Scotland 10 France 22

France edged closer to their dream of a Grand Slam on Saturday after claiming a 22-10 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship win over Scotland at Murrayfield, with two tries from Montferrand centre Tony Marsh.

Marsh's scores either side of the break were credit for a performance which will be deemed little more than satisfactory against a misfiring Scotland team with little lead in their pencil.

The French try-scoring was wrapped-up with a fleeting blindside break from scrum-half Fabien Galthie, who showed his leadership talents in abundance both in open field and in his decision making.

For Scotland, not a huge amount to build on from another performance which showed their finishing frailties, a second half try from scrum-half Bryan Redpath coming as reward for a brief spell of telling pressure in the second half – but they never accelerated from there.

Pau's Basque back-row terror Imanol Harinordoquy was once again tearing it up in broken play with some enormous hits and useful yards, and Olivier Magne advanced his case for the player of the Championship award with a tireless afternoon's pillaging at openside.

The Scots actually went into an early lead through a Brendan Laney penalty after seven minutes, but it was a half filled with frustration for the home side as chance after chance went by the wayside due to a combination of poor handling and botched execution.

Touch kicks did not find their target, elementary passes were knocked on, and their defence ultimately fell to the continual French pressure on 16 minutes when Tony Marsh grabbed the only try of the half for the French.

It came after a barnstorming run in midfield from Pau powerhouse Damien Traille in the centres, who took three or four Scottish tacklers with him before bursting between Gregor Townsend and John Leslie.

He passed left to Marsh at pace, and the Scots' cause was not helped by an unfortunate slip as fullback Brendan Laney attempted to change direction on a shocking, cut-up Murrayfield surface.

His loss of footing saw Marsh faced with the easiest of run-ins, wing Glenn Metcalfe the only chaser as he went under the posts, the try converted by Montferrand fly-half Gerald Merceron.

Scotland had their best chance of a try ten minutes later when Saracens lock Stuart Murray fell five metres short of the line, Serge Betsen scragging his collar and stealing the ball to the frustration of a muted and virtually atmosphere-less Murrayfield.

A penalty from Merceron on 31 minutes saw France extend their lead to seven points at the break, and in truth it should have been more after their continued probing of the Scottish defence, Harinordoquy and Magne making some quality yards through the middle as scrum-half Bryan Redpath provided Scotland's only real spark.

France injected some pace into the game with the second half underway, and when silky-running fullback Nicolas Brusque aimed a chip-and-chase over the top of Gregor Townsend, he outpaced the Castres player and set up a dangerous attack in the right corner.

With Rougerie in attendance, the kick was regathered and the ruck in the right corner near the Scottish tryline was quickly worked back, and sent swiftly through the hands from right to left, eventually falling to Tony Marsh on the left flank, diving into the corner under a tackle from Glenn Metcalfe.

It was only five minutes later when the advantage was extended to 19 points, scrum-half and captain Fabien Galthie picking and going down the blindside in typically ruthless and predatory style.

The Stade Francais keystone barged round the side of a ruck past the attentions of hooker Gordon Bulloch, exposing the Scotland side's hopeless defensive inadequacies down the French right wing for a clean run from all of 40 metres, fullback Brendan Laney having nowhere near enough pace to run across from the other side of the pitch and catch Galthie, who went over in the right corner – Merceron converting the extras impressively from way out wide.

It appeared to be the blow Scotland needed to knock some shape and life into their play, and it was a surging run from centre James McLaren which led indirectly to a long-awaited Scottish try.

His left to right diagonal run from the 22 saw him past the flailing arms of Merceron and to within five metres of the line, Rougerie managing to halt his progress with a vice-like grip in the tackle when a certain try beckoned.

The ball was eventually worked right to left, and a zig-zagging run from Laney on the left flank saw the Kiwi weave his way agonisingly close to the score, but from the resulting ruck, Bryan Redpath picked the ball up and placed it over the line without hardly lifting his feet from the ground, putting the ball down right in the middle of the ruck right on the line itself.

It was reward for an enterprising match for the Sale Sharks No.9 who had been one of the only sparks for the Scots during the French pressure which preceded the try, Laney converting from left of the posts.

The match petered to an unsatisfying end after that, continual Scottish mistakes blighting a dis-jointed finale, partly due to the frustratingly increasing numbers of late substitutions used by both sides.

The stop/start nature of the last ten minutes did not seem a fitting climax to TV commentator Bill McLaren's final Murrayfield commentary, but referee Alain Rolland eventually saw fit to call time on the match after a missed Merceron penalty.

So France are only one step from Grand Slam glory, but on this showing, they will have to up the tempo to overcome Eddie O'Sullivan's men in two weeks' time, for what promises to be one of the games of the Championship.

For Scotland, typical mediocrity once again, flashes of creation but a laboured and clumsy approach to execution.  Hopefully a third professional club side next year will inject some life and competition to a side who have disappointed for the last few years.

Man of the match:  Tony Marsh (France)
Two superbly-taken tries and a generally solid performance from the New Zealand-born player.  His centre partnership with Damien Traille is fast becoming one of the most feared and consistently productive in Test rugby.  Fabien Galthie could have had a serious shout for the award after a marvellous try and a solid leadership display.  For Scotland, scrum-half Bryan Redpath was the only serious contender, but Marsh gets our vote in the end for injecting spark into what could have easily been a lifeless game.

Moment of the match:  Tony Marsh's second try
Great counter-attacking rugby saw Biarritz's Nicolas Brusque lob a kick down the wing and over the head of the retreating Scottish defence, outpacing Gregor Townsend.  The ball was eventually gathered up in the right corner, Olivier Magne showing superb athleticism to get to the ruck first with Aurelien Rougerie.  The ball was spun quickly right to left via a plethora of French runners, Marsh eventually evading the tackle of Glenn Metcalfe for the touchdown.  BBC TV commentator Bill McLaren could have cause to win our award also, after emotionally uttering his final words at Murrayfield in a 50-year broadcast career.  Bill may have had a lump in the throat, but he held it together like the thorough pro he is, even if it may not have been the result he wanted on the field itself.

Villain of the match:  The Scottish handling
Continually awful hand/eye co-ordination blighted their play throughout.  The ball may have been a tad slippery, and the pitch cutting-up, but there was no excuse for the consistency and magnitude of the Scottish errors in good positions.

(Half-time:  Scotland 3 France 10)

Sin-bin:  None

The teams:

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

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Thibault Privat, Sylvain Marconnet, Jimmy Marlu, Remy Martin
Unused:  Olivier Azam, Francois Gelez, Pierre Mignoni

Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers

Scotland
Tries:  Redpath B.W. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 1

France
Tries:  Galthie F. 1, Marsh T. 2
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 1

England 50 Wales 10

England won their first Triple Crown since 1998 as two tries from Dan Luger, and 30 points from stand-off Jonny Wilkinson, helped them to a record 50-10 win over Wales in the Six Nations at Twickenham.

Scoring five tries, England surpassed their 34-point winning margin of 1998 and 2000 against a Wales side, who aside from the first three minutes of the game, were never really at the races.

Whilst this game put England in a no-win situation with such expectation of a big victory over a struggling Welsh side, it will go a small way to making up for the defeat to France three weeks earlier, and more importantly kept England's chances of a Six Nations title alive.

England certainly had a battle on their hands early on, intense Welsh pressure was only kept at bay by equally intense English defence as the visitors laid siege to the home try-line in the opening minutes.

However, it was England who opened the scoring as Jonny Wilkinson coolly slotted a drop-goal to give the home side a lead they would not relinquish.

After that England began to assert themselves, Austin Healey testing the Welsh defence with some Robinson-esque footwork and after a good period of possession England soon had the opening they needed.

A deft chip from Wilkinson was collected by centre Will Greenwood who rolled over the line, referee Andrew Cole adjudging the Quins centre touched the ball down without consulting the video ref.

Despite a fair share of possession and territory, England only had a second Wilkinson penalty to show for their efforts as they led 13-0 mid-way through the first-half.

Iestyn Harris pulled a penalty back for Wales just before the half-hour mark but Wilkinson notched two further penalties, taking him over 500 Test points for England, as they had to be content with a 19-3 lead at half-time.

If Wales thought they may have weathered the worst of the England storm, right from the kick-off, the home side surged up to the Welsh line after good work from Neil Back and Ben Kay.

With Wales penalised, England underlined their second-half game-plan and opted for the line-out which created an opening for Wilkinson to dance through untouched for try.  No doubt about this one and he added the extras as England stretched their lead to 26-3.

Wilkinson hit his fourth penalty before Wales began to exert their Wales first real bit of pressure since the opening minutes, Andy Marinos spurning an overlap on two separate occasions in quick succession as England held firm.

England made Wales pay for their profligacy, Harris failing to control the pass inside his 22 and Dan Luger eventually stepping inside for his 18th Test try and Wilkinson impeccable with the conversion.

With England in full flow, and Wales flagging, Luger got his 19th just three minutes later as Will Greenwood's burst opened saw his club colleague stroll over untouched, Wilkinson again adding the extras.

For Welsh fans there was the smallest ray of sunshine as Harris, on whose shoulders so much hope and unfair expectation was placed towards the end of the Henry era, found an opening to score a consolation try.

And yet any Welsh hopes that score would prevent a half-century of points for England, and a record margin of victory, were dashed when substitute Tim Stimpson crashed over for the home side's fifth try, Wilkinson notching his ninth successful kick of the day.

Man of the match:
This game was a classic team performance from England.  The pack, led by skipper Neil Back, was an impressively dominant unit both at the set-piece and in the loose -- whilst the three-quarters, marshalled by Wilkinson and the lively Healey, were enjoying their day in the sun.  On balance, Will Greenwood takes the award, scoring a try and setting up two others.

Moment of the match:
After good early pressure from their side, Wales fans will point to Will Greenwood's opening try after just ten minutes as a crucial moment in the game.  The referee awarded it without going to the video ref, and after that England never looked back.

Villain of the match:
In a good-tempered match there were no real villains, although Wales centre Andy Marinos gets our nomination for his reluctance on several occasions to share what rare quality ball the Welsh backs received.

The teams:

England:  1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Julian White, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Lewis Moody, 8 Richard Hill, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Dan Luger, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Austin Healey
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Tim Stimpson, Dorian West, Joe Worsley,
Unused:  Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Andrew Moore, 5 Chris Wyatt, 6 Nathan Budgett, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Scott Quinnell (c), 9 Rob Howley, 10 Iestyn Harris, 11 Craig Morgan, 12 Andy Marinos, 13 Gareth Thomas, 14 Dafydd James, 15 Kevin Morgan
Reserves:  Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Colin Charvis, Gareth Llewellyn, Barry Williams
Unused:  Nicky Robinson, Spencer John

Referee:  Cole a.

Points Scorers

England
Tries:  Greenwood W.J.H. 1, Luger D.D. 2, Stimpson T.R.G. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 5
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 4
Drop G.:  Wilkinson J.P. 1

Wales
Tries:  Harris I. 1
Conv:  Harris I. 1
Pen K.:  Harris I. 1

Ireland 32 Italy 17

Munster winger John Kelly stole the headlines as he scored two tries on his debut as Ireland beat Italy by 32-17 in front of a packed Lansdowne Road in Dublin, although with England's big win in Twickenham, the margin of victory was almost certainly not enough to keep their 2002 Six Nations title hopes alive.

The home team totally shut the Azzurri out in the first 40 minutes, leading 19-0 at half-time, with Italy only getting their first scoring opportunity after seven minutes in extra time just before the break but the Irish will now need a win of gargantuan proportions over title favourites France in Paris to have any chance of securing the title.

The visitors showed a willingness to run with the ball from the outset of the game, but unfortunately Brad Johnstone's men made a lot of handling errors, which the Irish gladly pounced on.

In fact, the game was marred by bad handling errors by both teams, and some poor discipline by the visitors.

While most of the 30 pairs of hands on the pitch made a mess of things, the Irish backs made amends with some pin-point tactical kicking.  They forced Italy back many yards on a few occasions, from where new Irish skipper David Humphreys punished the visitors for their mistakes.

The Irish flyhalf, who spent some time in the bloodbin with a deep gash to the head, slotted three easy penalties in the opening quarter to put the home team in the lead by 9-0.

It was a very scrappy game with lots of niggles off the ball, most of them coming from the Italians.  Both the visiting props were sent to the bin in the first half – tighthead Salvatore Perugini for a head-butt on Peter Stringer in 24th minute and loosehead Giampiero De Carli in the 40th minute.

It was just before De Carli got his marching orders that Irish debutant wing John Kelly scored his first try.  He got the ball wide on the left-hand side of the field and left Denis Dallan in his wake with a great hand-off.

The conversion by blood sub Ronan O'Gara and a further penalty by the replacement flyhalf saw the teams turn with Ireland leading 19-0.

Italy finally got on the score board shortly after the break when their South African-born fullback Gert Peens slotted a massive drop-goal.

But their joy was not to last long as Kelly got his second try four minutes later when he sliced open the Italian defence in the 22.

Mauro Bergamasco scored Italy's first try in the 53rd minute and with Diego Dominguez's conversion, the visitors trailed by 24-10 with enough time left on the clock.

Dennis Hickie scored Ireland's third, and final try from a set move from an attacking line-out.  It was a classic midfield run-around move that opened the gap for the speedster to crash over, and put the result beyond any doubt.

The Italians strung together a number of good phases in the second half, but sadly for them, the Irish defence held out until it was too late.

The Italians never really looked like breaking the home team's line, but De Carli scored a late consolation try for the visitors, which Diego Dominguez converted, on the stroke of full-time.

Alessandro Troncon and Bergamasco were the best players for the Azzurri on the day.

The Irish midfield of Shane Horgan and Brian O'Driscoll, who was well marked by the Italians, played their hearts out, as did Malcolm O'Kelly.  But it was John Kelly's day – a brace of tries on debut doesn't come often.

Man of the Match:  No contest here, John Kelly, with his calm head, solid defence and two tries gets our vote.

Moment of the match:  Dennis Hickie's try from first phase from five metres out of the Italian try-line was a real gem.  Classic backline run-around move by the home team and the game was theirs.

Villain of the match:  Lot of niggles.  Peter Clohessy got a stern talking to from the referee and Giampiero De Carli got yellowed on the stroke of half-time, but Salvatore Perugini gets the award for his head-butt, and subsequent sin binning, on Peter Stringer in 24th minute.

(Half-time:  Ireland 19 Italy 0)

Sin-bin:  (Salvatore Perugini 24-34, Giampiero De Carli 40-50)

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 John Hayes, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys (c), 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 John Kelly, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Tyrone Howe, Eric Miller, Paul Wallace, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, UnusedGuy Easterby, Frankie Sheahan

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Matthew Phillips, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Giovanni Raineri, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Andrea De Rossi, Santiago Dellape, Federico Pucciariello, UnusedMatteo Mazzantini, Andrea Moretti, Cristian Zanoletti, Ramiro Pez

Referee:  Dickson r.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Kelly J. 2
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 4, O'Gara R.J.R. 1

Italy
Tries:  Bergamasco M. 1, De Carli G.P. 1
Conv:  Dominguez D. 2
Drop G.:  Peens G. 1

Ireland 43 Scotland 22

An impressive hat-trick from star centre Brian O'Driscoll kept Ireland in the hunt for the 2002 Six Nations title as they bounced back from their Twickenham nightmare to post a 43-22 win over Scotland at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

With news of England's defeat in Paris trickling through the Lansdowne Road just before kick-off, both sides' hopes of a Six Nations title received a massive boost but both would have known that defeat in this game would mean an end to those sort of lofty aspirations.

In the end, despite the efforts of a seriously misfiring and 'Keith Wood-less' lineout, Ireland had enough in the tank, and some to spare, to see off the challenge of Scotland, who must now take stock to prevent another Six Nations Championship sliding towards the basement, their landing thankfully likely to be cushioned, once again, by Italy.

Irish stand-off David Humphreys, who had a torrid time against England a fortnight ago, gave the home side a good start as he opened the scoring in the first minute as Scotland strayed offside, Ireland moving to a 3-0 lead.

The men in green certainly started brightly, finding plenty of the gaps in the Scotland ranks, but Scotland evened things up just before the ten minute mark as captain Mick Galwey was penalised for killing the ball, Brendan Laney coolly hitting the three points.

That seemed to galvanise Scotland as they began to dominate possession and the game, Laney adding two penalties to put the visitors 9-3 up midway through the first-half.

However, Ireland struck back and, after their first real spell of possession, centre Brian O'Driscoll found acres of space just inside the Scots' 22 to ghost through for the game's first try.

Although Humphreys missed the conversion, to keep Scotland in the lead by the narrowest of margins, Ireland had the momentum and a turnover just outside the Scotland 22 gave the home side men over out wide, O'Driscoll working the ball wide well to Shane Horgan who galloped untouched into the corner.

This time Humphreys made no mistake with the extras to put Ireland back in the lead and when referee Nigel Whitehouse reversed a Scottish penalty after Budge Pountney retaliated, the Scots must have known it was not to be their day.

Then on the stroke of half-time, Scotland were caught by a sucker punch as they camped inside the Ireland 22.  The ball was sent down the line but was spilled in the mid-field and O'Driscoll reacted the quickest to snap up the loose ball and race away a full 85 metres, with Chris Paterson in hot pursuit, to extend Ireland's lead.

Although Laney pulled a penalty back in the last act of the first half as some reward for their efforts, a clinical Ireland had a 22-12 lead.

The second half started much as the first had finished, Scotland unable to turn possession in to points although Laney hit his fifth penalty of the day to cut the deficit to just seven points on 46 minutes.

Humphreys restored Ireland's ten-point lead a few minutes later with a monster penalty, the kick making him Ireland's all-time points scorer in international rugby, and he added another a few minutes later as the game began to ebb away from Scotland.

Pountney then transgressed one too many times and earned himself a spell in the sin-bin, and with Humphreys boot in fine fettle he made no mistake from the resulting penalty as Ireland were clear 31-15 midway through the second-half.

Scotland were forced on to the back-foot and the final nail in their coffin came as James McLaren spilled a tricky pass inside his 22, Shane Horgan scooping it up and quick hands from Humphreys saw Simon Easterby, on for the injured Eric Miller, scoring his side's fourth try of the day.

Although substitute Martin Leslie got Scotland's only try of the day ten minutes from the end, O'Driscoll cut through for his hat-trick on the stroke of normal time as Ireland move in to the 2002 Six Nations home straight eyeing an April date in Paris on the last weekend.

Man of the Match
They may not have had the lion's share of possession, but when you have the likes of Brian O'Driscoll in your side that probably does not matter too much.  The Leinster man scored three tries and set-up another to deservedly take the plaudits.

Moment of the Match
Brian O'Driscoll's second try was the killer blow for Scotland.  Leading up to it, Scotland had enjoyed a good spell of pressure and just a converted try away from taking the lead but in a flash saw themselves 13 points down and facing a moutain to climb from then on.

Villain of the Match
Generally a good natured match but if Budge Pountney has hopes of regaining the Scotland captaincy then he won't want this game on his CV.  Despite his good work around the edge of the scrum, his retaliation on Peter Stringer cost his side a probable three points at 9-15 down and during his spell in the bin Ireland posted eight unanswered points.

Sin-bin:  Budge Pountney 58-68

The teams:

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 Shane Horgan, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Guy Easterby, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Ronan O'Gara
Unused:  John Kelly

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney, 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, Kenny Logan
Unused:  Jon Petrie, Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Robbie Russell

Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Easterby S.H. 1, Horgan S.P. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 3
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 2, O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 4

Scotland
Tries:  Leslie M.D. 1
Conv:  Laney B.J. 1
Pen K.:  Laney B.J. 5

France 20 England 15

A brilliant first half, that saw tries from Gerald Merceron and Imanol Harinordoquy, helped give France a deserved 20-15 win over England in Paris.

So, again the 'England Grand Slam' merchandise will have to wait for at least another year as France shocked the side who had come into this match as favourites, following the handsome victories over Scotland and Ireland which had propelled them to No.1 in the Zurich World Rankings.

It was Merceron who was undoubtedly the hero of the hour, contributing 15 points to his side's effort and spearheading an excellent defensive display from 'Les Bleus' to dash English hopes and knock their status as potential world beaters.

Time and time again, England tried to drive through the middle and find the gaps in the French line, only to find themselves rocked backwards over the gainline by the strength of the French tackling, more often than not also also committing the cardinal error of turning over ball in the tackle.

The vast spaces that had opened up all around the field in England's last encounter, against Ireland, were nowhere to be seen as England's strike runners were swamped by a tide of blue virtually every time they laid a hand on the ball.

England's halfbacks Kyran Bracken and Jonny Wilkinson were given a torrid time by the marauding French back row and the superb French skipper Fabien Galthie, who again proved his worth to his side as a leader and master tactician.

Indeed, the writing was on the wall for the men in white from the very first second of this pulsating match, Martin Johnson -- normally the epitome of consistency -- committing an elementary error from the kick off to give France their first chance of points.

Merceron was off target on that occasion, but this early hiccup from Johnson was an illustration of how out of sorts England were at Stade de France, wilting under the pressure of French tactics.

In the 11th minute, France had Galthie to thank for their first try, the scrum-half showing great vision to draw the English defence before handing a delightful pass to No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy , who came onto the ball at pace, creating havoc in English ranks before finding Merceron.

The fly-half skipped past Healey for a try under the posts.  Quite why referee Andre Watson called for the video ref to sanction the score is anyone's guess as there couldn't have been a man, woman or child in the stadium who wouldn't have awarded it immediately.

With Merceron converting his own try, things looked ominous for England as France continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and a few minutes later Harinordoquy was to the fore once more -- latching onto a superb pass from Tony Marsh to crash over in the corner.  Merceron slotted a superb touchline conversion to make it 14-0 as the match reached the end of a torrid first quarter for England.

The ease with which France were able to breach the English defences nearly resulted in another try in the 25th minute, prop Peter de Villiers setting off on a 20 metre run towards the line after Jason Robinson had been dispossessed in midfield.  Only a moment of French overeagerness gave respite to England as a blue jersey went over the top as de Villiers went to ground with the white line within spitting distance.

In the 33rd minute, Wilkinson put a drop goal attempt wide of the posts while two minutes later Merceron also missed with a long range drop.

But Merceron added another three points after England's Phil Vickery was penalised for tackling a Frenchman without the ball.

Seconds later, the English effort was further disrupted by an injury to centre Mike Tindall, former League star Henry Paul came on for debut.  Not exactly the most gentle of introductions to international rugby union and Paul did look somewhat exposed on the rare occasions he took the ball into contact, invariably giving away either a penalty or the turnover to the streetwise French.

But, coincidentally, as Paul did not actually touch the ball during that last few minutes of the first half, the arrival of the League man coincided with England's fightback as a period of sustained pressure saw England come back into the match.

After magnificent French defence had repelled the English on a series of five metre scrums, the ball went wide to Robinson with three cover tacklers heading for the diminutive player at high speed.

Some mesmerising footwork from the Sale star left Merceron, Serge Betsen and David Bory clutching at thin air as Robinson sprinted over for a crucial try to temporarily lift English spirits.

Wilkinson added the conversion to make it 17-7 as the whistle for half-time went.

England began in a more positive frame of mind after the break and two minutes later, Wilkinson was able to steady English nerves with a penalty from 40 metres.

A fine break from Healey was squandered after Paul was dispossessed by the defence and set off on a dangerous counterattack -- only a magnificent tackle from Johnson on Betsen in midfield snuffing out the move.

Another chance went begging following a break by Greenwood.  The Harlequins centre sliced through the midfield but delayed his pass to Healey just a fraction too long with the result that his team-mate was scragged as he caught the ball, forcing a knock-on.

Then Worsley, who had earlier been penalised for a late tackle on Merceron, conceded another penalty, coming around the side of a ruck to give Merceron the opportunity to stretch France's lead to 20-10.  That was to be Worsley's last act, the No.8 replaced by Martin Corry after a forgettable game.

But Worsley's ineffectual performance was mirrored throughout the England pack with players who had looked world-class against Ireland, coming off distinctly second best to their French counterparts throughout the afternoon.

The lack of a solid platform left the much-vaunted English backline reduced to the role of bystanders, only Will Greenwood consistently cracking the French midfield so impressively organised by monsieurs Merceron, Marsh and Traille.

To their credit, England, despite being out-thought and out-muscled, never gave up and continued to attempt to snatch a result deep into injury time, half-chance wilting under the bravery of the French defence.

England coach Clive Woodward's last roll of the dice was to launch a number of late replacements into the mix, but Cohen's last ditch try -- which went unconverted by Paul in the absence of Wilkinson – was not enough to keep England's Grand Slam bandwagon on the road.

France, however, after a magnificent performance have now taken over England's mantle as favourites for European rugby's greatest prize.

Moment of the Match
Not a flowing back move or a long-range try, but a moment that neatly encapsulates the entire match.  During a rare of period of sustained English attack in the second half, prop Graham Rowntree picked up the ball at the rear of ruck, pinned his ears back and drove forward at full pace, trying to inject some momentum into his side's stuttering efforts.  But waiting for him square-on was French second row Fabien Pelous who put in one of the biggest hits you're every likely to see on the rugby field to stop the 17-stone frontrower dead in his tracks and then shove him back from whence he came.

Man of the Match
There were many French heroes on show at Stade de France, including No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy and skipper Fabien Galthie, but it was Gerald Merceron who drove Les Bleus to their magnificent victory, the fly-half grabbing a try, two penalties and two conversions during a fine afternoon's work.

Villain of the Match
England's stuttering forward effort didn't do No.8 Joe Worsley any favours, but the Wasps forward had a poor game by his own high standards, failing to make signficant yardage from the base of the scrum and giving away a number of crucial penalties to hamstring his side's chances of victory -- including a late tackle on Merceron.

The teams:

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Olivier Brouzet, 6 Serge Betsen Tchoua, 7 Olivier Magne, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Gerald Merceron, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Nicolas Brusque
Reserves:  Olivier Azam, Fabien Pelous, Olivier Milloud, Pierre Mignoni, Remy Martin
Unused:  Francois Gelez, Jimmy Marlu

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, 12 Mike Tindall, 13 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Dan Luger, Dorian West, Henry Paul
Unused:  Nick Duncombe

Referee:  Watson a.

Points Scorers

France
Tries:  Merceron G. 1, Harinordoquy I. 1
Conv:  Merceron G. 2
Pen K.:  Merceron G. 2

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

Wales 44 Italy 20

Wales finally got a taste of victory in the 2002 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship, after a confident and competent 44-20 win over Italy at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales scored five tries on the day after two spells of pressure at the start of both halves, Craig Morgan, Dafydd James, Rhys Williams, Scott Quinnell and Andy Marinos all scoring on a day when the Welsh finally cut loose and showed their undoubted potential, against an admittedly flat and comparatively lifeless Italian XV.

The free-flowing form of the Welsh backs will no doubt have been a weight off the mind of caretaker coach Steve Hansen, as Tom Shanklin early on, then Rhys Williams in the second half, showed that fly-half Stephen Jones has potent weapons outside of him.

Craig Morgan was one of the major plusses for the Welsh, who struggled in the lineout early on against an Italian team without their talisman Diego Dominguez, Ramiro Pez making a good fist of filling in at fly-half in the absence of the Stade Francais dynamo.

Italy's try-scoring was restricted to two, Carlo Checchinato rumbling over in the right corner for a first half touch down, before Francesco Mazzariol managed a second late in the game, by which time the result was a mere formality.

Wales looked a shadow of Graham Henry's old tense side of four weeks ago, and there were no signs of stage fright as Craig Morgan touched down a spectacular try in the very first minute, lifting the volume in a Millennium Stadium which was far from full, and unusually quiet before kick-off.

Morgan's try came as a result of an enterprising and well-timed break from Andy Marinos, the Newport centre surging through the Italian midfield around halfway, before running straight to the 22 and floating a looped pass left to Morgan, who played a deftly-weighted grubber into the try area, diving down on the ball in the left corner.

Jones converted from way out wide, but Italy got back into the game with a Ramiro Pez penalty four minutes later, the Rotherham fly-half filling the boots of Dominguez with occasional silky touches, finding good line kicks throughout, and trying to exploit the talents of Cristian Stoica outside of him.

Wales continued their early tempo though, and it was only 11 minutes into the game when Bridgend's Dafydd James went over in the same left corner where Morgan had earlier scored.

The try came from a blindside burst on halfway from Nathan Budgett down the left, the Bridgend back-row exposing last man Pez before popping up in the tackle to the grateful James for an easy run-in, Jones again converting from out wide.

James again thought he had scored only minutes later when he touched down in the right corner as Wales piled on the pressure, but a keen eye from the touch judge revealed that a foot had been placed ever so slightly in touch just before James dived over the line under an Italian tackle.

Jones struck over another penalty for the rampant Welsh, but they were in for a shock as Italy counter-attacked with good effect on 20 minutes, Carlo Checchinato bundling himself over the line under a heap of bodies for a try.

The score came after a good break from livewire scrum-half Alessandro Troncon as he scurried from a quick tap penalty, before South African fullback Gert Peens fell just short of the line in the right corner after running through the Welsh tacklers from short range.

Pez convetred Checchinato's try via the right post, before Jones struck over another penalty.  Peens hit back for the Azzurri with an enormous 50 metre plus penalty, but Jones again retaliated with another Welsh penalty for a 23 -- 13 half-time score, Andy Marinos going close to a try in the right corner after chasing a cunning diagonal grubber before the whistle, but just failing to get the score.

After finishing the first half without the same urgency as they had started it, Wales got the second half underway in suitably lightning fashion, replacement Rhys Williams cutting the Italian defence to shreds with a superb running score within the first few minutes of the restart.

It was fine counter-attack running from Craig Morgan within his own half which set up the score, Williams eventually taking a positive diagonal course from left to right past the Italian defence at pace, evading the tackle of Mauro Bergamasco for the score, Jones again converting after he had missed a long-range penalty by the narrowest of margins.

With Italy now well and truly on the rack, and struggling for possession, Scott Quinnell barged over in his own unique style for Wales'fourth try of the afternoon, taking second phase ball from a scrum near the Italian line down the left wing, Dafydd James taking the initial contact before Quinnell's run from deep at first receiver was spotted by scrum-half Howley

Jones added the extras, and it was only three minutes until the next Welsh try, Marinos touching down after a solid and workmanlike performance in midfield, latching onto Dafydd James' right wing run and earning the reward for good support play with a short pass and a ten-metre run-in for the try, converted once again by the deadly Stephen Jones for a 44-13 advantage.

Coach Steve Hansen took the opportunity to introduce, among others, Iestyn Harris and Dwayne Peel to the match, Harris coming on for Swansea's Kevin Morgan at fullback to good effect, showing a glimpse of his trademark sidestep, and Llanelli's Peel taking over and doing a solid job for the effervescent Rob Howley at scrum-half.

With Italy now jaded and dejected, the departure of right wing Pedrazzi on 68 minutes saw openside Mauro Bergamasco forced to play on the wing, although the Treviso man has played club rugby in the centres recently, so the backs was not new territory for the energetic flanker.

Indeed it was Bergamasco's presence on the right side which spawned their second try of the match with six minutes to go, a botched pass from Francesco Mazzariol confusing the Welsh drift defence, but Bergamasco hacking on for Mazzariol to touch down in the corner, Peens converting impressively from the touchline.

Referee Chris White blew the whistle soon after, on a game which lost a bit of life towards the end, but one which showed that there is still life left in the Welsh national team -- even if the cynics might say:  “But it was only against Italy.”

Man of the match:  Scott Quinnell
The skipper was once again the driving force between much of the good work of the Welsh pack, scoring a try of his own early in the second half from a short-range, before being replaced by Brett Sinkinson midway through the second half.  The fact there were no sole standouts typified the renewed Welsh team ethic, although Craig Morgan and Rob Howley in particular had productive afternoons.  For Italy, Mauro Bergamasco and Gert Peens stood out from a fairly limp team performance, but after conceding five tries, none of them were serious contenders to beat Quinnell to our vote.

Moment of the match:  Rhys Williams' try
The Cardiff fullback entered the fray midway through the second half for injured centre Tom Shanklin, and gave the Welsh a timely boost in the first few minutes of the second half with a scorching counter-attack try.  A long Italian punt was fielded by Craig Morgan who cut infield near halfway.  From a resulting ruck, Stephen Jones popped short to Williams 40 metres out, who took a left to right diagonal course past openside Mauro Bergamasco to dive over.  That moment narrowly won our vote over the time when recently-resigned Wales coach Graham Henry was shown on the stadium's big screen in the crowd.  Most of the fans strangely cheered for the man who had been public enemy No.1 in Wales for the last few months, although a subdued chorus of ‘boos' could be heard from some sections.  A very strange moment indeed.

Villain of the match:  Carlo Checchinato
No real villains in a fairly calm match, but the Italian try-scorer got away with a stamping incident late in the match which should have earned him ten minutes in the sin-bin.  Alessandro Troncon's nuisance value reared its head again, but there were no fisticuffs in a well-spirited encounter.

(Half-time:  Wales 23 Italy 13)

Sin-bin:  Persico (Italy, 50 mins)

The teams:

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Robin McBryde, 3 Chris Anthony, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Andrew Moore, 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:  Iestyn Harris, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Williams, Spencer John, Brett Sinkinson, Barry Williams, Chris Wyatt

Italy:  1 Giampiero De Carli, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Ramiro Pez, 11 Roberto Pedrazzi, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gert Peens
Reserves:  Andrea Benatti, Andrea Lo Cicero, Matthew Phillips, Francesco Mazzariol, Federico Pucciariello, Giovanni Raineri
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini

Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers

Wales
Tries:  Morgan C.S. 1, Williams G.R. 1, James D.R. 1, Marinos A.W.N. 1, Quinnell L.S. 1
Conv:  Jones S.M. 5
Pen K.:  Jones S.M. 3

Italy
Tries:  Checchinato C. 1, Mazzariol F. 1
Conv:  Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1
Pen K.:  Peens G. 1, Pez R. 1