France end on a high

France ended their Six Nations campaign on a high after beating Wales 28-9 in Paris, and in the process leap-frogged their visitors into second place in the final championship standings.

Lock and man-of-the-match Lionel Nallett scored a try either side of half-time to kill off any chances the Welsh had of winning this match, while wing Vincet Clerc effectively ended the contest after touching down under the posts whilst James Hook was serving 10 minutes in the bin.

Ireland's 24-8 win over England in Dublin earlier in the day meant Wales went into the match knowing they had to beat France by 27 points -- they never came close and finish the tournament fourth overall.

Wales weren't helped with controversy surrounding defence coach Shaun Edwards after he was banned from any involvement in the game at the Stade de France after internal disciplinary action.

The result restored French pride after last week's humiliating loss to Italy in Rome and also confirmed England as this year's Six Nations champions.

James Hook got his team on the board as early as the second minute with a well-struck penalty that sailed straight and true between the uprights from a difficult angle.

First blood to Wales but Morgan Parra was quick to level the scores with an equally impressive strike 10m in from the touchline.  Hook had a chance to reclaim Wales' lead, but this time pulled his second attempt wide.

Wales then suffered a major blow after flank Sam Warburton was forced to leave the field with an injury and replaced by Jonathan Thomas.

Parra put France in front for the first time in the match with a penalty goal in the 25th minute, but failed with his third attempt to extend Les Bleus' lead even futher.

Wing Leigh Halfpenney looked to be home and dry for Wales' opening try, but a last-gasp ankle tap by fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc saved the day for France.

Instead it was France who crossed over for the first five-pointer thanks to a brilliant bull-dozing run by Nallett after throwing a dummy and stepping on the gas.  The former French skipper took two Welsh defenders over the line with him in the corner, but Parra couldn't follow up the try with a conversion.

At half-time, France deservedly held an 11-3 lead.

It didn't take long for Hook to get his side within five points of the French with a penalty two minutes into the second half but the Perpignan-bound pivot was soon guilty of gifting France their second try.

Hook's attempted clearance kick was charged down by Julien Pierre, who offloaded for his second-row partner Nallet to touch down for the second time.  Parra rediscovered his range with the conversion to pad France's advantage to 18-6.

An exchange of penalties between Hook and Parra made it 21-9 before the officials made a decisive intervention.

Hook was shown the yellow card by referee Craig Joubert, who -- acting on the advice of his touch judge -- deemed the Wales fly-off guilty of a dangerous tackle on Parra.  Replays suggested it was a harsh call, Hook having lifted Parra off the floor before easing him back to the ground rather than simply dropping him.

The extra man told immediately, Clerc added France's third try by collecting Trinh-Duc's chip over the onrushing defence.

Wales almost kept things interesting when, after a breakout against the run-of-play, Davies was stopped just short of the posts and France were able to prevent the ball being recycled quickly with plenty of red shirts waiting out wide.

Clerc was denied a second try of his own when his dive for the right corner saw him stopped just short and France then comfortably ran the clock down as La Marseillaise rang out around a contented Stade de France.

Man of the match:  Two tries, too good -- take a bow Lionel Nallet.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Nallett 2, Clerc
Cons:  Parra 2
Pens:  Parra 3

For Wales:
Pens:  Hook 3

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Fabien Estebanez, 22 Yoann Huget.

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Morgan Stoddart.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Slam party pooped by rampant Ireland

Ireland produced the performance that their whole nation had been waiting for on Saturday as they defeated old rivals England 24-8 at Aviva Stadium.

Declan Kidney's side were arguably three gears up from their showings in earlier rounds and consequently stunned the Grand Slam chasers, with tries from Tommy Bowe and Brian O'Driscoll sealing a much-needed win to lift team morale.

England in contrast were not quite at the races and will now face a slightly anxious wait to see how France and Wales pans out in Paris.  A points difference of 26 points is the task for Wales if they are to claim the Six Nations crown at the death.

A recalled Jonathan Sexton was deadly in front of goal for the fired-up Irish and struck four penalties in all while the score for O'Driscoll brought his total championship try tally up to a record 25.

However a large amount of credit for the victory must go to their back-row of Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien and David Wallace, with the latter duo immense both in contact and in the loose.

England seemed confident at kick-off, although Ireland's defence immediately held up well and they soon won a penalty after their pack dominated the opening scrum.

They won another too when England strayed offside at a line-out after six minutes, with Sexton kicking three points from in front of the posts.  3-0 it was to Ireland.

Martin Johnson's side lost promising possession when trying to break through the midfield soon after, and although Ireland's counter ended with a knock-on, their next brought a high tackle by an, at times angry, Chris Ashton on Sexton.  He found the target and England found themselves 6-0 down after fifteen minutes.

Four minutes later Wallace ended the attempts of Ben Youngs to attack and the nine was then penalised at the scrum for knocking the ball out the hands of an opponent.

Sexton kicked for the corner and with territory established, Ireland worked the ball up and back down the line.  Although O'Driscoll then crossed in the left-hand corner, Bowe's pass to the overlap was adjudged forward.

Still, there was the consolation of another three points for Sexton and the knowledge that they held the upper hand.  It was to get worse for England.

Having been awarded a penalty in the 25th minutes that he would surely have normally taken, an out-of-sorts Tony Flood was found wanting with the boot.

Ireland pressed forward immediately and caught England flat-footed, with a busy Bowe this time making no mistake as he took a smart Sexton's pass to cross.

Sexton could not convert, but Flood could at least put England's first points on the board with a penalty just past the half hour.  And boy did they need it.

They could not use that to fashion a response though;  instead Wallace came close to scoring after England's backline were dispossessed dealing with a high kick.

Youngs had helped bundled Wallace into touch but he was then sin-binned for throwing the ball into the crowd and preventing the quick throw.  Sexton kicked his fourth, with Wallace almost crossing one minute before the half time interval.

England appeared just as nervous at the start of the second half as Ireland piled on more heat, although they failed to make the man advantage pay off.  But with Danny Care replacing Youngs it didn't matter as O'Driscoll picked up a loose ball to cross in the left-hand corner after 46 minutes, with Sexton converting.

Ashton then burst for the line but his final pass found Gordon D'Arcy.  However, Ireland gifted their opponents a try on 52 minutes after a line-out went awry and Thompson took advantage, England's record-cap hooker racing over for a try.

Jonny Wilkinson added the two and it was around this time that England finally appeared to get their act together and consistently apply pressure themselves.

Ireland's defence remained unbreached, however, and with heavy rain falling, the hosts got some respite when Care struggled to control the ball on the wet surface.

Ireland remained ahead on territory in the closing ten minutes and try as England might, their increasingly tired-looking attacks never looked likely to prosper.

Victory was celebrated like a championship for Ireland but who can blame them?  Success against their old foes and depriving them of a Grand Slam, the Six Nations title?

Man-of-the-match:  Leinster flanker Sean O'Brien was once again immense for Ireland with his carrying strength killing England.  David Wallace and Jonathan Sexton also deserve a big mention for their efforts but captain and centre Brian O'Driscoll gets the gong for his all-action showing that saw him become the top try-scorer in Five/Six Nations history.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Bowe, O'Driscoll
Con:  Sexton
Pen:  Sexton 4

For England:
Tries:  Thompson
Pen:  Flood

Ireland:  15 Keith Earls 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Paddy Wallace.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nick Easter, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Danny Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 David Strettle.

Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Scots hand wooden spoon to Italy

Scotland crossed the line twice on Saturday to claim a morale-boosting 21-8 victory, thus condemning Italy to the Six Nations wooden spoon.

Line-out accuracy and goal-kicking had let down Italy early on as Leonardo Ghiraldini and Mirco Bergamasco struggled to find their range.

But hitting the target was no such problem for the hungry Scots as tries from Nick de Luca and Nikki Walker finally ended an embarrassing run that had seen their last score at Murrayfield coming in November 2009.  Andy Robinson was happy.

It was by no means a classic for what was a basement battle in Edinburgh.  Both sides were desperate to avoid bottom spot in a World Cup year and the efforts showed a great deal of guts while the showmanship was duly sacrificed.

Scotland did show flashes of good rugby though and it can't be underplayed how much makeshift centre Sean Lamont has brought to their midfield alongside Joe Ansbro, who was unfortunately carried from the action early on with a knee injury.

But his replacement -- Nick De Luca -- was to be the man to finally put an end to their unwanted Murrayfield try-scoring record as he was on the end of a well-worked move down the left wing, finishing soundly in the corner on 47 minutes.  Chris Paterson was unsuccessful with the conversion but did contribute eleven points on the day while making another try-saving tackle.

Italy were very much in proceedings though and were in fact ahead at the break, courtesy of an Andrea Masi try, with Bergamasco adding three points to 20 minutes later.

Scotland however moved back into the lead in the 55th minute, when Walker shrugged off replacement Luke McLean's challenge to atone for his earlier missed tackle with a try.

The Italians fought gamely to try and force their way back into it, but Paterson added another penalty before making that fantastic late tackle on McLean to deny the Italians a score.

Man-of-the-match:  Despite being outrun by a hooker when he probably should have scored, Sean Lamont was superb for Scotland.  Strong in the tackle and powerful when in possession, his move to inside centre could now be permanent.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  De Luca, Walker
Con:  Paterson
Pen:  Paterson 3

For Italy:
Try:  Masi
Pen:  Bergamasco

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Richie Vernon, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Nick De Luca.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabo, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Luke McLean.

Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:  Alan Lewis, John Lacey (both Ireland)
TMO:  Hugh Watkins (Wales)

England scrape past brave Scots

England kept their Grand Slam dreams alive, but only just, after seeing off Scotland 22-16 in an unconvincing performance at Twickenham on Sunday.

It was by no means a performance to savour, but the result will be a relief for the home side.  It was another tight contest that could so easily have gone the way of the Scots, but England held on.

England manager Martin Johnson should be livid with his charges.  They produced a flat display in the first half, and were fortunate to head into the break with the scores all square at 9-9.

They played with more intensity in the second half though, but just couldn't convert their opportunities until replacement forward Tom Croft powered over for the match-defining try.

And although Scotland wing Max Evans crossed late on for the visitors to set up a nervous finale, the trusty boot of Jonny Wilkinson settled matters in the final minute.

Scotland enjoying an early lead after Chris Paterson got the first points on the scoreboard thanks to a fourth-minute penalty goal that barely made it over the posts.

England fly-half Toby Flood had a chance to level the scores, but pushed his relatively easy first attempt wide of the posts, but made amends with another straight-forward shot five minutes later.

The battle of the boot between the two pivots continued -- Paterson banging over his second successful penalty of the match to reclaim Scotland's lead, before Flood tied up the scores once more.

England went in front for the first time in a tight encounter ten minutes from half-time after Flood raised the flags once more with his third successful attempt.

The Scots threatened England's line twice but were denied on both occasions through some fierce defence from the home side, but Martin Johnsen's men couldn't keep out a perfectly struck drop goal from Ruaridh Jackson on the stroke of half-time.

Jackson's strike meant the sides went into the break all square at 9-9 all -- a fair reflection of a dull and uninspiring opening forty minutes.

As the teams ran out for the second half, it was interesting to see replacement Matt Banahan in for captain Mike Tindall, with word from the England camp putting it down to a 'tactical move'.

It nearly proved to be a masterstroke from manager Johnson as England came out firing from the restart, flanker Tom Wood getting hauled down inches from Scotland's try-line.  And Banahan's damage was already evident after powering into Kelly Brown, that would leave the Scotland number eight having to be stretchered off the pitch -- a horrible sight for any spectator.

Scotland continued to dig deep in pressure situations to hold out several England attacks, before John Barclay was sin-binned for an infringement close to the visitors' line -- a decision that was perhaps a wee bit harsh by referee Romain Poite on the Scottish flank.

Flood then put England back in front with the ensuing penalty, while Scotland made their way back for the restart 14 men down.

The game was interrupted moments later when referee Poite limped off with a calf injury to be replaced by touch judge Jerome Garces.

Scotland needed a last-ditch tackle from Paterson to deny Ben Foden a try in the corner, and with 15 minutes remaining Johnson sent on England's reinforcements, bringing on hooker Steve Thompson, lock Simon Shaw, Croft and Wilkinson.

The new blood had the required effect and on 68 minutes, Croft crashed over after being released by Mark Cueto with what looked like a forward pass.

Wilkinson converted and England looked to be poised for victory at 19-9 up.  However a clever individual try by Evans, chippping and gathering his own kick ensured a nail-biting finale before Wilkinson gave England a five-point cushion with a nerveless late penalty.

The win means that England will travel to Dublin next Saturday knowing that victory over Ireland will give them their first Grand Slam in eight years.

However England know they will have to improve significantly if they are to defeat the Irish at Lansdowne Road after a disjointed and error-strewn performance.

And as Scotland's 28-year losing streak at Twickenham continued, Andy Robinson's troops now face a must-win clash against Italy at Murrayfield to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.

Man of the match:  The official man of the match may have gone to England flank James Haskell, but we disagree.  Our vote goes to veteran Chris Paterson who showed there's an abundance of life left in those old legs yet.  The full-back made a superb try-saving tackle and other crucial defensive interventions, as well as being typically flawless with the boot.  It's just a shame he was on the losing side after a complete performance.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many in a rather dour encounter.  Whilst Tom Croft's try brought on the loudest roar at Twickenham, and Max Evans' five-pointer gave the Scots hope of an upset -- Paterson's try-saving tackle on Foden takes the cake.

Villain of the match:  A yellow card to Scotland flank John Barclay but no malice in it.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Croft
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Flood 4, Wilkinson

For Scotland:
Try:  Evans
Con:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson 2
Drop:  Jackson

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs , 8 Nick Easter , 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Danny Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Matt Banahan.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Richie Vernon, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Nick De Luca.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Ball decision seals victory for Wales

Wales kept alive their slim hopes of lifting the Six Nations trophy with a 19-13 victory over Ireland in a dour clash at the Millennium Stadium.

Controversy will forever be attached with this March 12 fixture as a Mike Phillips score that should never have been awarded will leave the whole of Ireland fuming on Saturday evening.

It came from an Irish clearance that led to Wales captain Matthew Rees taking a line-out quickly.  However, television replays proved the eyebrow raisers correct in that it was a different ball that the hooker picked up and used on the touchline.

But the history books will show a Welsh victory, one that puts them level on points with current leaders England, who play Scotland on Sunday.

Ireland had gone into the dressing room at half-time with a 13-9 lead thanks to a try from Brian O'Driscoll, but were left pointless in the second period as they chose to kick more than they ran.  Paddy Wallace will also be kicking himself for looking for an easier conversion for Jonathan Sexton instead of just taking the try at the death.

But in truth, the sporadic drama cannot disguise what was a dismal 80 minutes.

The game took just 20 seconds for the first replacement to be made and it may be a record for the shortest period of time on a field.  Scrum-half Eoin Reddan was withdrawn after copping a ball in the face from Lee Byrne's hefty clearance directly from the kick-off.

Peter Stringer came on in his place at the base and was, in fact, the player to fire out a pass to returning Ireland winger Tommy Bowe, who subsequently created a hole for captain and outside centre O'Driscoll to dive over and open the scoring in the early stages.

If that substitution is to be an unwanted tag for scrum-half Reddan, it was one of three records or milestones to be beaten or matched within the first four minutes.  O'Driscoll's smartly-taken try now propels him to joint top try-scorer in Five/Six Nations history while Ronan O'Gara reached 1000 Test points with the extras.

Wales quickly needed to find their footing and two James Hook penalties pulled them back to within a point before the hour, with Ireland giving away sloppy offences at the breakdown.

Hook's inclusion over the veteran fly-half Stephen Jones did not really lead to much creation though, as both sides maybe felt the need to claim victory before looking to cut loose.

O'Gara did boot a long-range penalty on 33 minutes and one on the half-time hooter to extend the lead, but it was only a three-point lift due to Leigh Halfpenny's own strike.

The second-half was one to forget for Ireland as replacement Sexton endured a difficult half-hour.  First he pushed a cross-field effort into touch before missing a simple penalty.

Then came the moment that will be tagged to this game as Rees threw to Phillips from the touchline and the scrum-half showed his pace and power to go over.  Hook's conversion was the further twist of the knife into Ireland's side as the momentum had consequently swung.  Jonathan Kaplan had requested confirmation from touch judge Peter Allan, who said it was the same ball, but replays conclusively illustrated that the officials were wrong.

Ireland cannot say that they didn't have a chance to banish their upcoming nightmare tonight though, with Wallace's big blunder on the hooter ending Ireland's hopes of silverware.

Man-of-the-match:  For his general game-management, James Hook.

Moment-of-the-match:  Is there any other contender?  The controversial try for Mike Phillips.  Ireland will no doubt be fuming and talking about this one for a good while yet.

Villain-of-the-match:  I don't mean to pick on an official but it has to go to Peter Allan for not spotting the different ball being used in the lead-up to Mike Phillips' try.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Try:  Phillips
Con:  Hook
Pen:  Hook 3, Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Tries:  O'Driscoll
Con:  O'Gara
Pen:  O'Gara 2

Wales:  15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Paul James.
Replacements:  16 Richard Hibbard, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Morgan Stoddart.

Ireland:  15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian 0'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Paddy Wallace.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television match official:  Geoff Warren (England)

Italy shock the defending champions

Italy made history on Saturday when they recorded their first ever Six Nations victory over France, winning 22-21 in a nail biter in Rome.

The defending Six Nations and Grand Slam champions outscored their hosts two tries to one but made far to many errors, allowing Mirco Bergamasco to slot six penalties and convert Andrea Masi's try to hand Italy the biggest victory in their rugby history.

So often the weak link in the Azzurri's game, Bergamasco landed six out of his eight kicks from the tee to punish the French for their sloppy indiscretions.

Indeed les Bleus will head back to Paris ruing a string of mistakes.  Many were made under pressure but some will leave coach French fans pulling their hair out and pointing fingers with wing Yoann Huget amongst those in the firing line.

10/1 underdogs at kick-off, Italy produced yet another courageous effort and must be given full marks for effort and commitment.  By contrast, their visitors seemed flat, uninspired and were unable to match the home side for physical intensity.

Contrary to what has become the norm, Italy's success was not built on scrum domination.  In fact, it was the French set piece that had the upper hand, and one could argue that they had a case for a potentially match-winning penalty in the dying minutes.  But rather than crying over split milk, Marc Lièvremont's team should look to their chronic sterility on attack and their knack for fluffing opportunities, exemplified by Aurelien Rougerie dropping the ball in the act of scoring for the second straight match.

An early try from Vincent Clerc gave France an 8-6 lead at the break.  It was a classic winger's try as Clerc latched onto Rougerie's long pass out wide before chipping over the last defender and using his pace to get to the ball first.

The game looked dead and buried when François Trinh-Duc and Morgan Parra linked up to slice through the Italian defence to put the scrum-half in under the sticks.

18-6 down going into the final quarter, a lesser team would have buckled.  But Italy never let there heads drop and were back in the game when Fabio Semenzato found Andrea Masi on the blindside and the full-back darted over from short range to revive his team's hopes.

Bergamasco landed two more penalties to Parra's one to set up a grandstand finish.  With just four minutes left on the clock the Italian wing landed his sixth successful kick to give the hosts the lead for the first time.

France plied the pressure in the dying minutes, but with Stadio Flaminio in full voice, the visitors were denied the penalty they sought.

And thus history was made.

Man of the match:  Tough one to call.  Sergio Parisse was at his brilliant best but how can we deny the try-scorer on such an historic occasion?  Andrea Masi was solid as a rock at the back and was rewarded with a try he'll never forget.

Moment of the match:  Italy trailed for 76 minutes, but the roar from the crowd when Mirco Bergamasco's final penalty split the uprights left no doubt as to who was ahead on the scoreboard when it mattered.

Villain of the match:  No rough stuff to report.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Masi
Con:  Bergamasco
Pens:  Bergamasco 5

For France:
Tries:  Clerc, Parra
Con:  Parra
Pens:  Parra 3

The teams:

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Quintin Geldenhuys, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Luke McLean.

France:  15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Vincent Clerc, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Sébastien Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Sylvain Marconnet
Replacements:  16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Clement Poitrenaud.

Venue:  Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Referee:  Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Jim Yuille (Scotland)