Wales 33 France 37

A desperate tackle from French winger Aurélien Rougerie in injury-time saw France beat a spirited Welsh team 37-33 in their Lloyds TSB Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

France led 24-19 at the half-time break, but they scored a controversial try through Rougerie just after the break when Wales captain Scott Quinnell spent some time in the sin bin for a dangerous challenge on French fullback Nicolas Brusque.

Rougerie chased a well-weighted grubber towards the goalline from classy inside centre Damien Traille and he and Welsh fullback Kevin Morgan arrived at the ball at the exact same time.

Rougerie claimed the try.  Morgan thought he got there first.  The Television Match Official -- Italy's Claudio Giacomel -- agreed with Rougerie and rather surprisingly he awarded the try to France (and Rougerie), which saw the visitors move into a 12-point lead.

French flyhalf Gérald Merceron, who weighed in with a points-haul of 19, soon stretched the lead to 15 points after another Welsh indiscretion, but that seemed to spur the home team on, who at that stage were without their captain and No.8 Scott Quinnell.

Quinnell's return to the field of play -- with some 30 minutes remaining on the clock -- gave Wales that extra bit of go-forward as the powerful British and Irish Lion, along with his brother Craig, Wales's first try-scorer of the day, played his heart out.

The French defence, which proved to be the difference between the two sides at the end of the day, held firm throughout most of the day, and Wales centre Andy Marinos, making his first start for his adopted country, eventually hit a hole in the French defence by jumping through a ruck before passing to hard-working flanker Nathan Budgett.

Budgett, burst over the tryline, even though it seemed that he hadn't grounded the ball properly, but Stephen Jones's conversion made the score 34-26.

Gérald Merceron soon added his fourth penalty of the day to put France 11 points clear and with regulation time running out, the French would have felt confident of securing the win.

However, to their credit, the Welsh kept at it and Jones, who weighed in with 18 points, taking his overall tally to 110 in 17 Test appearances, set up a try for Kevin Morgan's with a clever stab into the corner.  Morgan beat Xavier Garbajosa to the ball -- and Claudio Giacomel agreed.  Try to Wales and after Jones's tricky conversion, Wales were just four points down at 37-33.

Wales ran Merceron's re-start right back at the French and a clever kick from Jones trapped the French in their 22, but at least they had the line-out feed.  However, replacement French hooker Sébastien Bruno missed everyone except Scott Quinnell giving the big man a clear run to the line ...

French flanker Serge Betsen, who had a busy 80 minutes, and tighthead prop Pieter de Villiers, who also got through a mountain of work, managed to get underneath Quinnell, giving referee David McHugh no alternative but to ask the TMO again.  This time Giacomel denied Wales the try, but Wales had a five-metre scrum.

Wales managed to work the ball down their line, but the French defence held out when it mattered, especially in Rougerie's case as his textbook tackle around James's ankles saw the Bridgend wing's feet go into touch before he could ground the ball next to the corner-flag.

Man of the Match:  Tons of contenders here.  The main points-scorers of the day -- Stephen Jones and Gérald Merceron played important roles, as did Aurélien Rougerie, who scored his try at a crucial stage in the match, and of course made that try-saving tackle.  Welsh captain Scott Quinnell had his copybook blotted by spending 10 minutes in the sin bin, but in the end, French flanker Serge Betsen gets our vote.  Betsen, 27, was the senior member of the French loose trio with Imanol Harinordoquy debuting and Steven Hall playing in his second Test, but he did not shirk from his responsibilities on the pitch.  He tackled and chased for 80 minutes and his tackle on Scott Quinnell in the dying minutes of the match summed up his performance.  In the past Betsen has been used by France as an impact player, but this was certainly his best performances in 15 Tests for his country.

Moment of the Match:  Rougerie's try-saving, and ultimately match-saving, tackle on Dafydd James during extra-time.  Wales had hit the French with wave after wave of attack, and even though James had minimal space to work with, Rougerie did not let him out of his sight before dragging him into touch.  If he had missed the tackle ... he could easily have qualified for our villain of the match!

Villain of the Match:  Scott Quinnell may have been one of many contenders for the Planet Rugby Man of the Match award, but he wins our Villain of the Match award hands down!  His shoulder charge on Brusque ultimately cost his side the match as France scored 13 unanswered points.

The teams:

Wales:  1 Chris Anthony, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Spencer John, 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Craig Quinnell, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Tom Shanklin, 13 Andy Marinos, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Duncan Jones, Rhys Williams, Barry Williams
Unused:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Gavin Thomas

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez (c), 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 8 Steven Hall, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Xavier Garbajosa, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Fabien Pelous, Alexandre Audebert, Sebastien Bruno, Olivier Milloud
Unused:  Alexandre Albouy, Francois Gelez, Jimmy Marlu

Referee:  Mchugh d.t.m.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Budgett N.J. 1, Morgan K.A. 1, Quinnell J.C. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 3
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 4

France
Tries:  Rougerie A. 1, Marsh T. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 4, Traille D. 1
Drop G.:  Merceron G. 1

England 45 Ireland 11

A rampant England surged to the top of the Zurich World Rankings after racking up six tries in a 45-11 win over Ireland at Twickenham in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship.

A lightning and mesmerising first half showing ensured that this game was over as a contest after 40 minutes, with tries from Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Cohen, Will Greenwood and Joe Worsley being added to in the last period by Ben Kay and a second for Greenwood.

Ireland could only manage one try from replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara on an afternoon when they were completely outclassed for early portions, although it would be hard to single out one area of the team for special criticism on a day when England went as close to perfection in the first half, as Twickenham has ever seen

A 16-point win was all that was required for England to surpass New Zealand into the rankings' top spot -- one small step for a team, one giant leap for the northern hemisphere game.

Bright sunshine and a calm climate made sure that all the ingredients were there for both sides to play running rugby, and get the ball out wide they did, Jason Robinson troubling the Irish defence as early as the first minute as he showed frightening pace and movement down the left wing.

Greenwood and Wilkinson showed glimpses of spark early on too, but not even the most optimistic of England fans could have predicted the Blitzkrieg 40 minute spell which was to follow from the men in white.

David Humphreys put Ireland in front after eight minutes with a penalty from 25 metres, but the visitors were only in the lead for three minutes, Wilkinson levelling the scores with a penalty himself soon after.

The Irish cause had been dealt a blow when livewire wing Geordan Murphy limped from the pitch after a nasty twist in the tackle saw his knee and ankle come under considerable strain, Ireland forced to bring on centre Rob Henderson to replace him -- and paying for the lack of pace out wide.

England prop Graham Rowntree also left the field early, with Jason Leonard coming on to witness four tries in the space of 20 minutes, the first coming after Humphreys had missed a penalty for the Irish, and Ben Cohen had fallen just short of the tryline for England.

Twickenham erupted with noise on 22 minutes when Ben Kay swung a superb long pass out to hooker Steve Thompson on the left, with the Northampton man standing-up Humphreys before sensibly releasing an inside ball to Wilkinson on the diagonal for a run-in under the posts, and an easy conversion for the Newcastle No.10.

The feat was topped two minutes later with what must already be a hot contender for the try of the Championship award, Ben Cohen finishing off a superb length of the field move.

It started in the England 22 with Healey and Robinson getting the ball out wide quickly, before Kyran Bracken broke through the Irish midfield round halfway.

The Saracens scrum-half found Mike Tindall on the diagonal, who had the presence of mind to lay the ball off well in the tackle for Hill, who found Joe Worsley at pace, the Wasps man putting in Cohen near the right corner for one of the greatest tries ever seen at the famous stadium, Wilkinson adding the extras.

Humphreys struck back with a penalty for Ireland as they continued to be blasted off the park by rampant England, Stringer ensuring a supply decent ball for Ireland, but their back-row struggling to compete on the back foot.

England were by no means done for the half though, and Will Grenwood grabbed their third after Wilkinson went down the blindside, standing up the flat-footed Irish tacklers before finding Cohen, who calmly threw a short inside ball to Greenwood on the burst, with Stringer and Dempsey in no-mans' land, Wilkinson again adding the extras for a 24-6 lead.

With no sign of the white machine slowing down, Wilkinson showed great vision in a static midfield by chipping over the heads of the flat Irish defensive line, picking out Healey with perfect execution, the Leicester wing breaking two tackles before being held up over the line by Ireland wing Denis Hickie, who showed great skill in the tackle to prevent the try.

The stunned Irish could not stem the tide for long though, and No.8 Joe Worsley rounded off one of the finest halves of rugby ever seen on their home ground, when he dived in at the left corner for a try.

It was good work by hooker Steve Thompson from a short lineout which made the gap, Worsley going over the tryline under the tackle of Kevin Maggs, but having to wait all of four minutes for video referee Didier Mene to finally give the green light, Wilkinson again converting for an emphatic 31-6 half-time lead.

England roared out of the blocks as the second half got underway, and they compounded Irish woes when Ben Kay powered over the tryline after an inside ball from Jonny Wilkinson for a try, surging through the attempted tackle of David Humphreys, who had been forced into playing as a makeshift winger due to the half-time departure of replacement Rob Henderson- Ronan O'Gara coming on to assume duties at fly-half.

Ireland were gradually having more of a say in proceedings as Shane Byrne came on at hooker for Frankie Sheahan, Brian O'Driscoll getting more of a run with the ball in loose play, but still being hampered by an English defence very much playing on the front foot in their own half.

It was England who got the next try though, when a timely half-break from Wilkinson gave him a chance to lob a basketball-style chest pass out of the tackle to Austin Healey at pace.

With a 2-on-1, Healey drew Irish fullback Dempsey and put in Greenwood on his right for the unopposed run-in to the posts, with Wilkinson converting to seal his perfect record for the day as his side steamed into a 45-6 lead.

Ireland did show creditable character as the game entered the last quarter, and the way in which Eddie O'Sullivan's side dominated the last periods of play show that their commitment at least, cannot be questioned.

Indeed, Ireland were rewarded for their increasing momentum when a run from David Wallace in the 22 saw a ruck set up under the posts, from which Peter Stringer whipped the ball out left to O'Gara from five metres, the Munster fly-half dropping a sidestep before dancing out of Wilkinson's attempted tackle for the try, Humphreys drifting the conversion wide from left of the posts.

England then went down a gear, to the frustration of the management, but Clive Woodward's decision to withdraw captain Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey on 63 minutes took considerable spring away from the English step, as Danny Grewcock, Lewis Moody and Iain Balshaw made their cameos.

The rest of the game was spent by and large in the England half, Malcolm O'Kelly coming on from the Irish bench to dominate the lineout, and Denis Hickie once again showing that he was by far the best green-shirted player on the pitch with a string of diagonal runs and solid tackles.

The pace of the final exchanges was considerably slower than the lightning first 40, and proceedings petered out to a predictable but frustrating lull, on a day which will be talked about for years among those who were there.

For Ireland, scant reward can be claimed for their final surges, given the leaky and stagnant 60 minutes which preceded it, although it is hard to argue that many defences -- if any -- on the planet could have contained England in that sort of form.

So the English finally break the southern hemisphere stranglehold on the Zurich World Rankings.  Their form over the last two years has certainly merited it, whatever the arguments might be about World Cup performances and their record below the equator.

Can they capitalise on their No.1 spot?  Who knows?  But they could have hardly asked for a tougher assignment to do so, a trip to Paris in two weeks' time.

Ireland have a home date with last season's Grand Slam dream destroyers Scotland, but it is hard to look past this England team as the benchmark of the northern hemisphere game, on a day when they showed that they are finally the top dogs in the global game -- for the short term at least.

Man of the match:  Jonny Wilkinson
The England fly-half had arguably his best 40 minutes of rugby in a memorable first half, mixing his usual solid kicking with a running game given added vigour and sharpness.  His decision-making was divine early on, although some missed touch kicks in the second half blotted the copybook a little.  Ben Kay in the England second-row is unlucky not to get our award, but Wilkinson's seven kicks from seven attempts seals it.  Sole contender from a well-beaten Ireland team has to be wing Denis Hickie, who saved one try with a magnificent tackle on Healey, and tried to inject some pace to the attack when the rest of his team were content to be on the back foot.

Moment of the match:  Ben Cohen's try
24 minutes into the second half, England found themselves with the ball in their own 22, but adventurously chose to run instead of clear their lines, Healey and Robinson taking the ball down the left wing past the Irish defensive line.  Bracken picked it up in midfield and ran forwards, before offloading to Mike Tindall on a left to right diagonal.  Tindall was tackled ten metres from the line, but threw a perfect pass from the contact area to Richard Hill, who found Joe Worsley, the Wasps back-rower passing to Cohen for an easy run-in, but a remarkable length of the field score which will grace the highlights reels for years to come.

Villain of the match: Clive Woodward
Hard to criticise a man whose side have just reached the summit of the Zurich World Rankings, but the England manager's decision to remove Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey took the spark out of a second half which could have seen a record win for the home side.  A sensible injury-saving move it may have been, but a frustrating one nonetheless.  The fact that our criteria for the "villain" award is so picky, shows what a largely well-tempered and officiated game this was.

The teams:

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Nick Duncombe, Charlie Hodgson, Lewis Moody
Unused:  Dorian West

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Rob Henderson, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  Simon Easterby

Referee:  Marshall p.

Points Scorers

England
Tries:  Kay B.J. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Worsley J.P.R. 1, Cohen B.C. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 6
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Humphreys D.G. 2
Pen K.:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Italy 12 Scotland 29

An impressive performance by fullback Brendan Laney steered Scotland to their first-ever Test win on Italian soil as they beat the Azzurri by 29-12 in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations clash in Rome.

The New Zealand-born fullback -- known as "Chainsaw" -- scored 24 points to help give Scotland the victory, their first of the 2002 Championship.

Laney's form with the boot seems to have finally solved one of the great problems facing coach Ian McGeechan in recent seasons, the absence of a genuine international class goal kicker.

The No.15 was only handed the responsibility after Scotland's nominated kicker Chris Paterson flunked an early shot at goal, but once he had slotted his first penalty in the 18th minute, Laney never looked back.

Indeed, the confidence he demonstrated in his kicking seemed to translate to the rest of his game, with a late try providing the knockout blow to fell Italy.

With just two minutes to go of the contest, Scotland effected a turnover on the right of the pitch, enabling Townsend to fling out a wide pass left to his backline.  Laney came into the line at pace, transfixing the Italian defence with a delightful dummy and then accelerating on an arching run to score a well-taken try.

That try was definitely the highlight of a fairly unstructured, dour match that saw the referee hand out three yellow cards handed out for indiscipline.

While there was no lack of passion on display at Stadio Flaminio, this clash had the unmistakable air of a bargain-basement, wooden spoon dogfight, with neither side possessing the necessary skill levels to match their ambition to play a wide-ranging game.

An eventful first half saw both sides manufacture a series of gaps in the opposition defence but all too often the try went begging through errors, both sides having to rely instead on the sharpshooting skills of Diego Dominguez and Laney for any points.

With the score poised at 9-all at half-time, Dominguez and Laney scoring three penalties apiece, Scotland began to get into their stride for the first time in the match, holding onto possession for long stretches and asking questions of the Italian defence.

But, as in Paris a fortnight ago, the turning point in the match for Italy was an act of indiscipline by one of their forwards as Santiago Dellape took a swing at Jason White in an off-the-ball incident in the 50th minute.

After an intervention from the touch judge, Dellape duly trotted off to spend ten minutes in the sin-bin but, more crucially, this enabled Laney to level the scores to 12-all.

A further Laney put Scotland further ahead a few minutes later and then Scotland fly-half Gregor Townsend seized an opportunity to put some daylight between the sides.

Townsend took advantage of some lax Italian handling by replacement centre Luca Martin to intercept and race 40 metres for a crucial try.  With Laney on hand to provide the conversion, Scotland at last looked ready to make history.

With Laney having the last word in the 78th minute, Scotland sealed the victory and will now look forward to their next encounter -- against Ireland at Lansdowne Road -- in good heart.

Man of the Match
There are only two candidates for this award and both of them were wearing Scottish jersies.  Gregor Townsend's interception struck a telling blow against Italy, but it was fullback Brendan Laney who earns the accolade, having scored 24 of his side's points.  As well as showing great form with the boot, Laney also scored an excellent individual try to finish off the Azzurri.

Villain of the Match
A bit harsh to single out Santiago Dellape for this award considering that the punch that earned him his second-half sin-binning was hardly a Martin Johnson-like haymaker and was only thrown in retaliation for an elbow in the face from Scotland backrower Jason White.  But the Italian lock's indiscipline cost his side the lead and restricted them to 14 men during a crucial period in the match.

Moment of the Match
Has to be Brendan Laney's cheeky dummy before he cruised in for his second-half try.  With Chris Paterson seemingly ready to explode onto the pass, the Italian defenders took their eyes off the Scotland fullback for a crucial few seconds -- enough for Laney to retain the ball and accelerate over for the try.

The teams:

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Federico Pucciariello, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Marco Bortolami, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Roberto Pedrazzi, 15 Paolo Vaccari
Reserves:  Andrea Lo Cicero, Luca Martin, Mark Giacheri, Alejandro Moreno, Aaron Persico, Ramiro Pez
Unused:  Juan Manuel Queirolo

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Glenn Metcalfe, 12 Andrew Henderson, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Brendan Laney
Reserves:  George Graham, Martin Leslie
Unused:  Jon Petrie, Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Kenny Logan, Robbie Russell

Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 4

Scotland
Tries:  Laney B.J. 1, Townsend G.P.J. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 2
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 5

Ireland 54 Wales 10

Two tries from winger Geordan Murphy helped a classy Ireland to a record 54-10 win over a sorry Welsh side in their opening game of the 2002 Six Nations in front of a delighted Lansdowne Road crowd.

It was an excellent start to new coach Eddie O'Sullivan's regime, his charges demonstrating power, pace and poise to dispose of a bedraggled Welsh outfit that simply could not gain parity in any department.

The first half was virtually one-way traffic for Ireland with Wales' incursions into Irish territory all too infrequent as Irish fly-half David Humphreys pinned the Welsh back into their own half, drilling the ball into the corners with a series of rolling touchfinds.

Meanwhile, the Irish forwards' game plan could be summed up in one line:  "It's our ball and we're keeping it" as the Welsh were deprived of possession for vast stretches of time, their lineout stuttering badly and ball being turned over by a rampaging Irish backrow.

On the rare occasions when they did have the ball, Wales tended to be in their own half and could make little headway through the green defensive wall which swept towards them.

Admittedly Wales' efforts were disrupted by a double injury blow before a bare ten minutes of play had lapsed, lock Chris Wyatt and centre Jamie Robinson both limping off the field to be replaced by Ian Gough and Andy Marinos respectively.

The loss of Wyatt was of particular detriment to the Welsh cause and the dragons were to badly miss the Llanelli man's athleticism and physical presence over the next 70 minutes.

His absence also deprived the Welsh of another ball-carrier in the pack with skipper and No.8 Scott Quinnell almost single-handedly having to take the game to the Irish with ball in hand.

By the time Wyatt and Robinson had retreated to the sidelines, the visitors were already 7-0 down after Ireland signalled their attacking intentions in the opening salvos of the encounter.

Launching a mighty drive from a lineout just outside the Welsh 22, the Irish pack drove straight through their red-jerseyed counterparts before setting back the ball in textbook fashion to Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer who wasted no time in feeding No.10 David Humphreys.

With the Welsh defence seemingly convinced that the ball would be immediately shipped out to the talented Irish midfield and drifting across field, Humphreys instead gave a deft inside pop to flanker David Wallace who came onto the ball at breakneck speed, running towards the Welsh posts before being stopped just yards short.  Staying on his feet in the tackle, he deftly fed Geordan Murphy and the Leicester back dived in for a try, converted by Humphreys.

A few minutes later, Wales were again on the rack as Ireland strung together a series of quick ruck balls.  Wales crept up offside allowing Ireland's No.10 to stretch his side's lead to 10-0.  Ireland inched up 13-0 in the 20th minute through a Humphreys penalty, before the superiority of the Irish forwards was again demonstrated a few minutes later.  New cap Paul O'Connell won clean ball in the middle and the Irish pack moved as one, driving inexorably over the tryline.

As the referee signalled for the try it was O'Connell who gained the credit but he had seven of his mates to thank for the five-pointer, which went unconverted by Humprheys.

Another penalty from Humprheys and then Brian O'Driscoll was nearly over for a try after 35 minutes, chipping ahead and just missing out on the chase for the touchdown as the ball rolled over the Welsh tryline.

Another successful penalty from Humphreys just before half-time and Wales were staring a record defeat in the face.

Finally, Wales opened their account deep into injury time with a well-struck penalty from 39 metres for Stephen Jones.

Any thoughts of a Welsh revival soon faded as play went into the second half.  After two minutes, Wales were again pinned back into their own 22 following a superb touch find from Humphreys.

Wales were able to win the lineout and edge back upfield but Jones' tactical kicking game was no match for that of Humphreys.  To be fair to Jones, he was not exactly overflowing with options with the Quinnell brothers and flanker Nathan Budgett the only players able to break the gainline on a consistent basis.

Still, Wales did manage to hold onto possession for a protracted period early in the first half, Scott Quinnell, Ian Gough and Dafydd James making good yardage to force a penalty.  But Jones was uncharacteristically off-target with the kick and once Ireland had regained possession they came up with a score from long range effort that typified Ireland's team ethic as forwards and backs linked to conjure up a try.

Wales centre Iestyn Harris spilled the ball forward in the tackle in midfield and the ball obligingly popped into the arms of loosehead John Hayes who drove on, before front row partner Peter Clohessy continued, switching Kevin Maggs who cut through the welsh defence before being brought to ground.  As he hit the deck, the Bath centre popped the ball up to Murphy who cruised in for his second try.

Humphreys scored another penalty to stretch Ireland's lead but as humiliation beckoned for Wales, they were spurred into their best period of the entire match.

Craig Morgan made 10 yards down the left wing, before the ball was switched right to Craig Quinnell who recycled just inside the Irish 22.  Stephen Jones picked up and span over the line under a heap of bodies for a try.  The fly-half converted his own try to put Wales at 37-10.

But the revival was shortlived with Ireland finishing strongly after making a raft of replacements going into the last ten minutes, a tactic that was to push them into record-breaking territory.

Humphreys found another defensive hole in the Welsh 22 and set off for the the right hand corner before off-loading to Denis Hickie who dived in at the corner.

Then replacement forward Keith Gleeson scored with his very first touch of the ball, benefiting from a breathtaking counter attack from Brian O'Driscoll.

With another flowing movement resulting in a try for replacement No.10 Ronan O'Gara, the rout was complete for Ireland who got their campaign off to the best possible start.

After that display Eddie O'Sullivan's men will look ahead to their next challenge, against England at Twickenham in two weeks time, with no little confidence.

Wales, on the other hand, will be shattered by the margin of their defeat and must regroup, and regroup fast, if they are to rescue their 2002 Six Nations campaign and the career for former "Great Redeemer" Graham Henry, a man whose stock is falling faster than Enron's.

Man of the match:  There were many Irish heroes in a great team victory but David Humphreys was the man who kept the green machine running forwards, drilling the ball into the corners with an excellent display of tactical kicking to keep Wales pinned back into their own territory.  The Ulsterman also managed to kick a few points too, racking up 22 points to help bury Welsh hopes.

Moment of the match:  Geordan Murphy's second try typified Ireland's devotion to the creed of "total rugby" with props Peter Clohessy and John Hayes linking like centres in the build-up to the score.

Villain of the match:  The Welsh pack.  Excepting the brave efforts of skipper Scott Quinnell, the Dragons' eight were out-powered and out-though up front with th result that Rob Howley and his backline had to make do with scrappy possession, often supplied from a retreating platform.  If there is not a vast improvement from Wales up-front, the season could carry on in this nightmare fashion.

(Half-time:  Ireland 24 Wales 3)

Referee:  Pablo Deluca (Arg)
Touchjudges:  Kelvin Deaker (NZ), Rob Dickson (Scot)

The teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Rob Henderson, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Keith Gleeson, Ronan O'Gara

Wales:  1 Chris Anthony, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Spencer John, 4 Craig Quinnell, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Jamie Robinson, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Ian Gough, Duncan Jones, Dwayne Peel, Andy Marinos, Barry Williams
Unused:  Rhys Williams, Brett Sinkinson

Attendance:  49000
Referee:  Deluca p.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Gleeson K.D. 1, Murphy G.E.A. 2, O'Connell P. 1, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 6

Wales
Tries:  Jones S.M. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 1

Scotland 3 England 29

England got the defence of their 2001 Lloyds TSB Six Nations title underway with a 29-3 Calcutta Cup win over Scotland at Murrayfield, with two early tries from Jason Robinson fuelling a businesslike performance in a stadium which has so often been the scene of disappointment for the English.

The Sale Sharks fullback flew past the Scottish defence twice in the first 13 minutes to give his side an unassailable lead, and with further tries from Mike Tindall and Ben Cohen to follow, Scotland were never close enough to gain a share of the points.

Scotland's challenge was not done any favours by a woeful goal-kicking display from recalled Edinburgh fly-half Duncan Hodge, whose appalling success rate of one in five saw his side's occasional breakthroughs into English territory go unrewarded.

Pre-match weather forecasts of a rain and windswept Murrayfield proved inaccurate, as a relatively calm day saw a sodden pitch, but one still firm enough to see flowing rugby, and certainly in a different league from the water-logged surface of the now infamous Calcutta Cup match two years ago.

It was England who made best use of the pitch early on, and they exploded out of the blocks with a try inside the first eight minutes, going to fullback Jason Robinson, whose lightning burst down the left wing came as the result of fine three-quarter play.

A quick tap penalty by scrum-half Kyran Bracken on the opposite side of the pitch saw the ball worked through the hands, Jonny Wilkinson, Austin Healey and finally Ben Cohen all playing crucial parts in picking the holes in the Scottish backline before sending Robinson in to the corner, the tough conversion just asking too much of Jonny Wilkinson.

Scotland hit back straight from the kick-off, and were unlucky not to score in the left corner through wing Brendan Laney, but England asserted their early dominance with another try after 13 minutes, Jason Robinson again showing just why he is now regarded by many as the best fullback on the planet by racing into the left corner for his second score of the afternoon.

This time it was quick, deft hands from Wilkinson who put Greenwood through the first line of defence with a well-timed pop pass, and when Greenwood offloaded to Tindall, the Bath centre was clean through in the middle of the pitch.

He sensibly fed left to Robinson, who showed returning fullback Glenn Metcalfe a clean pair of heels, scampering in for a trademark try, which was this time converted by Wilkinson from the left touchline, securing a 12-0 advantage.

Scotland somehow found some defensive shape as the half panned out, and did not concede any more points to an England team seemingly keen to ship the ball quickly away from the ruck area.

The Scots could have been level at the break had Duncan Hodge brought his kicking boots with him though, and his three missed first half penalties audibly frustrated the packed Murrayfield terraces.

Hodge did however land one successful penalty on 28 minutes, enough to send his team in with only nine points to make up against their heavily-fancied visitors.

As the teams came out for the second half, young Harlequins scrum-half Nick Duncombe was given a full debut after a whirlwind rise into the squad, with a dead-leg for Kyran Bracken paving the way for a lively and energetic showing from Duncombe.

Scotland thought they had a way back into the game three minutes into the second half when Laney hacked on down the right and pounced on the loose ball in the try area, but it seemed Laney was the only person in the stadium who had not heard the referee's whistle pulling play back for a previous infringement.

England effectively shut the game out soon after when Mike Tindall grabbed their third try, chipping and chasing in the Scotland half, collecting the ball after Glenn Metcalfe failed to claim his kick near the line, granting Tindall an unopposed run-in, in what was a solid performance after being chosen ahead of his club colleague Mike Catt.

Wilkinson converted and added a penalty soon after for a 22-3 lead, and Duncan Hodge's miserable afternoon continued with ten minutes to go when he bludgeoned an elementary penalty wide of the posts from right in front on the England 22.

England then shifted Jason Robinson to centre as Iain Balshaw entered the fray late on, and as injury-time wore on, Scotland's inertia in their own half was to be their undoing, as Ben Cohen touched down an injury-time try.

It came from a long pass by Will Greenwood near the Scottish 22, with the Harlequins centre freeing Cohen down the left, and the Northampton wing showing great strength to burst through Metcalfe and touch down in the corner.

Scotland now face a trip to Italy in two week's time, a game which could theoretically decide the wooden spoon if they continue to show the lack of ruthlessness on display this time.

That of course could prove a gross exaggeration given the talent they have, but it is hard to see too many plus points from a match which saw them on the back foot both in the loose and in the set piece, although the finishing from the England side would have been nigh-on impossible for any defence to halt.

Next for England is a home tie against the Irish, and with impressive debuts for Steve Thompson and Nick Duncombe to work from, Clive Woodward's men look to have a solid foundation for continued success.

Man of the match:  Jason Robinson
The Sale speedster ignited the first half with two outstanding finishes, although Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall also linked well in the centres.  Ben Kay was the standout in the pack, and the candidates from Scotland were few and far between, despite some late flashes of brilliance from scrum-half Bryan Redpath.

Moment of the match:  Jason Robinson's first try
A well-judged quick tap penalty from Kyran Bracken on the right wing near halfway saw the ball transferred through the hands of almost the entire backline, with sufficient urgency to see the Scotland defence caught short.  Robinson's scamper into the left corner got the game off on the right foot for the visitors, and will likely be regarded as one of the tries of the Championship come April.

Villain of the match:  Duncan Hodge
One successful shot at goal for the Scotland No.10 from five attempts earned Hodge the wrath of the Murrayfield crowd after his recall.  His chances of keeping his starting place for the Italy trip look decidedly limited, with Gregor Townsend a strong possibility to return at fly-half if injured centre John Leslie regains fitness in time.

The teams:

Scotland;  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney (c), 7 Jason White, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Duncan Hodge, 11 Brendan Laney, 12 James McLaren, 13 Gregor Townsend, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Richard Metcalfe
Reserves:  George Graham
Unused:  Jon Petrie, Jon Steel, Andrew Henderson, Martin Leslie, Andy Nicol, Robbie Russell

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Nick Duncombe, Charlie Hodgson
Unused:  Martin Corry, Mark Regan

Attendance:  67500
Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers

Scotland
Pen K.:  Hodge D.W. 1

England
Tries:  Robinson J.T. 2, Tindall M.J. 1, Cohen B.C. 1
Conv:  Hodgson C. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 2
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

France 33 Italy 12

Bernard Laporte's French team left off where they finished last season when they outplayed Italy in the first Lloyds TSB Six Nations match of 2002 at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.  The final score of 33-12 actually flattered Les Bleus, whom made too many errors in the match.

It wasn't a memorable match, and France would not be happy with the amount of good possession they threw away by making handling errors.  Playing like this is not going to get Les Bleus anywhere in the Six Nations, and that's for sure!

However, the Italians deserve a pat on the back for their sturdy defence, which was one of the reasons for all the French mistakes.

At the same time their discipline was poor and referee Alan Lewis sent four Azzurri players to the sin-bin.  At one stage they played with only 13 men.

In fact, it was while lock Carlo Checchinato was in the bin before the break, that the home team scored 16 unanswered points to take a 19-12 half-time lead.

But for 35 minutes the French machine spluttered in first gear.  The numerous handling errors and four kickable penalties, which Diego Dominguez, Italy's veteran flyhalf, easily converted into points, saw the Laporte's troops trial 3-12 after 30 minutes.

The tide started turning after 35 minutes when Checchinato was penalised and binned for over-zealous use of the boot.  Within three minutes Gérald Merceron converted two penalties into points and the score changed to 12-6.

Then, on 40 minutes, French centre Damien Traille burst through the Italian defence for the first try of the 2002 Six Nations.  He beat his opponent on the outside and had too much pace for the cover defenders.

Merceron's conversion and another penalty on the stroke of half-time saw Les Bleus take a 19-12 lead at the break.

It was one-way traffic after the rest period and although France struggled to breach the Italian defence, Merceron's boot kept the score-board ticking as the visitors conceded penalty after penalty.

The French looked dangerous in the final stages, but their hands failed them and Italy escaped from jail on a number of occasions.

The only kickable penalties Italy got in the second half was when Dominguez was in the bin for continuously standing offside, and all Cristian Stoica could do was boot the ball into touch.

The French scored a late try when Serge Betsen walzed over in the corner as the Italian defence finally collapsed.  That try changed the score to 33-12, which flatters the home team as they were not that much better than the visitors.

France's best players were captain Olivier Magne, South African-born No.8 Steven Hall, Betsen, Merceron (who missed two attempts at goal) and Traille, while Luca Martin and Allesandro Troncon never gave up for Italy.  Dominguez also slotted four from four at goal.

Man of the Match:  The contenders were Gérald Merceron, Diego Dominguez (for their solid goal-kicking) and Steven Hall, but Damien Traille takes the award for two moments of brilliance of which one lead to his try.

Moment of the Match:  As there were very few highlights in this match, Traille's try gets it.

Villain of the Match:  Any one of the five players that spent time in the sin-bin:  France's David Auradou was first, then followed four Italians Diego Dominguez, Matthew Phillips, Mauro Bortolami and Carlo Checchinato, who gets it because it was while he was off the field that the French took control of the match.

The teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Yannick Bru, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne (c), 8 Steven Hall, 9 Frederic Michalak, 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Jeanjean
Reserves:  Xavier Garbajosa, Raphael Ibanez, Fabien Pelous, Alexandre Albouy
Unused:  Francois Gelez, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Elvis Vermeulen

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Andrea Muraro, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Marco Bortolami, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Luca Martin, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Roberto Pedrazzi, 15 Paolo Vaccari
Reserves:  Mirco Bergamasco, Giampiero De Carli, Mark Giacheri, Alejandro Moreno, Aaron Persico
Unused:  Ramiro Pez, Juan Manuel Queirolo

Attendance:  62000
Referee:  Lewis a.

Points Scorers

France
Tries:  Betsen Tchoua S. 1, Traille D. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 1
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 7

Italy
Pen K.:  Dominguez D. 4