Wales 33 Italy 23

Scott Gibbs claimed two vital tries for Graham Henry's Wales side on Sunday, as they played out a workman-like but dull 33-23 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship win over Italy in Rome.

Kickers Diego Dominguez of Italy and Neil Jenkins of Wales (pictured left) both produced stirling efforts in an attempt to light up the sloppy handling play with 18 points each from the boot -- only one Dominguez effort missed -- but in the end three Welsh tries to one decided the match.

Carlo Checchinato's late try set up a tighter than expected finish but earlier touchdowns from Gareth Cooper and two from Scott Gibbs had left Italy too much to do, and in truth an Italian win was never on the menu after an inconsistent and unstructured display.

After the match Wales coach Graham Henry felt the game as a spectacle had suffered because of the performance of referee Paul Honiss although he was careful to couch his comments in diplomatic language.

"I am frustrated, frustrated.  Read between the lines," he said.  "I am frustrated.  I am frustrated.  Is there another word for frustrated.  I am annoyed.

"Gareth (Cooper) had a good game.  He only found out he was playing at 11 o'clock this morning -- I thought I would give him a lot of time to prepare."

Italy took the lead after only a minute when Dominguez converted a penalty awarded almost immediately after the kick-off.

But Wales moved ahead with their first real attack in the seventh minute, reaping the benefit of the decision to kick for position rather than goal.

Jenkins almost played in prop Darren Morris who was halted just short of the line but managed to offload the ball to young Bath scrum-half Cooper who touched down for Jenkins to convert.

That was an early boost for Cooper, who had been called up to replace first-choice Robert Howley, but almost immediately Dominguez popped over a penalty to cut the Welsh lead to 7-6.

Another Jenkins penalty followed but then New Zealand referee Paul Honiss controversially halted an Italian attack when Walter Pozzebon looked to have put Mauro Bergamasco clear.  Honiss indicated the pass was forward but it was a close call and the crowd felt that he should have at least waited and allowed the TV referee to make a decision.  Replays however suggested that the ball had indeed been played forward, but Bergamasco showed his frustration by throwing the ball high in to the stand.

Wales took full advantage to stretch their lead on the half-hour mark.  No.8 Scott Quinnell picked the ball up from a scrum, broke away and fed Gibbs who had a simple try, again converted by Jenkins, making the score 17-6.

After 37 minutes Dominguez landed his third penalty just after Wales had replaced centre Mark Taylor with Stephen Jones but Jenkins soon replied, also from a penalty.

Just before the interval Italy missed a golden chance when Bergamasco dropped a pass from Giovanno Raineri after a brilliant move with a try looking a certainty.  It was an elimentary catch with a clean run in to the try area -- one to grace many a sports bloopers video for years to come.

Honiss, who had played advantage, did award a penalty which Dominguez converted but three points instead of seven was a poor reward, as Wales went in to half-time 20 -- 12 in the lead.

Italy coach Brad Johnstone, a New Zealander, repeated his habit of giving his half-time talk in public view on the pitch whereas his compatriot and Welsh counterpart Graham Henry retreated to the dressing room.

A patched-up Taylor returned for the second period but six minutes into the second period a Dominguez drop goal reduced arrears to 20-15 and Johnstone made his first change, bringing on Salvatore Perugini for Franco Properzi Curti.

Gibbs, served by Jenkins, touched down for a try which was again converted by Jenkins, with the Swansea centre straightening the angle as the defence shuffled to the left wing, bursting characteristically through the tackle to dive over.

Wales brough on Craig Quinnell for Ian Gough, Italy Corrado Pilat for Raineri and then Dominguez notched another penalty, making it 27-18 to Wales but another Jenkins penalty left the score 30-18.

Maurizio Zaffiri also entered the fray for Andrea Gritti, and tempers frayed as first Alessandro Cristian Stoica of Italy and then Craig Quinnell were sin binned, Stoica for a punch, then Quinnell for allegedly going in to the tackle with an elbow -- a harsh decision which many referees would not have even given a penalty for.

Italy were finishing the stronger as the game ground to a halt near the end, and then No.8 Carlo Checchinato touched down for a try but Dominguez's conversion hit a post.  It was now 30-23 but a Jenkins penalty gave Wales a cushion and it finished 33-23, confirming Italy's second wooden spoon in their first two years of Six Nations rugby, and putting Wales second in the table behind leaders England.

Sin bins:  Alessandro Cristian Stoica (70th min), Craig Quinnell (72nd min)

Attendance:  27,000
Referee:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Touch Judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Iain Ramage (Scotland).

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Darren Morris, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Dai Young (c), 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 6 Colin Charvis, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Neil Jenkins, 11 Dafydd James, 12 Scott Gibbs, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Gareth Thomas, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Allan Bateman, Craig Quinnell
Unused:  Geraint Lewis, Chris Anthony, Huw Harries, Stephen Jones, Andrew Lewis

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Franco Properzi-Curti, 4 Wim Visser, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Matteo Mazzantini, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Walter Pozzebon, 13 Giovanni Raineri, 14 Massimiliano Perziano, 15 Cristian Stoica
Reserves:  Luca Martin, Giampiero De Carli, Salvatore Perugini, Corrado Pilat, Maurizio Zaffiri
Unused:  Carlo Caione, Giampiero Mazzi

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Cooper G.J. 1, Gibbs I.S. 2
Conv:  Jenkins N.R. 3
Pen K.:  Jenkins N.R. 4

Italy
Tries:  Checchinato C. 1
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 5
Drop G.:  Dominguez D. 1

France 19 England 48

Six converted tries and a monumental kicking milestone for the home side were witnessed by a packed Twickenham crowd on Saturday, as England came back from three points down at the break to demolish France 48-19 in a pulsating Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship encounter.

Despite going in to the break at 16-13 down, Clive Woodward's England showed their mettle both in defence and attack, fending off a rejuvenated France team, who can feel extremely hard done by with the size of the defeat, after posing a real threat for 70 minutes, and having three tries denied by last-ditch England tackles.

At only 21-years-old, Jonny Wilkinson (pictured) earned his place in the rugby record books when his penalty just before half-time sent him past Rob Andrew's 396 England points, making the youngster the most prolific England scorer in history.

England's tries on the day came through an early Will Greenwood effort, then waiting until the second-half for Richard Hill's try.  Four more followed, with Balshaw, Greening Catt and substitute Perry sealing a memorable and spectacular win, which poured scorn on howls of predictability and negative rugby often directed at the northern hemisphere's showpiece tournament.

Victorious England captain Martin Johnson spoke after the game of the comparatively poor first-half showing, and the fact that his side will have to wait until at least September to try and complete their Grand Slam, with the outstanding away trip to Ireland already postponed due to foot-and-mouth.

"We were trying to play too wide against a quick defense in the first-half," said Johnson, "We were trying to force that little pass, but we recognised at half-time that if we were in doubt we had to hold on to the ball.

"We were disappointed with the first-half, and the ease which with they got round us, but there was some great defense from Balshaw, and we kept our heads.

"A lot of our guys deserve to go to Australia with the Lions this summer, and hopefully we can finally get to play Ireland in the autumn."

England manager Clive Woodward added:  "For any England side to score six tries against France is an achievement, as I remember getting some real hammerings off them as a player.

"It was an amazing turnaround and France played very well in the first-half.  I was pleased at half-time with the leadership shown by people like Martin Johnson and Matt Dawson, who said the right things in the dressing room.

"Richard Hill thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award, and we will look forward to meeting Ireland now whenever it happens."

France well and truly shed their much publicised mediocrity of previous games in a first 40 minutes which saw the recalled Stephane Glas in combination with wings Bernat-Salles and Dominici continually find gaps in the supposedly water-tight England defence.

It all looked so easy for England though when Will Greenwood touched down a well worked set-piece try, created from the base of the scrum on the France 22, when Dawson spun the ball infield to Wilkinson who in turn found Mike Catt 15 metres out.

Catt shaped up for the short pop to Cohen on the burst, but instead disguised a clever miss pass to Greenwood who had the easiest of run-ins against a perplexed France, who looked prime for a beating, but had some tricks of their own up their sleeve.

A Wilkinson penalty extended the lead to 10-0 for England, but after 13 minutes Bernard Laporte's under-fire side produced a superb flowing try through Biarritz flyer Bernat-Salles, who latched on to a ball from the outstanding Olivier Magne after a quick movement of the ball from left to right, seeing Bernat-Salles in at the corner for the solid Merceron to convert.

With Rob Andrew's all-time kicking record within sight, Wilkinson skewed the penalty which would have seen him as England's greatest points scorer ever -- but it was only a temporary wait.

France though were not reading the script on Wilkinson's big day, as Dominici hared down the left wing, leaving Austin Healey for dead only to be dragged out by Balshaw as he neared the line.

Merceron's boot levelled the scores at 10-10 after 16 minutes, before he put them in front with another impressive penalty just before the half hour mark.

Only a correct decision from the video referee prevented a further extension of the French lead, when Iain Balshaw again came to England's rescue as the last line of defence, scragging Dominici by his shirt in to the corner flag as he touched down in the left corner, with the replay also revealing a foot in touch five metres out.

A further penalty from Merceron gave France a 16-10 lead, as Jonny Wilkinson's big moment finally came.  A 41 metre penalty from the England fly-half sailed high and mighty through the posts to cement the 21-year-old's place in the rugby record books as the top England points scorer of all time.

England were 16-13 down, but the crowd saluted Wilkinson as the sides went in for a half-time break which was to see England come out with renewed vigour.

Saracens' blindside Richard Hill was the man to do the damage only three minutes in to the second-half, when he latched on to a quick tap near halfway on the right flank.  Hill burst on at pace from 40 metres out, and even the chasing Sadourny could not catch him as he touched down in the corner for a try which Wilkinson converted for a 20-16 lead, albeit a nervous one as France continued to get the ball out wide.

A drop-goal from Merceron brought France to within one point as their forwards started to deprive the backs of much needed ball, and their cause was made even more tricky when the England backs once again found the gaps.

Wilkinson received the ball with a standing start 15 metres from the French line, and looked right with the whole backline at his disposal.  Swinging a wide miss pass right to Balshaw saw the defence flat-footed, and the Bath speedster raced in to the corner for the try, which Wilkinson converted from right on the touchline.

The drama was not over though as France yet again targeted the England right wing.  Dominici got the hard yards in to the 22 and shipped the ball out right to Garbajosa 10 metres out.

This time it was not Balshaw but Matt Dawson who was the saviour, dragging the Toulouse star just in to touch -- with video adjudication needed to finally clear up the heap of bodies, and a tight decision it was as well.

Jason Robinson was brought on to spice up the back line for Ben Cohen, and it was Robinson who created the fourth try for Clive Woodward's side.

In typical style he jinked his way down the left wing 40 metres out, and as he reached the 22 was brought down.  Any criticism that League players cannot recycle the ball was ignored by Robinson as he looked up and held his composure, finding Phil Greening with real momentum down the left flank with the pop pass, with Greening diving over in the corner for Wilkinson to convert -- a definitive try of the Woodward regime, with the mobile forwards in tandem with the strike running backs for a 34-19 advantage, and ten minutes left on the clock.

Mike Catt -- after a quiet but effective game then scored a champagne try after Healey struck a deft overhead kick from the base of the ruck 10 metres out.  The ball landed in the try area, and Catt on the burst was there before any of the weary defenders to dive on the ball under the posts, leaving Wilkinson the easiest of conversions.

Replacement fullback Matt Perry came off the bench for clubmate Iain Balshaw and was almost immediately touching down the sixth try of the afternoon, jogging down the left flank unopposed after Wilkinson's timely lay-off, for a try which Wilkinson -- on his record breaking day -- had no bother in converting from the touchline yet again.

It was a gala day eventually for English rugby, and it was a grafting solid showing from a side not believing too much in their own publicity, and despite France showing that they still possess explosive runners out wide, and a potent pack, their inconsistency in selection leaves them perhaps a year or two behind the English as the flag-bearers of northern hemisphere rugby.

The Teams:

France:  1 Pieter De Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Abdelatif Benazzi, 5 Lionel Nallet, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Christophe Milheres, 8 Fabien Pelous (c), 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Philippe Bernat-Salles, 12 Xavier Garbajosa, 13 Stephane Glas, 14 Christophe Dominici, 15 Jean-Luc Sadourny
Reserves:  David Auradou, Alessio Galasso, Fabrice Landreau, Thomas Lievremont
Unused:  Philippe Carbonneau, Thomas Lombard, David Skrela

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Julian White, 4 Martin Johnson (c), 5 Steve Borthwick, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Iain Balshaw
Reserves:  Kyran Bracken, Martin Corry, Matt Perry, Jason Robinson, Dorian West, Joe Worsley, David Flatman

Attendance:  75000
Referee:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Touch Judges:  David McHugh (Ireland), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales).

Points Scorers:

France
Tries:  Bernat-Salles P. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 1
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 3
Drop G.:  Merceron G. 1

England
Tries:  Catt M.J. 1, Greening P.B.T. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 1, Hill R.A. 1, Perry M.B. 1, Balshaw I.R. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 6
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 2