Bowe double sinks England

England had their Grand Slam dream extinguished on Saturday as a Tommy Bowe double guided Ireland to a 20-16 victory at Twickenham.

Despite dominating for long periods in the first period and significant chunks of the second, England were ultimately handed a painful lesson in how to take your chances by the champions.

Twice the Irish pounced on occasions where they sensed their hosts might be suspect of being caught cold.  First it was turnover ball that Jamie Heaslip brought out before Jonathan Sexton slid a nice ball through for the onrushing Bowe, who cruised past Lewis Moody to the rolling ball.

Then with England looking like they were heading to victory thanks to a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal, the wing then cut a beautiful line at first-receiver to give the travelling support all the motivation they needed to have a good night out in London.

Victory means that Ireland have kept alive their hopes of retaining the Six Nations and they will be hoping for England to do them a favour in Paris.

They do have one slight injury concern ahead of their upcoming meeting with the Welsh, however, as captain and centre Brian O'Driscoll was stretchered from the field following an accidental collision with Paul O'Connell's knee during the second-half.

England had spoken all week of playing with greater attacking ambition and sure enough they ran their first possession from the 22.  And although it did not pay dividends following that aforementioned Bowe opener on four minutes, there was much to encourage HQ.

To make matters worse, England lock Simon Shaw left the field gingerly holding his wrist and was replaced by Louis Deacon.

Wilkinson missed with a 40-metre drop-goal as advantage was played and then hit the post with his penalty attempt.

England continued and piled forward and a barnstorming run and offload from Nick Easter sent Dylan Hartley to within a metre of the line.  Then Wilkinson lofted a deft chip into the in-goal area intended for Delon Armitage but the full-back could not get there in time.

The fly-half then got England on the board with a simple penalty after fifteen minutes before the heavens opened and, with a period of torrential rain, the game became a physical tussle.  Ireland's forwards adapted better.  Their driving game was superior and England's lineout began to malfunction, as it did in the second-half against the Italians.

Keith Earls sliced dangerously through the England midfield before Sexton, having seen one 50-metre effort fall just short, exchanged penalties with Wilkinson.  Ireland took an 8-6 lead into the interval.

Upon their return from respective dressing rooms, Sexton and Wilkinson both missed shots at goal but Ireland's forwards retained the edge, both in the set-piece and at the breakdown.

The margins were extremely fine and England's discipline, as it did in the corresponding game last season, let them down at a key moment.  We are referring to an England scrum which had won a penalty but referee Lawrence reversed it after Care hauled Tomas O'Leary to the ground.  Sexton found touch, O'Connell claimed the lineout, Ireland set a platform in midfield and they swung the ball left for Earls to race over in the corner.

England needed an immediate response and produced it, drawing level with a maiden Test try from Cole after a lengthy deliberation from the Italian TMO Carlo Damasco.

Then came the O'Connell/O'Driscoll incident which saw the momentum shift.  Wilkinson could not capitalise immediately, missing a third penalty attempt, but with nine minutes remaining he stepped onto his right foot and drilled a drop-goal.

England led for the first time in the match but it lasted just two minutes as Ireland crafted a brilliant response, winning clean lineout ball for Bowe to slice through England's defence.

Man-of-the-match:  After picking up his first two tries of the Championship -- vitally important ones at that -- Tommy Bowe earns the accolade.

Moment-of-the-match:  Bowe's second try was much like JP Pietersen's in the recent British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa.  A great individual score off the set-piece that killed off England while keeping alive Ireland's slim hopes of retaining their trophy.

Villain-of-the-match:  The clumsiness of Paul O'Connell should his accidental collision with Brian O'Driscoll rule out the centre against Wales in Dublin.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Cole
Con:  Wilkinson
Pen:  Wilkinson
Drop:  Wilkinson

For Ireland:
Tries:  Bowe 2, Earls
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  Sexton

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 David Wilson, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Joe Worsley 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden.

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 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 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Shane Jennings , 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble

Referee:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Berdos (France), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Rome celebrates at last

A single try proved enough for Italy to snatch their first Six Nations victory in two years with a 16-12 victory over Scotland at Stadio Flaminio.

It wasn't pretty.  Not by a long way.  But as the saying goes, a metre is as good as a mile and two points for a win is all that counts.

Replacement scrum-half Pablo Canavosio's effort was the only try of an evenly-contested and hard-fought game that failed to alight imaginations -- except if you're Italian of course.

All the talk mid-week was about the battle between the two packs.  And true to form that's exactly what we got as Italy alternated their slow poison with little chips for the wings to chase.

Any plans Scotland might have had of testing Italy out wide were thwarted by the home wings coming up into the Scottish line in defence as the visitors failed to suck sufficient numbers in through phase play.

Scotland's most dangerous weapon proved to be Dan Parks' boot -- both from the tee and out of hand.

The much-vaunted battle at scrum time was an evenly contested affair though.  While Scotland would win a penalty from the first set piece, Italy would be first to gain points from the second when Salvatore Perugini got under Euan Murray and the Scotland tighthead popped up.

Mirco Bergamasco duly stepped forward and opened the scoring and would double Italy's lead near the quarter-hour mark with a second penalty when Johnnie Beattie was adjudged offside.

If the first quarter belonged mainly to the hosts, Scotland would have the better of the second twenty minutes with Parks providing six points from the kicking tee.

The visitors would have been frustrated not to have lead at the break after a sustained period of pressure to the end the half but Parks sent his third attempt at goal wide after Josh Sole made sure Scotland would not score by diving on the ball from an offside position.

Parks' miss meant the teams would head for the changing rooms at 6-all.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with a Mirco Bergamasco penalty putting Italy back in the lead.

Scotland would be first to cross the whitewash soon afterward but with the TMO was unable to see the ball being grounded under the pile of bodies.

Scotland would leave Italy territory with three points thanks to a Parks drop goal, but it left a bitter taste in the mouth as it was disappointing to see the visitors not go for the jugular after a long period of pressure.

Another Parks penalty put Scotland back in front entering the last quarter but Italy finally broke the deadlock with fifteen minutes left on the clock when Gonzalo Canale made a rare line break before offloading on the ground to Canavosio, who finished under the posts.

Bergamasco's conversion gave the Azzurri a vital four-point lead.

Scotland came alive in the last ten minutes only to see the TMO deny them again when Kelly Brown's drive ended inches short of the try line.

From then Italy gave a master class in how to run the clock down, keeping it tight and not allowing Scotland anywhere near the ball.

Man of the match:  A tough one to call but Dan Parks was probably the most influential player in the game.

Moment of the match:  There could only be one -- it was anyone's game until Canale broke clear to create Canavosio's try.

Villain of the match:  Plenty of needle -- but no one threw any real punches.

The scorers

For Italy:
Try:  Canavosio
Con:  Mi. Bergamasco
Pens:  Mi. Bergamasco 2

For Scotland:
Pens:  Parks 3
Drop:  Park

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Masi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (captain), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Kaine Roberston.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (capt), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Al Strokosch, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Nick De Luca.

Venue:  Stadio Flaminio
Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor:  Jim Fleming (Scotland)

Welsh fightback comes up short

Wales once again thrilled in a fightback on Friday, but could not find the final flourish, going down 26-20 to France in Cardiff.

20-0 down at the break and having barely threatened the French line, a pasting similar to Wembley's 51-0 horror show in 1999 looked on the cards for the Welsh.  They looked bereft of ideas, inspiration and shape at times as the French defence read every move.

But once again, the second half brought out the best in the Welsh.  They worked their way back in with forward play that was simply better-executed and which conjured up two penalties from Stephen Jones.  They scored a super try through Leigh Halfpenny.  They should have equalised when Jamie Roberts made a clean break and inexplicably held on to the ball when the pass to James Hook was both easier and more effective.

In the end, they ran out of steam.  France found a modicum of the mojo they had displayed in the first half and managed to close out the game, despite a last-minute try from Shane Williams that brought up his half-century for Wales.

Match commentators sat back after this one, dropped headphones on desks and opined that Welsh home matches should come with a health warning.  Whether that should be for the increase in blood pressure over the ineptitude of the first half or the pulse-quickening excitement of the second was not clear, but you're never going to have a dull moment at Welsh matches this year, it seems.

Indeed, the French played party poopers to the Welsh's favourite party trick, when Freddie Michalak managed to find the logical thought that Scotland could not and pumped the restart of the final play of the game straight into touch to end the match.  You'd have put your shirt on Wales scoring the game-clinching try had he not.

Yet all that excitement aside, Wales need a serious period of introspection.  It's a truism that Lions tourists are often off the boil the following season, but Lee Byrne and Jamie Roberts in particular were culpable for a series of morale-sapping errors which robbed the fightback of its impetus.

The laying of proper blame for the defeat must be laid squarely at whatever it is that makes the Welsh traipse out onto pitches needing forty-odd minutes of beating about for them to wake up.  They've won some classic second halves this year, but they've been thrashed like second-tier nations in some first halves.

Out of all this, we should not forget that France are still on course for the Grand Slam everybody is now betting the shirt they did not put on Wales' last play on.  We should also not discount the effectiveness of their first half display, with rampant and noticeably well-educated defence picking apart at Wales' weaknesses from the first whistle.

The French showed a knack for knowing where the ball would go next that is a fine advertisement for the preparations made by the coaching team before the game.  Both tries came from intercepts, but a more telling pass-mark for the defence was the way the French prevented Wales from even coming close to their tryline.

Italy's current impersonation of an attack ought to be competently dealt with on this form, but it is this sort of intelligence in preparation that will stand the French in good stead when they head back to Paris for what is almost certain to be a Grand Slam-stakes clash with England.

Gatland had spoken all week about the need for a strong opening, yet France were able to cash in with a gift sixth-minute try.

James Hook's speculative pass to his centre partner Jamie Roberts went straight to Palisson, and he sprinted over unopposed from the halfway line for a score that Parra converted.

Hook's missed tackle led directly to an early Scotland score in Cardiff 13 days ago, and once again he was forced to reflect on a painful blunder.

Wales struggled to cope with Les Bleus' physical intensity, illustrated when their star centre Mathieu Bastareaud powered through his opposite number Roberts.

It resulted in Parra kicking his second penalty either side of Wales lock Jones limping off to be replaced by Newport Gwent Dragons forward Luke Charteris.

Wales had a mountain to climb at 13-0 adrift, and it soon became a case of Shane or bust.

Wing wizard Williams represented Wales' best -- and seemingly only chance -- of breaking down a mighty French defence.

But one from one of his trademark touchline darts, France scored a critical second try as half-time approached.

Williams was tackled, and after he lobbed the ball back to his supporting team-mates, it ricocheted straight into Trinh-Duc's hands and he easily finished off.

Parra's second conversion gave the visitors a 20-point interval lead, leaving Wales to contemplate a damage-limitation exercise before Jones opened their account through a 46th-minute penalty after an impressive counter-attack ended when Charteris spilled possession.

It was much brighter from Wales though, and Jones' second penalty lifted the capacity crowd after they were left stunned by a French first-half masterclass.

Things got even better after 62 minutes when Williams appeared in midfield and rifled a scoring pass to Halfpenny.  Jones' wide-angled conversion made it 20-13 and set up a pulsating finish.

Roberts then made a sparkling break to keep Welsh hopes alive, yet he failed to find one of his supporting runners and a golden chance went begging.

In truth, it summed up Wales' night.  A case of so near, so far, after once again leaving themselves with too much to do, although Williams provided one late flash of genius.

Man of the match:  The match organisers gave it to Julien Bonnaire, but while he, along with Clement Poitrenaud, Francois Trinh-Duc, William Servat and Imanol Harinordoquy all impressed, we could not help but be bowled over by the energy of Nicolas Mas, who gave the Welsh a torrid time in the scrum and still found time to tackle Shane Williams.

Moment of the match:  There is always so much to admire in Welsh games this year, but Shane Williams' late try, his 50th for his country, was a grand finale to remember.

Villain of the match:  Welsh fans might not forget Lee Byrne's two penalties kicked into touch in-goal that cost his side critical late momentum.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Halfpenny, S Williams
Cons:  S Jones 2
Pen:  S Jones 2

For France:
Tries:  Palisson, Trinh-Duc
Cons:  Parra 2
Pens:  Parra 2, Michalak

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 James Hook, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Ryan Jones(c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Deiniol Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Tom Shanklin.

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Alexandre Lapandry, 19 Sébastien Chabal, 20 Frederic Michalak, 21 David Marty, 22 Marc Andreu.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Alan Lewis (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

England deny heroic Azzurri

England made it two from two with a 17-12 win over Italy in Rome on Saturday, but the result can not disguise what was a massive backwards step for Martin Johnson's side.

It seldom happens in rugby, but the better team lost at the Stadio Flaminio.

With the visitors seemingly bereft of a gameplan and Jonny Wilkinson suffering a rare off-day with the boot, Italy sensed an upset and grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Alas, the locals lacked the luck of the Welsh -- that one killer break failed to materialise.

England seemed to be in two minds about what they were trying to do -- put width on the ball or play it tight.  In the end they did neither.

It was Italy who showed adventurous intent with ball in hand, and their bravery struck England dumb.

Johnson had spent all week warning his team they would have to be patient, that if there is one thing the Italians do well it is to drag their opponents into an arm-wrestle.

That is exactly what happened for long periods and it was the Azzurri who were far more comfortable and had they sealed a first ever victory over England, Johnson could not have complained.

England spent long periods of the first half embroiled in turgid bouts of tactical kicking that was reflected in the 6-6 half-time score.

However, when England brought their strike runners into the game, they caused the Italian defence problems.

Riki Flutey made an immediate impact on his return to the team at inside centre, sparking a first minute attack which almost led to a try for Delon Armitage.

The England full-back, so critical of his own performance last week, stabbed a grubber kick behind the defence but Italian scrum-half Tito Tebaldi slid in with a last-gasp clearance.

Craig Gower, the Italian fly-half and former Australia rugby league international, orchestrated a positive response and the Azzurri were one pass from scoring after Alessandro Zanni had claimed a cross-kick above Ugo Monye.

England moved up field and took the lead with a Wilkinson penalty after the Italian line-out, so poor against Ireland, malfunctioned again.

Bergamasco immediately levelled the scores after Nick Easter was penalised for not releasing.

The game was not much of a spectacle but when England did spot an opportunity they brought the likes of Armitage, Monye and Mark Cueto into the game far more than against Wales.

All three combined in a familiar England move, with Cueto bursting on to Armitage's inside ball, but Monye was stopped by an excellent cover-tackle from Gonzalo Garcia.

Wilkinson missed one long-range penalty attempt and then, inexplicably, booted a simple effort wide after another powerful run from Monye had put England on the front foot.

England were conceding too many penalties at the breakdown but they too escaped when Bergamasco's attempt from wide right drifted across the face of the posts.

Mathew Tait got himself involved for the first time after another dominant line-out take from Easter, attacking the blindside to link with Armitage and Dylan Hartley.

Italy scrambled well to halt the attack and then proved why they are considered one of the most formidable packs in the world game by shoving the England scrum back and winning the turnover and a penalty.

When Monye was penalised for being in front of the kicker, Gower pushed England back into their 22 and the Italians attacked from clean lineout ball.

Under pressure, England conceded another penalty in the shadow of the posts and Bergamasco made no mistake to put Italy 6-3 ahead.

England were still showing flashes of adventure and when Wilkinson launched a counter-attack from his own 22, Armitage sent Flutey clear on a 50-metre break.

Wilkinson levelled the scores just before the interval and England finally broke the back of the Italian defence early in the second half.

Monye skipped out of a tackle on halfway, shovelled the ball inside to Armitage who found Tait and the Sale centre raced clear to score the game's only try.

Wilkinson missed the conversion but extended England's lead to 14-6 with a penalty after Martin Castrogiovanni had been sin-binned for killing the ball.

Despite being a man down, Italy refused to concede defeat and Bergamasco struck back swiftly with another penalty after England were caught offside.

Lewis Moody escaped a yellow card for taking Luke McLean out in the air but England were under the cosh and conceded another penalty which allowed Bergamasco to bring Italy within two points.

But England had the last say, with Wilkinson slotting a drop-goal which sealed the ugly win.

Man of the match:  Only one visitor covered himself in glory:  Mark Cueto.  The wing was assured in defence and ran some great lines in attack.  Riki Flutey wins a mention in dispatches -- he rustled by some sumptuous moments from just scraps.  Italy were heroic to a man, which speedy recycling and impeccable hands springing from the collective.  But it was the monumental effort of Alessandro Zanni that stood out.  He almost made Sergio Parisse's absence bearable.

Moment of the match:  Not much for posterity here.  How about Jonny Wilkinson's miss in front of the sticks?  It summed up England's day.

Villain of the match:  Martin Castrogiovanni was the only man approaching villain status -- or at least that what referee Christophe Berdos thought.  We'll reserve judgement.  Lewis Moody also ran into a little trouble with the ref -- and the crowd -- but we're not sure there was any malice in his challenge on Luke McLean.  No award.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Pens:  Mirco Bergamasco 4

For England:
Try:  Tait
Pens:  Wilkinson 3
Drop:  Wilkinson

Yellow card(s):  Castrogiovanni (Italy) -- killing the ball, 57.

The teams:

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Masi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Valerio Bernabo, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Kaine Robertson.

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick (capt), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Matthew Mullan, 19 Louis Deacon, 20 Steffon Armitage, 21 Paul Hodgson, 22 Toby Flood.

Referee:  Christophe Berdos (France)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor:  Dave Herbert (Wales)

Painful lesson in Paris for Ireland

Ireland were forced to hand over their 2009 Grand Slam bragging rights on Saturday as a top-class French outfit proved a point in Paris, winning 33-10.

The purists will be delighted to hear that the Stade de France was blessed to watch Les Bleus in full swing and it was apparent that the champions had no answer to what was thrown at them.

They lost the battle up front and also out wide in a physical contest that in patches slipped over what is right and wrong on a rugby field.

I am alluding to the possible, make that probable citing for hooker Jerry Flannery, whose blatant first-half trip on Alexis Palisson forced the young winger off the field and could have similar repercussions for the Munster front-rower.

And so to the free-flowing French.  Francois Trinh-Duc and Morgan Parra were the men who ran the show, the latter kicking eighteen points as Ireland crashed to their first defeat since 2008.

William Servat scored the game's first try on 27 minutes while Ireland were down to fourteen men through the sin-binning of prop Cian Healy for obstruction and centre Yannick Jauzion added a second before half-time.

Ireland, who like their hosts with Palisson, lost a player to injury in the shape of British & Irish Lions full-back Rob Kearney, became increasingly ragged and conceded a third try to Clement Poitrenaud before David Wallace grabbed a consolation effort on 65 minutes.

Victory will taste all the sweeter for France knowing that Ireland arrived genuinely believing they could end their decade-long wait for a success at Stade de France.

Instead, the holders failed the first significant examination of their title defence and missed the chance to head to Twickenham with their tails up.

Ireland in the end trudged off shell-shocked, yet a promising opening suggested they might finally be ready to improve their record of just one win in Paris in 28 years.

Early surges from returning flanker Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip swept them five metres short of the line.  France's defence reacted sharply, however, with Jauzion bottling up O'Driscoll before the attack became lateral and fizzled out.

A busy Gordon D'Arcy was then denied by the bounce of the ball after he charged into space and chipped ahead with winger Vincent Clerc coming to the rescue of the side in blue.

Then came Flannery's indiscretion which he was lucky to stay on the field for as frustration mounted and tempers began to fray in the contest.  Instead it was Cian Healy who went to the sin-bin for holding back the supporting Trinh-Duc when France were on an attack.

Parra landed the penalty before the hosts cranked up the volume with four successive five-metre scrums leading to hooker Servat going over for a converted try.  Ronan O'Gara reduced the deficit to 10-3 -- until France produced their second try the on the half-hour mark.

The imposing Mathieu Bastareaud was then at his best as he bulldozed his way through midfield before being stopped ten metres short, but the ball found its way to Jauzion who slipped over untroubled.  Parra's conversion compounded Ireland's problems to go with the departure of Kearney.

Ireland were desperate to get themselves on the try-scoring board but instead found themselves defending, which ultimately led to Bastareaud using his strength to set up France's third try.  He slipped the scoring pass to Poitrenaud with Parra converting before the number nine added a drop-goal.

The wounded holders replied with a try of their own through flanker Wallace but there was no fightback as substitute Frederic Michalak landed a drop goal in what proved to be the salt in the wound for the Irish.

Man-of-the-match:  This one goes to former captain Lionel Nallet.  The Racing-Metro lock was a colossus in Paris as he carried, won lineouts and was also solid in the scrum.

Moment-of-the-match:  Winning in France after surrendering an early lead is rarely easy.  You cannot frustrate a side if they are winning so William Servat going over on 26 minutes had a massive impact on how this one panned out.

Villain-of-the-match:  No debate with this unwanted award as Jerry Flannery seriously lost his cool in the first-half.  A horrible trip on Alexis Palisson summed up Ireland's frustration.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Servat, Jauzion, Poitreneaud
Con:  Parra 3
Pen:  Parra 2
Drop:  Parra, Michalak

For Ireland:
Tries:  D Wallace
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  O'Gara

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Frederic Michalak, 21 David Marty, 22 Julien Malzieu.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Sean O'Brien, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Paddy Wallace

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match officials:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Michel Lamoulie (France)

Welsh break Scottish hearts

Wales fought back from 21-9 down to secure an extraordinary 31-24 win over Scotland in the Six Nations in Cardiff on Saturday.

Lee Byrne's try started the fightback in a second half of which nearly 80 per cent was played in the Scottish half.

Yet with four minutes to go at 24-14 ahead, the Scots must have believed it was theirs.  Few others could have believed what came next.

Leigh Halfpenny finished off a move racing down the right wing as the Welsh pressure finally told.  Stephen Jones converted to make it 24-21.

Then Phil Godman was yellow-carded for pulling James Hook back as he chased a clever kick through and Stephen Jones levelled the scores.  The teams went back for the restart knowing there was only one play to go.

Wave after wave of Welsh pressure came again, with Sam Warburton making ground, clever handling keeping the ball alive and the Scots, down to thirteen men, stretched across the field.  Alun-Wyn Jones took the ball on after Roberts and Hook had made the ground down the right and then out came the quick ball to Shane Williams, who accelerated under the posts for the winner.  It was heady stuff alright!  17 points in the final four minutes is some going.

That was just as well, for the Welsh delivered a first half of withering ineptitude.  In the first ten minutes alone they gifted the Scots a try with some lame tackling, left a high ball to each other, cost themselves a free kick on their own scrum and lost a line-out.  Scotland must have thought it was their day.

The Scots were just as classy as the Welsh were ponderous.  John Barclay took his early gift-wrapped try with aplomb and both sets of brothers -- the Lamonts and the Evanses -- were constant menaces, while Dan Parks' astute kicking ensured that the Welsh were kept guessing.

Once they had built their lead, with Max Evans finishing off a brilliant cross-kick from Parks and every entry into Welsh territory seeming to yield some form of score, the Scots did what we all know they can do:  dig in.  The tackling and coverage of the XV was marvellous.  Ultimately though, not quite enough.

Andy Robinson was visibly fuming at the final whistle -- we'll see if he can keep his temper in the post-match conference -- but whether with frustration at his own team or at the officiating is a poser.  He might have a few things to say about George Clancy, who never quite got a hold on everything that went on at the rucks, but he will undoubtedly have a few things to say on the subject of why the game was not irretrievably wrapped up.  They had enough first-half chances.

There was also a change in the game with the exit of Thom Evans, carted off with what looked to be a nasty neck injury.  With him went a fair bit of the threat and momentum.

Paterson led Scotland out, in tribute to him becoming the latest member of Test rugby's 100-cap club, joining such illustrious names as George Gregan, Philippe Sella and David Campese.

An open stadium roof -- a rarity these days for Wales home games -- revealed a leaden sky, but no sign of the rain which Wales boss Warren Gatland suggested Scotland had been hoping for.

The Scots quickly showed they did not require wet weather to assist them tactically as they stunned Wales with a ninth-minute try.

Paterson, who had received lengthy treatment for a knock to his shoulder, regained his feet in time to see Barclay smash through the combined defence of James Hook and Gareth Cooper.

Barclay's power was too much for them as he sprinted over for Scotland's first try since their opening autumn Test victory over Fiji three months ago.

Paterson added the conversion -- his 35th successful Six Nations kick in a row -- and blundering Wales could have few complaints at an early seven-point deficit.

And it got worse for the home side, despite Jones opening their account with a 15th-minute penalty.

Wales were horribly disorganised in defence, and Scotland took advantage with a second try after Parks played the role of creator following a neat drop-goal.

His clever kick behind the Welsh defence saw Max Evans -- on the field as a blood replacement for his brother Thom -- react quickest and ground possession just before the dead-ball line.

Referee George Clancy needed confirmation from television match official Geoff Warren before the try was awarded, and although Paterson's long kicking sequence ended through a missed conversion, Scotland quickly extended their lead.

Parks cancelled out Jones' second penalty for an 18-6 advantage, and Paterson then departed the action with Evans returning as a permanent, rather than temporary, substitute.

It was a sad way for Paterson's afternoon to end, yet he would have been thrilled with Scotland's dominant performance as he made his way off.

Wales pressed in search of a try, but the game was held up when wing Thom Evans suffered his injury following a shuddering midfield collision with Byrne.

The Glasgow player was carried off on a stretcher, appearing to be in a bad way, and it meant scrum-half replacement Mike Blair being pressed into emergency wing duty.

Wales piled on the pressure as half-time approached, but their game continued to be spiked by basic handling errors prior to Jones slotting a third penalty.

Scotland were good value for their 18-9 interval advantage, and Parks immediately extended it through another penalty after Cardiff Blues scrum-half Richie Rees replaced Cooper.Gatland, his patience close to running out, then made a triple substitution, sending on lock Bradley Davies, prop Gethin Jenkins and hooker Huw Bennett as Wales looked to lift the tempo.

And it had the desired effect as Shane Williams' arcing run and superb pass allowed to Byrne to cross in the corner, cutting Wales' deficit to seven points with 24 minutes left.

Parks though, the game's dominant figure, booted a second drop-goal, before Lawson was sin-binned and Halfpenny's late try, converted by Jones, set up a nerve-shredding finale as Jones drew Wales level with a penalty.

Then Williams struck during the game's final passage of play -- raising his arm in triumph before crossing the line -- and mayhem broke out around the stadium.

Man of the match:  He had a hand in every Welsh try, including scoring the killer one.  Arise, Shane Williams, your country salutes you!

Villain of the match:  Phil Godman's moment of idiocy might well have been the costliest of all.  Why bother?

Moment of the match:  Only one possibility in a game like this:  that winning try!

The scorers:

For Wales
Tries:  Byrne, Halfpenny, S.Williams
Cons:  S.Jones 2
Pens:  S.Jones 3

For Scotland:
Tries:  Barclay, M Evans
Con:  Paterson
Pens:  Parks 2
Drop goals:  Parks 2

Yellow cards:  Lawson (73, Scotland, slowing the ball down), Godman (79, Scotland, pulling chasing player back)

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 James Hook, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Ryan Jones (capt), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Jonathan Thomas, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Tom Shanklin.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Rory Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (capt), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alastair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Max Evans.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Ooh la la Bastareaud!

Mathieu Bastareaud scored his first two Test tries to help France to a 18-9 Six Nations win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday.

France lived up to their status as tournament favourites as Marc Lièvremont's team rode roughshod over their hosts in the first half to get their Six Nations campaign off to an ideal start.

The Scottish scrum had no answer to Les Bleus' heavies and the French rush defence left the home backline with no time to work with and moving backwards more often than not.

Bastareaud was lethal on attack and frightening in defence, answering his critics in the best possible manner with a barnstorming performance.

Once again Scotland made too many errors at vital moments, leaving their best hopes in Chris Paterson's metronomic boot.  But even another flawless display from the kicking tee from the full-back wasn't enough to trouble the Tricolors.

In this age of conservative kicking, what a refreshing sight it was to see France cut loose on the counter attack.  And they did it with ruthless efficiency.  Ireland, beware!

Bastareaud's double first-half strike gave the visitors a 15-6 lead;  it could have been a lot more but for an unlucky bounce here and a dodgy ruck there.

The second half was far less exciting as France's intensity seemed to drop a notch with their comfortable lead.

Scotland were able to string together plenty of phases but never threatened out wide.

As expected, the teams tore into each other with ferocious intensity early on.  Aurélien Rougerie put in two massive hits in the first two minutes -- so big in fact that he was forced to leave the field two minutes later.

France were looking dangerous from kick-off but Scotland were first to get on the scoreboard when Imanol Harinordoquy was penalised for hands in the ruck on his own try line after Max Evans intercepted a Yannick Jauzion pass.

Scotland were handed a lifeline when Thom Evans brilliantly prevented Vincent Clerc from touching down after breaking clear from a sweeping French attack.

A succession of French five metre scrums was followed by the first try as Bastareaud had an easy run in for his first Test try after Harinordoquy had bashed it up.

The hosts' front row was getting worked over at scrum time and referee Nigel Owens saved them from further punishment by giving France a penalty.  Morgan Parra landed it from 40 metres only to see Paterson do the same a few minutes later to leave the score 6-8.

Bastareaud was far from done though and when he got a pass from Harinordoquy 25 metres from home, he turned on the afterburners.  None of the Scottish defenders seemed to be brave enough to even try to tackle him and the big centre's second try was made to look much too easy.

Scotland were relieved to survive a siege on their line to end the half but were put further behind after the break when Parra found the target again.

Scotland's only reply was another Paterson effort from the tee.  The home back three did tireless work carrying the ball up, but Scotland's attacks lacked any real pace and would inevitably fizzle out after a handling error.

More than ever, France's showdown with Ireland in Paris next weekend looks set to be a possible tournament decider.

Man of the match:  Some might disagree with me here considering the number of penalties he gave away at the rucks, but Imanol Harinordoquy was immense.  The number eight is the kingpin of French attack and a man-mountain in defence.  He hit the line harder than anyone else and made a bag-load of huge tackles.

Moment of the match:  Scotland never looked like getting back in the game after Bastareaud's second try.  Not only did it take the breath away from the spectators, it took the wind out of the Scottish sails.

Villain of the match:  Nothing to report.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 3

For France:
Tries:  Bastareaud 2
Con:  Parra

Pens:  Parra 2

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Alex Grove, 22 Hugo Southwell.

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Aurélien Rougerie, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Pascal Pape, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Frederic Michalak, 21 David Marty, 22 Vincent Clerc.

Venue:  Murrayfield
Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Chris White (England) and Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match officials:  Geoff Hughes (England)

Job done for smarter Ireland

Ireland got their Six Nations defence up and running with a slightly stagnant 29-11 victory over Italy on Saturday.

While there was little to trouble the Grand Slam winners of 2009, even they will know that sterner tests are to come, starting in Paris next weekend.

But they got the job done and dusted with a little to spare in the end thanks to tries from Jamie Heaslip, Tomas O'Leary and the boot of Ronan O'Gara, making sure that the other nations would be playing catch-up in Round One's other fixtures taking place in London and Edinburgh.

What is clear for the Azzurri, however, is that they will need to show a lot more creativity wider out if they are to avoid another wooden spoon, which looks extremely likely without the presence of their injured number eight Sergio Parisse.  Like it or not, he is a vital cog to their cause.

The game itself kicked off under glorious conditions without a breath of wind and on an ideal surface that Brian O'Driscoll and Ireland will not be playing under next year as the old Lansdowne Road nears its second coming.  Speaking of BOD, the Leinster centre was one of the standouts on the day alongside David Wallace and Cian Healy, who enjoyed his personal battle with Martin Castrogiovanni.

Of course the battle up front was always going to be where this one centred around yet that does not excuse the lack of ideas in the Italian back-line.  Do they have a coach wider out?  Do they have backs at all?

Ireland certainly did in the first half and following an early chip apiece from Craig Gower and Ronan O'Gara, it was the hosts who got on the front foot thanks to Healy winning a scrum scrap with the Tigers tighthead.  O'Gara knocked over the three points from 40 metres.

Coached/Consultant Alan Gaffney had obviously given his backs strict instructions to run plenty of decoys in the game but while it looked pretty, Italy were not buying the green flashes and defended well before a pass from O'Gara allowed Andrew Trimble to cut loose down the left.  That break sparked a lovely passage that saw support runners joining the attack and ultimately led to Jamie Heaslip strolling over and with the conversion, Ireland were 10-0 to the good and looking impressive.

But it was far from the floodgate opener as Italy found their feet at scrum-time to get on the board.  O'Gara swiftly cancelled that out though and when Gonzalo Garcia was yellow-carded by Romain Poite, Ireland had opened a 16-3 lead on 34 minutes.

Then came a see-saw end to the first period.  Ireland probably believed they had themselves a match-winning cushion when Tomas O'Leary burrowed over for what became seven points.  But they would be ruing a sloppy error in the dressing rooms after Rob Kearney took too long to clear his lines.  The Lions full-back found himself charged down by wing Kaine Robertson and the lead was cut to fifteen at the break.

Craig Gower was absent for the remainder of the game which meant wing Mirco Bergamasco had taken over the kicking duties and though he missed the extras from the end-of-half score, he landed a penalty five minutes after the interval.

But Italy's problems continued at the scrum with Castrogiovanni once again conceding to Healy, allowing O'Gara to continue his flawless run with the boot.

Italy were at their attritional best in the third quarter but Ireland also contributed to the lull in proceedings with some poor kicking, O'Gara the main culprit.

And with one eye on the big game in France next week, Declan Kidney brought off a returning Jerry Flannery, Trimble, Paul O'Connell and O'Gara.

Paddy Wallace took over the kicking duties and was on-target with a penalty before Gordon D'Arcy made a break in what was a rather lifeless final 40 minutes in the capital.

Man-of-the-match:  His ability to get over the gain-line always surprises defences and fans alike and David Wallace was once again an outlet for Ireland.  Another solid performance from the Munster flank before he was taken off as a precaution late on.

Moment-of-the-match:  Italian fans will not be happy that Ronan O'Gara's "very flat" ball out to Andrew Trimble, which led to Jamie Heaslip going over was a huge decision at Croker.

Villain-of-the-match:  Nothing really jumps out from the 80 minutes but maybe referee Romain Poite's decision to send Gonzalo Garcia to the sin-bin for his tackle on Brian O'Driscoll could be construed as being slightly harsh by the Frenchman.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Heaslip, O'Leary
Con:  O'Gara 2
Pen:  O'Gara 4, Wallace

For Italy:
Tries:  Roberston
Pen:  Gower, Mi Bergamasco

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donncha Ryan, 19 Sean O'Brien, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Keith Earls.

Italy:  15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt), 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Andrea Masi.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Christophe Berdos (France), Jérôme Graces (France)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)
Assessor:  Clayton Thomas (Wales)

Careless Welsh moments of madness

A ridiculous yellow card and a wayward pass were the margins that cost Wales dear in the Six Nations opener on Saturday, England winning 30-17.

Alun-Wyn Jones' pointless trip on Dylan Hartley five minutes before half-time was England's catalyst in what had been a tight game up until then.  While he reflected on the importance of discipline in the sin-bin, England scored two tries.  Wales nearly pulled the 17-point deficit back, only for Stephen Jones to throw a pass for Delon Armitage to intercept and set England away for the game-clinching try.

The Welsh are going to have to pick themselves up from this one.  There'll probably be a little honesty session on Monday, followed by a swift call of "get back to work", for a good deal of what they offered here was spot on.

Conversely, although England will no doubt be able to relax as they head into their second week, they'll also have to temper their glee with a little reality.  With that much possession, England ought to have put the game away long before the final five minutes.  Instead, had the pass Armitage intercepted gone to a Welsh hand, England could even have lost it.  It was better than November, but it was not that good.

As if to illustrate the point:  England had 74 per cent of the possession of the first ten minutes, but Wales had 67 per cent of the territory.  Whatever England did made absolutely no headway at all.  When Wales got the ball with their first two meaningful Martyn Williams broke the gain-line significantly both times -- the second time ended with a cheeky chip that saw Shane Williams bundling Jonny Wilkinson into touch.

Balls that went to touch were also a problem for the Welsh, who lost no fewer than six line-outs on their own throw.  That seems ludicrous for a team boasting the beanpole figure of Luke Charteris and a British and Irish Lion in Alun-Wyn Jones, but the throwing was out of kilter, Steve Borthwick and Simon Shaw were excellent and James Haskell and Lewis Moody were much better at mopping up the mess than their counterparts.

With James Hook and Stephen Jones unable to land four relatively long shots at goal between them, Welsh penalties were not really punitive measures, more irritants for the English.  On the flip side, Jonny Wilkinson's punishing boot and England's superior set piece meant the Welsh were frequently under pressure in their own half.

Wilkinson controlled the game excellently, with his longer kicks close enough to the touchline to cause Lee Byrne all sorts of consternation, his high kicks delicately measured and his goal-kicking 100 per cent accurate.  That was another significant difference between the teams.

The Welsh scrum was on top, the defence stronger and the attack functioning just fine, but it was all undermined.  When Jones saw yellow, the line-out fell apart properly, but it was the lack of Jones' presence in defence that was most keenly felt.  England scored 17 points in his absence.

Wilkinson booted England into an 11th-minute lead after Wales forward Andy Powell was punished for being off his feet in a ruck, yet there remained little to choose between the sides.

England had started to exert some dominance at the line-out, taking three of Wales' first five throws, but their indiscipline at an attacking scrum -- prop David Wilson was punished -- blew a promising position.

Wales had two long-range penalty chances during the opening 22 minutes, yet both were sent wide by centre James Hook as neither team settled.

Jones replaced Hook when Wales gained another long-range chance thirteen minutes before the break, and he found the target with an equalising strike.

Wilkinson applied an immediate punishment for Jones' transgression, kicking the resulting penalty, but worse was to come for Wales as Jones pondered his responsibilities from his seat in the stand.

Despite some heroic defensive work, especially from Adam Jones, Wales could not hold England out and Haskell stretched over for a close-range try.

Wales initially did well to thwart England's efforts, before Haskell squeezed through the combined challenge of scrum-half Gareth Cooper and Wales captain Ryan Jones right on half-time.

Wilkinson added the conversion, lifting England into a 13-3 lead and underlining Alun-Wyn Jones' crass indiscretion.

But worse was to come for the Ospreys lock as England scored again before he could return to the field.

England skipper Steve Borthwick stole possession superbly for his side, creating an attacking platform that Care prospered from by racing through an absent Welsh defence.

Wilkinson's conversion put England 20-3 ahead, and Wales knew they had to score next or face oblivion.

But the visitors delivered, lock Jones going a small way to atoning for his sin-binning by delivering the scoring pass to prop Jones that gave Wales a glimmer of hope and had captain Jones rousing his troops while fly-half Jones converted (if ever there was a sentence born in Wales, this one is it).

Hook then increased Welsh optimism with a darting score, but England finished them off when Armitage intercepted, Tait took the ball on and Haskell rounded it off with his support for his second.  Wilkinson iced the cake with a late penalty.

Both sides need vast improvements if they are to contest the Six Nations title, but England are up and running, which is all Martin Johnson will worry about.

Man of the match:  It's not often this happens, but we'll opt for a member of the losing side here, with Adam Jones putting in a flanker's share of running in defence and attack, delivering a sterling scrummaging performance and capping all that off with a try.

Moment of the match:  James Hook's try was the finest moment of individual skill, but a close second was the angled run and change of pace Mathew Tait used to capitalise on the Armitage interception and set up Haskell for the clinching try.

Villain of the match:  Alun-Wyn Jones' yellow card rendered all Wales' good defensive work until then null and void and gave the Welsh too much to do.  That's a fine ...

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Haskell 2, Care
Cons:  Wilkinson 3
Pens:  Wilkinson 2

For Wales:
Tries:  Adam Jones, Hook
Cons:  Stephen Jones 2
Pen:  Stephen Jones

Yellow card:  Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales, 35, tripping)

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick (c), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 David Wilson, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tom James, 13 James Hook, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Ryan Jones (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Huw Bennett, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Leigh Halfpenny.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Assessor:  Michael Lamoulie (France), Tony Spreadbury (England)