All Blacks second-half blitz blows France away

The All Blacks scored seven second-half tries on their way to a slightly flattering 52-11 victory over France at Eden Park on Saturday.

After Beauden Barrett’s sole first-half score, Codie Taylor, Ben Smith, Rieko Ioane (2), Damian McKenzie, Ngani Laumape and Ardie Savea got themselves on the scoresheet as the French scored just the one try through Remy Grosso.

France were the last team to overcome New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park, way back in 1994, since then the hosts are unbeaten in 40 games – including the 2011 World Cup final, when they edged les Bleus 8-7.  And the French looked like they might repeat the feat, having led for the majority of the match and doing very well to stifle the All Blacks up until the 50th minute.

But when Paul Gabrillagues was harshly yellow carded for a high tackle in which he never actually made contact with All Black centre Ryan Crotty’s neck 10 minutes after half-time, it seemed to break the defensive shackles of the French and weaken their spirit as they conceded three tries in the period in which Gabrillagues was off the field.

However, it was the French who took an early 5-0 lead.  Teddy Thomas had got the French deep into All Blacks territory with a weaving break in which he showed his dazzling footwork before being chopped down.  However, a couple of phases later, the ball spilled loose from the ruck.  All Black wing Ben Smith collected it but in his haste to get the ball away, his pass was intercepted by Grosso who had a clear run to the line with nobody at home for the hosts.  Although it was an intercept try, it didn’t come against the run of play by any means as the French had already shown that they were dangerous.

World Player of the Year Beauden Barrett slotted his first penalty attempt of the night right down the middle to bring the world champions back to within two after the French were penalised offside.  However, Morgan Parra responded with a penalty to restore the five-point buffer with a quarter of the match gone.

Soon after, the three Barrett brothers combined superbly down the left-hand side of the field to open up the French defence.  Scott Barrett hit a great angle and got the offload away brilliantly for Jordie Barrett, who was halted a couple of metres short.  The ball was quickly worked out to the blindside by Anton Lienert-Brown to Beauden Barrett, who ran from deep and with speed on to the ball, getting on the outside of his man and doing well to skid over within the field of play.

Then Parra, back in the les Bleus fold after a three-year hiatus, showed his importance to the cause when he slotted a monster penalty from just over half-way with a lovely, clean strike of the rugby ball to give France a three-point lead at 11-8 going in to half-time.

The French were guilty of jumping the gun too frequently on defence and gave the All Blacks plenty of penalty opportunities in decent positions, but the world champions were uncharacteristically wasteful in converting.  Although this rush defence tactic was costing them penalties, it proved effective in that it provoked handling errors from the All Blacks as well as preventing the world champions from getting over the advantage line.

Some early substitutions were made in the front-row for both sides with the All Blacks seeming to profit from the changes as they won a penalty shortly afterwards when they demolished the French scrum.  Beauden Barrett made no mistake to level the scores at 11-11.

Just when the All Blacks appeared to be going nowhere, having gone 12 phases, Gabrillagues was harshly penalised for that high tackle on Crotty.  This unfortunately changed the course of the game as the hosts capitalised on the numerical advantage when Beauden Barrett put the try on a platter with a beautifully little-weighted grubber kick in behind for hooker Taylor to fly in behind Thomas.

Soon after, a quick throw from Beauden Barrett got the All Blacks on the attack before the ball was fed out right through the hands where Crotty was on hand to masterfully create the try, keeping the ball in one hand out on the right touchline and fending off a defenders before getting the offload away for Taylor, who played the final offload for Ben Smith who was in great support – as he so often is.

Then a well-worked move straight from the training ground saw Ioane running the shortside off the back of the scrum to find the corner.

Shortly after that, Taylor, who was having a sensational game, hit a gap with a barnstorming carry and got the offload away superbly for McKenzie, with the replacement utility back showcasing his searing pace to run 45 metres to the line.

By now the All Blacks were running riot as McKenzie scythed between French centres Mathieu Bastareaud and Geoffrey Doumayrou to create a try with a perfectly-timed pass to set fellow replacement Laumape off down the right-hand touchline – the Hurricanes centre still having plenty to do, displaying his freakish upper body strength by bulldozing les Bleus full-back Maxime Medard for the finish.

With five minutes to go, a silly pass from Medard gifted Ioane the chance to grab his brace as he ran coast to coast for the intercept try despite a great effort made by Thomas to track him down.

And with time running out Savea would claim the final try of the game, powering over from close range to take them over 50 points.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B Barrett, Taylor, Smith, Ioane 2, McKenzie, Laumape, Savea
Cons:  Barrett 3
Pens:  Barrett 2

For France:
Try:  Grosso
Pens:  Parra 2
Yellow Card:  Gabrillagues

New Zealand:  15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock (c), 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements:  16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Ngani Laumape

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud (c), 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fabien Sanconnie, 7 Kelian Gourdon, 6 Judicaël Cancoriet, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pélissié, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Gael Fickou

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), John Lacey (Ireland)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Japan see off Italy

Japan produced a polished all-round performance to see of Italy 34-17 at Oita Bank Dome in Oita in their first Test of the year on Saturday.

Tries from Amanaki Mafi, Kenki Fukuoka, Loamno Lemeki and Kotaro Matsushima proved too much for Italy, who scored through Tizano Pasquali and Braam Steyn.

Italy remain winless in 2018 and one feels some serious introspection is in order after a listless performance in humid conditions in Oita.

Lock Pasquali made a dream start to his debut, scoring the first try of the match, carrying the ball over the line after a series of powerful carries from the Azzurri forwards.

However, Japan would respond immediately through who else but talismanic number eight Mafi with a superb individual effort to level matters after 18 minutes.

Brave Blossoms speedster Fukuoka and Italy number eight Steyn got themselves on the scoresheet before half-time as the sides headed into the interval locked at 14-14 apiece.

But in the second stanza, Jamie Joseph’s side would show their superiority, pulling away from the Azzurri with two further tries through Lemeki and Matsushima while Yu Tamura maintained a perfect kicking record throughout.

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Mafi, Fukuoka, Lemeki, Matsushima
Cons:  Tamura 4
Pens:  Tamura 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Pasquali, Steyn
Cons:  Allan 2
Pen:  Allan

Japan:  15 Kotaru Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 Will Tupou, 12 Timothy Lafaele, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Michael Leitch (c), 6 Kazuki Himeno, 5 Samuela Anise, 4 Wimpie Van Der Walt, 3 Ji-Won Koo, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Ryoto Nakamura

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Abraham Steyn, 7 Giovanni Licata, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 George Biagi, 20 Marco Fuser, 21 Jake Polledri, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales beat Boks in Washington

Wales secured a 22-20 victory over South Africa in their international game played at Robert F Kennedy Stadium in Washington on Saturday.

Hallam Amos, Tomos Williams and Ryan Elias crossed for the Welsh, with the latter’s 75th minute crossing proving the match-winning score.

For South Africa their tries were claimed Travis Ismaiel and Makazole Mapimpi but they will be disappointed to come away with the defeat.

Robert du Preez had looked to have secured victory with a penalty but he was then charged down shortly after as Elias made it Wales’ day.

Conditions didn’t help the contest from an entertainment point of view but still the Welsh managed to cross the line twice in the first-half.

A sluggish game was scoreless until the 19th minute after Gareth Anscombe’s early miss was capitalised on by Elton Jantjies, making it 3-0.

Things would get worse before they got better for Wales too when Steff Evans was helped from the action with a knee injury, Hadleigh Parkes coming on in his place.  Two minutes later Parkes was involved in helping set up full-back Amos’ try before Anscombe made it 7-3.

That try boosted Welsh confidence and when scrum-half Williams sniped from the base of a ruck before spinning over, they held a 14-3 buffer at Robert F Kennedy Stadium.  South Africa attempted to respond but were short on ideas as no further scores were added before the break.

South Africa needed the first score of the second period and duly received it on a silver platter when Amos’ loose pass under pressure was collected by Ismaiel who had an easy run to the try-line.  Jantjies added the simple conversion as the gap was cut to four points at 14-10.

Rassie Erasmus would however have been frustrated by how his side coughed up three points immediately after that try when Oupa Mohoje was penalised for sealing off at a ruck.  Anscombe was the man making no mistake on his right side as the Welsh moved into a handy 17-10 lead.

Wales should have further extended that margin shortly after when Ross Moriarty’s line bust wasn’t capitalised on, despite a huge overlap.  Compounding that missed opportunity was an Anscombe penalty miss from long-range, giving the Springboks another reprieve they would grasp.

In fact South Africa would receive a double boost soon after as Wales inside centre Owen Watkin’s yellow card for deliberately slapping the ball dead in-goal was followed up by Mapimpi diving over on the left wing.  With Jantjies’ touchline conversion the scores were levelled.

South Africa then came agonisingly close to taking the lead on 67 minutes, as Ismaiel was denied in the corner by a brilliant, last-ditch Cory Hill tackle.

However, they’d take the lead six minutes from time as a scrum offence allowed replacement fly-half Du Preez to make it 20-17 to the Boks.

Du Preez though had a nightmare minute shortly after as back-to-back charged down kicks resulted in Elias dotting down as Wales won 22-20, giving them a boost as they now head to Argentina.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Amos, Williams, Elias
Cons:  Anscombe 2
Pen:  Anscombe
Yellow Card:  Watkin

For South Africa:
Tries:  Ismaiel, Mapimpi
Cons:  Jantjies 2
Pens:  Jantjies, Du Preez

Wales:  15 Hallam Amos, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 George North, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Seb Davies, 5 Cory Hill, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Hadleigh Parkes

South Africa:  15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Warrick Gelant

Referee:  Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees:  Alexandre Ruiz (France), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Chris Ashton hat-trick sinks England

The Barbarians won a thriller against England at Twickenham on Sunday, running in nine tries in a 63-45 victory to lift the Quilter Cup.

Tries from Chris Ashton (3), Victor Vito (2), Finn Russell, Semi Radrada, Sitaleki Timani and Greig Laidlaw entertained the local support.

In reply the English tries were scored by Elliot Daly, Piers Francis (2), Zach Mercer, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May as they came up short.

Eddie Jones will know there is work to be done ahead of their three-Test series against South Africa, with their defence appearing flaky.

Nine tries and 63 points were scored in an end-to-end opening half, with both sides playing a high tempo game that left holes in defence.

The Barbarians raced into a 21-0 lead on 12 minutes as first Radradra’s fine line bust through Henry Trinder and Chris Robshaw led to him finding Josua Tuisova on his right.  He then kindly popped to Ashton on the try-line for an ideal start for the Baa-baas and the full-back.

Ashton was over again four minutes later as he gathered his own chip over the top before grounding.  That again came from a Tuisova carry.

The Baa-baas were motoring and from a set play five metres out another chip kick, this time from Russell, found Vito who extended the gap.

England needed something and it promptly came on 18 minutes as Daly, starting in the full-back position, fought his way over the whitewash before three minutes later inside centre Francis also crossed, with Ford converting both tries to make it 21-14 as the hosts were building.

Ashton though had other ideas and claimed his hat-trick in simple fashion for a 28-14 lead before yet more tries would follow at Twickenham.

The next crossing saw Mercer go over after Daly’s line break and when Ford then set up Francis for his brace, suddenly it was a tied game.

However the Barbarians would have the final say of the half as Ashton then turned provider for Russell who showed pace from 30 metres out.

They also had the first score of the second-half when Radrada slipped Robshaw’s attempted hit before rounding wing May to make it 42-28.

With England 14 points down it was an interesting call to kick a penalty goal on 49 minutes, which also didn’t go down well with the home fans.

But there was still lots time on the clock and when Launchbury grounded against the base of the post, the English were only four points down.

Again though the Barbarians were not to be outdone and good handling down the right wing led to Loni Uhila setting up Timani for the try.

With time wearing on the next score was going to be crucial and it went the way of the invitational side as Radrada’s superb offload found Tuisova, who again handed the ball over to a team-mate when over the whitewash, with Scotland scrum-half Laidlaw dotting down for 56-38.

England weren’t finished though as Danny Cipriani’s well judged grubber through was collected by May, who though he had the final say at Twickenham until Tuisova set up Vito for his brace as the Barbarians finished with a final flourish, running out impressive 63-45 winners.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Daly, Francis 2, Mercer, Launchbury, May
Cons:  Ford 6
Pen:  Ford

For Barbarians:
Tries:  Ashton 3, Vito 2, Russell, Radrada, Timani, Laidlaw
Cons:  Russell 7, Laidlaw, Lobbe

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Mike Brown, 10 George Ford (cc), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Chris Robshaw (cc), 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 George McGuigan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Nick Schonert, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Denny Solomona

Barbarians:  15 Chris Ashton, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Niyi Adeolokun, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 John Afoa, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements:  16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Loni Uhila, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Nili Latu, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Luke McAlister, 23 Malakai Fekitoa

Referee:  Andy Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Marius Mitrea (Italy), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match offcial:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Wales edge France to take second spot

Wales secured second spot on the Six Nations table with a hard-fought 14-13 victory over France at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

France put Wales under serious pressure at the breakdown throughout the game and will be kicking themselves that they did not make their dominance count.  Their cause was not helped with fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc missing an easy penalty which would have given the hosts the lead going in to the final ten minutes.

Ultimately, they were punished for their own indiscipline, with Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny showing them no mercy, kicking three out of his three penalties.

It was a good start for France right from the kick-off, doing well with the lineout drive.  With slow ball and no real options, Trinh-Duc slotted a drop goal to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead.

However, they fluffed their lines from from the restart in embarrassing fashion.  Allowing the ball to bounce, Wales seized possession and Scott Williams put the grubber kick through.  Trinh-Duc came around on the cover defence but misjudged his jump terribly allowing Liam Williams to pounce for the five-pointer.

Halfpenny added two penalties in quick succession (11′, 16′) to extend the Welsh lead to 11-3 but just five minutes later France responded with an excellent team try.

It was a good break from French hooker Adrien Pelissie after the offload by Benjamin Fall, dragging the Welsh defence to the right side of the field before quickly switching the ball to the left where Gael Fickou was on hand to run a great line and outpace the Welsh defence to the whitewash.  Maxime Machenaud slotted the conversion to cut the deficit to a single point at 11-10 after 22 minutes.

The rest of the first-half was an arm wrestle with a Halfpenny penalty the only remaining action as Wales took a 14-10 lead into the interval.

Ten minutes into the second half, Machenaud added a three-pointer after Scott Williams was penalised for not rolling away.  Trinh-Duc should have given his side the lead with 12 minutes to go, badly shanking a routine penalty.

Les Bleus looked as if they might stage a dramatic comeback when they won yet another breakdown penalty with 30 seconds to go.  However, their lineout was stolen with the Welsh booting the ball into touch and abruptly bringing an end to proceedings.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Williams
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

For France:
Try:  Fickou
Con:  Machenaud
Pen:  Machenaud
Drop Goal:  Trinh-Duc

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Justin Tipuric, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Steff Evans

France:  15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Gael Fickou, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud (c), 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Remy Grosso, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Adrien Pelissie, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Geoffrey Palis

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland win third Grand Slam following dominant victory

Ireland saved their best performance until the final round as they won the Grand Slam after comfortably defeating England 24-15 at Twickenham.

Joe Schmidt’s men were excellent throughout but the first half set up the victory with Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale all crossing the whitewash.

Elliot Daly responded for the Red Rose but they were outplayed as the visitors went into the break 21-5 in front.

Eddie Jones’ outfit did pressure the opposition at the start of the second 40 minutes but the Emerald Isle were resolute and Conor Murray extended their buffer from the tee.

Daly touched down for his second and Jonny May also went over as England regained a semblance of pride but, on St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland deservedly emerged with the Triple Crown and Grand Slam.

It was a typically controlled performance from the visitors and the opening to the game set the tone with the champions maintaining possession and forcing England into errors.

Ill-discipline was once again an issue for the hosts and Schmidt’s men capitalised with Ringrose scoring first after Johnny Sexton’s ‘up and under’ caused havoc.  There appeared to be a knock-on by Rob Kearney in the process but, after consultation with the television match official, the try was awarded and they had a deserved 7-0 advantage.

England were struggling to gain front foot ball and, as a result, Ireland dominated territory and duly created a superbly worked effort.

Excellent hands from Tadhg Furlong sent Bundee Aki clear and the centre passed inside to the supporting number eight Stander, who touched down at the base of the post.

It was that clinical edge which was to prove the difference as the home side finally begun to put some pressure on their opponents.  Ireland started to consistently infringe and it eventually led to a yellow card for Peter O’Mahony after a maul was collapsed illegally.

They initially struggled to create opportunities, however, with the away team defending superbly, but their efforts were eventually rewarded when Owen Farrell’s grubber through was pounced on by Daly.

The Emerald Isle could have panicked but they simply regrouped and arguably scored the game-defining try.  Instead of kicking the ball out with the clock in the red, they backed their skills and Stockdale produced a brilliant piece of play to chip ahead and touch down.

With Joey Carbery’s conversion, the visitors were halfway towards the Grand Slam and it was a lead they would hold in the third quarter.

Despite plenty of England possession, Ireland’s rearguard was once again outstanding and they prevented the hosts from getting back into the contest.

Instead, with their first significant attack of the half the visitors earned a three-point opportunity, which Murray converted for a 19-point buffer.

Jones’ men did get a couple back via Daly and May but it was Ireland’s day and Ireland’s championship as they completed a superb triumph to win a third Grand Slam.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Daly 2, May

For Ireland:
Tries:  Ringrose, Stander, Stockdale
Cons:  Sexton 2, Carbery
Pen:  Murray
Yellow Card:  O’Mahony

England:  15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Don Armand, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Mike Brown

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Nigel Owens (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Greig Laidlaw saves Scotland blushes

Scotland had Greig Laidlaw to thank as his last-gasp penalty secured a 29-27 win over Italy in a Six Nations thriller at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday. 

It was a great advert for Six Nations rugby, as both sides maintained a high standard of play throughout, with the final result impossible to predict until the very end.

The defeat is a cruel one for the Italians as it would have broken a sixteen-match losing streak in the Six Nations.  

Their conditioning, however, must be brought into question as once again they faded from the sixty-minute mark onwards.

They began on the front foot, taking the game to their more-fancied opponents.  Tommaso Allan's sixth-minute penalty was just reward for their sustained pressure.

But Scotland needed just one forage upfield to register the game's first try.  After Nick Grigg made a lovely line break in midfield, Tommy Seymour was halted a couple of metres short.  Good vision from Hamish Watson at stand-in scrum-half found Fraser Brown over the top, the hooker having plenty of time to wait and read the bounce before gathering and dotting down.

However, soon after, the Italians hit back with an outstanding piece of play.  Firstly, it was the Azzurri forwards who showed their strength, outmuscling the Scottish pack and gaining good metres with the driving maul.

They worked it right to the backline with Allan producing a brilliant dummy and shimmy, feinting to pass to his right and then stepping on Huw Jones' inside and putting the foot on the gas, absolutely splintering the Scottish defence.  The irony that Allan began his rugby career in Scotland was not lost in the heat of the moment.

The Italians certainly weren't playing like a side that had lost their last sixteen Six Nations matches.  After making over ten phases, Italian tighthead prop Simone Ferrari made a half-break, fending off Scotland fly-half Finn Russell.  Having made it up to the Scotland ten-metre line and with nothing really on, Allan's beautifully weighted grubber through was snaffled upon by Matteo Minozzi, who was the quickest to react, grabbing his fourth try in five Six Nations matches. 

Five minutes later, the Scots momentarily silenced the Rome faithful, when skipper John Barclay went over at the back of a well-worked Scottish driving maul.  Russell added the extras to cut the deficit to five at 17-12 with 15 minutes of the first-half remaining.

The Italians started the second as they started the first and quickly converted their ascendancy in to points.  Jake Polledri made a sensational barnstorming carry in midfield and ran fourty metres for being chopped down.  The ball was recycled before Polledri rejoined the move to play the final pass for Allan who had an easy run-in to the line, converting his own try for a 24-12 lead.

But the Scots began taking control, winning the collisions, while the Italians started losing their defensive discipline.  After a driving maul and a couple of powerful carries got Scotland close, Laidlaw's long pass over the top found Sean Maitland, the wing straightening and diving over the line.  Laidlaw added the conversion which meant the Scots were now within five.

With ten minutes to go, Azzurri captain Sergio Parisse conceded a turnover penalty, with the Scots opting for touch and the rolling maul, which was halted inches short once again.  Nine phases later, Italian resistance was finally broken when Hogg split the gap between Sebastian Negri and Jayden Hayward to level matters.  Laidlaw's conversion gave the Scots a 26-24 lead with eight minutes to go.

By this stage the Italians were tiring and unable to commit as many men to the breakdown.  However, they soldiered on and from the restart won a penalty for a Scotland tackler not rolling away.  Allan slotted a 55 metre pressure penalty much to the delight of the rapturous Rome crowd.

But Scotland were not to be outdone and had the ever-reliable Laidlaw to thank as this spectacular game offered up one more twist.  The scrum-half showed ice-cold composure to strike the match-winning penalty between the posts after Italy were penalised for collapsing the maul.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan 2, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 3
Pens:  Allan 2

For Scotland:
Tries:  Brown, Barclay, Maitland, Hogg
Cons:  Laidlaw 3
Pen:  Laidlaw

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziani Pasquali, 19 Abraham Steyn, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Nick Grigg, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 WP Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Richie Gray, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Blair Kinghorn

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Wales get the better of Italy to go second

Wales returned to the victory trail in the Six Nations when they claimed a 38-14 bonus-point win over Italy in Cardiff on Sunday.

Although they were comfortable winners in the end, Wales were frustrated for large periods as Italy delivered a competitive performance and the home side only secured their try-scoring bonus point in the 67th minute.

The victory means Wales move above England, France and Scotland into second place in the standings while Italy are still firmly rooted at the bottom of the table.  This result means the Azzurri have now lost 16 successive Six Nations matches with their last victory in the competition registered on February 28, 2015 when they beat Scotland and Murrayfield.

The match started brightly for the home side and they opened their account as early as the fourth minute when Hadleigh Parkes gathered the ball close to Italy's try-line before spinning out of a couple of tackles on his way over the try-line.

Wales continued to attack and three minutes later, Owen Watkin pounced on a poor offload.  Watkin did well to get a pass out to the onrushing George North, who ran for more than 50 metres before crossing the whitewash.

Despite trailing 14-0 on the scoreboard, Italy stayed true to their attacking style of play and in the ninth minute Matteo Minozzi showed why he is so highly rated when he beat North with good footwork before crossing for his side's first try.

Wales thought they had extended their lead when Steff Evans chipped ahead inside Italy's 22 and Gareth Davies did well to gather the kick before dotting down.  However, their joy was short-lived as television replays revealed that Davies was in front of the ball when Evans kicked it upfield.

Wales put that incident behind them and increased their lead in the 37th minute when Gareth Anscombe slotted a penalty after Giulio Bisegni strayed offside on defence.

Just before half-time, Wales were reduced to 14 men when Liam Williams was sent to the sin-bin for making contact to Minozzi's neck with his shoulder, but although Italy had superior numbers, it did not deter the home side as three minutes after the restart, Cory Hill barged over for their third try after running onto a pass from scrum-half Davies close to Italy's 22.

Wales suffered another blow in the 50th minute when Davies was also yellow carded when he deliberately knocked on an Italian pass and for about two minutes the home side only had 13 men on the field.

Despite having a bulk of the territory and possession, Wales could not convert their dominance into points on the scoreboard as Italy kept them at bay with a solid defensive effort.

Wales continued to attack and thought they had their fourth try in the 65th minute when Parkes went over the try-line but his effort was disallowed when the television match official ruled that there was no clear grounding.

Two minutes later, Wales launched an attack from a scrum on Italy's five-metre line and North gathered a pass from Rhys Patchell before crashing over for that elusive fourth try.

In the 71st minute, Justin Tipuric crossed for his side's fifth try after the ball went through several phases in the build-up and five minutes later Mattia Bellini scored a consolation try for the visitors.

With the game in the bag, Wales took their foot off the pedal although Italy finished the match with 14 men when Tommaso Benvenuti was also sent to the sin-bin shortly before the full-time whistle for a similar indiscretion to Davies' earlier on.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Parkes, North 2, Hill, Tipuric
Cons:  Anscombe 3, Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Anscombe
Yellow Cards:  Williams, G Davies

For Italy:
Tries:  Minozzi, Bellini
Cons:  Allan, Canna
Yellow Card:  Benvenuti

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau (c), 7 James Davies, 6 Justin Tipuric, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Leigh Halfpenny

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Ireland too strong for Scotland

Ireland moved closer to the Six Nations title following a comfortable 28-8 triumph over Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

In a thrilling first half, Greig Laidlaw opened the game’s account by kicking a penalty but two Jacob Stockdale tries gave the Emerald Isle an 11-point buffer at the interval.

Conor Murray extended the lead early in the second period before Blair Kinghorn gave the visitors hope going into the final half-hour.

Joe Schmidt’s men continued to control matters, though, and Sean Cronin made the game safe by barging across the whitewash from close range for the crucial bonus-point.

They will head to Twickenham with an opportunity of claiming a Grand Slam for just the third time in their history, while Scotland are now out of the title race.

The hosts began the game in the ascendency, keeping the ball impressively through the phases, but mistakes at costly times prevented them from opening the scoring.

Scottish defence in the early stages was ferocious and uncharacteristic errors crept into the Irish game.  There were knock-ons aplenty and the visitors benefited by earning a penalty on the opposition 22, which Laidlaw converted.

That effort gave Gregor Townsend’s men confidence and Stuart Hogg, Kinghorn and Finn Russell all displayed some neat touches, but they proceeded to undo their good work.

The away side had created space out wide but Peter Horne threw a needless pass to give Stockdale an easy intercept try.  Jonathan Sexton converted and Ireland held a 7-3 advantage after 25 minutes.

It was proving to be a pulsating contest with both teams showing creativity and physicality in abundance.  However, the respective rearguards remained on top until late in the half when Schmidt’s team found a clinical edge.

Following Rob Kearney’s break, which almost ended in Murray crossing the whitewash, the hosts were awarded a scrum five metres out and Garry Ringrose combined with Bundee Aki to send Stockdale over.

Ireland duly went into the break 14-3 ahead and took that momentum into the second period, dominating the opening exchanges and pressurising the opposition 22.

A sixth Scotland infringement at the breakdown allowed the Emerald Isle to build another attack and Murray displayed his sniping instincts to touch down from close range.

Similar to their Wales performance, Townsend’s team could have folded but they showed commendable spirit to come back into the encounter via a well-worked score for Kinghorn.

However, the Scots were not quite at Ireland’s level, failing to take the chances that came their way and also conceding far too many penalties.

Once such error gave Sexton a chance to extend their advantage but, although the fly-half missed for the only time off the tee, it did not matter as Cronin secured the five points in the final quarter.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Murray, Cronin
Cons:  Sexton 4

For Scotland:
Try:  Kinghorn
Pen:  Laidlaw

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Lee Jones

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Ireland win Six Nations after England lose to France

Ireland have won the Six Nations championship after a lacklustre England succumbed 22-16 to an improved French side at the Stade de France.

Eddie Jones required tries but all he got was three-pointers in the first half as the teams traded three penalties apiece.  Maxime Machenaud kicked all of Les Bleus’ points while Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly shared out the Red Rose’s before the interval.

It was a poor performance from England in the opening period and they continued to underwhelm after the break.

Jacques Brunel’s men duly punished their ill-discipline and inability to get across the gainline as a penalty try and another Machenaud effort off moved them in front.

The away team hit back via Jonny May but it wasn’t enough as Lionel Beauxis scored a late penalty in a frantic finish.

With Ireland’s result earlier moving them 10 points clear of the Red Rose, the visitors needed a quick start and they dominated possession and territory.

Chances were few and far between, however, and they had to make do with the accurate kicking of Farrell and Daly to accrue their points.

The hosts conceded penalties at will in the opening stages, allowing England to go 6-0 ahead via their centre and returning winger, who was on target with a long-range effort.

France soon took charge of the breakdown battle, though, and reduced the arrears through Machenaud before Farrell regained the away side’s six-point buffer.

England needed a spark to get them going but, as they were against Scotland, Jones’ men lacked direction and intensity.  In fact, the hosts arguably looked more dangerous with ball in hand and deservedly levelled proceedings at the break, with Machenaud adding a brace of three-pointers.

Nevertheless, it was hardly a match to inspire and the performances of both sides were symptomatic of their respective campaigns.

Those frustrations continued into the second half with creativity at a minimum, but France finally found an opening.  With a penalty advantage, Francois Trinh-Duc kicked out to the left where Benjamin Fall gathered and was tackled high by Anthony Watson.

Jaco Peyper, in consultation with the television match official, correctly awarded a penalty try and sent the full-back to the sin-bin.

All of a sudden, Les Bleus had the momentum and produced another opportunity from an England mistake – their umpteenth of the match – but they butchered the chance and the visitors escaped.

Unperturbed, a far more confident French outfit merely went again and earned a fourth three-point chance, which Machenaud duly kicked to extend their buffer.

Entering the last 10 minutes, Jones’ men looked out of the contest but, whether through tiredness or nerves, holes began to appear in the hosts’ defence and May gave the English hope.

They continued to press, despite a Beauxis penalty, but it was not enough as France deservedly came away with the victory.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Penalty try
Pens:  Machenaud 4, Beauxis

For England:
Try:  May
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2, Daly
Yellow Card:  Watson

France:  15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhelm Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Gaël Fickou

England:  15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 James Haskell, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Mike Brown

Referee:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Angus Gardner (Australia), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Scotland claim Calcutta Cup

Scotland have ended 10 years of misery against the Auld Enemy with a 25-13 victory over England at Murrayfield on Saturday.

It brings to an end an eight-game losing streak for Scotland against England and represents Scotland's greatest triumph of the modern era.

Meanwhile, England's hopes of claiming a record third successive title have been cast into doubt while Ireland have now emerged as favourites following their convincing win over Wales.

Greig Laidlaw gave Scotland an early lead, making it nine from nine penalties in this year's Six Nations.

Owen Farrell levelled matters at 3-3 after 14 minutes but then out of nowhere Scotland scored the game's first try.  After driving a maul in to the 22, Finn Russell placed a well-weighted grubber kick through which bounced fortunately for Scotland, completely bamboozling Anthony Watson as Huw Jones pounced on the ball to run through and dot down for the game's first try.  Laidlaw's conversion made it 10-3.

England resorted to mauling as their primary weapon of attack and it was from here they won a penalty as Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist was penalised for pulling the maul down.  Farrell made no mistake from the tee, cutting the deficit to four with a quarter of the match gone.

Russell was pulling the strings on attack for Scotland and made two superb passes in the build-up to an excellent team try, the final pass a floater over the top for Sean Maitland to dive over in the corner.

Jones grabbed his brace, running a sublime line to scythe through the tackle of Nathan Hughes and still showed great strength to brush off the dual attentions of Watson and Mike Brown as he powered over the try-line with a truly world-class finish.

England immediately took the game to Scotland after the break, enjoying their best spell of possession of the game and the resistance was broken just four minutes in when Farrell ran a lovely line as Danny Care switched back to the blindside, catching the Scottish defence slightly off-guard.

A long period of no scoring ensued before Sam Underhill saw yellow in the 65th minute for a no-arms tackle.  Russell slotted the subsequent penalty to extend the lead to 25-13.

However, Scotland showed tremendous character on defence to deny England any further scores and secure an historic victory.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Jones 2, Maitland
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw, Russell

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

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Blair Kinghorn

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland overpower Wales in Dublin

Ireland maintained their unbeaten 2018 Six Nations record with a 35-27 victory over Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

The hosts completely dominated the match, enjoying 69 percent possession and 75 percent territory with Wales having to make 175 tackles.

In the first half, however, Ireland could not convert their dominance into points while Wales scored from the one chance they had.  But after the break, Ireland were more clinical and capitalised on their superiority, as Wales tired due to the sheer amount of tackles they had to make.

Ireland had all the attacking flair and creative instinct with their New-Zealand style offloading game coming to the fore, while Wales were old-fashioned and attritional.

The half-back pairing of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton bossed the game and were excellent in their decision making on the day, whereas Dan Biggar and the Wales backline went missing.  Pity because the Wales back row were excellent.

Leigh Halfpenny gave Wales the early lead with a penalty.  Soon after, Sexton had a penalty of his own but hit the post.

However, Ireland did have their try soon afterwards.  Slide-rule precision from the hands of Sexton found Jacob Stockdale on the left wing who dotted down.

With Wales on a rare attack, the ball came loose from Rob Evans’ pass.  Nippy scrum-half Davies picked the ball up and had plenty of space to make a sniping run through a scrambling Irish defence and dive over.  Halfpenny slotted the conversion for a 10-5 lead.

Halfpenny added a penalty soon afterwards to extend the lead to 13-5 as Wales seemed content with not having to play rugby while still keeping the scoreboard ticking.

Sexton got his first points off the tee after Wales were penalised for offside as Ireland opted to take the points with still enough time to get a try before half-time.

And they did reclaim the lead before the interval when Bundee Aki showed his physical prowess to bust past two defenders and still have the strength to stretch out and dot down.

Ireland were more clinical after the break and were justly rewarded.  Slick interplay between Earls and Rob Kearney made the break down the right.  The forwards expertly took the ball up through close quarters and when they were close enough and the time was right, propelled Dan Leavy over the line.  Sexton’s conversion made it 22-13.

Wales simply could not cope by now with Ireland as their plan was simply to get close to the line and once there, take it up and over through their powerful forwards;  this time Cian Healy burrowing over from close range to cap off a fantastic individual display.

But the Welsh seemed to get a second wind.  Biggar made 25 yards by successfully chasing and regaining Davies’ box-kick.  The ball was recycled and spread through the hands with Hadleigh Parkes’ looping pass over the top finding Josh Navidi who only had to draw his defender and release Shingler for a clear run to the line down the right wing.  Halfpenny made a difficult conversion to bring Wales within a converted try.

Ireland’s forwards claimed a moral victory winning a late scrum penalty.  Murray held his nerve with the kick, as it went in off the bar, giving Ireland a ten-point buffer.

But Wales weren’t done yet and Steff Evans, who had a very quiet game, popped up for the try to cap off a wonderful team move and set up a tense finale.

From the restart, Wales went on the attack in search of a dramatic comeback and made their way upfield.  But a slow, looping pass in midfield was intercepted by Stockdale, who was never going to be caught, grabbing his brace and securing the 37-27 victory.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Healy, Leavy, Aki
Cons:  Sexton 3, Carbery
Pens:  Sexton, Murray

For Wales:
Tries:  Davies, Shingler, Evans
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 James Ryan, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

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

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauzere (France), Matthew Carley (England)

France down Italy in scrappy encounter

France claimed their first win of the 2018 Six Nations, defeating Italy 34-17 at the Orange Vélodrome on Friday night.

Les Bleus squandered several chances in the first half.  However, after going into the break with a narrow 11-7 advantage, they wore Italy down and eventually put some daylight between themselves and the Azzurri in the second half.

France came into the match under pressure after narrow defeats to Ireland and Scotland.  However, it only took five minutes for Les Bleus to draw first blood.  Following an attacking lineout, they forced their way over the try-line, with Paul Gabrillagues grounding the ball.

But Italy hit back from an attacking lineout of their own and were awarded a penalty try in the 13th minute after the hosts collapsed the maul.

After a lengthy spell of pressure, France finally regained the lead in the 29th minute, with Maxime Machenaud slotting over a penalty won for offside right under the posts.

Back from a three-week ban for a homophobic slur, Mathieu Bastareaud did well to rip the ball out of Italian hands on the stroke of half-time, leading to another French penalty and three more points for Machenaud.

France squandered a glorious chance to score right after the break.  They found themselves with numbers out on the left, but with the try-line at their mercy, Lionel Beauxis swung the ball to nobody and the hosts knocked on.

Les Bleus did extend their lead through another Machenaud penalty in the 46th minute following a high tackle.  However, Italy hit back within four minutes.  Tommaso Allan nailed his first kick of the game after Sergio Parisse was taken out off the ball.

In the 60th minute, France finally scored their second try.  They attacked down the left once more, with Hugo Bonneval passing to Rémy Grosso out wide.  The winger offloaded back inside to the full-back as he was forced into touch and Bonneval finished off with ease.

Four minutes later, Nicola Quaglio was penalised for offside.  Machenaud stepped up to the kicking tee once more and extended the lead to two converted tries.

The scrum-half's last contribution before being substituted off for Baptiste Couilloud came in the 71st minute, when he popped his fifth penalty of the night over after France failed to make the most of an advantage.

In the 73rd minute, Bastareaud put the game to bed.  After Marco Tauleigne had charged through the Azzurri defence to initiate the attack, the centre was left to finish the job from close range.  He duly obliged, powering over the try-line.

With less than two minutes left on the clock, Italy scored a consolation try.  Following a set play, they moved the ball out to the left and breezed through the French defence.  Matteo Minozzi finished off the move.

However, the game ended in tears for the Azzurri as Luca Bigi was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on in the dying seconds.  France were unable to force their way over for one final try, but they nevertheless claimed a comfortable win.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Gabrillagues, Bonneval, Bastareaud
Cons:  Machenaud, Trinh-Duc
Pens:  Machenaud 5

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Minozzi
Con:  Canna
Pen:  Allan
Yellow Card:  Bigi

France:  15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Gaël Fickou

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali 19 George Biagi, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Greig Laidlaw kicks Scotland to victory over France

Greig Laidlaw kicked six second half penalties as Scotland got their Six Nations campaign back on track following a 32-26 triumph over France.

The first half was a wonderfully free-flowing encounter with the sides scoring two tries apiece.  Teddy Thomas touched down twice for the French – his second taking them 17-7 clear – but Sean Maitland and Huw Jones crossed the whitewash for the hosts to leave it finely poised.

Although the second period was slightly more attritional, with three penalties from Laidlaw to two from Baptiste Serin the only scores in the third quarter, it was still an enthralling contest going into the final 20 minutes.

Laidlaw then levelled proceedings before the half-back added two more from the tee to condemn France to a second consecutive defeat.

It was a thrilling affair – quite comfortably the best game of the championship – and the early passage of play set the tone.

With conditions far more conducive for attacking rugby than in France’s narrow defeat to Ireland last weekend, the visitors looked to move the ball wider and enjoyed plenty of success.

Once again, Thomas, after his wonderful individual score in round one, was particularly prominent and he repeated that effort in the opening 10 minutes.

The wing virtually produced a carbon copy of that try as he picked up the ball on the right, weaved outside Finn Russell and then stepped inside Stuart Hogg for another magnificent individual touchdown.

Jacques Brunel’s men were on the front foot and Maxime Machenaud followed up converting Thomas’ score by adding a penalty.

Scotland hit back, however.  Against Wales, where they conceded early and duly folded, Gregor Townsend’s men could have gone the same way at Murrayfield but, to their credit, the hosts found their composure and, more importantly, their physicality.

Both Hamish Watson and Jonny Gray had surges which dented the opposition rearguard before the ball was shifted wide and Maitland crossed the whitewash unopposed.

Townsend’s side were playing much better but so were Les Bleus and another piece of Thomas brilliance saw them restore their 10-point buffer.  The hosts were exposed on the right once more and the Frenchman sprinted down the wing, kicked ahead and touched down.

Unperturbed, Scotland reduced the arrears when Jones took a brilliant line, but a second Machenaud three-pointer gave the visitors a 20-14 advantage at the interval.

Discipline was an issue in the second period with Laidlaw and replacement Serin, who came on at half-time, trading three-pointers.  The kickers then repeated the trick as Brunel’s side went into the final quarter 26-20 in front.

France were beginning to make errors, however, and they started to infringe more consistently.  Two of those were in kickable positions and Scotland’s scrum-half was in no mood to miss, adding a brace of penalties.

The home team sensed that their opponents were wilting and searched for the decisive breakthrough.  Townsend’s men were on the front foot and the pressure eventually yielded an opportunity for their sharp-shooter, which he converted.

Scotland maintained their intensity and Laidlaw made sure that they erased memories of their woeful performance against Wales.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Jones
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw 6

For France:
Tries:  Thomas 2
Cons:  Machenaud 2
Pens:  Machenaud 2, Serin 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Blair Kinghorn

France:  15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxine Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England grind past spirited Wales

England kept their Grand Slam hopes alive when they claimed a hard-fought 12-6 victory over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter, characterised by several brutal collisions, England outscored their hosts two tries to none with Jonny May crossing for a brace in the first half.

England were made to work very hard for this win but, in the end, they did enough in the first half to secure the result as a Wales penalty was the only points after half-time.  Although the visitors will rue some missed opportunities on attack.

The hosts made a bright start and opened the scoring as early as the third minute when May gathered a bouncing crossfield kick from Owen Farrell inside Wales' 22 before crossing the whitewash.

Farrell missed with the conversion attempt but although Wales had a chance to narrow the gap when England infringed from the restart, Rhys Patchell pushed his penalty kick wide of the posts.

England continued to dominate as the half progressed and in the 20th minute they increased their lead courtesy of May's second try.

Farrell threw a long pass to Joe Launchbury close to Wales' try-line.  And although the big second-row still had work to do, he did well to throw an inside pass to May, who went over untouched.

Farrell succeeded with the conversion attempt which gave his side a 12-0 lead, but Wales were soon back on the attack and were unlucky not to be awarded a try.

This, after a Patchell crossfield kick bounced off Steff Evans' knee and Gareth Anscombe appeared to ground the ball before Anthony Watson but the Television Match Official ruled that there was insufficient evidence of the grounding.

Referee Jérôme Garcès came back for an England infringement on defence and Patchell slotted the resulting penalty to open the visitors' account.

There were several tense moments over the next 15 minutes but Patchell's penalty was the final points of the half and although England held a nine-point lead, the game was evenly poised as the teams changed sides at the interval.

The second half was a tight affair and although the two teams spent time inside their opponents' half, they kept each other at bay with solid defensive efforts.

Wales finished stronger, however, and did most of the attacking during the final quarter.

Just after the hour-mark, Ken Owens and George North combined brilliantly before North offloaded to Scott Williams inside England's 22.  Williams was in the clear and sailed towards the try-line from five metres out but Sam Underhill did saved the day for the hosts with a brilliant cover tackle which took Williams into touch at the corner flag.

Wales continued to attack but had nothing to show for their efforts although they secured a losing bonus-point, three minutes before full-time, when Anscombe slotted a penalty.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May 2
Con:  Farrell

For Wales:
Pens:  Patchell, Anscombe

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

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

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Eight-try Ireland cruise past Italy

Ireland made it two wins out of two in this year's Six Nations when they claimed a deserved 56-19 win over Italy in Dublin on Saturday.

Joe Schmidt's men were ruthless in the first half and went into the break leading 28-0.  Despite a few defensive errors in the second, they ultimately proved too good for Conor O'Shea's side.

After a sustained spell of pressure from the hosts, Robbie Henshaw scored the first try of the game in the 11th minute, after spotting a gap in the defence and surging through from close range.

Ireland continued to attack and only had to wait three minutes before scoring again.  A magnificent pass from Jack Conan sent Conor Murray away on the left and the scrum-half finished off.

Murray turned provider in the 21st minute following an attacking lineout, which had put Ireland just short of the try-line.  From there, he passed the ball to Bundee Aki, who crashed over.

14 minutes later, it was Aki's turn to set up a try.  After a clever dummy in the build-up, he passed the ball to Keith Earls, who eased over for the bonus-point try near the right touchline.

Italy shot themselves in the foot in the fourth minute of the second half, as Sergio Parisse's sloppy pass to Tommaso Allan was intercepted by Henshaw.  The centre ran through for his second try, but injured himself in the process and had to be replaced by debutant Jordan Larmour.

Captain Rory Best got in on the act in the 53rd minute, when he peeled away from a maul and crashed over for a rare try.

However, Italy hit back three minutes later, when Tommaso Castello charged through a gap in the defence and offloaded to Tommaso Allan, who scored the Azzurri's first try.

It didn't take long for Ireland to respond.  Jacob Stockdale eased through the Azzurri defence from close range and grounded the ball near the posts in the 60th minute following another attacking lineout.

Matteo Minozzi was the catalyst for a well-worked attacking move which led to Italy's second try.  Parisse got the final pass to Edoardo Gori, who scored in the 66th minute.

However, once again, Italy proved their own worst enemies, as Stockdale intercepted a Castello pass and darted through on the left to score Ireland's eighth try four minutes later.

Minozzi got a deserved try of his own with five minutes left on the clock after the ball was worked out left to him following an attacking lineout.  Nevertheless, it was too little, too late, as Italy narrowly missed out on a bonus point.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Henshaw 2, Murray, Aki, Earls, Best, Stockdale 2
Cons:  Sexton 5, Carbery 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan, Gori, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastien Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Seven-try England put Italy to the sword

England got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start when they claimed a 46-15 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.

In a fast-paced and entertaining game, both sides gave the ball plenty of air but in the end England proved too strong and outscored their hosts seven tries to two with Anthony Watson and Sam Simmonds scoring a brace each.

The win proved costly, however, as they lost the services of first-choice scrum-half Ben Youngs who left the field early in the game with what looked like a serious leg injury.  Youngs' leg got caught as he tried to get a pass out from a ruck in the 10th minute and he was subsequently replaced by Danny Care.

Despite finishing on the losing side, Italy were competitive for large periods and their tries were a fitting reward after they impressed with enterprising play which caught England by surprise.

The visitors started the game at a frenetic pace and opened their account in the third minute when Watson rounded off a well-worked try in the right-hand corner after brilliant work from Owen Farrell and George Ford in the build-up.  England's chief playmakers traded a couple of looped passes inside Italy's 22, before Jonny May hit the line at pace before offloading to Watson, who went over in the right-hand corner.

In the 11th minute, England launched another attack and once again it was May who caused confusion in Italy's defensive ranks when he joined his side's back-line before getting a pass out to Watson.

The right wing still had work to do but his pace took him past a couple of defenders before he dotted down in the same corner again.

Despite being under the cosh for most of the opening quarter, Italy soaked up the early pressure and replied with a superb try from Tommaso Benvenuti.  This after the ball went through several phases in the build-up before Tommaso Allan delivered a delightful long pass to Benvenuti who crossed for a deserved five-pointer.

In the 25th minute, England notched their third try when Ford put Farrell in the clear with a well-timed pass and he broke through the Azzurri's midfield before crossing the whitewash.

Just before half-time, Mako Vunipola was penalised for an infringement at a breakdown and Allan slotted the resulting penalty which meant England led 17-10 as the teams changed sides at the interval.

Shortly after the restart, England took the ball through several phases inside the Azzurri's half with Courtney Lawes prominent.  Lawes was eventually brought to ground deep inside Italy's 22 and from the ensuing ruck, Watson ran onto a pass from Care and beat a couple of defenders but he was denied his third try when he lost the ball while stretching over the try-line.

Italy thought they had narrowed the gap in the 47th minute when Tommaso Boni glided through a gap in England's defence before crossing the whitewash but the try was disallowed after television replays showed that he gathered a forward pass from Allan before dotting down.

Shortly afterwards, Farrell slotted a penalty after Italy were blown up for illegal scrummaging.  In the 52nd minute, Simmonds showed a superb turn of speed when he broke through a lineout on the edge of Italy's 22 before crossing for his first Test try on his Six Nations debut.

Italy did not surrender, however, and five minutes later Mattia Bellini rounded off in the left-hand corner after his side took the ball through several phases in the build-up.

That would be the last time the visitors would score points, however, as England finished stronger during the game's final quarter.  That was largely due to their strength in depth coming off their replacements bench.

Late tries from Ford, Simmonds and Jack Nowell knocked the wind out of the home side's sails and made the scoreline seem more flattering.  But England head coach Eddie Jones will be satisfied that his team managed to secure a bonus-point win away from home in their tournament opener.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Benvenuti, Bellini
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

For England:
Tries:  Watson 2, Farrell, Simmonds 2, Ford, Nowell
Cons:  Farrell 4
Pen:  Farrell

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Renato Giammarioli, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda’, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Late Johnny Sexton brilliance stuns France

Johnny Sexton was the Ireland hero as his last-minute long range drop-goal broke France hearts, snatching a dramatic 15-13 triumph at the Stade de France.

Les Bleus were playing their first game under Jacques Brunel, following the sacking of Guy Noves, and it showed in the opening 20 minutes.

The Emerald Isle were initially far more assured in what they were trying to achieve with the ball and successive Sexton penalties gave them a six-point buffer.  Maxime Machenaud reduced the deficit from the tee, but the visiting pivot added another three-pointer for a 9-3 advantage at the interval.

Sexton and Machenaud then traded three-pointers after the break, leaving it finely poised going into the four quarter, but the French seemed to produce one final surge.

Joe Schmidt’s team had appeared too streetwise for an outfit still finding its feet, but Teddy Thomas weaved his way through the opposition’s rearguard for a superb try.  However, Ireland are a confident side under their astute boss and they maintained their composure to win the game when Sexton dropped a goal from over 40 metres.

The visitors began confidently and went through the phases impressively and against a French team eager to get into the contest, forcing Brunel’s men to infringe.

Keith Earls was also looking particularly threatening and those two factors allowed the away side to earn a couple of kickable penalties, which Sexton converted for an early 6-0 advantage.

The 2014 and ‘15 winners remained in the ascendency and created an opportunity inside their opponents’ 22 but, to the hosts’ credit, they remained resilient in defence.

For a team that has had little preparation time under their new head coach, Les Bleus were remarkably well organised and they managed to frustrate Ireland.  Schmidt’s men duly became far too narrow in attack and France profited at the breakdown, earning a pressure-relieving penalty.

Brunel’s team then got into the Ireland half and reduced the arrears via Machenaud before Sexton restored the visitors’ buffer at the interval.

It was a disappointing opening 40 minutes, particularly after Ireland’s bright start, and the attrional nature of the contest continued in the second period.

Both teams were trying every trick in the book to slow down opposition ball but the French stepped over the line in the 47th minute and the Emerald Isle’s pivot punished them with his fourth off the tee.

Ireland had been disciplined throughout the encounter and it kept the hosts at arm’s length, but a needless infringement allowed Machenaud to keep France in the game.

Schmidt’s men were in control and appeared to be heading for victory before Thomas picked up the ball, scythed his way through and crossed the whitewash.  Anthony Belleau converted and that looked to be the game, until Sexton displayed his qualities in the final minute.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Thomas
Con:  Belleau
Pens:  Machenaud 2

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 4
Drop-goal:  Sexton

France:  15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Kevin Gourdon, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales get Scotland revenge

Wales exacted their revenge for last year's defeat with a 34-7 win over Scotland in Six Nations action at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Gareth Davies, Steff Evans and a Leigh Halfpenny brace proved too much for Scotland, who scored through Peter Horne.

Although they enjoyed superior possession and territory, Scotland were guilty of poor execution and Wales were happy to sit back and pounce on their mistakes.

Scotland also gave away too many penalties, refusing to learn their lesson and Halfpenny continued to punish them as he maintained his hundred percent kicking record throughout.

Scotland can count themselves unlucky to have gone behind against the run of play, having dominated the early exchanges.  Scrum-half Ali Price was slow to clear from the ruck and opposite number Davies read his pass like a novel, snatching the ball out of mid-air before winning the foot race with Scotland outside centre Chris Harris to dot down.  Halfpenny added the extras.

Wales doubled their lead six minutes later.  It was sloppy from Scotland to give away the scrum in the first place.  Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell made the initial break from the set-piece but was halted metres short.  Wales sucked in the Scottish defence before spraying the ball out wide to the right where Wales had two men waiting on the overlap.  Halfpenny didn't even need the man on his outside as he crashed over before converting his own try to give the home side a 12th-minute 14-0 lead.

Wales came flying out the blocks in the second half and were rewarded with a Halfpenny three-pointer five minutes in after referee Pascal Gauzere ruled that Scotland captain John Barclay had stolen the ball illegally at a ruck.

Soon after, Halfpenny slotted another penalty with Barclay the culprit again;  this time for not releasing the tackler.  This meant Wales led 20-0 with half an hour to go.

One could tell the Scotland backroom staff were not happy with the state of affairs when Scotland coach Gregor Townsend rung the changes on the 50-minute mark.  His counterpart Warren Gatland responded by making a string of changes of his own.

Ten minutes later, Wales had their third.  From a five-metre attacking lineout, the ball was switched from left to right as Wales showed patience in taking the ball through the phases.  The space was created courtesy of quick hands from Evans to free Halfpenny on the right flank for the full-back to grab his brace.  Halfpenny added the extras for a 27-0 lead.

A powerful carry up the middle from Wales flank Aaron Shingler got Wales on the front foot and the Scotland defence scrambling.  The ball was recycled out left to centre Hadleigh Parkes who did well to slip his tackler and delay the pass just enough for Evans to produce a stylish one-handed finish in the corner.

With two minutes left on the clock, Scotland scored a consolation try when substitute Horne hurdled his way through the space behind the ruck;  a momentary lapse of concentration from the Wales defence denying them a clean sheet.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  G Davies, S Evans, Halfpenny 2
Cons:  Halfpenny 4
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

For Scotland:
Try:  Horne
Con:  Horne

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Maitland

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff

Parkes double helps Wales beat South Africa

A brace from new cap Hadleigh Parkes helped Wales beat South Africa 24-22 in their end-of-year Test at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Wales dominated the first half and led 21-10 at the break.  A spirited fightback from the Springboks in the second put them ahead, but a late penalty gave Warren Gatland's team the win.

A Dan Biggar masterclass in the opening stages left the Springboks reeling.

First, his cross-kick found Hallam Amos, who set Scott Williams up for the opening try in the fifth minute, which Leigh Halfpenny converted.

Then, three minutes later, Biggar chipped the ball through for Parkes to gather and score.  Once again, Halfpenny added the extras.

Malcolm Marx thought he had powered his way over at the other end in the 19th minute, but TMO Rowan Kitt was less convinced and awarded the Springboks nothing more than a five-metre scrum.

With 10 minutes left of the first 40, Josh Navidi was penalised for a high tackle on Handré Pollard.  The fly-half then stepped up to the tee and put South Africa on the board.

However, it seemed that every silver lining preceded another cloud for the visitors.  In the 33rd minute, Wales scored their third try.  Andries Coetzee's charged-down kick was chased by Taulupe Faletau, who passed inside to Parkes for yet another finish.

On the stroke of half-time, Warrick Gelant pulled a try back on his first start.  Dillyn Leyds initiated a counter-attack for the Springboks and Jesse Kriel put a clever kick through for the Blue Bulls youngster to chase and dot down.  Pollard nailed a well-executed conversion kick.

The Springboks picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, and after a sustained spell of pressure, Pollard went over for their second try six minutes in.  However, he failed to convert this time.

In the 55th minute, South Africa struck again.  They worked the ball out left, with Malcolm Marx getting the final pass away to Jesse Kriel, who crashed through Halfpenny's poor tackle and scored.  Pollard put the Springboks in front with a fantastic conversion.

Wales went back in front in the 68th minute with a Halfpenny penalty after Pieter-Steph du Toit was blown up for not rolling away.

Unfortunately for Allister Coetzee's side, they were unable to fight back again and the hosts held on for a much-needed victory, ending a difficult year on a high note.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Williams, Parkes 2
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pen:  Halfpenny

For South Africa:
Tries:  Gelant, Pollard, Kriel
Cons:  Pollard 2
Pen:  Pollard

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa:  15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Warrick Gelant, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Oupa Mohoje, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

France and Japan end all square

France and Japan could not be separated as they played out a hard-fought 23-23 draw in an entertaining end-of-year Test in Nanterre on Saturday.

Japan can hold their heads high as they were competitive throughout and eventually outscored their hosts three tries to two although it was the goal-kicking of Francois Trinh-Duc that kept France in this match and he eventually finished with a 13-point haul courtesy of three penalties and two conversions.

The result finishes a nightmare run of results for les Bleus in 2017 and they are still winless since the Six Nations after losing four games to South Africa and one to New Zealand in their five previous fixtures.

The Brave Blossoms held the upper hand for large periods during the opening half and took the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of a Yu Tamura penalty.

France drew level in the 14th minute when Trinh-Duc slotted a penalty from 48 metres out after Michael Leitch was blown up for a ruck infringement.

The visitors' enterprising style of play saw them crossing the advantage line at will and in the 23rd minute they were rewarded when Shota Horie crossed for the opening try after Kotaro Matsushima did well with a superb line break in the build-up.

France tried to strike back by showing some urgency on attack and in the 28th minute, debutant Gabriel Lacroix crossed the whitewash but his try was disallowed after televison replays revealed that he had a foot in touch after a brilliant tackle from Harumichi Tatekawa.

Two minutes later, the home side reduced the deficit to two points courtesy of another Trinh-Duc penalty.  And on the stroke of half-time, they took the ball through several phases inside Japan's half before Baptiste Serin offloaded to Rabah Slimani, who barged over from close quarters for a deserved try.

Trinh-Duc added the extras which meant les Bleus went into the break holding a 13-8 lead.

The Brave Blossoms were fastest out of the blocks in the second half and three minutes after the restart, Timothy Lafaele dotted down after a fine break from Keita Inagaki in the build up.

France fought back bravely and after stringing together several phases in Japan's half, Trinh-Duc launched an inch-perfect cross-field kick which Lacroix gathered before crossing for his first Test try.

The host were dealt a setback on the hour-mark though when Lacroix was yellow carded for playing Tamura in the air.

Shortly afterwards, Tamura narrowed the gap to two points when he landed a three-pointer from the kicking tee but Trinh-Duc made it 23-18 to France when he slotted his third penalty in the 68th minute.

That set up an exciting finish and the Brave Blossoms were soon camped inside les Bleus' 22.

And after spending an extended period close to the home side's tryline, Shintaro Ishihara caught the defence by surprise in the 74th minute when he barged through the middle of a ruck before diving over.

That drew the sides level but Tamura pushed his conversion attempt wide which meant the teams had to settle for the draw.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Slimani, Lacroix
Cons:  Trinh-Duc 2
Pens:  Trinh-Duc 3

For Japan:
Tries:  Horie, Lafaele, Ishihara
Con:  Tamura
Pens:  Tamura 2

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Judicaël Cancoriet, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Romain Taofifenua, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Daniel Kotze, 18 Sebastien Taofifenua, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Fabien Sanconnie, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud, 23 Hugo Bonneval

Japan:  15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Harumichi Tatekawa, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Michael Leitch (c), 6 Kazuki Himeno, 5 Shinya Makabe, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki
Replacements:  16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 20 Fetuani Lautami, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Sione Teaupa, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita

Referee:  Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO:  Sean Davey (England)