Unbeaten Wales sweep past Scotland

Wales book a Grand Slam date

Wales will play Ireland in Cardiff for the Grand Slam after sweeping past Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.  The Welsh ran in six tries before the Scots mounted a spirited fightback -- but it was to no avail, as the Welsh ended the day with a 46-22 win under their belts.

It was a remarkable, entertaining, enterprising RBS Six Nations match at threadbare Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon.  It was a match of many adjectives from brilliant to mystifying.

Brilliant!

Wales scored five tries in the first half against Scotland!  It is such a simple statement but it tells nothing of the magic that surely must have the druids chortling with delight and set the poets and songsters looking for words and sounds adequate enough.

For years to come people will sing about this day in the valleys and old men will tell the little children with bright eyes.

Wales were simply astounding.

The five tries were not long in coming.

Scotland centre Hugo Southwell hoofed a meaningless kick downfield, but Wales, gratefully, counterattacked.  Burly Ryan Jones burst straight through the Scottish locks and passed.  Four pairs of hands later the ball came back to him and over he went for the first try.  Stephen Jones converted.  7-0 after four minutes.

Already the crowd were singing Cwm Rhondda.  After all some 40,000 Welshmen had made the popular Edinburgh trip, that Max Boyce sang about.

The future was writ big on the wall -- so it seemed.

Scotland wing Sean Lamont started a bullocking run.  Scotland did all sorts of pick-'n-drive.  They went right and came back left.  Dan Parks through a long pass to skip two men.  But he did not skip Rhys Williams who intercepted and ran 80 or so metres to score under the bar.  Stephen Jones converted.  14-0 after ten minutes.

Wales fly-half Stephen Jones cut through and gave to Michael Owen who gave to Shane Williams who skipped through for a try at the posts.  Stephen Jones made it 21-0 after 13 minutes.

Stephen Jones then kicked a penalty from in front.  24-0 after 18 minutes.

Scotland fullback Chris Paterson goaled a penalty to make it 24-3, which raised no excitement amongst the astounded Scots.

The referee was playing an advantage for Wales when Tom Shanklin forced a gap through Sean Lamont, and Kevin Morgan was on hand to score at the posts.  Stephen Jones converted.  31-3.

The next try looked unlikely as Wales bounced a messy ball back, but Dwayne Peel went back and got it, sold a dummy and then broke clean through.  He played inside to Morgan who scored at the posts.  Stephen Jones converted.  38-3.

There was still time for the kick-off and an astounding passage of play which may have been a sign of what was to come in the second half as the Scots attacked and attacked and kept possession.  The attack lasted nearly four minutes before the final whistle finally went.

When the old men and the druids and the bards tell of this match in the valley, hill and dale of Wales, they will tell about the first half.

Oh they had a moment in the second half when Peel caught Scotland napping.  He tapped a penalty on the left, ran to the right and threw a wonderful pass to Rhys Williams, who scored in the corner.  43-3 with 31 minutes to play.

Those remaining 31 minutes belonged to Scotland.  In that time all Wales managed was a pusillanimous penalty.

Suddenly Scotland started taking a leaf out of the Welsh book, passing quickly, keeping the ball going beyond the tackle and doing it with growing confidence.  Like Wales they made the tackle-ball quick by having the tackled player place it well back from his body.

They attacked down the right and then came the width of the field to the left touch-line where Andy Craig went over in the corner.  Paterson converted.  43-10 with 27 minutes to play.

Oh, well, one thought -- an hiatus in the Welsh blitz.  But no.  Scotland were the ones blitzing.

They went left, right, and left again with Mike Blair providing much of the spark with his lively running.  Less than half a metre from the Scottish line, Brent Cockbain stepped in from the side to deny Scotland the ball and was sent to the sin bin.

The Scots came again and only a timely tackle by Tom Shanklin on Gordon Ross prevented the try.

But with 22 minutes to go the Scots played the width of the field, going left, then far right, then far left where Rory Lamont, the debutant right-wing, powered over -- through Shane Williams and Shanklin -- for a try in the corner.  43-15.

Wales attacked, but Haldane Luscombe, falling on a long, low pass, spilled the ball in the Scottish 22.  Sean Lamont picked up and the Scots came bursting away.  Southwell hoofed downfield and Paterson easily beat everybody to the ball.  Carefully he went down to collect, threw a little dummy and sprinted over for the try at the posts.  He converted.  43-22.

It was after this that Wales were awarded a penalty goal in front of the Scottish posts with five minutes left.  Stephen Jones goaled it to the sound of booing.  46-22.

Back came the Scots with confident skill.  They were right at the line and when Nathan Hines was close, the TMO decided that he could not see if the ball was grounded on the line and awarded a five-metre scrum.  But still the Scots attacked.

Mystifying?

What happened in the second half?  Did Wales switch off because the match was clearly won?  Did the many changes have the desired effect for Scotland?  Certainly they were smarter, sharper and more resolute in the second half, giving Wales no more presents.

Man of the Match:  Scotland scum-half Mike Blair played only a half but was the spark that ignited the Scots.  Burly Sean Lamont battled and battled with remarkable courage.  Allister Hogg was creative and brave and Chris Paterson, as always, was everywhere for Scotland.  For Wales there was relentless Martyn Williams, making Scottish opportunities into opportunities for Wales, bustling Ryan Jones who started the scoring, smooth Stephen Jones who did everything right, big Gethin Jenkins and our man-of-the-match scrum-half Dwayne Peel whose skill and judgement were unfailing.

Moment of the Match:  There is that moment -- agonising if you are Scottish, delicious if you are Welsh -- when Rhys Williams intercepted, but for creativity our vote for moment of the match goes to Chris Paterson's try and everything that went before it and the spirit that it signified.

Villain of the Match:  Nobody misbehaved, but who made the Welsh decision to kick at goal when 43-20 up and five minutes to play?

The Scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Craig, R Lamont, Paterson
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pen:  Paterson

For Wales:
Tries:  R Jones, R Williams 2, S Williams, Morgan 2
Cons:  S Jones 5
Pens:  S Jones 2

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Rory Lamont, 13 Andy Craig (Andrew Henderson, 76), 12 Hugo Southwell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 41), 9 Chris Cusiter (Mike Blair, 44), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Jon Petrie, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 Scott Murray, 4 Stuart Grimes (Nathan Hines, 41), 3 Gavin Kerr (Bruce Douglas, 42) 2 Gordon Bulloch (captain), 1 Tom Smith.
Unused replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 19 Jon Dunbar.

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Rhys Williams, 13 Tom Shanklin (Haldane Luscombe, 7-15), 12 Gavin Hanson (Ceri Sweeney, 76), 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain (Jonathan Thomas, 71), 3 Adam Jones (John Yapp, 63), 2 Mefin Davies (Robin McBryde, 49), 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Unused replacements:  19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Mike Phillips.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Christophe Berdos (France)
Assessor:  Giovanni Romano (Italy)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)

England end campaign on a high

Noon notches up a hat-trick

England ran in seven tries in total as they finished a frustrating RBS Six Nations campaign with a flourish at Twickenham.  Jamie Noon scored a hat-trick of tries as England reclaimed the Calcutta Cup -- and avoided fourth place in the standing.

Scotland had a better second half after England had led 26-10 at the break, and it could have been even closer but for an aberration by Scottish right wing Rory Lamont.

With England leading 33-22, Lamont had a run down the right wing which had "try" written all over it as he had two supporters on his inside.  But he chose to take Josh Lewsey's tackle and get dumped into touch.

Both sides tried to run the ball at every opportunity but the match lacked the intensity, speed and skill which Wales, Ireland and France were able to generate.

That said, there were some splendid tries, especially Scotland's second.

In all England scored seven tries, Scotland three.  Three of England's tries were scored by Noon, the first hat-trick in a Calcutta Cup match since John Carleton of England did it in 1980.

The first bright moment of the first half was provided by Scottish fullback Chris Paterson who darted, raced and swerved in counter-attack, but England scored first.

From a line-out Charlie Hodgson simply cut inside Gordon Ross and gave to James Noon who had a simple run to the posts.  Hodgson converted.  7-0 after 14 minutes.

When Martin Corry was penalised, Paterson made it 7-3.

England struck straight back.  They won the ball at the kick-off and Noon scored his second try -- a remarkable solo effort.  He burst between two Scots, shucked off another and then bounced Paterson out of the way to score at the posts.  Hodgson converted.  14-3.

Mark Cueto on the right wing and not far from touch moved out, drawing two Scots, before passing inside to Joe Worsley who got over in the corner.  19-3 after 27 minutes.

When Iain Balshaw was taken off on a stretch for a leg injury, Ollie Smith came on.

England's went left.  Hugo Southwell, rushed off his line and Mark Cueto, coming off the right wing, cut clean past him, drew Paterson and sent Josh Lewsey over for the try, which Hodgson converted.  26-3 after 33 minutes.

Just before the break the Scots played through many phases, centre Andy Craig made the running and Sean Lamont powered over for the try.  Paterson converted to make the score 26-10 at the break.

Scotland scored first in the second half, one of the very best tries of the whole RBS Six Nations.

Paterson collected the ball well inside his own 22, looked calm as if preparing to kick and suddenly was accelerating over the 22, past Martin Corry and into England's half.  He chipped and chased, Blair control an awkward bounce and fed Craig who galloped off to score a brilliant try.  Paterson converted.  26-17 after 45 minutes.

Two minutes later England mauled a line-out and played down the blindside where Ollie Smith sent Harry Ellis racing for the line.  Hodgson converted from far out.  33-17 after 47 minutes.

Then came a shock.

England won a line-out and Ellis was torpedoing his lads to the left when Simon Taylor intercepted and ran nobly nearly half the length of the field for a try.  33-22.

The next significant moment after this was Rory Lamont's indiscretion.

England attacked and attacked again through many phases.  Matt Dawson changed direction with a back flick and Noon surged over for his third try.  38-22 with 14 minutes to play.

Olly Barkley broke sharply and the ball went out to the right wing where Mark Cueto shook off Sean Lamont's neck-tackle to score.

The Scots then went through several phases but a knock-on by Gordon Bulloch ensured that it did not go far enough.

Man of the Match:  Chris Paterson was far and away the most exciting player on the field, but we name powerful Jamie Noon for his rare feat of a Calcutta Cup hat-trick.

Moment of the match:  Andy Craig's try and all that made it.

Villain of the Match:  Poor Rory Lamont -- he had a nanosecond in which to make a decision and made the wrong one.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Noon 3, Worsley, Lewsey, Ellis, Cueto
Cons:  Hodgson 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  S Lamont, Craig, Taylor
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pen:  Paterson

The teams:

England:  15 Iain Balshaw (Ollie Smith, 31), 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 76), 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 65) , 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody (Andy Hazell, 40), 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay (Steve Borthwick, 13), 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 Duncan Bell (Mike Worsley, 51), 2 Steve Thompson (Andy Titterrell, 72), 1 Matt Stevens.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Rory Lamont, 13 Andy Craig, 12 Hugo Southwell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg (Jon Petrie, 75), 6 Jason White, 5 Scott Murray (Stuart Grimes, 33), 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 1 Tom Smith (Bruce Douglas, 24).
Unused replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 20 Graeme Beveridge, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Andrew Henderson.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch-judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa) and Nigel Whitehouse (Wales).
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)

Cardiff erupts as Wales romp home

Wales are back!

Wales completed their clean sweep of the RBS Six Nations with an inspired 32-20 victory over Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday.  Wales -- 40/1 to win the tournament a the start of the year -- walk away with the title, the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam.

What a place to be -- Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 19 March, 2005, as Wales put 27 years of hurt behind them!

The great crowd in the great ground in the Welsh capital grew redder and redder as the moments ticked away and it became obvious that victory belonged to Wales -- victory and far more -- honour and glory, a restitution of Welsh pride and nationhood and a a revitalisation of rugby as an adventurous game for all.

There they stood -- red jerseys, chests out proud, a beer in one hand, a daffodil in the other, head up singing a hymn with fervour.

Every Welshman in the Principality became a king!

Ireland were beaten, but their energy and skill during the last twenty minutes of this encounter made the match a thriller.  The end of that match was full of determination and resolve.

The roof was open, the sun shone on a shirt-sleeve day, the anthems were ardent, Cwm Rhondda prayerful.  And Wales kicked off to start this match of destiny.  Would it be Wales?  Would it be Ireland?  And in the background was the spectre of France and their big win over Italy which could still bring them the championship.

Ireland got early into the Welsh half and Robert Sidoli was penalised for toppling the Irish jumper.  Ronan O'Gara goaled.  3-0 after three minutes.

A minute later Stephen Jones missed a penalty kick and the whole Welsh world groaned.  But then as the Welsh attacked with lots of cleverness, Gavin Henson kicked a dropped goal under pressure.  3-3 after 13 minutes.

Not long afterwards came a turning point in the match.  O'Gara sat back to kick and Gethin Jenkins charged the kick down.  It was a classic hands-out charge-down from the mobile prop.  Then with skill no prop is entitled to have, he footed gently on.  At the line he slowed with patience and fell on the ball for the match's first try.

Stephen Jones converted and Wales led 10-3 after 17 minutes, and their confidence grew and grew.

The stadium then swelled with pride as Henson goaled a penalty goal from 52 metres away, the ball glancing in off the left upright.  13-3.

Ireland had a golden moment when Denis Hickie came off the left wing and took a neat inside pass from Brian O'Driscoll.  Hickie sped through.  As Kevin Morgan tackled him he gave to Geordan Murphy.  Murphy gave to Girvan Dempsey and right at the line Stephen Jones and Mark Taylor pulled him down.

There was then a five-metre scrum to Ireland -- and Wales won it.  Yes, it was going to be Wales's day!

Stephen Jones made it 16-3 when O'Driscoll was penalised at a tackle but O'Gara made it 16-6 at half-time when Robert Sidoli was penalised for holding on.

When O'Gara was penalised for being off-side -- and was cross about it -- Stephen Jones made it 19-6.

Ireland attacked but Wales ran from their own line and set Tom Shanklin free.  He kicked long and only Anthony Foley was there to save.

After Shane Williams countered off an Irish grubber and kicked high, Ireland knocked on and Wales were on hectic attack.  They had a huge overlap -- five against two but Martyn Williams knocked on.

When Ireland were penalised, Dwayne Peel tapped and ran and Martyn Williams cut through.  It ended with a penalty by Stephen Jones which made it 22-6 after 51 minutes.

At this stage Ireland pulled O'Gara off and sent David Humphreys on.  Whether it was cause and effect or just desperation, from then on Ireland mounted attack after attack -- eventually with a measure of success.

They made many passes but always, it seemed, there were more defenders than passes.  Big Anthony Foley pounded for the corner but little Shane Williams forced him out.

Back came the Welsh, and Michael Owen made a charge.  The ball came back to Shanklin who cut straight through.  He passed to his left to Kevin Morgan who went off at an incline to score.  Stephen Jones converted.  29-6 with 22 minutes to play.

The crowd were still tense and tension would grow as Irish effort intensified.

At this stage Ireland changed as much of its pack as it could.  They got to the Welsh line and Peter Stringer flicked a pass to Marcus Horan who burst between Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins to score Ireland's first try.  Humphreys converted.  29-13 with 14 minutes to play.

Ireland were then back on attack, but Morgan managed to hack the ball free.  Shane Williams chased and Brent Cockbain was there to put pressure.  At a scrum Horan infringed seriously and Stephen Jones made it 32-13 with nine minutes left.

Those nine minutes were Irish as they flung attack after attack at the Welsh line which stood in the priority of Rorkes Drift.

Humphreys kicked a high diagonal towards little Shane Williams's wing.  Ireland won the air battle and Murphy went over for a try, Humphreys converted.  32-20 with seven minutes to go.

Those minutes passed like hours in Welsh hearts until Martyn Jenkins got the ball and hoofed it into the red-clad crowd, the final whistle went and Welshmen started rejoicing -- this day will last lifetimes.

Man of the Match:  It would be silly and unfair to single out a single Welsh hero on this wonderful day in Wales.

Moment of the Match:  There were many, but two stood out as a sign of Welsh intent -- one was a tackle by Tom Shanklin on Brian O'Driscoll.  The other occurred when Kevin Morgan footed through and Shane Williams chased.  The ball was on the ground about to come into contest when Brent Cockbain, swooped onto the ball.  They were fifty-fifty moments, which clearly meant more to Wales than to Ireland.

Villain of the Match:  Paul O'Connell and Robert Sidoli went in for some juvenile wrestling in touch, but worse than that was Gavin Henson's attempted trip on Denis Hickie.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  G Jenkins, Morgan
Cons:  S Jones 2
Pens:  S Jones 4, Henson
Drop:  Henson

For Ireland:
Tries:  Horan, Murphy
Cons:  Humphreys 2
Pens:  O'Gara

The teams:

Wales:  15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Mark Taylor, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Hanson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Adam Jones (John Yapp, 67), 2 Mefin Davies (Robin McBryde, 69), 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Unused replacements:  18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Haldane Luscombe.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Girvan Dempsey, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Kevin Maggs, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara (David Humphreys, 51), 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Anthony Foley (Eric Miller, 59), 7 Johnny O'Connor,6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (Donncha O'Callaghan, 63), 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne ( Frankie Sheahan, 63), 1 Reggie Corrigan (Marcus Horan, 59).
Unused replacements:  20 Guy Easterby, 22 Gavin Duffy.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Joël Jutge (France), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assessor:  Ian Scotney (Australia)
Television match official:  Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

France finish with a Roman flourish

Les Bleus still in with a shout

Two sudden tries in the last three minutes stretched France's victory over Italy at Stadio Flaminio in Rome to 56-13, giving them a points difference of 42 and still the possibility of retaining the RBS Six Nations title.

It may have looked at one stage in the first half as if France were going to break records in running away with the match, but Italy were not going to be milk cows, and in the end the margin of victory may just have flattered the French.

Under blue Italian skies Gert Peens of Italy kicked off to get the last weekend of the RBS Six Nations under way.  Yann Delaigue kicked out and Fabien Pelous barged at the first line-out.  With the breeze at his back Peens goaled the long kick.

Italy led 3-0 after three minutes and the crowd chanted:  "Italia!  Italia!"

Delaigue broke well but passed to an Italian, but when the Italians were marched on 10 metres at a penalty Dimitri Yachvili levelled the scores.  All square after seven minutes.

A ghastly pass then rolled behind the French centres.  Christophe Dominici stayed behind to gather and looked in terrible trouble as three Italian warriors bore down on him.

But with astonishing strength and verve the small wing burst away from them and down the field to give a pass to Yannick Nyanga and the young flank burst over for this first try for France.  Yachvili converted from touch.  10-3 to France after ten minutes, and the crowd chanted:  "Allez les Bleus!  Allez les Bleus!"

Just after this Italy skipper Marco Bortolami took out Pelous's support in the line-out bringing the French captain crashing to earth.  For this Bortolami was sent to the sin bin.

Dominici set up the next try when he beat Kaine Robertson and stayed on his feet to pass to Yannick Jauzion who swivelled over Alessandro Troncon's tackle for the try, which Yachvili again converted.  17-3 after 16 minutes.

Back came the French on attack and back came Bortolami from the sin bin just in time to witness an astonishing try.

Delaigue was going left and switched to pass infield, but the pass found Italy's Kaine Robertson who sprinted some 80 metres down the field for a try that caused much joy to echo around the Seven Hills of Rome.  Peens converted.  France led 17-10 after 25 minutes.

Just after this Delaigue had a kick charged down, Andrea Lo Cicero went on the burst and then the Italians had a passage of brilliant, quick handling which ended when the referee penalised Martin Castrogiovanni for holding on, and catcalls echoed around the ground.

Then came a horrible incident.  Dominici was running off to his right, drawing the Italians to allow room for Yachvili.  Bortolami shoved a shoulder into him from the front and Salvatore Perugini drove into him from behind with a swinging arm -- both actions fractionally late.  There was a long hiatus while Dominici was brought back from unconsciousness and taken off on a stretcher-car to be taken to the San Pietro Hospital for observation and treatment for shock.

The French got their third try as they came right and Dominic Traille, a replacement for Dominici, drew two defenders to send Nicolas Laharrague running free down the wing for a try in the corner.  Yachvili converted.

They nearly scored again before the break but Delaigue's pass to Yannick Nyanga was forward.

At half-time France led 24-10.

Peens kicked his second penalty to make it 24-13 and then the French settled down to attack.

Yachvili passed under pressure and centre Simon Picone intercepted and went off, but he lacked Robertson's speed and was hunted down by Traille.  The ball went loose and Cédric Heymans footed it back towards his own line, gathered it and cleared.

To catcalls Yachvili then kicked two penalty goals as the French were intent on scoring points.  They led 30-13 with 28 minutes to play.

Heymans nearly scored when he set off down the left touch-line but a fragment of the outside of his left boot touched a sliver of the white line and a line-out ensued instead of the try.

The French patiently built up an attack in midfield.  David Marty, on debut, picked up a bouncing ball, and sped 45 metres down the middle of the field for a try, an echo of Benoît Baby's against Ireland the week before.  Yachvili converted.  37-13 to France with 14 minutes to go and substitutions streamed onto the field.

The French made a line-out a maul and drove at the Italian line.  Scrum-half Pierre Mignoni broke away and fed Grégory Lamboley who plunged over.  Michalak converted.  44-13 with nine minutes to play.

Traille did a switch with Laharrague and the French went off with sharp, short passes -- Traille to Jauzion to Serge Betsen to Pierre Mignoni and then to Marty who raced over for this second try in a good position but Michalak missed the conversion.  39-13 with three minutes left.

France came back, but their handling broke down.  Italy heeled at the pressurised scrum and Mignoni picked up and raced 50 undeviating metres to score.  Michalak converted and France had a lead of 42 points.

Man of the Match:  Christophe Dominici was an early candidate, but he was forced out of the game with injury.  Italian candidates were Alessandro Troncon and Sergio Parisse.  But out choice is Yannick Nyanga, the tall young flank who scored the first try, did so well in the line-out, won ball, carried ball and made tackles.

Moment of the Match:  Kaine Robertson's intercept and long run as the French scurried back.

Villain of the match:  Italian skipper Marco Bortolami for the yellow card.  There is also a case for the action that destroyed Christophe Dominici.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Robertson
Con:  Peens
Pens:  Peens 2

For France:
Tries:  Nyanga, Jauzion, Laharrague, Marty 2, Lamboley, Mignoni
Cons:  Yachvili 4, Michalak 2
Pens:  Yachvili 2

The teams:

Italy:  15 Gert Peens, 14 Paul Kaine Robertson (Roberto Pedrazzi, 65), 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Simon Picone (Roberto Pedrazzi, 55-60), 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alessandro Troncon (Paul Griffen, 57), 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 David Dal Maso (Silvio Orlando, 70), 6 Aaron Persico, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellape (Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3-9, 60) , 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 Fabio Ongaro (Carlo Festuccia, 55), 1 Andrea Lo Cicero (Martin Castrogiavanni, 28).
Unused replacement:  21 Roland De Marigny

France:  15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Cédric Heymans, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici (Damien Traille, 32), 10 Yann Delaigue (Frédéric Michalak, 60), 9 Dimitri Yachvili (Pierre Mignoni, 69), 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Yannick Nyanga (Grégory Lamboley, 66), 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Pascal Papé, 71), 3 Nicolas Mas (Pieter de Villiers, 41), 2 Sébastien Bruno (William Servat, 59), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.

Referee:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

England put six tries past Italy

World champs clinch first win of 2005

England got their RBS Six Nations campaign off the mark with a six-try 39-7 win over Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.  Italy have yet to win a match -- with the daunting prospect of facing France in their final match.

Saturday's match had sparkling moments but by and large it was ragged, not aided by the use of uncontested scrums.  Italy lost their hooker Fabio Ongaro in the first half, and then in the second half prop Salvatore Perugini and replacement hooker Giorgio Intoppa.  They had, they said, no suitably trained player to play hooker and the scrums became uncontested.

England scored ten points in the first nine minutes and 12 points in the last four minutes and not much else happened in the first half.  In the second half they scored their first points after 20 minutes, the next four minutes later, and the last in the last movement of the match.

It was a match England were never going to lose.  Perhaps with contested scrums they would have got a more complete grip on the game but lots of it was ragged.

Italy scored a neat try was they attacked and attacked, and then late in the game their backs showed enterprise, especially from Andrea Masi and nippy wing Ludovico Nitoglia.

England looked best when Iain Balshaw was running but after the initial flourishes he had little running -- until near the end when he produced the blooper of the season.

Italy were best in doing ordinary things well -- getting and keeping possession but they lack a game-breaker -- any game-breaker, which mean that regardless of how close they got and how many phases they went through the ardent Azzurri were not a threat to England's defence.

When Marco Bortolami was penalised at a tackle, the very first penalty of the match, Charlie Hodgson goaled.  3-0.

Italian fly-half Luciano Orquera kicked a long way downfield to his left and away from the forwards.  Balshaw got the ball and started running.  He beat two Italians and gave to Jamie Noon.  The centre handed to mark Cueto and the wing had a straight run to the posts.  Hodgson converted.  10-0 to England after nine minutes.

The floodgates then creaked close and not even a huge England scrum near the Italian line produced a score.

Hodgson missed an easy penalty but Gert Peens, the Italian fullback, kicked the drop-out straight out.  England attacked from the scrum, Joe Worsley doing good work, until eventually big hooker Steve Thompson was forceful in the tackle and got the score.  Hodgson converted.  17-0 after 36 minutes.

On half-time England attacked again and Mark Cueto accepted a run-in on the left wing for England's third try.  22-0 to England at half-time.

Italy had the better of the first part of the second half and scored first.  They had a good maul off a line-out and hammered at the England line until scrum-half Alessandro Troncon picked up, handed off Graham Rowntree and enjoyed scoring.  Gert Peens, who had hit the woodwork with a penalty in the first half, converted.  22-7 after 45 minutes.

Italy attacked but lost the ball in the England 22.  England kicked downfield, chased.  Italy missed the ball which Cueto picked up.  His pass to Josh Lewsey was forward, as the touch judge suggested, thus preventing a try.

Italy were penalised eight times in this half, seven times at the tackle/ruck.  England turned one into a five-metre line-out which they lost.

A massive maul stuttered, gained momentum and was then stopped under the use-it-or-lose-it law just when a try was certain.

It was at this stage that scrums were eviscerated.

From a scrum five metres from the Italian line, England moved the ball the width of the field.  Balshaw came in and scored in Nitoglia's tackle.  27-7 after 60 minutes.

Four minutes later England again went wide, this time from a line-out.  Again Balshaw came in, this time freeing up Cueto for his hat-trick try.  32-7.

Replacement hooker Andy Titterrell had a great break in the manner of a class centre, and then Orquera and Masi did clever things to get within three metres of the England line.

Time was up when -- from broken play -- replacement Andy Hazell was given a run at the line for his first points for England.  Andy Goode was on for Hodgson for his first cap and he capped the occasion by converting the try, his first points for England.  39-7 -- and the final whistle went.

Man of the Match:  Martin Corry, captaining England for the first time, was all things strong, noble and committed.  Iain Balshaw did much to provide sparkle.  But our man-of-the-match is Alessandro Troncon of Italy.  In a losing side the veteran showed great skill, determination, strength and fine judgement.

Moment of the match:  There was one which will be remembered.  From deep in England territory with Italy on attack, Iain Balshaw kicked a long, long ball down towards the Italian corner.  As the ball rolled towards the Italian line, Balshaw easily outstripped all Italians.  He caught up with the ball as it slowed down.  Half a metre from the line, with no Italian in sight, Balshaw waited carefully.  The ball stood up gently -- and went back through Balshaw's legs!  Without the ball he crashed on his face in the Italian in-goal.

Villain of the match:  Iain Balshaw -- see above!

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cueto 3, Balshaw, Hazell
Cons:  Hodgson 2, Goode
Pen:  Hodgson

For Italy:
Try:  Troncon
Con:  Peens

England:  15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon (Ollie Smith, 66), 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 74), 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 51), 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley (Andy Hazell, 74), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Danny Grewcock (Steve Borthwick, 62), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Steve Thompson (Andy Titterrell, 66), 1 Graham Rowntree (Duncan Bell, 66).

Italy:  15 Gert Peens, 14 Roberto Pedrazzi, 13 Matteo Barbini (Walter Pozzebon, 28) 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 David Dal Maso (Silvio Orlando, 40), 6 Aaron Persico, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Salvatore Perugini (Martin Castrogiavanni, 53), 2 Fabio Ongaro (Giorgio Intoppa, 20 -- Mario Savi, 62), 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Unused replacements:  19 Santiago Dellape, 21 Paul Griffen.

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Nigel Williams (Wales), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor:  David Kerr (Scotland)
Television match official:  Rob Dickson (Scotland)

France shatter Irish dreams

Dominici claims a brace of tries

Two tries from Christophe Dominici helped France to beat Ireland 26-19 at windy Lansdowne in the Six Nations on Saturday, leaving Irish dreams of Grand Slam glory in tatters.

The clean sweep is now out of the question, but Ireland could yet win the championship -- as could France.  That will all be decided next week.

France showed their hand right at the start.  They ran the first ball they got with fullback Julien Laharrague in the backs.  They mauled their first line-out and rushed it forward.  It was a complete performance.  They dominated up front and they dominated out wide.

Their long line of defence was far more impenetrable than the Maginot line ever was, except for one glorious O'Driscoll moment that kept Ireland's hopes alive.

Wind at their backs, Ireland scored first when Sébastien Bruno was penalised at a tackle, and Ronan O'Gara goaled.  3-0 to Ireland after seven minutes.

When Simon Easterby was penalised at a tackle, France made it a line-out.  They made that a maul -- a running maul metres down the field.  The ball came back to Yann Delaigue who kicked a dropped goal.  3-3 after ten minutes.

When Delaigue tackled high, O'Gara kicked the goal.  6-3 to Ireland after 18 minutes.

Three minutes later Easterby was penalised for being off-side and Yachvili kicked a longish goal into the wind.  6-6.

Bruno infringed but O'Gara's place-kick faded away.  When Marconnet was penalised, the kick swung but this time got inside the upright.  O'Gara then became the highest points' scorer in Ireland's rugby history.  9-6 to Ireland after 24 minutes.

That was Ireland's bundle for the first half, but not France's.

Laharrague had almost worked an overlap for Cédric Heymans but a hand got in the way.  Then as France went right he passed inside to Heymans whop gave outside to Christophe Dominici who handed off Denis Hickie to score in the corner.  France led 11-9 after 28 minutes.

Surprisingly France were giving Ireland a tough time in the line-out.  Yannick Nyanga pinched an Irish ball, palming it back quickly.  Jérôme Thion gave to Yannick Jauzion who gave to debutant Benoît Baby just inside France's half.

The young centre pinned back his ears and simply ran the 52 metres to score a sensational try.  Yachvili converted.  18-9 to France and they were full value for their lead, wind or no wind.

In the second half Ireland were into the wind and outscored France, but it was just not enough.

O'Gara kicked a penalty when Baby was guilty of a ridiculous headbutt.  18-12.  But at this stage O'Gara was kicking into the wind a great deal and for no profit.

With 19 minutes to go Yachvili kicked a goal for a tackle infringement.  21-12 to France.

To their credit and honour, Ireland were not done and were attacking more now, eschewing kicks at goal in search of tries but finding a way through hard against the blue defence.

Then Paul O'Connell won an Irish line-out.  He won it in the No.2 position which gave field width but also room for loose forwards to defend.  Forget all that.  Brian O'Driscoll tucked the ball under an arm and raced past replacement Frédéric Michalak whose attempted tackle had no force.  O'Driscoll swept past Heymans and scored under the posts.  O'Gara converted.  21-19 to France with seven minutes.

But those seven minutes belonged to France as they kept Ireland pinned in their own territory.  At a tackle/ruck the referee told Peter Stringer to play it.  Instead Serge Betsen homed in on the ball.  Brave Malcolm O'Kelly managed to recover the ball but Betsen got the ball off him and smuggled it to Sylvain Marconnet.  The big prop gave the pass to Dominici who had a free run  for the line.  That made it 26-19 to France with two minutes to play.

France played those two minutes well in Irish territory.

Man of the match:  Brian O'Driscoll scored a great try, and so did Benoît Baby but he later blotted his copybook.  Yannick Nyanga won valuable line-out ball for France.  One of his wins provided the ball for Baby's try.  But our choice is between hyperactive, calm, relatively new man Julien Laharrague and, our eventuaL choice as man-of-the-match -- darting, wholehearted Christophe Dominici.

Moment of the Match:  There were two -- Benoît Baby's try and Brian O'Driscoll's try.  O'Driscoll's try required greater effort and is our choice.

Villain of the Match:  It was well-mannered match at a well-mannered ground, which made Benoît Baby's action on O'Driscoll all the sillier.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  O'Driscoll
Con:  O'Gara
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For France:
Try:  Baby, Dominici
Con:  Yachvili
Pen:  Yachvili 3
Drop:  Delaigue

The teams:

Team:  15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Benoit Baby, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Yann Delaigue (Frédéric Michalak, 69) 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Pascal Papé, 71), 3 Nicolas Mas (Pieter de Villiers, 41), 2 Sébastien Bruno (Dimitri Szarzewski, 77), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Unused replacements: 20 Pierre Mignoni, 22 David Marty.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Girvan Dempsey, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Kevin Maggs, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Anthony Foley (Eric Miller, 70), 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Reggie Corrigan (Marcus Horan, 70).
Unused replacements:  16 Frankie Sheahan, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Guy Easterby, 21 David Humphreys, 22 Gavin Duffy.

Referee:  Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges:  Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Ian Scotney (Australia)
Television match official:  Roy Maybank (England)