Wales clinch Grand Slam

Wales beat France 16-9 in a tight battle at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday to complete the Grand Slam in fine style.

Wing Alex Cuthbert scored the only try of an enthralling battle to help the home side to their third Slam in eight years.

The occasion had an extra poignancy for Welsh rugby following the death of 1976 Grand Slam skipper Mervyn Davies on Thursday a few will deny they deserved victory in Cardiff over a combative but unimaginative French team.

Cuthbert's try helped Wales to a 10-3 lead at half time while Leigh Halfpenny added the conversion and three penalties over the course of the 80 minutes.

All of France's points came from the boot of half-backs Lionel Beauxis and Dimitri Yachvili.  Indeed French fans will be left frustrated by the lack of positive intent or creativity from their side.

But the day was about Wales and their ability to hold their nerve under pressure.  And there was no lack of it as les Bleus came desperately close to forcing their way over in the closing minutes.

While the Welsh attack has been a talking point over the last six week, it was their defence that impressed most with Jonathan Davies and Dan Lydiate leading the charge.

Referee Craig Joubert was taking a strict approach to the breakdown area and ruck infringements gave Yachvili and Rhys Priestland each an early opportunity to kick at goal.

The French scrum-half opened the scoring but Priestland's reply found the post.

Wales were soon in front however when Cuthbert scored a fabulous try from quick turnover ball, showing a neat step in between Julien Bonnaire and William Servat before tearing towards the unguarded tryline.  Halfpenny took over the kicking duties and had no problems with the conversion.

A powerful Welsh scrum was at the origin of further points seven minutes before the break as it gave Davies a head start to put pressure on Beauxis, who spilt his pass in contact and the home side were awarded a penalty when Alexis Palisson was forced to hang on while cleaning up.

Halfpenny should have added another three points on the stroke of half-time but this time it was his turn to strike the woodwork.

Sam Warburton did not return to the field after the break and the French held the momentum early in the second period.

Beauxis narrowed the gap to four points from the kicking tee but squandered an easy chance to get les Bleus within a point when he missed his fourth drop goal attempt of the tournament.

Halfpenny thumped over a penalty from 52 metres out to restore Wales' advantage as France persisted with their kick-orientated game, though replacement Jean-Marcellin Buttin came close to scoring when collecting a cross-field kick from Beauxis.

The visitors piled on the pressure in the closing stages and Imanol Harinordoquy will rue his decision to cut inside when he had Louis Picamoles on his outside and the tryline within range.

Joubert gave the visitors a penalty and their negative attitude was summed up in the decision to take three rather than seek a try to level the game.

The final minutes were inevitably fraught from a Welsh perspective, but Halfpenny held his nerve to add one last penalty and kick off a massive party.

Man of the match:  Wales flank Dan Lydiate put in yet another immense tackling display and must be considered a candidate for Player of the Tournament.

Moment of the match:  There was nothing to choose between the teams in the opening stages before Alex Cuthbert's try put Wales ahead.  From then on France were chasing the game and Wales always seemed in control.

Villain of the match:  No bad guys here.  Let the party commence!

The scorers:

For Wales
Try:  Cuthbert
Con:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3

For France:
Pens:  Yachvili 2, Beauxis

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yohann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 David Attoub, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Jean-Marcellin Buttin

Venue:  Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match official:  Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Ireland given lesson at Twickenham

England demonstrated a scrumming masterclass against Ireland as they crushed their visitors 30-9 in the Six Nations at Twickenham on Saturday.

In difficult weather conditions for running rugby, the English destroyed the Irish set-piece on numerous occasions as Alex Corbiserio, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole enjoyed immense games.

The trio — with help from their back-five — totally dominated their opposite numbers in what became a feasting ground for the home side.

Victory means England finish the Championship in second place after winning four out of their five games while Ireland end up in third position.

Stuart Lancaster must now wait to see whether chief executive Ian Ritchie believes he is the right man to lead the English on a full-time basis.

On the evidence of the Six Nations, it will be difficult for Ritchie to overlook Lancaster staying with Graham Rowntree while Andy Farrell is unlikely to remain due to club commitments.

The opening half was a rather stagnant affair as both sides based their game largely on defence, with regular handling errors hampering proceedings.  Ultimately, the action at Twickenham failed to excite those watching as three Owen Farrell penalties and two from Jonathan Sexton meant the half-time score was 9-6.

What was a blow to the Irish cause was the loss of starting tighthead Mike Ross, who left the field injured on 36 minutes and left Ulster loosehead Tom Court with what proved to be the toughest 44 minutes of his career.  Cue England's pack twisting the knife at scrum-time.

Corbisiero was dominant while Cole also capitalised as Ireland's pack looked dejected, which created the first try of the game on 65 minutes when England were given a five-metre scrum after Tomas O'Leary carried over his line.  Referee Nigel Owens had little option.

In the 73rd minute another massive scrum effort led to a further penalty for England and Ben Youngs, who came on for an out-of-sorts Lee Dickson, reacted to tap quickly to scoot over.

Farrell could not land the conversion but added another penalty three minutes from time to complete the victory and rubber stamp another positive step forward for the young side.

Man of the match:  Change to Men.  England's pack.

Moment of the match:  It is harsh to pick on one Irish player but the back-tracking Tomas O'Leary was rather lethargic when running back in an attempt to collect a grubber through.  Ultimately he did not have time to clear which meant England had a five-metre scrum that turned into seven points.  The hosts turned the screw at the set-piece and the rest is history.

Villain of the match:  Despite all the hype, it was relatively clean.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Penalty, Youngs
Con:  Farrell
Pen:  Farrell 6

For Ireland:
Pen:  Sexton 3

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Mike Brown.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Referee:  Nigel Owens
Assistant referees:  Jérôme Garces, Neil Paterson
Television match official:  Jim Yuille

Italy hand spoon to Scotland

Italy recorded a 13-6 victory over Scotland in Rome on Saturday in a result that leaves the visitors with the Six Nations Wooden Spoon.

Italy claimed a gritty 13-6 victory over Scotland on Saturday in a result that handed the visitors the Six Nations Championship Wooden Spoon.

It was apparent that this was a Wooden Spoon decider as both teams shut up shop and tried not to lose more than take the game by the scruff of the neck.  Possibly that is doing a disservice to Jacques Brunel's outfit though, as they did enjoy spells of territory in which players ran straight.

But the first-half only managed to produce a grand total of six points as Mirco Bergamasco and Greig Laidlaw traded a penalty apiece in the sunshine.  Italy reemerged in hot form though following the turnaround and enjoyed a purple patch that led to Giovanbattista Venditti going over for five points.

That converted try on 43 minutes proved to be the match-winner as only another shot from Laidlaw and then a late Kris Burton drop-goal troubled the scorers in the remaining 37 minutes in Rome.

Scotland end the 2012 Six Nations with no wins to their name in a campaign that has left the pressure mounting on coach Andy Robinson.

The Englishman was forced to make a late change to his side when prop Allan Jacobsen failed a fitness test before kick-off, with John Welsh starting.  Meanwhile, the Italians were also without a first-choice player after hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini pulled out injured.

But it was the opposing hooker, Ross Ford, who was in the spotlight during the action at the Stadio Olimpico as the Scottish line-out struggled to fire throughout.  That hurt their game.

As mentioned, the first 40 minutes struggled to excite as Bergamasco and Laidlaw kicked one penalty each.  But then after the break Venditti found an opening as he burst through a Stuart Hogg tackle to touch down.  Burton sent over the conversion from under the posts.

Scotland did answer in the 60th minute via another kick from Laidlaw but when Burton sent over a drop-goal three minutes from time, Scotland were beaten for the fifth time in 2012.

Man of the match:  Back from a rib injury, prop Martin Castrogiovanni was superb for Italy while lock Quintin Geldenhuys and number eight David Denton also put in good shifts.

Moment of the match:  No prizes for guessing this one.  Italy wing Giovanbattista Venditti scoring on 43 minutes to send Rome wild.  A key try that proved to be the difference.

Villain of the match:  If we have to then it will be the yellow card trio at Stadio Olimpico.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Try:  Venditti
Con:  Burton
Pen:  Bergamasco
Drop:  Burton

For Scotland:
Pen:  Laidlaw 2

Yellow cards:  Nick de Luca — 39 mins; Jim Hamilton — 56 mins; Alessandro Zanni — 66 mins

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Joshua Furno, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 John Welsh.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Jack Cuthbert.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO:  Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

England conquer Paris

England made it three away wins in the 2012 Six Nations when they weathered a France storm to run out 24-22 winners in Paris on Sunday.

The visitors outscored their hosts three tries to one in a thrilling encounter that went down to the wire as the French fought in vain to keep their 10-match unbeaten run at Stade de France intact.

It was a passionate performance from the English, who never relinquished their lead after centre Manu Tuilagi crossed for the opening try in the 13th minute of the match.

France's efforts in the first half had been disappointing, and the 14-9 deficit at the break was a good reflection of this, but also the superb work of the visitors.

England came out with the same passion and vigour in the second 40 as they had done in the previous half, bruising in the forwards and creative in the backs.

They were unrelenting up front, while France looked rudderless at times when they had the ball.

Their defence was outstanding and managed to hold France off on a weight of possession, until the French staged a dramatic fightback that was ultimately thwarted by their nemesis team.

England, mathematically at least, will head into the final weekend with a shot at the title — and Stuart Lancaster's bid to become the next full-time coach is building momentum.  Wales, though, are now all but guaranteed the Six Nations title.

England's aggressive defence really rattled and disrupted France early on and the visitors took full advantage with two first-half tries.

Chris Ashton made a big hit on the halfway line and Owen Farrell and Lee Dickson combined to unleash Tuilagi who out-sprinted the cover to touch down in the corner.

Farrell converted with a terrific kick from the touchline and England doubled their lead five minutes later.

Number eight Ben Morgan thundered through the French defence before offloading to his namesake Foden and the England full-back scrambled to the line.  Farrell added the simple conversion.

France kept in the game with three first-half penalties, Lionel Beauxis landing two and Julien Dupuy slotting one.

Farrell landed a penalty early in the second half as England survived a period with Charlie Sharples in the sin-bin for a deliberate knock on.  On his return, though, Beauxis and replacement Morgan Parra cut England's lead.

However, the decisive moment came when Tom Croft was given space to hit full stride before cutting through the French line and rounding the cover.

Farrell's tough conversion was crucial as France rallied once again.

Finally France crossed the tryline to make it a tension-filled last five minutes as Wesley Fofana went over in the corner for his fourth try in as many matches after being fed by Parra, who then converted from the touchline.

The French went roaring back into the English half spearheaded by Aurélien Rougerie but replacement Francois Trinh-Duc's effort at a drop-goal fell short and England held on.

Man of the match:  England's victory truly was a group effort, and a team gong is richly deserved.  However, it's hard not to single out some outstanding performances — namely from Dan Cole, Geoff Parling and Owen Farrell.  But in the end we thought Ben Morgan gave as good as he got with a tough and uncompromising effort at number eight for England.

Moment of the match:  Take your pick!  There were many, but England's third try did it for us as Tom Croft sent Aurélien Rougerie the wrong way and broke one tackle to touch down.  Brilliant.

Villain of the match:  There was a yellow card for Charlie Sharples, but we really don't think there was hardly any malice involved.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fofana
Con:  Parra
Pens:  Beauxis 3 , Dupuy, Parra

For England:
Tries:  Tuilagi, Foden, Croft
Cons:  Farell 3
Pen:  Farrell 2

France:  15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yohann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Francois Trinh-Duc, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Mike Brown.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Italian job done for Wales

Wales kept their Grand Slam mission on course after seeing off a determined Italy outfit 24-3 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Now only France stand in the way of the Welsh, who are only 80 minutes away from securing the 2012 Six Nations title.

However, it wasn't always one-way traffic for the hosts.  Wales have averaged almost 40 points a time over their previous Six Nations meetings with the Azzurri in Cardiff and a repeat performance was expected by many this weekend.

But the Italians weren't prepared to roll over so easily and put in a feisty performance in defence that kept their hosts tryless for 50 minutes, until centre Jamie Roberts finally found a chink in the visitors' armour.

Until then, the favourites had to settle for three penalties to one with full-back Leigh Halfpenny and wing Mirco Bergamasco providing all the points in the first half for their respective teams that saw Wales head into the half-time sheds 9-3 on top.

Italy enjoyed some lengthy spells of possession after the break, but they were then hit with a sucker punch as Wales grabbed the opening try.

The visitors had made seven times more tackles than the men in red, but had no answer for a Welsh counter-attack inside their own 22.  With Italy's defence stretched, the ball was spun wide to Roberts who stepped inside Bergamasco for a clear run-in to the line.

Halfpenny added the extras but 10 minutes later found himself in the sin-bin after taking Italy skipper Sergio Parisse out in the air whilst following up his Garryowen.

However, the Azzurri failed to take advantage of playing against 14 Welshmen and failed to add any points in Halfpenny's absence.  Instead, Wales managed to extend their lead through a Rhys Priestland penalty.

With three minutes left on the clock, the hosts sealed the deal with their second try of the match thanks to some brilliant finishing from wing Alex Cuthbert.

Priestland's conversion attempt was wide, but it didn't matter as Wales sent Italy home — still without a win in the competition.  The Azzurri face Scotland next in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

Man of the match:  Scrum-half Mike Phillips and centre Jonathan Davies were Wales' stand-out performers, but we'll go for flanker Dan Lydiate who put in his usual strong display.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many!  But Jamie Roberts' try proved to be the breakthrough Wales were looking for.

Villain of the match:  We have a feeling referee George Clancy is going to cop a lot of flak following his performance in the middle …

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Roberts, Cuthbert
Cons:  Halfpenny
Pens:  Halfpenny 3, Priestland

For Italy:
Pens:  Bergamasco

Yellow card:  Halfpenny, 61 mins (Wales, taking player out in the air)

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c).
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Italy:  15 Andrea Masi, 14 Luke McLean, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Cornelius Van Zyl, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Tobias Botes, 21 Tommaso Benvenuti, 22 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)

Four-try Ireland a cut above Scotland

Ireland scored four tries at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday in a convincing 32-14 Six Nations victory over Scotland.

Having lost narrowly (and somewhat controversially) to Wales before being held to a draw in Paris, Ireland will head to Twickenham in confident mood next weekend.

Scotland meanwhile are faced with a Wooden Spoon showdown in Rome.

An entertaining first-half saw four tries being scored as Rory Best, Eoin Reddan and Andrew Trimble touched down for the hosts while Richie Gray showed great power, pace and skill to cross for Scotland to leave the hosts leading 22-14 at the break.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for a gritty, error-strewn second half as the hosts struggled to come up with the knockout blow.

In fact, the only knockout of the second period involved Scotland wing Lee Jones's lights going out after a vicious (though entirely unintentional) clash of heads with Trimble.

Replacement centre Fergus McFadden did eventually secure a deserved win for Ireland with a try under the sticks in the dying minutes.

A hamstring injury in the warm-up meant that Nick De Luca was replaced by Max Evans in the Scottish midfield, with uncapped Edinburgh back Matt Scott named on the bench.

Fly-half Greig Laidlaw kicked the visitors into an early 6-0 lead as Scotland held onto all the possession in the opening 10 minutes with the expansive style which has been the hallmark of their approach throughout the championship.

Ireland's positive mindset was evident when they opted to kick for the corner rather than take three points on the quarter-hour mark.

After a simple line-out, the ball was sent down the blindside and Best went straight over Mike Blair to score the first try in the corner.

Jonathan Sexton and Laidlaw exchanged penalties before Ireland struck again as Reddan escaped the clutches of opposite number Blair, Sean Lamont and David Denton to wriggle his way clear and score following a ruck five metres out.  Sexton converted to put the hosts 15-9 ahead.

Scotland's reply wasn't long in coming though as giant second row Gray broke through attempted tackles from Reddan and Tommy Bowe before selling Rob Kearney a dummy and sprinting 25m for his first Test try.  Laidlaw missed the conversion.

Ireland would take the momentum into the dressing rooms however, scoring their third try when Trimble made a mockery of the Scottish defence out wide — and Lee Jones in particular — to dashed over in the corner.

Sexton's conversion was wide but the hosts would have felt confident of victory with an eight-point lead at the break.

Bowe came desperately close to claiming Ireland's fourth try early in the second period but was wrestled onto his back by Graeme Morrison and the TMO ruled that he had made an illegal second movement in grounding the ball.

But overall the second forty minutes failed to live up to the standard set in the opening period.  Scotland fought bravely but never realistically looked like having enough to claim victory.

Max Evans was sent to the sin bin for impeding Keith Earls without the ball on 72 minutes and Ireland made the most of their numerical advantage as McFadden burrowed over the line with three minutes left on the clock.

Man of the match:  A few candidates here and a mention must go to Rory Best for leading Ireland to victory.  Stephen Ferris and Donnacha Ryan were also outstanding for the men in green but we'll break with convention and go with someone from the losing side because Richie Gray was phenomenal.  For a lock, his try was simply brilliant.  It's a sign of his class that he often seemed like the Scots' most dangerous runner.

Moment of the match:  Scotland were right in the game in the first half but Andrew Trimble's try just before half time took the wind out of their sails.  While a lot of credit must go to the Ulster wing, Trimble should never have been allowed to score.  It was the kind of defensive glitch that has ruined Scotland's campaign and it put Ireland in a position from which they could control the game.

Villain of the match:  We'll change this one to "Ballerina of the Match".  The dive from Keith Earls after being 'interfered with' on his way to the line by Max Evans would have made Christiano Ronaldo proud.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Best, Reddan, Trimble, McFadden
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 2

For Scotland:
Try:  Gray
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

Yellow card:  Evans (Scotland — 73rd min — playing man without the ball)

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross , 2 Ross Ford (c) 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Matthew Scott

Venue:  Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee:  Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite, Greg Garner (England)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Ireland hold on for draw in Paris

France recovered from an eleven-point half-time deficit to seal a 17-17 draw with Ireland in Paris on Sunday.

Declan Kidney's side had put themselves in a strong position going into the break after a try brace from Tommy Bowe stunned les Bleus.

But in a much-improved second-half showing the French found a route back into the fixture and in fact missed two late chances to claim the win.

The draw ends the prospect of a Grand Slam decider between Wales and France on March 17, while Ireland's title aspirations are now over.

France were sluggish throughout the first-half, with their midfield in particular showing signs of sloppiness when Bowe pounced on a wayward pass to ghost over in the thirteenth minute.  Jonathan Sexton's easy conversion made it 0-7.

The physical playmaker then added a penalty in reply to France scrum-half Morgan Parra's effort.

Parra, though, quickly made it 6-10 as he kicked a penalty from just inside the Irish half — the ball creeping over the bar and to add insult to injury hitting an unsuspecting Bowe on the head.

Clermont's number nine missed with another opportunity in the 35th minute after Cian Healy became the butt of the French fans frustration when coming back from an offside position he blocked what could have been a try-scoring pass from Aurélien Rougerie.

The Irish then fashioned a try out of nothing.  Breaking out of their 22, Keith Earls offloaded to Bowe and the 28-year-old broke one tackle before chipping and outpacing Poitrenaud to score.  Sexton's extras went in off the post to give the visitors a 17-6 half-time advantage.

That became 17-9 in the 47th minute as Parra made no mistake from wide out and the lead was reduced further three minutes later when Wesley Fofana's individual brilliance saw him snaffle the ball outside the Irish 22 and using his speed beat full-back Rob Kearney to dive over in the corner.  Parra missed the conversion to leave the Irish holding on to a 17-14 lead but he had them all square shortly before the hour mark, landing a long-range penalty.

The Irish ill-fortune continued within seconds as improving scrum-half Conor Murray went to ground clutching his knee and had to be stretchered off to be replaced by Eoin Reddan.

Kidney' side spurned two great chances when Rory Best's throw went askew with the line-out metres from the French line and although they regained possession, centre Gordon D'Arcy knocked on when under no pressure.  Scores were beginning to dry up in Paris.

The French also made a mess of trying to end the stalemate as replacement Lionel Beauxis missed his attempt at a drop-goal, as it barely took off before the Irish cleared.

The hosts came back and punched away at the Irish who held strong and, unlike in the 23-21 last minute loss to Wales, didn't concede a penalty and claimed a share of the spoils.

Man of the match:  France inside centre Wesley Fofana again demonstrated his potential on the Test scene with an effortless and opportunistic try in the second-half.  However, those two tries cannot go unrewarded so we go for Tommy Bowe.  A mention for Rob Kearney.

Moment of the match:  It has to be when Tommy Bowe collected a short ball on the right wing and then proceeded to chip over the last defender, collect and score his second try of the game.  That made it 6-17 with the conversion as things were looking good for Ireland.

Villain of the match:  No malice to speak of.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Fofana
Pen:  Parra 4

For Ireland:
Tries:  Bowe 2
Con:  Sexton 2
Pen:  Sexton

France:  15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements:  16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

Referee:  Dave Pearson (England)