France set for Six Nations glory

Les Bleus weather fine Welsh performance

France look set for Six Nations celebrations after they beat off a commendable effort from Wales to record a 21-16 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Wales almost put the cat amongst the pigeons with a stunning performance that saw them taking a lead into the final 10 minutes of a pulsating game.

Ireland could yet deny the French a champagne evening in Cardiff but the men in green need to put 34 points past England at Twickenham to clinch the title.

It took 73 minutes for France to take the lead, when a late flash of brilliance from Frédéric Michalak created the opening for Florian Fritz to score under the posts.

Victory meant that only a convincing Ireland win over England at Twickenham would deny France the title -- but the irony is that up until Fritz's score Les Bleus had looked nothing like champions.

A superb try from Hal Luscombe and eight points from the boot of fly-half Stephen Jones earned Wales a deserved 13-6 half-time lead.

France, who had struggled to create anything in the face of some high-pressure defence, hit back through replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski but Wales retained their lead until just seven minutes from time.

Defeat was ill-deserved for Wales but after a turbulent season wrecked by injuries, defeats and damaging controversies, home fans head into the summer with their hopes for the future lifted.

Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips, in for the injured Dwayne Peel, produced an immense performance on his first start since the autumn, closely followed by the recalled No.8 Alix Popham.

Both men had points to prove -- though to whom is still up in the air with the Welsh Rugby Union to begin a worldwide search for a new head coach on Monday.

But the behind-the-scenes politics was for another day, because today was about pride and Wales showed it in barrel-loads.

With Italy losing to Scotland in Rome, Wales had escaped the ignominy of crashing from Grand Slam champions to wooden spoon chumps in the space of a season.

Perhaps that lifted the pressure somewhat.  Either way, Wales started like a steam train and barely relented for the whole first half.

The French defence strained under the early pressure and conceded a fourth-minute penalty, which Stephen Jones converted from in front of the posts.

France lacked a cutting edge and had to settle for a penalty from Dimitri Yachvili after Ian Gough was spotted holding on at the breakdown.

Wales, in contrast, were attacking France at pace, supporting in numbers and offloading quickly to severely test the blue defence.

Matthew Watkins jinked expertly past French hooker Raphaël Ibañez and offloaded on the angle to Stephen Jones.

Robert Sidoli was tackled off the ball while in support by the retreating Ibanez, who was sin-binned for his efforts.

Wales, back in the lead after Jones landed from the subsequent penalty, made sure they took full advantage of that extra man.

Luscombe escaped down the left wing and slipped a pass inside to Shane Williams, who swerved around Thomas Castaignède.

Williams was scragged just short of the line by Yannick Nyanga but hooked a brilliant one-handed pass back to Luscombe who touched down for his second Test try.

Yachvili slotted a second penalty to make it 13-6 at the interval -- but he did not survive to see the second half as French coach Bernard Laporte introduced Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Cédric Heymans for Castaignède.

France, their title hopes on the line, reacted well and replacement hooker Szarzewski burrowed over in the corner from a lineout.

But Wales retained a narrow lead, thankful that Elissalde's conversion hit the post and both the scrum-half and centre Damien Traille had missed with penalty attempts early in the second period.

Wales had been forced to make half-time changes themselves and although the introduction of Gavin Henson for Lee Byrne received a mixed reaction, the "Tanned One" soon had the Millennium Stadium on their feet with a towering 50-metre penalty.

Wales came within inches of extending their lead further as France again found themselves strangled in the face of some high-pressure defence.

Shane Williams toed the ball into the French try-zone after it squeezed out from a ruck.  Michalak appeared to have dived over the ball and the Wales winger touched down.

But Italian television official Giulio de Santis ruled Michalak had applied downward pressure with his torso and denied Wales the score.

France took full advantage of the escape, surging down the other end.  Fritz scored under the posts and Elissalde's simple conversion took France ahead for the first time in the game.

Phillips refused to give up the ghost and burst through a huge gap at the back of a line-out, but the Cardiff scrum-half did not have the pace to beat Aurelien Rougerie on the outside and the chance of an immediate response went begging.

Elissalde booted France five points clear with a penalty -- but still Wales piled forward and it required a try-saving tackle from Michalak to secure the win after Shane Williams had wriggled past Rougerie.

More to follow...

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Luscombe
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 3

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Fritz
Con:  Elissalde
Pens:  Yachvili 2, Elissalde

Yellow cards:  Ibañez (France) -- off-side, 24

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Dafydd James, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Owen (captain), 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements:  16 Mefin Davies, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Andy Williams, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Gavin Henson.

France:  15 Thomas Castaignede, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Thomas Lievremont, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphael Ibañez, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Olivier Magne, 20 Jean Baptiste Elissalde, 21 Ludovic Valbon, 22 Cedric Heymans.

Referee:  Chris White (England)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Scotland snatch a win in Rome

Last-gasp penalty gives Scots three from five

Scotland and Italy punctuated exciting Six Nations campaigns with a lethargic encounter at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on Saturday, with a last-gasp penalty from Chris Paterson handing the visitors a 13-10 victory -- Scotland's first away win for almost four years.

The scores were locked at 10-10 and Italy looked on course to secure a second successive draw when Paterson accepted a chance from 43 metres out with just three minutes remaining.

Scotland's last win in the Six Nations was in Cardiff in 2002 and on their last visit to Rome they crashed to a 20-14 defeat.

But Frank Hadden has revitalised the side since he took over last year and this success on the road comes on the back of famous Murrayfield triumphs over France and England.

Paterson was the hero on the field, not only keeping his cool to kick the last-gasp penalty but also crossing for Scotland's try and adding the conversion, while Gordon Ross dropped a goal just before half-time.

Italy, who took the lead in the sixth minute through Mirco Bergamasco, looked to have salvaged a draw when Ramiro Pez levelled matters midway through the second half.

But they are now consigned to the wooden spoon again despite making progress under new coach Pierre Berbizier this season, including claiming their first ever Six Nations point away from the Eternal City.

Scott Lawson, in for Dougie Hall at the problem position of hooker, started well, an accurate throw securing Scotland possession at the first line-out, but moments later Hugo Southwell's attempted clearance was charged down in his own 22.

Italy had numbers on their left side but a knock-on from Bergamasco ended what could have been a dangerous move.

The Azzurri maintained their early pressure thanks to some clever kicking from Pez, though, and that superiority was rewarded in the sixth minute.

Veteran stand-off Pez's chip over the top was collected by Bergamasco and he crashed over from close range, the Perpignan number 10 adding the simple conversion.

Scotland were dealt another early blow when Chris Cusiter was forced off with a shoulder injury -- his recall lasting less than 10 minutes -- to be replaced by Mike Blair.

The Edinburgh scrum-half was immediately involved, darting from the base of a ruck to be held up just short but, after a tremendous clean-out by Nathan Hines, Paterson picked up and dived over.

Paterson added the extras to draw his side level and moments later the Edinburgh winger was bundled into touch a couple of yards short of a second try after a terrific move down the left with Sean Lamont.

Like Cusiter, Cristian Stoica's return to the side was brief as the veteran Montpellier back hobbled off after 20 minutes to be replaced by Parma's Ezio Galon.

Scotland were certainly on the offensive for the second part of the first half but some unforced errors -- notably a knock-on from Jason White -- hampered their efforts to seize the lead.

In the final seconds of the half the visitors did take the lead when Ross dropped a goal from just 15 yards to edge his side ahead at the interval.

Scotland started the second period extremely sloppily, first allowing a ball to bounce in their own 22 which should have been swallowed up and then Lamont almost gifting the home side a try.

The Northampton winger attempted to flick the ball back to Blair just inside his 22 but Pablo Canavosio got to it first and only a fine tackle from Lamont and the ball being knocked forward as the Italy flyer tried to pass to Pez preserved Scotland's lead.

Berbizier freshened up his pack within 15 minutes of the second period as Andrea Lo Cicero and Alessandro Zanni entered the fray and Hadden responded by bringing prop Craig Smith on for Bruce Douglas.

Scotland immediately conceded a penalty for an infringement in the scrum, with Lawson looking the guilty party, and Pez made no mistake to draw his side level.

Italy sensed another victory in Rome over Scotland and Berbizier sent Carlo Festuccia on instead of Fabio Ongaro to further fire the front front-row battle, as well as lock Carlo Antonio Del Fava.

Hadden replaced Ross, who had done little wrong, with Parks.  And the Scotland coach also substituted Scott Murray, equalling Gordon Bulloch as his country's most capped forward with 75, with Alastair Kellock.

Italy were looking the more likely to claim the lead and it took splendid scrambling defence from the Scots -- notably from Hines -- to keep an aggressive Bergamasco run at bay.

That move had come from a loose Lamont pass and it was clearly one too many for Hadden's liking as he immediately replaced him with Simon Webster.

A big hit from White caused a turnover for Scotland in the 76th minute and Italy were penalised as they tried to retrieve possession.

Paterson stepped up and from just inside the home side's half kicked Scotland to victory with little over two minutes remaining.

Man of the match:  Italy centre Mirco Bergamasco confirmed what we have come to believe -- that's he is the "find" of the Six Nations.  Sergio Parisse and Paul Griffen also did well for the home side.  Chris Paterson looked lively when he popped up at fly-half (hint, hint!) but our award goes to Hugo Southwell who had his best game of a good championship and proved to be an absolute rock under the high ball.

Moment of the match:  A few notable breaks from both sides but this game won't live long in the memory.  The passionate home support was superb -- how the crave more wins -- but the most poignant moment was the full-time whistle and the look of relief on Scottish faces as they realised that their long search for a win on the road was over.

Villain of the match:  Poor old Sean Lamont had an absolute shocker, but he's a great player and we can't hand him this hideous gong for one bad day at the office.  No award.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Bergamasco
Con:  Pez
Pen:  Pez

For Scotland:
Try:  Paterson
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson
Drop:  Ross

The teams:

Italy:  15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri, 6 Sergio Parisse, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Martín Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Carlo Del Fava, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Rima Wakarua, 22 Ezio Galon.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Marcus di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Jason White (captain), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Bruce Douglas, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Craig Smith, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Jon Petrie, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Stuart Webster.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)

Ireland grab the Triple Crown

Horgan's last-second try snatches a thriller for Ireland at Twickenham

Ireland took the inaugural Triple Crown trophy with a epic 28-24 Six Nations victory over England on Saturday, sealed with try by wing Shane Horgan two minutes from time.

In a thrilling match the lead changed hands four times before the video referee ruled Horgan's late stretch for the line in-goal and not in touch.  Andy Goode's flawless second-half kicking display looked to have stolen the spoils for the home team when he landed his fourth penalty to make it 24-21 with seven minutes to go, but it was not to be.

England finish fourth, with a host of questions unanswered and a number of heads likely to be on the Twickenham chopping block in the coming weeks.  Ireland appear to have emerged from their November slump, and are building well ahead of the looming 2007 Rugby World Cup.

It was a fitting finale to this tournament.  Not perfect in terms of pure quality, but with a competitive edge, and ebb and flow of momentum, that kept all observers in thrall right up until the final twists in the tale.

It also contained a bitter aftertaste of officiating controversy for England, who will be judged on the criminal virtues of international defeat but will point in shallow mitigation at the television replay which clearly showed Shane Horgan's first try to be invalid, the ball scuffing the touchline before Horgan hacked ahead into the in-goal area.

Then there is the replay which showed Ben Cohen's quick line-out to be valid in the 58th minute.  The touch-judge ruled it invalid, and England were forced to throw again.  From that line-out, Denis Leamy pounced for Ireland's second try.

That mitigation will be shallow indeed though, for the English had many chances to kill the game off, and were helped to no small extent by referee Nigel Whitehouse, whose exemplary policing of the breakdown ensured all ball that should have been quick was quick.  England frequently had the platform from which to do their stuff.  All too frequently they stuffed it up, either figuratively by making mistakes, or literally, up their shirts when men were free.

In the cold light of day, there will be plusses for England to look at.  The team was unquestionably a hundred per cent better than the limp lot that folded like so many crêpes last week in Paris.

The scrum was formidable, and harried five penalties out of the Irish scrum.  The forwards, in the second half especially, built up heads of steam and sequences of possession that would have yielded tries in most games.

Mike Tindall ran with purpose and speed, as did Stuart Abbott, who made several threatening thrusts.  Lee Mears translated flashes of his club form up to the higher level on his first Six Nations start, and Andy Sheridan's work-rate was noticeably higher than it had previously been.

Ireland's hour of glory -- fittingly on St. Patrick's Day weekend -- is richly deserved, irrespective of the slices of fortune they feasted upon.  Their game, which unravelled completely for fifty minutes in Paris, has come fully together again.

In the first half especially, the defenders attached themselves to every English runner like iron lumps to a magnet.  They won eight penalties in that first half, and turned over the ball five times in open play.  The open stuff was not so impressive in the second half, but the form of attack had changed:  England lost well over half of their line-outs in the second half, including the one that led to Leamy's try.

In attack, Geordan Murphy gave a sublime display of running lines and adventure, while Shane Horgan underpinned it with the work-rate of an industrial motor.  Up front, the loose trio of David Wallace, Simon Easterby and Denis Leamy was magnificent.  Only in the front row was there a weakness to be found, but hooker Jerry Flannery in particular made up for that in the loose.

It all started so brightly for the home team.  Paul O'Connell missed the kick-off, and the ball bounced loose.  A scrum ensued at which the Irish front row was penalised for binding issues.  Harry Ellis tapped and spun the ball wide, and Jamie Noon bulldozed his opposite number for the opening score after 74 seconds.

Goode missed that conversion, and missed two other kicks in the half as he struggled to find his rhythm.  By the time he had missed his second, England were 8-5 behind, courtesy of an O'Gara penalty and the first Horgan try, which will have English fans fuming tomorrow.

O'Gara kicked from open play and the ball went towards Ben Cohen.  Whatever Cohen's intentions were, they did not include catching the ball, and he let the ball bounce past him before springing into action and slipping on the loose turf.  Horgan skipped past him and hacked the ball ahead.  Touch-judge Rob Dickson's flag shot up to head height, and then ducked back down behind his back just as quickly, as Horgan dived on the loose ball for the try.  Television replays clearly showed the ball touching the line.  But then, if Cohen had done something, anything, in fact, beyond standing as though petrified, Horgan could never have even got to the ball.  Who is really to blame?

Cohen had a miserable first half, and it is to his credit that he later turned things around.  On 25 minutes, with Ireland now 8-5 ahead, he scrambled to secure another regulation high ball, and then hoisted an extraordinary kick into space where only Irish runners were lurking.  Ireland forced two penalties as a result, and should have taken three points.  Instead they went for a tap, and England turned over and cleared.

Ireland did make it 11-5 on 32 minutes, for a trip on Stringer by Simon Shaw, who was sin-binned for his efforts.  From the restart, Simon Easterby obstructed the chasers, and Goode made it 11-8.

Ireland had two more clear chances to extend the lead before the break, first Gordon D'Arcy over-ran Brian O'Driscoll on the overlap, and then Flannery popped up in the line outside O'Driscoll with the speed of a greyhound but the co-ordination of a baby Llama.  11-8 it stayed until the break.

Goode and O'Gara swapped two further penalties in the opening two minutes of the second half, but now was England's best period.  Between minutes 45 and 53 they laid siege to Ireland's 22, using a mixture of their wrecking-ball forward running and the crowbar-like openings created by Abbott, Cohen and Tom Voyce.  Eventually Steve Borthwick popped up on a Tindall-like angle and broke through to go under the posts, making it 18-14.

Whatever England gained by hammering away, Ireland clawed back through the line-outs.  While England dominated the third quarter, they lost every single line-out bar one.  From one, David Wallace broke to make some 50m before England turned over and cleared to touch.

Ireland were then gifted the lead back.  The maligned Cohen chased back an O'Gara kick, which bounced into touch five metres from the England line.  Cohen took the ball, and took a quick line-out to himself, but the touch-judge ruled he had stepped onto the pitch, television replays once again showing otherwise.  The throw was ordered again.  Nobody jumped for Mears's throw though, an unforgivable error, and Leamy took the ball at the back and sprung over the line, with O'Gara making it 21-18.

Still England bashed and bashed, but Ireland closed up superbly, and once again England's reluctance to look outside proved costly on a couple of occasions -- not least when Lewis Moody had Mark Cueto screaming for the ball outside him, yet chose to run diagonally until all Cueto's space had been eaten up before giving Cueto the ball.  Horgan put Cueto ineffectually into touch, and O'Gara cleared from the line-out.

But a high tackle on Goode by Easterby -- for which he was sin-binned -- and an errant Irish hand at a ruck gave Goode two penalties to slot, and England led 24-21 with six minutes to go.  The doors of the jail were open.

Then they were slammed firmly shut again by a piece of magic.  O'Gara's chip bounced away from Cohen -- who was more unlucky than culpable this time -- and O'Driscoll took the ball at pace.  He timed his pass to Horgan superbly, but Horgan was tackled 7m short of the line magnificently by Moody.  Ireland ran the ball inside for two phases, before O'Driscoll once again found Horgan with Moody breathing down his neck.  Same pair, same corner, same situation, but this time the Irishman stretched out an arm and plonked the ball on the line like an empirical flag on new-found territory.

O'Gara converted, and officials began tying green ribbons on that sparkly new Triple Crown trophy.

Man of the match:  For England, Andy Goode and Martin Corry stood out for distribution and work-rate respectively, and Lee Mears added extra dimenisons to hooker play.  For Ireland, Shane Horgan was superb with the ball in hand, as was Geordan Murphy.  the loose trio were instrumental in frustrating england at key moments.  Those five are all tied for the runner-up spot, but for a spot of work well above the expected level:  namely the try-saving tackle on a flying winger with a minute left on the clock, Lewis Moody gets himself a nose in front of the rest and wins our award for man of the match.  Referee Nigel Whitehouse should also be mentioned for an excellent performance.

Moment of the match:  Would have been the try, but it was ruined by the need for the video referee.  So Lewis Moody's try-saving tackle gets the nod.

Villain of the match:  Could have been the touch-judges who made the crucial mistakes, but something even more unpleasant happened on the pitch, when Jerry Flannery's hands flew to his face in horror at a playground slap from Matt Dawson.  Listen carefully:  Rugby -- players -- do -- not -- fake -- injury.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Noon, Borthwick
Con:  Goode
Pens:  Goode 4

For Ireland:
Tries:  Horgan 2, Leamy
Con:  O'Gara 2
Pens:  O'Gara 3

The teams:

England:  15 Tom Voyce, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Stuart Abbott, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Julian White, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andy Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Perry Freshwater, 18 Danny Grewcock, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Matt Dawson, 21 Dave Walder, 22 Mike Tindall.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 18 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eion Reddan, 20 David Humphreys, 21 Girvan Dempsey.

Referee:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

France leave England for dead

Robinson and his troops flunk French test

The odds on a French victory in the 2006 Six Nations shortened dramatically in Paris on Sunday as Les Bleus recorded a comprehensive 31-6 victory over England courtesy of a cultured and controlled performance that left the English rooted to the spot like so many oaks.

Worcester scrum-half Andy Gomarsall caught an early morning flight to France after Matt Dawson awoke feeling less then himself.  But at least he woke up.  The rest of his team-mates slept-walked into "Le Crunch" and were 10 points to the bad after just five minutes of play.

The English never recovered from their poor start and were guilty of making careless mistakes, skewing clearances, dropping balls and conceding penalties.

Despite bags of possession and more huff and puff than a pack of Big Bad Wolves, the visitors never once manage to penetrate the well-marshalled French lines.

France scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili added the kicks following Florian Fritz's try in the opening minute of the game and France had opened a 16-3 lead before Damien Traille and Christophe Dominici rounded off the victory with second-half tries.

All England could manage was two penalties -- one from Charlie Hodgson and one from his second-half replacement, Andy Goode.

The defeat, England's seventh in 14 Six Nations starts since winning the World Cup in 2003, equals their worst margin of defeat against France, having lost by 25 points in Paris 34 years ago.

Late in the second half, France lock Lionel Nallet, on as a replacement for Fabien Pelous, got the ball under pressure.  He did a little dart and shuffle and was pulled down.

It was a tiny moment in the match and probably of no consequence except that in that little moment he looked livelier and brighter than either of the big English centres looked in the match.  It may just be here -- in skill sacrificed for muscularity -- that England lost the match.

Any line-breaks and any creative skill came from the French.  England did well enough at getting possession and in territory but they at no stage did they look like scoring a try.  They had a five-metre line-out and that was stillborn as Lewis Moody caught the ball and instead of the traditional English maul they had Martin Corry peeling round the front and getting thumped.

French defence was excellent and they used the rush defence system which produced an intercept try.

All the real line-breaks came from France with breaks by Thomas Lièvremont, Frédéric Michalak, Thomas Castaignède and Yannick Nyanga in the first half and Michalak, Castaignède, Florian Fritz and Damien Traille (twice) in the second half.

The French wings, Aurélien Rougerie more than Christophe Dominic, got passes while the English wings had to be content in trying to run back French kicks.

Some of the English handling was poor, notably in France's first and third tries.

England missed a penalty kick at goal, while France missed two penalty kicks at goal and two drop attempts that were distinctly goalable.  Goaled, they would have made the score huge, even more humiliating for the English than it was.

England acknowledged its parlous state at the break.  Charlie Hodgson did not reappear in the second half, a tough departure for the pivot who has spent so much of his career in the shadow of Jonny Wilkinson and was getting his first chance to play against France in Paris.

Andy Goode came on his place, and nothing improved for England, even if Goode scored the first points of the second half with a penalty goal when Olivier Magne was penalised for deliberately knocking on, the third penalty he had conceded of six against France up until that point.

Other fresh troops were thrown in -- Harry Ellis and Tom Voyce -- were on eagerly in the second half.  And with 20 minutes to go Lee Mears, Andy Sheridan and Lawrence Dallaglio were on -- and nothing improved for England.  They lost the first half 16-3, the second 15-3.

All of that said, in the intensity of the match, the muscularity of the confrontation, the determination of the defences, all three of France's tries came from English error.

The first came after just 41 seconds of first whistle.

From well within his own half, Michalak hoisted a high kick down the middle of the field towards the England 22 where Jamie Noon and Josh Lewsey contrived to miss the ball entirely.  Damien Traille was there to snap it up and pass to Florian Fritz in his right and the big centre raced over for a simple try, which Dimitri Yachvili converted.  7-0 after 41 seconds!

There were two in the second half.  The first came at a scrum near the half-way line and near the touch-line on France's right.  England were penalised and Yachvili tapped and darted.  Out the ball went to Traille who forged ahead before kicking at the goal-line.  Back for it were Ellis and Mark Cueto.  Haring after it and just behind the English duo was Fritz.  The trio dived at the ball -- and missed it!  But Traille was on hand to gather and plunge over for the try.  Yachvili's conversion hit the upright and stayed out.

The third try came at the death.  Andy Goode threw a long pass to his left -- straight to Christophe Dominici who was somewhere in midfield.  The French left-wing caught the ball, accelerated and then dropped to a grinning jog, looking around as he dawdled towards the posts, ending it with a dive for the try.

Lièvremont acknowledged his team-mate's score with a little Parisian mime, knocking imaginary nails into an all too real English coffin -- it was all over.

The surprise of the half-time score is that England were only 13 points behind, for most of the half belonged to France.

Following Fritz's early score, Joe Worsley was penalised for holding on at a tackle and Yachvili made it 10-0.

After Yachvili had missed a penalty and Michalak a drop, England made a foray into French territory.  Lièvremont was penalised for an air tackle in a line-out but Charlie Hodgson's kick hit the upright and stayed out.

Yachvili then made it 16-0 when Matt Dawson was penalised.

Just before half-time England mounted their best attack of the match when Matt Stevens barged some headway in the middle and then, going left, Hodgson grubbered towards the French line.  Castaignède gathered but Jamie Noon tackled him into touch for a five-metre line-out to England.

After Corry had been stopped at the ensuing maul, England went right, Magne was penalised for being off-side and Hodgson goaled the simplest of kicks.

Voyce's entry into the match was far from auspicious.  He dropped the first ball kicked to him and then was penalised for holding on.  Yachvili missed the kick at goal.

Michalak then kicked a bomb and Lewsey -- nothing like as secure as Castaignède under the high ball -- knocked on straight to replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski who ploughed ahead.  Fritz carried it on but Jérôme Thion knocked on five metres from the line.  That gave England a tough scrum five metres from their own line.  The scrum was reset four times until France were penalised when Szarzewski collapsed.

Throughout the match, the French scrums had had no problems but England's were unhappy, regularly reset.

In seven England scrums there were eight resets and three penalties.  Martin Corry, who played the whole match this time as Dallaglio replaced Worsley, had regular conversations with the referee about France's scrummaging methods.

But Corry's consternation was probably down to more than just France's tactics at the scrum.  Les Bleus now have a third Six Nations title in five years in their sights while the English trudge home to pick over the pieces of another failed campaign.

England can still win the Six Nations title by thrashing Ireland on Saturday after hearing news of a Welsh victory over France in Cardiff -- but that is highly unlikely on this evidence.  France have their tails up and they are strutting towards the silverware.

Man of the Match:  It was not a good match for England -- too clumsy and error-ridden, which may mean that the players were too tense.  For France there were several players who caught the eye -- athletic Yannick Nyanga, busy Raphaël Ibañez, lively Dimitri Yachvili, forceful Florian Fritz and dominant Damien Traille.  But our man of the match was that mixture of genius and courage, Thomas Castaignède, who gave the match its electricity.

Moment of the match:  That start for Florian Fritz's try which was the forerunner of things to come -- English bungling and France's light-footed enthusiasm.

Villain of the Match:  Tense though it was, the manners were good.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Fritz, Traille, Dominici
Cons:  Yachvili 2
Pens:  Yachvili 4

For England:
Pens:  Hodgson, Goode

The teams:

France:  15 Thomas Castaignède, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Damien Traille (Ludovic Valbon, 76), 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Frédéric Michalak, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Thomas Lièvremont, 7 Olivier Magne (Julien Bonnaire, 58), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (Lionel Nallet, 66), 3 Pieter de Villiers (Olivier Milloud, 51),, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (Dimitri Szarzewski, 60), 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Unused replacements:  20 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 22 Cédric Heymans.

England:  15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Tindall (Tom Voyce, 58), 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 40), 9 Matt Dawson (Harry Ellis, 58), 8 Martin Corry, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley (Lawrence Dallaglio, 62), 5 Danny Grewcock (Simon Shaw, 71), 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Julian White, 2 Steve Thompson (Lee Mears, 61), 1 Matt Stevens (Andy Sheridan, 61).

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Alan Lewis, Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland douse Scottish fires

Irish give Lansdowne Road a decent send-off

Ireland kept their Six Nations hopes burning courtesy of a frantic 15-9 victory over Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday -- giving the ramshackle heap a happy competitive send-off before it undergoes redevelopment.

Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara booted all of Ireland's points and Eddie O'Sullivan's men travel to Twickenham next weekend where they will hope to clinch their first tournament title since 1985.

All of Scotland's points came from the boot of Chris Paterson with defeat ending their own Six Nations title challenge.

Rain bucketed down on the pitch for the half-hour leading up to kick-off, and although it kindly abated for much of the first half, the second half was not so blessed.  It all took its inevitable toll on Irish and Scottish ambition, although the aggressive defence which has marked Scotland's Six Nations also played a full role in the game, saving them from a much heavier defeat.

Scotland's limitations were underlined as they rarely threatened in attack, and Ireland were never likely to concede the possession that England and France had done previously.

The men in green appeared to have deciphered the Scots' line-out calls pretty early on, and from then on, with the conditions rendering the match a kicking duel, Ireland always had enough possession to win.

Man of the match Paul O'Connell, back after missing the 31-5 victory over Wales with a shoulder injury, had an immense game in the line-out and in the loose, and was substituted to a standing ovation.  Peter Stringer also continued his revival from a form slump with another lively display.

O'Sullivan had lamented the subdued atmosphere at Lansdowne Road for the Italy and Wales matches but he could have few complaints early this afternoon as a huge roar greeted kick-off, and most of the afternoon's events.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll had demanded his team give Irish supporters reason to cheer and they did exactly that by racing out of the blocks with an early assault on the Scottish line.

A turnover in midfield allowed Ireland to attack down the right through Jerry Flannery and Shane Horgan but a poor pass to Gordon D'Arcy after the ball had been recycled ended the threat.

They won a penalty on five minutes, however, which O'Gara sent between the uprights and Ireland continued to enjoy their best start in this year's Six Nations when the Munster fly-half kicked another penalty five minutes later.  Indeed, Scotland had been restricted in the opening ten minutes to only tackling, clearing, and creeping up offside as Ireland swamped the Scottish half.

Scotland fought back, and responded with two penalties from Paterson as the game lost its shape with poor kicking from both sides taking its toll.

Ireland did open up their opponents' defence in the 24th minute but just failed to make use of their overlap with Denis Leamy getting caught in midfield.  That was pretty much it as far as genuine opportunities went.  Neither team was overly negative in approach, but both could do little else than clear their lines and wait for mistakes from the opposition.

Once again the Scots were caught offside, just before half-time and O'Gara's boot punished the infringement but just as Ireland appeared to be back in the driving seat, a turnover allowed Scotland to ease the pressure.

Paterson slotted a penalty to make it 9-9 before a loose pass from O'Gara allowed the visitors to attack with Sean Lamont nearly touching down Dan Parks's grubber.

There was no shortage of possession to fuel Ireland's attacks late in the first half but Scotland were performing heroics in defence once again.  The pressure told though, and when Scotland were penalised for offside a fifth time, O'Gara gave Ireland a deserved half-time lead.

With the wind behind them for the second half, Eddie O'Sullivan's men pinned the Scots back in their own half.  The Irish line-out, which had been in the ascendancy in the first half, took control completely and It was all Scotland could do to keep the ball out of their 22 for long periods.

There were brief flashes from both teams in that second half, Geordan Murphy was always threatening and Simon Webster added some much-needed zip to Scotland's attack when he came on, but neither side ever managed to string together more than five phases, and the game became a raucous kicking fest.

O'Driscoll ran onto an pass from O'Gara at pace as Ireland cranked up the pressure but O'Connell then tried to go it alone when he should have used the men outside him.

Scotland were forced to repel waves of attacks with a fifth O'Gara penalty stretching the lead but their ongoing efforts to score a try remained frustrated.

Scotland had one final chance to run the ball as O'Gara's last-minute penalty drifted wide, but within two phases the ball had been knocked forward.  Ireland's players raised their arms in victory as the heavens opened over a match at Lansdowne Road for one last time.

Man of the match:  Geordan Murphy might have ruled the roost on a dry day, such was his willingness to attack from deep, and Brian O'Driscoll consistently broke the game line.  Jerry Flannery also played like a flanker for much of the game, and would also have benefited from a dry day.  For Scotland, the back-row trio once again stood out for special mention, and Hugo Southwell coped with the aerial assault well.  But on a mudbath of a pitch, it is only fitting that the award should go to one of the ground staff up front, and Paul O'Connell single-handedly ruled the line-out all game, which, on a day of kicking, made all the difference.

Moment of the match:  Not much in the game-play, but perhaps the sounds of the anthems ringing around the ground for one last time brought enough of a lump to the throat.

Villian of the match:  Perhaps the Rain Gods who reduced the match to the slippery kicking duel it became with their gifts.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 3

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (Donnacha O'Callaghan, 69), 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Unused replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eion Reddan, 20 David Humphreys, 21 Girvan Dempsey.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson (Simon Webster, 73), 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 60), 9 Mike Blair (Chris Cusiter, 60), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Ally Hogg, 6 Jason White (Jon Petrie, 77), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Bruce Douglas (Craig Smith, 58-65, 74), 2 Dougie Hall (Scott Lawson, 65), 1 Gavin Kerr.
Unused replacements:  18 Alastair Kellock.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)

Wales and Italy share the misery

Scrappy encounter ends in stalemate

Italy won their first ever away point in the Six Nations by claiming a dramatic 18-18 draw with Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday -- but neither side seemed entused with their portion of the shared spoils.

They say that misfortune is fortune that never misses.  If that's the case, Italy and Wales are proving enticing targets to they that toss the lightning bolts.

With the Welsh in self-destruct mode and the Italians continuously failing to add the cherry to the top of their daring creations, the result really should have been expected -- the sporting gods were never going to allow either of these sides to enjoy a moment of unadulterated happiness.

Tries by Mark and Stephen Jones proved insufficient for Wales as a controversial effort by Italy fullback Ezio Galon was ruled legal and Pablo Canavosio raced away to score after intercepting a wayward pass.

The sides scored a penalty apiece in the second period but the locals could not find any further breakthrough.

Wales had been boosted before the match as injury doubts Stephen Jones and Mark Jones both passed fitness tests and Shane Williams returned to the left wing after recovering from a dead leg.

Italy were forced into a late change when hooker Fabio Ongaro was replaced by Carlo Festuccia after going down with tonsillitis.

Flank Mauro Bergamasco was also out injured, while Cristian Stoica dropped to the bench with Galon the starting fullback.

Italy, having been forced onto the back foot with clever tactical kicking from Stephen Jones and then Lee Byrne, were penalised in the first scrum of the match and Jones slotted Wales into a 3-0 lead after four minutes.

Wales lost scrum-half Dwayne Peel with a shoulder injury but it did not disrupt their early momentum and a silky backs move carved open the Italian defence for Mark Jones to score in the corner.

Hal Luscombe's inside pass to Williams, who had looped round off his wing, created the overlap for Jones to score his eighth try in 20 Tests.  Stephen Jones missed the conversion and Italy's response was immediate as Galon scored in controversial circumstances.

The Azzurri had just had a score disallowed -- winger Canavosio was ruled to have been in touch before off-loading -- when Wales overthrew the lineout and Italy snatched possession back.

They spun the ball quickly wide for Galon to saunter untouched over the line.

But the fullback delayed his moment of glory and appeared to have slid over the dead-ball line.  But after the incident was referred to the television official, the belated verdict was a try to Italy.  Ramiro Pez missed the conversion.

Italy's defence remained under pressure and Stephen Jones found the breakthrough as he spun through tackles from Festuccia, scrum-half Paul Griffin and flanker Maurizio Zaffiri to score his sixth Test try and added the conversion.

Wales almost stung Italy with another score after 29 minutes when Luscombe hacked a loose ball out of his own half and bore down on the Italian try-line.  However, Bergamasco trailed him all the way and prevented the try.

Pez, after missing with a 47-yard effort, then opened his account from in front of the posts after Wales had been penalised for offside.

Wales were hammering away at the Italian line, forcing them into last-gasp defence as Matthew Watkins worked space for Robert Sidoli to gallop clear.

But that pressure was punctured two minutes before the interval when Canavosio picked off a pass Watkins had intended for Luscombe and sprinted 70 metres for the try.  Pez's conversion levelled the half-time score.

Pez missed the opportunity to kick Italy ahead just two minutes into the second half.

Bergamasco, one of Italy's star men this championship, launched a blistering counter-attack and chipped into space behind Byrne only for the Wales full-back to tackle him off the ball.

Byrne escaped the yellow card but this time Pez was successful with the penalty and Italy moved ahead.

The Azzurri had begun the second half with real purpose and Wales lost their composure.  Italy had to make their pressure count but Pez missed with another penalty attempt and Stoica, on for Canavosio, sent a drop-goal effort wide.

Wales were ringing the changes, with flank Alix Popham and prop Gethin Jenkins both introduced before the hour.

Jones levelled the scores again at 18-18 with a long-range penalty, but Wales were having to work hard for both possession and territory and could not eke out any further points.

Man of the match:  Wales fly-half Stephen Jones was his usual imperious self and took his try well, pirouetting his way to the line.  Matthew Watkins also showed some nice touches and strong breaks, as did the evergreen Robert Sidoli.  For Italy, Paul Griffen was as cool and collected as ever and Maurizio Zaffiri's defence was first-class.  But our man of the match is Micro Bergamasco who underlined his growing stature with a match-winning performance that encompassed startling defence, quick-witted offence and more heart than you'd find in a card shop on Valentine's Day.

Moment of the match:  Ezio Galon's try will live longest in the mind, if only for his controversial touch-down rather than its polished build-up.  But Micro Bergamasco outstripping Lee Byrne to ground the ball in the blue in-goal area sums up Italy's current fate -- the talent, nous and ability is most definitely there, they just don't seem to be able translate their increasingly impressive efforts into their own points.

Villain of the match:  No real fisticuffs or spear-throwing so we'll focus on Ezio Galon's bizarre try.  First reprimand goes to the myriad cameramen who failed to capture the incriminating moment on film.  The second to the TMO, Eric Darrière.  "Je crois que c'est un essai" doesn't really shout authority.  And finally, Galon -- what an earth was he thinking?

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  M Jones, S Jones
Con:  S Jones
Pens:  S Jones 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Galon, Canavosio
Con:  Pez
Pens:  Pez 2

The teams:

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Hal Luscombe, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel (Michael Phillips, 9), 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Colin Charvis (Alix Popham, 52), 5 Robert Sidoli Jonathan Thomas, 78), 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rhys Thomas (Mefin Davies, 76), 1 Duncan Jones (Gethin Jenkins, 58).
Unused replacements:  21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Gavin Henson.

Italy:  15 Ezio Galon, 14 Paolo Canavosio (Cristian Stoica, 47), 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri (Andrea Lo Cicero, 80), 6 Sergio Parisse (Alessandro Zanni, 78), 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè (Carlo Del Fava, 50), 3 Carlos Nieto (Marco Castrogiovanni, 29), 2 Carlo Festuccia (Fabio Ongaro, 71), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Unused replacements:  21 Simon Picone.

Referee:  Joël Jutge (France)
Touch judges:  Donal Courtney (Ireland), Rob Dickson (Scotland)
Television match official:  Eric Darrière (France)