Ireland claim their slice of history

The Ireland class of 2009 became only the second from the Emerald Isle to claim a European clean sweep of rugby on Saturday, beating Wales 17-15 in Cardiff for the first Irish Grand Slam since 1948, courtesy of Ronan O'Gara's late drop goal.

An extraordinary finale saw Wales fly-half Stephen Jones miss a late long-range penalty to hand Ireland their crown in a gripping game of rugby.

By the end, most were on their knees.  Some Irish even kissed the turf!  The entirety of Irish rugby, save a few octogenarians in the stands, experienced a new level of sporting euphoria, shared an experience hitherto only dreamed about.  They all now know what it is to be a Grand Slam champion -- and having been a matter of inches away from losing it!  Most looked as though they didn't know how to react or what to do.

Welsh were also on their knees, heads bowed at some accursed luck.  They had played it right, got themselves into a winning position, but fallen foul of fate and all her little ways and wiles.  The Grand Slam class of 2008 ends up fourth in this Six Nations, a bizarre result for a team that many believe were only a couple of rough breaks away from winning the two matches they lost.

The Six Nations served up a finale of pure tactical rugby, played at a level of intensity that only the truly best can produce.  Ireland kept it cool, prodding for territory and nurturing the charity from a creaky Welsh line-out.  In all, they nicked nine Welsh throws, probably the key statistic, especially considering the territory and possession Wales could have had with their 14-5 penalty count.

The Welsh played flatter and wider and with the hands, moving it back and forth across the Millennium Stadium expanses and waiting their turn.  Something had to give.

The intensity boiled over in the first minute.  Ronan O'Gara collided vaguely with Ryan Jones but went down as though struck by an iron bar.  Donncha O'Callaghan raced to his fly-half's aid and there were two huge men eyeball to eyeball, each clutching fistfuls of the other's jersey, neither to be persuaded to let go.

Referee Wayne Barnes -- once again, exemplary -- eventually managed to break the strangleholds and award the penalty, but O'Gara pulled it left.

It could have been just a random act, but it soon became very apparent that "turnstile", as many fans have nicknamed Ireland's pivot, was the target of some special Welsh care and loving attention.  Three very distinct times one of the more sizeable Welsh runners was given a ball while on a bee-line towards than number ten channel.  O'Gara coped well enough, but two subsequent kicks straight to touch belied a shaken core.

So with O'Gara stuck in his pocket, the Welsh wrought control.  They forced more penalties and began to make inroads into Irish territory -- the visitors had dominated the territory early on with O'Gara's and Kearney's kicking.  There were clean breaks by Lee Byrne, Mike Phillips and Gavin Henson, there were half-breaks from others, final passes which never stuck but which promised to.  While Ireland contented themselves with a patient holding operation, the Welsh went in search of the win.

The pace and width to the Welsh game never broke the green line, but it stretched it enough for the discipline to crack.  Ireland ended up conceding seven first-half penalties, five in the final thirteen minutes of the half.  Stephen Jones converted two of them for a 6-0 half-time scoreline.

The second half started with a green flourish, one which opened the game gloriously up for five short minutes.  First O'Driscoll burrowed over in the manner of the darkest dirtiest hooker from the base of a ruck, then Tommy Bowe latched onto a nasty bounce and steam through a turnstile-like Henson tackle and go under the posts.  Not only did it leave Ireland well in Grand Slam position, but it left the Welsh needing 21 points to secure the Six Nations.

Fourteen points in four minutes.  The momentum had swung to Ireland and the title was theirs.

Wales kept it open.  Mark Jones went for a run before being bundled into touch.  Again, Ireland started to ship penalties.  Again, Jones landed two of them to reduce the arrears to 14-12.  The longer Wales could keep the pace up, the more you felt that Ireland might crack one or two times too many.

But Wales could not keep the pace up.The kicks to deep became more speculative, the power fell away from the charges.  Ireland's pack stuffed the ball up-jumper and bided their time.  Welsh runners descended deeper into isolation and the stream of penalties began to flow the other way.  You could feel the forces of nature turning with it.

Ireland maintained their tactical kicking, also looking to chip to Bowe's wing on many an occasion -- just the number of occasions Bowe seemed to be left unmarked.  Geordan Murphy came on for the final 20 minutes, bringing his brilliant boot into play.

But then the old heads went missing.  Murphy spilled a pass from Stringer which he should never have had to take.  Wales earned a scrum and breaks from Phillips and Mark Jones helped Stephen Jones land a drop goal with five to go.

But fate was not yet done toying with the Celts.  The Irish marched their way into the Welsh 22, once again with the line-out as their weapon of choice.  Back came the ball to O'Gara in the pocket and he struck as clinical a drop goal as you could imagine over the posts.

Back came Wales, sweeping this way and that and heading upfield.  They got into Ireland's half.  Wayne Barnes stuck out his arm.  A penalty!  A chance for the Welsh to spoil the Irish party.

Stephen Jones teed it up, from 48 metres out, from where he had landed on in the first half.  He struck it well.  It rose.  It carried.  But it began to fade.  As if the ghosts of failures past themselves were blowing it back, the ball dropped slowly, excruciatingly for the Welsh, gloriously for the Irish, from the air and drifted a yard under the bar.  Geordan Murphy caught it and ran towards the side of the pitch, eating up every last nanosecond of time before hoofing it into an enraptured crowd.  Grand Slam!

Man of the match:  The officials gave it to Brian O'Driscoll but that strikes us as a cliched cop-out.  Instead we give it to the man who did so much damage to the Welsh challenge by ruining their line-out: Paul O'Connell.

Moment of the match:  No possible candidate other than the moment the goal-kick from Stephen Jones dropped under the bar.  Relief and Joy all rolled into one.

Villain of the match:  Hmmm -- we'll refrain from giving it to Ronan O'Gara for his theatrical tumble in the first minute on sentimental grounds.  No award.

The scorers: 

For Wales: 
Pens:  S.Jones 4
Drop goal:  S.Jones

For Ireland: 
Tries:  O'Driscoll, Bowe
Cons:  O'Gara 2

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Ryan Jones (capt), 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 John Yapp, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Warren Fury, 21 James Hook, 22 Jamie Roberts.

Ireland:  15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges:  David Pearson (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Romain Poite (France)

England recover Calcutta Cup

England followed up last weekend's earth-shattering improvement with a bitty 26-12 win over Scotland as they reclaimed the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham on Saturday.

It was hardly one for rugby's purists as frustrating handling errors coupled with both side's keenness not to lose scuppered the contest as Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey and Mathew Tait's scores ultimately proved the difference.

Judgement day for Frank Hadden had already been set pre-game and with their fifth-place finish just above the Azzurri falling below the board's minimum requirement, it could well have been the last time he led his loyal troops.

England, meanwhile, were left to consider what might have been after away defeats in Wales and Ireland cost them any chance of playing for the title this afternoon.

This may have been just a prelude to the day's main event in Cardiff but it was of no less importance to Martin Johnson in his attempts to rebuild "Fortress Twickenham".

Scotland, who had not won at Twickenham since 1983, started both halves well and kept in touch with three penalties from Chris Paterson and a long-range strike from Phil Godman.

Hadden's men succeeded where France failed last week, by absorbing England's early attacking threat and briefly turning the tables to ask questions of Martin Johnson's men.

Mark Cueto had a break snuffed out by Max and Thom Evans down one wing and Delon Armitage, whose pace ripped France to shreds last weekend, was expertly shepherded into touch by Paterson.

In between time, Paterson had given Scotland a 3-0 lead after Harry Ellis was penalised for not rolling away and Thom Evans came within a metre of scoring a brilliant breakaway try.

The Glasgow winger sprinted clear after Ellis had tried to snipe down the blindside.  He left Flood in his wake and looked for all the world like scoring a 70-metre special.

But Evans had not banked on the electric pace of England's former schoolboy sprinter Monye, who raced diagonally across field and pulled off one of the great tackles to deny him in the corner.

England conceded five penalties in the first sixteen minutes and they also lost Phil Vickery and Ellis to injuries.

Vickery looked dazed when he went off but play was halted for around ten minutes after Ellis was knocked out in a tackle on Simon Danielli and eventually taken off the field on a stretcher.

He required stitches to a gash behind the ear but was back on the England bench smiling before the end of the game.

England would not have asked for a break under such circumstances, but they made the most of it and emerged from their huddle to dominate the rest of the half.

England soon took the lead with a slick move featuring Flutey and Flood creating the chance for Monye to slip out of Paterson's cover tackle and score his first Test try.

It had taken just over 22 minutes but England had regained their swagger from last week and they scored again after Scotland made a mess of a lineout just five metres out.

England spread the ball left and Flutey cut between two defenders and wriggled his way to the line for a try confirmed by the television officials.

Mike Blair then wasted a golden opportunity for a quick Scotland reply when he failed to spot Danielli screaming for the inside pass having spun clear of England's defence.

It was a only brief respite for Scotland.  Simon Shaw charged down a kick from Blair and Flutey injected some pace into the attack before being hauled down just short of the line.

The forwards took over but Julian White was ruled to have been held up after a tunnelling drive for the line before England finished the half with a penalty for Flood.

The half-time statistics did not make happy reading for Scotland.  England had enjoyed 62 per cent possession, 68 per cent territory and won ball in their opponent's 22 on 22 occasions to Scotland's nil.

And with Johnson urging England to "out-work and out-enthuse" their opponents, nor did the full-time figures show Scotland in a good light.  England made twice as many passes and forced Scotland into twice as many tackles.

England, though, lost the penalty count again -- poor discipline has cost them dear in this championship -- and that allowed Scotland to chip away at their lead in the second half with Paterson slotting two more efforts to finish the tournament with a 100 per cent record.

Godman joined in on the act with a long-range strike but Scotland could not get close enough to England.

Care slotted a drop goal to make it 21-12 and Tait rounded off the victory with a neatly-taken try in the corner.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Monye, Flutey, Tait
Con:  Flood
Pen:  Flood 2
Drop:  Care

For Scotland:
Pen:  Paterson 4

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Julian White, 18 Nick Kennedy, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Jason White, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Christophe Berdos (France), Simon, McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

France run riot in Rome

France banished the ghost of Twickenham past at the first time of asking as they demolished Italy 50-8 in a classy showing at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday.

So much their pride was dented after going down by 24 points at English rugby's HQ, sleepless nights had marred Les Bleus' build-up for their final Six Nations fixture of 2009.

But in blustery yet sunny conditions, Marc Lièvremont's side were completely unrecognisable from last week as they cut loose with a blistering seven tries erasing any lasting memories of that horror defeat.

Four changes were made in preparation for the contest but it could be argued that none really made much difference as all members involved six days ago had scores to personal matters to settle...and that they did in emphatic style with Italy having no answers to the men in blue.

The visitors got the ball rolling early on as they took the early steam out of the usual Azzurri fight with the assured Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc acting as puppeteers for a thoroughly entertaining show.

Bourgoin's number nine knocked over two penalties before sixteen minutes had past as he beat the slightly testing elements to open up a 6-0 lead whilst putting his pack in the correct places.

Then on the other side of an Andrea Marcato three points, France were back into their stride with a moment of brilliance lifting the game to new heights.  First it was the size of Yannick Jauzion who rose well to claim a Garryowen before unleashing Sebastien Chabal down the left wing.  The second row had 20 metres separating him from five points and with the ball in one hand like a small child, he crashed over with Parra's conversion soon to follow.

Chabal's score proved to be the catalyst of something memorable in Rome -- for everyone other than the hosts -- as two quick-fire tries were not too far in coming.  From a lineout on halfway, it was fly-half Trinh-Duc who answered his critics with a glorious dummy and step before racing to the whitewash before less than a minute later, Maxime Medard added his name to the list as he finished off Thierry Dusautoir's good work.

France were doing what England had done to them as the possession stakes read an unbelievable 78 per cent in favour of the visitors!

Things did not get any better for the Italians moments after the turnaround though, as flanker Mauro Bergamasco reinacted his own Twickenham nightmare with a shocking pass that was gobbled up by Cedric Heymans as the fourth try was posted.

Before kick-off a punter could have got France at a tempting 100/1 to finish the tournament in second place as a healthy win coupled with Scotland and Ireland winning later in the day was the task.

And with captain Lionel Nallet getting in on the act on 55 minutes, the more conservative among us were left on tenterhooks.

More woe was to come for Italy in the end though, as a second try for Medard and one for replacement winger Julien Malzieu brought up the half-century to add extra gloss to what was another wooden spoon for the hosts.

Man of the match:  Despite leaving the procession midway through the second period, Morgan Parra was superb at the base and wider out.  However, the man one out from him was even better as Francois Trinh-Duc's individual score was great reward for his performance.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse
Pen:  Marcato

For France:
Tries:  Chabal, Trinh-Duc, Medard 2, Heymans, Nallet, Malzieu
Con:  Parra 3
Pen:  Parra 3

Italy:  15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Giulio Rubini, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Roberto Quartaroli.

France:  15 Damien Traille, 14 Maxime Medard, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Sebastien Chabal, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Frederic Michalak, 21 Mathieu Bastareaud, 22 Julien Malzieu.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Graham Hughes (England)

England blow shapeless France away

It was supposed to be Le Crunch.  It ended up as Le Crash.  France, victors over Grand Slam champions Wales a fortnight ago, fell 34-10 to England at Twickenham on Sunday, blown away by the hosts' enthusiasm and clinical finishing.

It was the day England had been searching for all tournament.  Limited against Italy, awkward against Wales, tighter against Ireland, the English brought all the defensive attributes they had developed over the past month, added to it some precise and high-speed running lines and zippy handling, and removed the stupidity which had dogged them at breakdowns.

They also got the rub of the green on countless occasions.  50-50 passes stuck unerringly.  Andy Goode dropped a pass in the second half and managed to volley it into a team-mate's hands.  A downfield kick, bounding its way into in-goal and possibly dead, instead struck a post and forced Cedric Heymans to clear under pressure.  You can't buy or train that kind of thing;  even in terms of good luck, England completely outplayed the French.

France just didn't want to know.  Perhaps they had expected England to do what everybody thought they had been doing over the past few weeks:  lose their discipline, hand the game to the opposition on a plate, soak up the abuse.  Perhaps they believed the press, that England were already dead and buried merely by dint of taking to the pitch.  Perhaps they thought ... who knows what they thought?  Who knows what they had been told beforehand?  How do you account for such a lifeless display?

Whatever it was, they came into the game with none of the forward gusto that had served them so well against the Welsh, nor any of the imagination, nor any of the commitment.  Picks and drives, the initial tactic of choice, didn't work and what was worse, England were so effective at the breakdown they pretty much turned that into a source of go-forward ball.

Line-outs belonged exclusively to England too.  Steve Borthwick will never have enjoyed any other of his games in an England jersey as this one.

Any other method of attack from the French was just not discernible.  Martin Johnson was the one suffering from the ills of the press before this game, but like many tourists, Lièvremont will be the one feeling sick when he heads for home.  Having seen his side set a benchmark two weeks ago, they set another one here, one which was too low ever to be repeated again.

As with Wales in Rome yesterday, France got sucked into playing an inferior game which made their team, better on paper, vastly inferior on the park.  They took on the English at England's game.  Big mistake.  Huge.

Where do England go from here?  If Ireland beat Wales next week and England trounce Scotland -- not unthinkable any more -- Martin Johnson's pilloried squad could yet end this Six Nations in second spot behind Grand Slam champions Ireland, to whom they lost by a single point in Ireland's own back yard.  We'll leave it to you to imagine the smugness of those England players who will have to face their heckling press if that transpires.

Johnson had heard his side booed from the field following recent Twickenham performances and he reiterated during the week that England had to give the crowd something to shout about in order to regain their faith.

England did so from minute one.  Flutey spotted the perfect mis-match and sliced past Sebastien Chabal before sending Cueto away to touch down the opening try with just 70 seconds on the clock.

France, having picked a side reliant on power rather than panache, were looking for the more direct route and they ate into England territory with powerful runs from the destructive centre Mathieu Bastareaud and dynamic number eight Imanol Harinordoquy.

Simon Shaw hit a ruck from the side to offer Francois Trinh-Duc a shot at goal, which he missed, but otherwise England's defence was defiant.

Twice they snatched turnover ball as Les Bleus threatened to build pressure in England's half and, in a key turnaround to recent weeks, it was France who were falling foul of referee Stuart Dickinson.

If England were dominant without the ball they were incisive with it.  Flood extended the lead to 10-0 after Harinordoquy was ruled offside before a slick attacking move sent Flutey over for a second try.

A similar training ground move had sent Mathew Tait clear in Dublin a fortnight ago -- but on this occasion England were able to provide the finishing touch.

From the back of an attacking lineout, Flood slipped an inside pass for Cueto to carve through the French line before returning the favour with the scoring pass for Flutey.

Tom Croft thought he had got in on the action when Harry Ellis whipped play right following another of Nick Easter's powerful carries but play was called back for a marginally forward pass from Lee Mears.

Not that the now excitable Twickenham crowd had to wait long.  France were wobbling and England hammered home the advantage with two tries in the last three minutes of the half.

After Chabal had been stripped of possession by Flutey, England piled forward and pitched camp in the French 22.  Shaw's charge was halted short of the line but Armitage was on hand to provide the finishing touch.

England were now attacking in waves.  Ellis chipped ahead and Flood came within inches of the line before slipping but the ball was shipped wide for Worsley to secure England a quite remarkable 29-0 lead at the interval.

Half-time did nothing to dilute England's dominance or halt their momentum and when Yannick Jauzion spilled the ball after a brilliant tackle from Ellis, Armitage raced clear on the counter-attack and Flutey was on hand to finish a sparkling 75-metre try.England began to ring the changes and, unable to maintain their complete dominance, France eventually got on the scoreboard with hooker Szarzewski tunnelling over the line after France had earned two penalties deep in England's 22.

England's bad habits began to creep back in and referee Dickinson issued a warning as France cranked up the pressure at the scrum before winger Malzieu was able to saunter over for a simple try.

But England finished on a high with another powerful carry from Easter sending Armitage on another blistering break into the French half.

This one didn't quite end in the score england wanted but little matter.  Boring England.  Win ugly England.  Now, top tryscorers in the competition England.  Quite a turnaround, non?

Man of the match:  He's been on the painful end of the sharpest criticism of all over the past few weeks, but Steve Borthwick was immense from start to finish today.

Moment of the match:  All from England, but our gobs were smacked hardest by the free running and incisiveness of England's first try.

Villain of the match:  We've said it before and we'll say it again.  We - do - not - need - that - cretinous - song - playing - over - the - tannoy - to - have - a - good - time - when - someone - scores.  Go - back - to - soccer - you - utter - utter -

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cueto, Flutey 2, Armitage, Worsley
Cons:  Flood 3
Pen:  Flood

For France:
Tries:  Szarzewski, Malzieu

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Mike Tindal, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick(c), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Julian White, 18 James Haskell, 19 Nick Kennedy, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Mathew Tait.

France:  15 Maxime Medard, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Françios Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Sebastien Chabal, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Lionel Nallet (c), 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements:  16 Benjamin Kayzer, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Louis Picamoles, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 21 Florian Fritz, 22 Damien Traille.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Italy give Wales a scare

Wales set up a championship showdown with Ireland in Cardiff next week, beating Italy narrowly 20-15 in Rome and leaving themselves with a bigger job to do next week than ought to have been necessary.

Wales now have to win by 18 points against Ireland in Cardiff next week -- and that's before Ireland play Scotland this afternoon.

Tom Shanklin's late cameo try bales Wales out, and Italy might once again reflect that with a little more finesse they would have had a result here.  Wales might reflect that they were dashed lucky, plain and simple.  On this form, an Irish Grand Slam is a near-formality (late Saturday results notwithstanding).

Wales are, in fact, in a bit of a trough.  Warren Gatland's attempt to shake things up after a slightly stale performance in Paris simply didn't work, with ring rust causing problems in a number of instances.  Up front, the scrum was shoved around tamely, while neither Gavin Henson nor James Hook were anything like the free-running talented players we know they can be.

Hook in particular was very quiet, getting drawn into a dour kicking game when his mandate had surely been to speed and open the game up as much as possible.

That Hook and co. were off-form and out of kilter was even more open to criticism because Italy offered no more than their usual mixture of territorial kicking and gear grinding up front.  In stark contrast to previous weeks the Azzurri did keep their penalty count down, not letting Wales get a toehold in their half at all.  Wales must have been prepared for a forward onslaught, but they didn't seem it.

On the two occasions Wales did manage sustained pressure, they scored tries.  That was the difference.  italy also had a couple of spells of possession in the Welsh 22, but once came away with a penalty and once, just before half-time, nothing after a botched drop goal attempt.  There, in fact, was the difference between the teams.

Otherwise, it was a nothing game.  Barely any clean breaking in the backs, a hail of aerial balls, a series of ugly thudding forward charges.  There were a few techincal bits and bobs for the puritan to chew over, a couple of admirable handling moments from props who simply don't look like they can do that sort of thing, a fabulous all-action display from the irrepresible Sergio Parisse and ... erm ... that's it.

Italy took a deserved sixth-minute lead when full-back Andrea Marcato slotted a penalty.

Andrea Marcato's kick came after referee Alan Lewis penalised the Wales front row, which was a totally changed unit from the one on duty in Paris two weeks ago.

Wales looked to move possession wide, but they also had to remain patient, biding their time in the hope scoring opportunities would present themselves later.

The visitors had expected an early Azzurri onslaught, and so it proved, with Marcato sacrificing a kickable penalty for territory in the corner when Wales lock Luke Charteris was punished for killing possession.

And Italy closed out an impressive opening quarter by launching another attack, as Mirco Bergamasco chased a kick that Wales full-back Lee Byrne smothered.

Wales should have drawn level in the 21st minute, but Hook missed a penalty from in front of the posts that confirmed an error-strewn team performance.

The visitors had to start making their presence felt, yet they struggled for fluency, forcing passes and misdirecting kicks that merely played into Italian hands.

Wales boss Warren Gatland would have been infuriated at what was unfolding in front of him, but his team gave him cause for optimism 14 minutes before the break.

A belated spell of Wales pressure produced its reward when Henson cleverly switched attacking direction and wing Shane Williams scored a simple overlap try.

It was his Wales record-equalling eighth try against Italy, and left him one short of matching Gareth Edwards' Wales best of 18 in Five or Six Nations rugby.

Hook atoned for his earlier error by slotting the extras, giving Wales a 7-3 lead, but the visitors still had plenty of work to do.

And there were further problems for the Wales front-row, as they conceded a second penalty that Marcato kicked, cutting the deficit to one point.Marcato completed his hat-trick five minutes before the break after Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones took out Azzurri scrum-half Paul Griffen off the ball, and Wales were back to square one.

And they had a lucky escape on the stroke of half-time, when wing Mark Jones just managed to ground possession behind his own line under pressure from Italy flanker Alessandro Zanni.

It meant Italy ended the opening 40 minutes with an attacking scrum, and only more impressive defensive resilience by the heavily-worked Jones kept them out.

Gatland opted against making any interval substitutions, retaining belief in a team which had produced easily the worst 40-minute performance of his nine Six Nations Tests in charge.

But there was no sign of Italy losing their conviction either, with fly-half Luke McLean keeping his team in the ascendancy by cleverly mixing and matching his kicking game.

And with skipper Parisse offering a box of tricks off the back of the scrum, Wales had their hands full.

Italy deserved to be more than two points ahead, and it was Azzurri head coach Nick Mallett who made the first changes, sending on Castrogiovanni and lock Carlo del Fava after 50 minutes.

Wales were patternless -- and often clueless -- lacking the collective nous to tighten up their game.

As a frantic third quarter edged towards its close, so the Italian forwards stepped up a gear after Castrogiovanni's arrival and Marcato booted his fourth penalty for a 12-7 advantage.

Gatland then began to use his bench, sending on three reinforcements up front in prop Gethin Jenkins, hooker Matthew Rees and back-row ace Ryan Jones, before a Hook penalty narrowed the deficit again to two points.

A Hook penalty after 65 minutes inched Wales ahead, but the game remained poised on a knife edge.

Byrne was then replaced by Tom Shanklin, yet Shanklin's first contribution was to concede a penalty 35 metres out and Marcato made it five kicks out of five.

The unthinkable prospect of defeat continued to loom large for Wales, trailing 15-13 with nine minutes left.

But it was the cue for Shanklin to make amends by scoring a quality try, dummying Marcato as he crossed the line after superb approach work by Hook.  Hook converted -- the sighs of relief at the final whistle echoed round the valleys.

Man of the match:  Sergio Parisse is fast becoming a legend.

Moment of the match:  Tom Shanklin's try was the one moment of pure class in a patchy game.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Marcato 5

For Wales:
Tries:  S. Williams, Shanklin
Cons:  Hook 2
Pens:  Hook 2

Italy:  15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Giulio Rubini, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Pablo Canovosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Roberto Quartaroli.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Jamie Roberts,12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Dafydd Jones, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 John Yapp
Replacements:  16 Matthew Rees, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Warren Fury, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Tom Shanklin

Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges:  David Pearson (England), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Dream still on for Ireland

Ireland's dream of ending 61 years of Grand Slam hurt remains on the cards as they eked out a scrappy 22-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

There wasn't much to separate these two in-form nations in the end, but Declan Kidney's men provided sufficient grit and determination to muscle past their opponents with substitute Jamie Heaslip's try proving the difference.

Scotland had started the stronger as they looked to add to their own improving efforts over the past six months.  And with a late switch to the right-hand side just five minutes in, powerful winger Simon Danielli looked set to open the scoring until a stray Irish hand brought him to his knees ten metres from the whitewash.

The early barrage continued for the seemingly nervous away outfit as the hosts started to set up camp downfield with points not too far away as record-breaking referee Jonathan Kaplan spotted a breakdown offence on seven minutes, allowing the metronomic Chris Paterson to master the testing wind at the first time of asking.

Offences continued to dog the Championship-chasing visitors efforts though, which started to bring a sense that Scotland were increasingly on top in several aspects.

But just as captain Mike Blair looked to press home the advantage with a bouncing kick into the Irish corner, it was a case of "nice idea but shame about the execution" as Luke Fitzgerald ushered the attempt out in-goal.

Ireland subsequently clawed themselves back onto level terms two minutes later with a penalty of their own as their soon-to-be record holder, Ronan O'Gara, slotted one through the posts during a shift in territory.

Having under-performed against England a fortnight ago, the Emerald Isle seemed to be stuck in a similar Dublin rut as David Wallace proved the catalyst in gifting Paterson a chance to stretch the gap before the two kickers traded blows.

But one felt that despite their lack of fluency, Ireland would largely be encouraged by their 12-9 deficit after a distinctly average showing up until now.

However, before any long whistle blowing could take place, Ireland were left with hearts in their mouths as the strengthening Thom Evans announced himself on proceedings.  The young winger, who has set the tournament alight on several occasions, spotted some space behind the away defence and re-gathered his own kick before Tommy Bowe saved his side with a vital tackle.

Was that to be something for Declan Kidney to use during his half-time team-talk?  Well, something seemed to inspire the men in green as Peter Stringer shrugged off an earlier knock to dart through an unexpecting Scottish defence before feeding replacement Heaslip to score the game's only try.

And with the scores 16-12 in favour of the now dominant travelling side, momentum had definitely changed hands from the first period as Ireland's forwards took a stranglehold on the match.  Enter under-fire fly-half O'Gara, who showed all of his experience to sit back and repel Scotland from the one-score margin with a well-taken drop-goal on 57 minutes.

The gutsy hosts were certainly not done on their home patch though, as a fifth Paterson penalty-goal moved them back within touching distance -- a strong finish possibly in the offing at Murrayfield?

But that was to be the Edinburgh full-back's final meaningful act as Ireland showed Six Nations-winning form to grind out their fourth-straight victory as another three points sets up an intriguing clash against reigning champions Wales next weekend.

Man of the match:  These sort of contests are won by individual moments of intelligence and what Peter Stringer showed when setting up Jamie Heaslip's score was just that.  The recalled Munster scrum-half, who had shrugged off an earlier shin injury in the game, broke through to switch with his supporting number eight and the rest is history ... welcome back Peter.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Heaslip
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  O'Gara 3
Drop:  O'Gara

For Scotland:
Pen:  Paterson 4

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans,12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (capt), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Jason White, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Scott Gray, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:  16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Jamie Heaslip, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Wayne Barnes (England), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)