass to Maitland and Rob Kearney took the bait and Hogg went through to score a fantastic try.  After the conversion Scotland led 14-0, 24 minutes in.

After some serious pressure from Ireland they found themselves on the Scotland five-metre line.  They tried to barge over but the Scotland defence remained impregnable which forced them to send the ball wide which saw Keith Earls go over in the corner.  Jackson missed the conversion.

Scotland then hit back immediately when they had a line out on the Irish five-metre line and pulled off a devilishly cheeky move which saw Alex Dunbar stand in the lineout.  Ross Ford then threw short to Dunbar who accelerated quickly to score his side's third try over the game.

With half-time looming, the bewildered Irish seemed desperate for some points, and when awarded a penalty they opted to go for poles, which Jackson knocked over.

At half-time, Scotland looked very much in control of the game as they led 21-8 after playing some electrifying running rugby, leaving the Irish completely stunned.

Ireland were clearly given a stern talking to in the dressing room as they started the second half with a new found sense of zeal.  They scored the first points of the half when they pushed upfield through their forwards and after variety of different advantages given by referee Romain Poite, Henderson pushed over the line to score his side's second try.

The scoreboard might have stopped ticking for the period after Henderson's try but the spectacle on the field was nothing less than jaw-dropping as both teams expertly used the width of the pitch to their advantage as they spread the ball wide, each attempting to scatter their opposition's defensive structures.

Ireland almost scored again through Earls after O'Brien made a devastating break before offloading which would eventually end with Kearney being tackled out just before making the pass to Earls.

An Irish revival was on the cards when the visitors used the ball brilliantly to confuse the Scottish defence before Jackson scored his side's third try of the match, putting them ahead by one point after the conversion.

With ten minutes left to play Ireland looked as though they might retain their lead until a high tackle on Dunbar in the Irish 22 which lead to Scotland kicking for the line and starting a lineout maul which led to them being given a penalty which Laidlaw expertly knocked over to secure the win.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg 2, Dunbar
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

For Ireland:
Tries:  Earls, Henderson, Jackson
Cons:  Jackson 2
Pen:  Jackson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 John Barclay, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Tommy Bowe

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

England down Australia for perfect season

England were able to keep their incredible winning run going after beating Australia 37-21 at Twickenham on Saturday.

It has been a sensational year for the English team after going 13 games unbeaten, claiming victories over all the Six Nations sides and three of the Rugby Championship teams.  It is England's first year since 1992 that they haven't lost a single game to make it a perfect season.

This was a poor end to Australia's season after losing to England three times in their own backyard and then embarking on their European tour with the hope of claiming a Grand Slam, only to be beaten by Ireland last weekend and now England.

The first half was indicative of the furious competition between these two sides finishing 16-13 to the Wallabies.  Australia looked as though they were going to run England ragged after spreading the home side with quick recycling and wide play, which was typified by winger Sefa Naivalu.

But England were not about to disappoint their fans, and their defensive pressure eventually translated into a Jonathan Joseph try, before they took control in the second half.

Australia were set to get an early lead in the first three minutes where they had a penalty right front of the posts but Bernard Foley managed to fluff the kick to the right.

The visitors looked as though they made for up their mistake immediately after Owen Farrell was tackled behind his line and outside centre Tevita Kuridrani would have scored the five-pointer, but the try was disallowed after it was found that David Pocock fumbled the ball forward on the line.  It was an England scrum, but after a massive Australian hit the Wallabies turned the set-piece over and swung the ball wide to Naivalu who scored in the corner.

The Wallabies were close to compounding their lead with the another try after Israel Folau made a searing break down the left wing before Sekope Kepu almost charged over but England managed to hold the ball up.

Australia were then given a five-metre scrum which they utilised efficiently before explosive Kuridrani busted through only to be held up once again.  Foley kicked over a penalty making the score 10-0 after 15 minutes.

England finally got onto the scoreboard after inside centre Farrell knocked over a penalty to close the gap to seven points.

The hosts seemed to gain a lot momentum after the sniff of points and drove right up the field and almost finished the movement with a Marland Yarde try.  England couldn't break the Australian line though and settled with three points from a penalty.

England then took the lead for the first time in the game after Australian prop Kepu fumbled the ball backwards and Farrell managed to get to it first and toed the ball through, with Joseph then outrunning half the Australian defence to score under the posts.

Australia regained the lead after slotting two penalties in a row at the end of the first half, making the score 16-13 to Australia at half time.

The Six Nations champions then got back into the lead after they put pressure on the Australian line before chipping a kick through for in-form wing Yarde to finally get his deserved try.  The Harlequins player still had lots of work to do though as he had to beat Israel Folau to the ball but managed the pressure well, the TMO confirming the score.

Moments after England stretched their lead to 11 points Ben Youngs took a quick tap on the Australian five-metre line and left his opposite number for dead as he juked passed Nick Phipps and scored.

The game went quiet for awhile as both teams struggled to break through each other's line — until the evasive Folau cut through the English line and darted past three English players on the cover defence before being brought down.  Australia recycled quickly and the big number three Kepu scored in the corner after some confusion amongst England.

Australia's chances of claiming a late win however were dented after winger Dane Haylett-Petty was yellow carded for a late tackle on Mike Brown.

Their hopes were then finally stamped out by a late interception try from Joseph, who claimed his second try in the 75th minute to seal a perfect year for England and a fourth straight win over the Wallabies.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph 2, Yarde, Youngs
Cons:  Farrell 3, Ford
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Australia:
Tries:  Naivalu, Kepu
Con:  Foley
Pens:  Foley 3
Yellow Card:  Haylett-Petty

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Wood, 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 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Henry Slade

Australia:  15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 David Pocock, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 James Slipper, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Henry Speight

Referee:  Jaco Peyper
Assistant Referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

All Blacks see off inspired France

A 24-19 victory at Stade de France on Saturday night gave New Zealand their 10th consecutive win over France.

The result means the All Blacks finish 2016 with just one defeat, while France failed to make amends for their narrow loss to Australia last week despite playing very well against the World Champions.

Indeed, the French will be asking themselves how they lost this game because they dominated all the key stats.  The scoreboard doesn't reflect just how good their performance was and they will be disappointed to come away with a defeat after dominating most of the game.

New Zealand once again showed their class when it mattered most, their ability to absorb pressure and punish oppoisiton mistakes setting them apart from the rest.  They were nowhere near their best and yet celebrated they 10th win in a row over France.

One look at the stats and France will be kicking themselves that they didn't come closer to win this game.  They had the upper hand at scrum time, dominated territory and possession throughout the game but especially in the first half, made 10 clean line breaks, executed 21 offloads and missed only four tackles.

The All Blacks missed 20 and conceded a whopping 13 penalties, and yet they never looked in danger of losing this game.

France lost this game at the breakdown, where they conceded 19 turnovers compared to five from the Kiwis and the hosts also lost four lineouts.  In the end, their failure to convert their domination into points when in the opposition 22 cost them dearly, with the final pass too often not going to hand.

Watching France it was like they took a leaf out of Ireland's book in the way they started the game.  They were clearly up for the challenge.  They generated quick front foot ball early on and tested the New Zealand defence, especially in the first half where they put the defence under immense pressure with their hard running.

But it was the All Blacks who scored first when Beauden Barrett, in another outstanding performance, gave a clever cross kick which Julian Savea collected before an inside pass to Israel Dagg saw the full-back have enough pace to cross the whitewash.

France continued to probe the Kiwi defence and their offloading saw them make several visits to the opposition 22.  However, they struggled to finish off promising field positions time and again and some desperate New Zealand defending along with that elusive final pass saw the hosts cough possession too many times.

Maxime Machenaud kept France in the game with two penalties which meant they only trailed 10-6 when the half-time whistle went.

The hosts would have been kicking themselves for nit making more use of their domination, especially since the All Blacks are known as a second-half team.

That was indeed the case as the Kiwis grew into the game as the second half progressed.  For the upteenth time France found themselves in New Zealand's 22 and they were on the attack out wide when Barrett intercepted a pass and ran 90 metres against the run of play to extend his team's lead to 17-6.

From there the All Blacks slowly started to take control of the game and when they found themselves in France's 22 they did what the hosts had struggled to do all game — score.

From a ruck in the 22 Kieran Read took the ball up and affloaded the ball to Charlie Faumuina who crashed over from close range to put the nail in France's coffin.

To their credit the hosts never gave up and once again made it to the brink of New Zealand's tryline, but the final pass wasn't there.  It told the story of their night.

However, they finally managed to score thanks to some quick thinking from Baptiste Serin.  France were awarded a scrum 5m out and when they won the penalty Serin took a quick tap and gave a brilliant no-look inside pass to Louis Picamoles who went over for the five-pointer.

Serin slotted the conversion which gave France renewed hope of getting a result.  A penalty with three minutes to play was nailed hy Serin which made it a five-point game, but France were stuck in their own half for the final few minutes which resulted in another disappointing loss for Les Blues.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Picamoles
Con:  Serin
Pens:  Machenaud 2, Serin

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Dagg, Barrett, Faumuina
Cons:  Barrett 3
Pen:  Barrett

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Charles Ollivon, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastian Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Gaël Fickou

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Rieko Ioane

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales finish off poor Springboks

A late Justin Tipuric try sealed a comfortable 27-13 victory for Wales over South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday.

For Wales this will go down as a satisfactory win and their third victory of the November Test window.  It was only their third ever victory over South Africa and their second successive win over the Boks in Cardiff.

For South Africa, things can't get worse.  Allister Coetzee should do the honourable thing and resign.  It's difficult to be positive after their eighth defeat of the season and third on the bounce.

Coetzee gambled and rolled the dice by picking a young, inexperienced team for this game, but you can only play what's in front of you and Wales played well in patches to finish off the year with plenty of momentum going into next year's Six Nations.

Elton Jantjies got the Boks on the board with a penalty after an encouraging start, but Wales had the upper hand at the breakdown where they forced plenty of turnovers.  Leigh Halfpenny was spot on with his goal kicking and kicked three penalties in a row to give Wales a 9-3 lead.

Jantjies pulled one back, but Wales continued to find holes in the Bok defence, especially out wide.  Interestingly, both teams defended very well in the first half in terms of missed tackles — Wales missed only two and South Africa three.

Wales pounced on silly mistakes by the Boks.  Faf de Klerk, who's service and work rate was good in the first 40, three a wild pass from a scrum which found Ruan Combrinck, who didn't expect the ball but was standing in an offside position.  Halfpenny nailed the resulting penalty to further extend his side's lead.

The hosts were smart in contact, twice taking the ball off the opposition in the tackle while captain Gethin Jenkins was also responsible for two superb turnovers.

In the first instance Tipuric took the ball off Johan Goosen who was on the counter attack, while Dan Biggar did the same to debutant Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

The start of the second half was a nightmare for the Boks and probably where they ultimately lost the game.  De Klerk was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock down in the 42nd minute before Halfpenny slotted the penalty to extend the lead to 15-6.

South Africa's heads dropped and from there on in their performance got progressively worse.

Wales took full advantage when they were awarded yet another penalty and opted for touch.  From the ensuing lineout Ken Owens went over from a driving maul, but Halfpenny missed the conversion.

Debutant Uzair Cassiem scored South Africa's only try with 10 minutes left and Pat Lambies conversion meant the deficit was now only seven points.

However, Tipuric, who was outstanding all night, sealed the result when he ran a brilliant line from second phase to cut through the Bok defence, sidestep and beat the last defender for a deserved score.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Owens, Tipuric
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 5

For South Africa:
Try:  Cassiem
Con:  Lambie
Pens:  Jantjies 2

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

South Africa:  15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Greg Garner (England), Tom Foley (England)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

Ireland edge thriller against Australia

Ireland finished their 2016 campaign on a high when they claimed a hard-fought 27-24 victory over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.

The result is a momentous one for the home side as it means they are the first Northern Hemisphere side, since England in 2003, to beat the Southern Hemisphere's traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the same calendar year.

Ireland and Australia stayed true to their philosophy in a thrilling encounter, with both sides constantly looking to keep ball in hand, and the lead changed hands on several occasions during the second half after Australia launched a stunning fightback.

Both teams scored three tries apiece and the result was in the balance until the final minute when Ireland managed to put huge pressure on an Australian scrum inside the Wallabies' 22.

Ireland held the upperhand in the early exchanges but they had to wait until the 17th minute to convert their dominance into points when Paddy Jackson opened the scoring via a penalty after David Pocock infringed at the breakdown.

Five minutes later, the Wallabies were dealt a blow when Dean Mumm was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle on Tadhg Furlong.  It did not take long for the the home side to capitalise on their numerical advantage as shortly afterwards Iain Henderson scored their opening try.

This after Keith Earls did well to gather a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Simon Zebo before offloading to Henderson who went over with a defender on his back.

Jackson added the extras and ten minutes later, it was more of the same when Garry Ringrose gathered a wayward Conor Murray pass close to Australia's tryline and waltzed past a couple of defenders before crashing over for a deserved try.

The Wallabies seemed shell-shocked by that score but to their credit, they picked themselves up and replied via a Dane Haylett-Petty try on the stroke of half-time after Israel Folau and Trevita Kuridrani did well in the build-up.

The second half saw the visitors continuing where they left off before the break and five minutes after the restart Kuridrani rounded off a flowing back-line move in the left-hand corner which put his side back in contention with the score at 17-14 to the home side.

Jackson extended Ireland's lead when he slotted a penalty in the 50th minute before the Wallabies' brilliant attacking play was rewarded when shortly after coming off the replacements bench, Sefa Naivalu ran a brilliant line before crossing for his side's third try.

Bernard Foley slotted the conversion, which put the Wallabies in front for the first time and on the hour-mark he added a penalty to increase their lead.

Ireland did not surrender and took the visitors on at their own game and after showing great patience, after taking the ball through several attacking phases, Zebo offloaded to Earls who went over for what would prove to be the matchwinnning try in the 65th minute.

The Wallabies continued to attack but in their bid to regain the lead they were reduced to 14 men again when Foley was also yellow carded for a lifting tackle on Devin Toner.

And although the visitors tried to fight back in the closing stages,Ireland were in control and held on for a memorable win.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Henderson, Ringrose, Earls
Cons:  Jackson 3
Pens:  Jackson 2

For Australia:
Tries:  Haylett-Petty, Kuridrani, Naivalu
Cons:  Foley 3
Pen:  Foley
Yellow Cards:  Mumm, Foley

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Garry Ringrose, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Simon Zebo

Australia:  15 Israel Folau 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements:  16 Tolu Latu, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Sefanaia Naivalu

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  JP Doyle (England), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Scotland down plucky Georgia

Scotland pulled off a spectacular first half display to beat Georgian 43-16 in Kilmarnock on Saturday.

It is great result for Scotland who finish off their November Series with two wins from three games, and their only loss came at the hands of Australia who could only beat Scotland by one point.

Georgia will be disappointed with the loss after scoring the first try and looking very competitive at the start of the game.  They finish their November series with two losses and a win against Samoa.

Scotland played some great running rugby after grabbing four tries in just the first thirty minutes including a penalty try.

Georgia scored the first try of the game through scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze.  The nippy scrum-half took the ball from the back of the maul and flew down the wing to score.  The try was reviewed by the TMO after Mamuka Gorgodze might have been crossing but the score was cleared.

Scotland replied immediately after as they played the ball wide and attacked up the midfield before full-back Stuart Hogg chipped the ball forward for Tommy Seymour to touch down on.

Scotland then received a penalty try after they started a driving maul and rumbled towards the opposition line.  The Georgians couldn't quite hold them back and after too many infringements, Scotland was given the try.

The home side then got their third try of the match after spreading the ball wide but the Georgian defence held strong.  Scotland then sent their big forwards into crash and sucked in the Georgian defence before spreading the ball wide again for Maitland to go over.

Hogg then picked up his first try after intercepting a wayward Georgian pass and had a clear run to the line to score the five-pointer.

Hamish Watson then scored a fantastic try when the home side set up a maul on the on the five metre and moved steadily forward after a line out.  Watson then ran a perfectly timed rapid banana run around the maul, the ball was popped to him before he broke the defensive line and scored.

Georgia weren't done yet though as they used a scrum well on the Scottish five metre line to push the home side right over.  Georgian number eight Beka Bitsadze tried to pick the ball up under pressure but knocked the ball back but Lobzhanidze was quick enough to dive on the ball and score.

Hogg had the final say when the full-back finshed a fantastic team try.  Scotland played it down field through some silky passing skills that ended with Hogg scoring.

The scorers:

Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg 2, Maitland, Seymour, Penalty Try, Watson
Cons:  Laidlaw 5
Pens:  Laidlaw

Georgia:
Tries:  Lobzhanidze 2
Pens:  Kvirikashvili 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw(c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Del
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Moray Low, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 John Barclay, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Rory Hughes

Georgia:  15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 13 Merab Sharikadze, 12 Tamaz Mtchedlidze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Lasha Malaghuradze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze(c), 6 Vito Kolelishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Kote Mikautadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements:  16 Badri Alkhazashvili, 17 Kakha Asieshvili, 18 Dudu Kubriashvili, 19 Lasha Lomidze, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Beka Tsiklauri, 23 Shalva Sutiashvili

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)

Fiji blitz Japan in France

Fiji scored five tries to beat Japan 38-25 at Stade de la Rabine in France on Saturday.

Fiji finally got a win this series after taking heavy losses against the Barbarians and then England.

The Pacific Islanders were ruthless in their pursuit of a win after scoring five tries with inside centre Botia Veivuke scoring a brace.

Fiji scored the first try of the game after outside centre Albert Vulivuli dotted down in the 14th minute.  Japan fly-half, Yu Tamura's penalty in the 19th minute was sandwiched with another Fiji try scored by Talebula Maijaina.

Veivuke's second try came just before the second half which made the score 19-6 to the Fijians.  Veivuke's second try came just after the half, which made the score quite lopsided to the Fijians.

Japan finally got a try a of their own when full-back Kotaro Matsushima scored a five-pointer which was followed closely by another Japan try scored by Malgene Ilaua to make the score 35-13 after the conversion was made.

Nemani Nadolo had the final say with a penalty in the dying minutes of the clash.

The scorers:

For Fiji:
Tries:  Vulivuli, Maijaina, Veivuke 2, Nadolo
Cons:  Nadolo 5
Pens:  Nadolo

For Japan:
Tries:  Matsushima 2, Ilaua
Cons:  Tamura 2
Pens:  Tamura 2

Fiji:  15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Metuisela Talebula, 13 Albert Vulivuli, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Akapusi Qera (c), 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Nemia Soqeta, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Sunia Koto, 1 Peni Ravai
Replacements:  16 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Leeroy Atalifo, 19 Api Ratuniyawara, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 Eremasi Radrodro, 22 Seru Vularika, 23 Waisea Nayacalevu

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Shunsuke Nunomaki, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Kyosuke Kajikawa, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Satoshi Nakatani
Replacements:  16 Takeshi Hino, 17 Kanta Higashionna, 18 Heiichiro Ito, 19 Kotaro Yatabe, 20 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Amanaki Lotoahea, 23 Karne Hesketh

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)