Grand Slam glory for England

England ended a 13-year wait for a Grand Slam by coming out on top of their battle with France in Paris, winning 31-21.

Outscoring their hosts by three tries to none, England held their nerve when it has let them down so often in the past.  The best side in this year's Six Nations now have a Grand Slam to their name.

France were kept in the contest both by their willingness to play, typified by Virimi Vakatawa and Scott Spedding, and the metronomic boot of Maxime Machenaud who scored all of their 21 points.

For the first time in the Eddie Jones era England were made to sweat for a full 80 minutes, and as they have been throughout the tournament, they were good — in fact very good — but never quite excellent.

The missed tackles will have irritated defence coach Paul Gustard, while their penalty count is bound to have rattled Jones as it has all tournament.

But those are the negatives.  England were more clinical.  They hounded France at the lineout with steals from Maro Itoje and George Kruis, with both locks outstanding.  And now they have won five games out of five.

France produced their best half of the tournament in the first 40 minutes but still went in trailing, not capitalising on the holes they found in the English defence as Vakatawa's moments of promise ended without points.

Two quick penalties against Anthony Watson and Itoje set Machenaud up to knock over the first points, as France took a 3-0 lead.

Farrell responded instantly after Watson was taken around the neck from the restart, knocking over his penalty off the post.

France's rolling maul looked effective, just like the flying Vakatawa as he broke a tackle from Jack Nowell on an early charge.

Les Bleus were hungry, a sharp break and pass from Spedding to Vakatawa deserving more than a ball into touch.  Chances such as those had to be taken.

Danny Care was less wasteful.  Spotting the gap around the side of the ruck he always had too much speed for the chasing Jefferson Poirot, fending him off to sprint away for the game's first try.

The loss of François Trinh-Duc rubbed salt in the wound after Care's score, but first blood at the scrum went France's way after Mako Vunipola dropped his bind.  Machenaud obliged, making it 6-10.

With their use of Vakatawa and Spedding from deep France were finding space and making real ground in their own half, and yet again, England were the next try scorers.

This time it was Dan Cole, quite literally rolling his way over the line after not being held as England finished a stint in France's 22 which all started from a cross-field kick by George Ford to Watson.

France and their supporters beseeched referee Nigel Owens to chalk it off for obstruction on Guilhem Guirado, although he had no interest even with the input of the TMO.  A longer look may have produced another outcome, as Farrell's conversion meant England led 6-17.

Guirado responded by winning a kickable penalty at the breakdown for Machenaud to knock over, closing the gap to eight, and another Machenaud penalty, this time against Chris Robshaw, made that 12-17 having denied England down the other end.

England could have had the final say of the half but Farrell pushed a penalty wide to the left of the posts, keeping England ahead by five after missing 15 tackles in the first half.

Forced to turn to their scramble defence England did just enough to hold France out after yet another burst from Vakatawa, as Machenaud moved to five from five with another penalty, but France immediately conceded after giving Farrell a soft penalty to make it 15-20.

But again France reeled the visitors back in, Machenaud with his sixth penalty, as the contest grew chaotic with turnovers on each side.

Momentum for England had been rare when it came to their ball carrying until Vunipola at last began to motor from the back of a scrum.  The damage done from his burst freed up Ben Youngs, a replacement for Care, to scamper ahead, before his delicate grubber kick to the wing was met by Watson who held off Fofana to finish.

Machenaud though wouldn't let England get away, knocking over penalty number seven.

A long stoppage for treatment to Dylan Hartley gave both sides pause for thought with only 12 minutes remaining, England forced to try and finish the job without their captain with their lineout having run at 100 percent.

With a high tackle from Paul Jedrasiak on Youngs, Farrell had a chance to stretch England's lead out to seven again from a long way out, landing it superbly to make it 21-28.

Xavier Chiocci's yellow card and Farrell's subsequent penalty then put the stamp on the win England have craved for so long.

England are not just Six Nations champions, but Grand Slam winners too.  Deserved?  Absolutely.

Man of the Match:  So often France looked likely to score, and then George Kruis would pop up with a crucial steal.  He has come of age in this tournament.

Moment of the Match:  Owen Farrell's kicking wasn't perfect on the night but his long-range strike to make it 28-21 was absolutely vital.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For France:
Pens:  Machenaud 7
Yellow Card:  Chiocci

For England:
Tries:  Care, Cole, Watson
Cons:  Farrell 2
Pens:  Farrell 4

France:  15 Scott Spedding, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Xavier Chiocci, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, Maxime Médard

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Manu Tuilagi, 23 Elliot Daly

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland end Six Nations on a high

Ireland ended the 2016 Six Nations with a second win after overcoming Scotland in Dublin with a 35-25 victory.

Four tries from last year's champions built upon 15 points from the boot of Jonathan Sexton as Ireland ensured a tough tournament would end on a high.

A battle for mid-table dominance had an extra edge with Scotland eyeing up three straight Six Nations wins, but aside from a brief period after Stuart Hogg's special try they were always chasing the scoreboard.

Their frustrations too with the officating by the end began to boil over in a spiky finish.

Following on from their thrashing of Italy the week before Ireland were full of running and Sexton, off the back of a fine tournament, shone with the ball in hand or on his boot, but drew heavy criticism for appealing for a card after he was flipped on his back by Alex Dunbar, and also finished his Six Nations in the sin-bin.

Scotland were full of energy and have certainly made strides in this Six Nations, but yellow cards for John Barclay and Dunbar in each half proved incredibly costly on each occasion as their game management left something to be desired.

Having 81 percent possession in the first half only produced an eight-point advantage for Ireland by the break, with Scotland having been penalised incessantly at the breakdown by referee Pascal Gauzère.

It was Sexton's boot after Scotland strayed offside which opened the scoring, although he oddly missed a straightforward effort minutes later.

That first penalty however moved him into second in Ireland's all-time points scoring rankings ahead of David Humphreys, with only Ronan O'Gara ahead of him.

Sexton made no mistake with his third kick after Scotland were penalised for a high tackle, all within the first 12 minutes, before Laidlaw finally put Scotland on the board at 6-3.  Sexton struck once more to restore the six-point gap before Ireland were stunned by a magical solo score from Hogg.

Arguably the premier full-back in this Six Nations, Hogg spotted a gap between Rory Best and Mike Ross before cantering through it into space and hitting the accelerator to score a magnificent solo try.

Laidlaw's conversion put Scotland ahead for the first time at 10-9 but Scotland paid for their earlier indiscipline with the loss of Barclay, on his 50th cap, to the sin-bin for coming in at the side.

In Barclay's absence Ireland pummelled the Scottish defensive line, eventually breaking it, through CJ Stander for his second Test try in a week, and Ireland were over again almost instantly.

Sexton's clever kick, off his left foot, found a gap in the defence and a calamitous mix-up from the Scottish defence allowed Keith Earls, also celebrating his half century, to gratefully scoop up and score.

Sexton couldn't convert and Scotland captain Laidlaw had the final say of the half with a penalty to make it 21-13.

Turning to their maul after the break Ireland notched up try number four, Conor Murray with a trademark snipe from close range catching out the tired Scottish defence as Ireland built an imposing 28-13 lead.

A response from the visitors was needed fast and it came through Richie Gray, the towering lock hitting the right line as he found a sizeable gap in Ireland's defence after Scotland had sucked in the tacklers to one corner, Laidlaw converting to close the gap to eight.

Scotland noticeably tried to lift the tempo but they were hamstrung by Dunbar's daft moment of indiscipline flipping Sexton over the horizontal, for which he saw yellow.

Ireland went to the corner from the resulting penalty and eventually Devin Toner crashed over for try number four before a scrap off the ball afterwards.

Scotland's frustrating afternoon was starting to spill over but a persistent stint in Ireland's 22, with Sexton yellow carded for coming in at the side, ended eventually with a try for Dunbar.

It was too late though for a fightback, Ireland rounding out a chippy contest with another victory as each side looks forward for better fortunes on their overseas tours later this year.

Man of the Match:  Jamie Heaslip again impressed but his back-row colleague CJ Stander will be waking up pretty sore on Sunday after a remarkable number of carries.  What a find he has been for Joe Schmidt.

Moment of the Match:  One of the tournament's top tries from Stuart Hogg, who once again showed his class with a special break to put his side ahead in the first half.

Villain of the Match:  Really poor from Alex Dunbar flipping Jonathan Sexton onto his back at the ruck at a pivotal moment, for which he was yellow carded, although the reaction from Sexton was also poor.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stander, Earls, Murray, Toner
Cons:  Sexton 3
Pens:  Sexton 3
Yellow Card:  Sexton

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Gray, Dunbar
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw 2
Yellow Card:  Barclay

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Lamont

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Alexandre Ruiz (France)

TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Nine-try Wales dispatch Italy

Wales made sure of second place in the Six Nations with a high-scoring demolition of Italy, winning 67-14 in Cardiff.

Still dissecting their oddly subdued first 50 minutes at Twickenham and trying to put a week spilling over with off-field distractions behind them, Wales started fast and never looked back in an open game where they offloaded perhaps more than throughout all of the four previous games in this year's Six Nations.

Italy, hampered by injuries, lacked the discipline and consistency to keep Wales at bay on a long afternoon where they rarely controlled possession and were outscored nine tries to two.

Jacques Brunel's last game in charge was a grim one.  His counterpart Warren Gatland meanwhile will have taken note of the performances of a returning Rhys Webb and early replacement Ross Moriarty as he begins to plan for Wales' tour to New Zealand later this year.

His side were never troubled, despite the absence of key leaders in Alun Wyn Jones and regular captain Sam Warburton.

For a contest with nothing riding on it — Wales unable to win the title, Italy unable to avoid the Wooden Spoon — this certainly wasn't dull.

Wales should never have had their first try allowed given their backs were offside ahead of the kick through by Dan Biggar, leading to a lineout from which Rhys Webb sniped over from close range to close the circle on his own personal nightmare.

It was against Italy on the same pitch that Webb suffered the injury which ruled him out of the Rugby World Cup, and despite Gareth Davies impressing his return is certainly welcome.

The visitors tried to fire back from a kick to the corner only to fail with their execution, Wales instead marching back up the field and adding three points through Biggar's boot.

Italy were labouring under Welsh pressure on their defence and set-piece, eventually paying the price when promising scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani was sin-binned.  Rather than turn the screw, Wales surprisingly opted to kick three more points through Biggar.

Through a combination of Wales' failure to execute and some impressive defence Italy held out with Palazzani off the field, only for Wales to strike immediately on his return.

A one-two from Dan Biggar and Jamie Roberts, after Davide Giazzon's missed tackle put Biggar through a gap, allowed the fly-half to run under the posts for his first Test try, adding the conversion, before a length-of-the-field move starting in Wales' 22 produced the best try so far as Jonathan Davies finished off a sweeping passage of play with Wales putting the ball through the hands.

Biggar's conversion made it 27-0, and it should have been more, while injuries for Italy to Mattia Bellini and Andrea Pratichetti compounded a horrible first half for the Azzurri.

Patient build-up in Italy's 22 then ended with a try for Roberts out wide, from a nice offload by George North, for a simple finish.

North went from provider to scorer not long after, pinning his ears back to tear through a gaping hole in Italy's defence before cutting in superbly to finish by the posts.

Italy at last had something to smile about through a try for Palazzani off the back of his pack's good work with the rolling maul but it was only a small reprieve, with Liam Williams adding to the Welsh tally with try number six.

Gonzalo Garcia, one of Italy's best players in the tournament, added more respectability to the scoreboard with his converted try to make it 46-14, but in truth the next try from Wales was never far away.

Having replaced the injured Justin Tipuric early on Moriarty finished off a driving maul attack for Wales to produce their next score, as Italy looked weary.

A second for Moriaty and final score from Gareth Davies, with the clock red, rounded off a record win for Wales in the Six Nations.  Not enough to make up for last week perhaps, but a fine performance.

Man of the Match:  A world-class finish for his try and George North was the pick of the Wales backs.  His fourth straight try after scoring against Scotland, England and France equalled the record set by Shane Williams.  Immense.

Moment of the Match:  Having ridden out the sin-bin period Italy conceded instantly through Dan Biggar's try to open the floodgates.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  Webb, Biggar, J Davies, Roberts, North, L Williams, Moriaty 2, G Davies
Cons:  Biggar 5, Priestland 3
Pens:  Biggar 2

For Italy:
Tries:  Palazzani, Garcia
Cons:  Haimona 2
Yellow Card:  Palazzani

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  Graham Hughes (England)

England win Six Nations after Scotland beat France

Scotland's 29-18 win over France at Murrayfield means that England have won the 2016 Six Nations with one round to go.

Scotland scored three tries, and secured consecutive Six Nations victories for only the third time in history, with a belligerent triumph over France in Edinburgh.

The visitors were largely beleaguered, errors stifling their attacking play, but crossed early through Guilhelm Guirado, and again when Gaël Fickou scored with the clock red at half-time.

On his 50th cap, skipper Greig Laidlaw kicked 11 points, but it was Stuart Hogg who stole the show.

The full-back bagged a neat try, a sublime assist, and boomed over a long-range penalty with Duncan Taylor and Tim Visser also touching down.

Everywhere you look in the championship, this Scotland team battles desperate statistics.  Victory in Rome arrested one barren run of defeats, a solitary loss short of their all-time record.

This time, having never in the tournament's 133-year tenure lost eight successive home matches, having not beaten France in ten years, and only once in the last 18 meetings, and having failed to win back-to-back Six Nations matches in all but two from 16 attempts, the burden of history remained.

In the opposition camp, for too long have France employed a monotonous bludgeoning approach, perpetuated by players capable of such magnificence.  It's akin to buying a luxury Rolls Royce and driving it like a tractor.

Their opening try though was an exercise in timing and flair, Virimi Vakatawa striding up the touchline into Scotland's 22, finding Wesley Fofana on his inside shoulder, who flipped on to captain Guirado in turn to plunge over.

Finn Russell, the Scots' cherished young pivot, was concussed in the build-up, and as François Trinh-Duc hooked the conversion wide, Russell was replaced by Peter Horne.

It was Horne who was caught offside from a lineout with 10 minutes gone, allowing Trinh-Duc to line up a straightforward shot at goal.  Again, the fly-half pulled his effort wide.

Alexandre's Flanquart's slowing down of the ball allowed Laidlaw to bang over Scotland's first points.

And as Guirado buckled under the Scottish eight's squeeze in the scrummage, the skipper slotted his second to nudge the hosts ahead.

With Russell gone, the playmaking duties fell to Horne and Stuart Hogg, the gifted full-back.

With seven minutes of the first half remaining, the former stepped and jinked his way towards the French posts, offloading to the towering Richie Gray, and from the next phase, Hogg cut sharply inside Fickou to reach the whitewash.

Laidlaw's conversion attempt faded wide, but then came a moment that saw Murrayfield erupt — as much in surprise as euphoria.

From a tap penalty near halfway, Taylor, the Saracens centre, caught France cold, striding dynamically from Vakatawa's grasp and sprinting all the way home down the right touchline.

Referee Glen Jackson consulted his TMO amid suspicions Laidlaw had tugged back a covering defender.  He allowed the try to stand, and this time, the captain was accurate from the tee.

Scotland ought to have carried the precious 18-5 lead they held into the break.  A maddening ruck transgression, though, stifled their impetus and allowed France one final assault in the home 22.

The hulking French forwards laid the platform with a barrage of punishing carries, Fickou capitalising to arc in at the corner, and Maxime Machenaud, kicking instead of the faltering Trinh-Duc, converted.

Hogg restored Scotland's two-score lead with a thunderous penalty from inside his own half seven minutes after the interval.

Machenaud soon cancelled out that strike when Ross Ford entered a ruck at the side, and failed to stay on his feet.

And the French heavy artillery came within inches of a try after Scott Spedding barrelled down the left flank in pursuit of his own kick.  They earned a penalty, kicked for touch, and again assembled the monsters of the pack.  Scotland held firm.  Machenaud was caught, the ball fumbled, and the hosts cleared.

That wayward handling became a feature of the French attack, but Machenaud cut the gap to three points with another penalty as the final quarter beckoned.

Guy Novès turned to the brutes lurking on his bench.  In this French team, perhaps more so than anywhere else, big is beautiful.  On rumbled Uini Atonio and Sébastien Vahaamahina, over 260kg between them.  But it was a game-breaking intervention from Hogg that wedged Scotland firmly in the driver's seat.

With Scotland deep in French territory, the full-back produced a sumptuous volleyball-style tip over his own head, leaving Visser with a clear dash to the corner.

Laidlaw's conversion fell just short, but Vern Cotter's side harried and pestered France in their own 22, eventually grinding out a penalty Laidlaw decisively curled over.

The French behemoths mobilised for a final raid on the Scottish line with time ticking away, but their maul was infiltrated and the ball cocooned.  There ended their hope.

It's been an awfully long time — 37 months, in fact — since Murrayfield has had a Six Nations victory to savour.  At last, the cavernous bowl rocks to the sweet sound of success.

Man of the Match:  Undoubtedly, Stuart Hogg.  With Russell absent, his involvements were timely and precious.

Moment of the Match:  Tim Visser's try propelled Scotland two scores ahead with ten minutes to play.  Overturning that deficit was a task too great for this embattled French outfit.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Hogg, Taylor, Visser
Con:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 3, Hogg

For France:
Tries:  Guirado, Fickou
Con:  Machenaud
Pens:  Machenaud 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Lamont

France:  15 Scott Spedding,14 Virimi Vakatawa, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Wesley Fofana, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Alexandre Flanquart, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Vincent Pelo, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Jules Plisson, Maxime Médard

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England on course for Slam after Wales win

England set their sights on winning a first Grand Slam since 2003 next week in Paris after a 25-21 win over Wales at Twickenham.

Billed as revenge for their World Cup humbling, perhaps no victory could make up for that disappointment, but instead England delivered what had all the makings of an impressive win before a late surge from Wales left them clinging on.

Manu Tuilagi's key tackle into touch on George North made sure of a result that England deserved, but nearly let slip.

Wales for the most part were dire — slipping off tackles, penalised incessantly by referee Craig Joubert at the breakdown and generating little through their one-dimensional attack — until they threatened to suckerpunch England all over again with late tries from George North and Taulupe Faletau.  They turned up all too late.

Their first points in the 53rd minute came from an England error through Dan Biggar's chargedown try rather than anything creative and even that effort could only make it 19-7, before England looked to have pulled away thanks to the boot of Owen Farrell who finished with 20 points.

Maro Itoje, named Man of the Match, produced a truly outstanding display, his first half stats alone worthy of honours after multiple turnover and lineout steals to go with his assist for Anthony Watson's try.

Eddie Jones did his best before his debut to quell the hype around the Saracens 21-year-old lock but good luck to him doing so moving forwards, because the secret is out — he is a very special talent.

Wales by contrast were abject early on, appearing lost with little to no energy about them in one of the worst halves of Warren Gatland's tenure during the first 40 minutes when they missed 19 tackles.

England's attack led to those figures but the hosts should have led by more than 16-0 at half-time given the number of chances they created, twice correctly denied by the TMO.

First blood at the scrum after levels of obscene hype throughout the week went the way of Wales, although against Dan Cole rather than the world's most-watched prop in Joe Marler.

Illegally slowing the ball down at the ruck allowed Farrell to put England ahead with a first penalty.  Dictating territory, England's forwards unleashed a set of short-range drives at the Wales line with Cole ultimately ruled to be held up by the TMO.

Forcing a penalty out of the following five-metre scrum allowed Farrell to double England's tally and the centre made no mistake again after Dan Lydiate failed to release Billy Vunipola to make it 9-0.

England's back three — Jack Nowell, Watson and Mike Brown — continued to skip through tackles suggesting a score wasn't far away, but instead it was Itoje, carrying round the corner and freeing up his arms after sucking in the Welsh defenders who released Brown, in turn giving Watson the time and space to get away from Liam Williams for the game's first try.

Farrell's finely struck conversion from out wide allowed England to take into half-time a 16-0 advantage which they more than deserved, with Wales yet to turn up.

A fourth penalty by Farrell maintained his perfect record after the break prior to Wales at last coming to life.

Spending minutes camped in England's 22 proved fruitless until having done all the hard work, Ben Youngs' poor pass combined with a forced kick under pressure from George Ford allowed Biggar to rush up for a chargedown try as he calmly grounded the ball.  Out of nothing, suddenly Wales had a sniff.

Any comeback was going to have to happen without their captain after Sam Warburton was stretchered off following a lengthy stoppage in play.

Moments of indecision from Ford threatened to cost England again before he was replaced by Manu Tuilagi after 60 minutes, to the an almighty roar from the home supporters before from his first carry he won a penalty, Farrell converting to make it 22-7.

A sixth penalty from Farrell gave England an 18-point cushion but they were left to finish the match with 14 men after a yellow card to Dan Cole having conceded a run of penalties in their own 22.

Wales' next immediate chance of a score was wiped out after a penalty against Tomas Francis for making contact with the eyes of Cole, with a citing no doubt to follow, but they crossed not long after through George North to close the gap at 25-14 after clever handling from Jonathan Davies.

Now bursting with energy Wales crossed again through Taulupe Faletau, Priestland converting as the whole of Twickenham tensed fearing another disaster whilst watching the clock.

Instead a tackle into touch by Tuilagi on North settled it, forcing the winger out with Danny Care booting the ball to touch from the resulting lineout.

England now advance to four wins out of four, and having pocketed the Triple Crown and with their eyes on more silverware next Saturday.

Man of the Match:  Coming-of-age Test for Maro Itoje, whose athleticism offers England something different in their pack.

Moment of the Match:  Turning what seemed an unlikely comeback into a very real one, Taulupe Faletau's try set up a nervous finish for the home supporters.

Villian of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report given that at present we don't know whether Tomas Francis' contact with the eyes of Dan Cole was intentional or not.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Watson
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 6
Yellow Card:  Cole

For Wales:
Tries:  Biggar, North, Faletau
Cons:  Biggar, Priestland 2

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Anthony Watson, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Danny Care, 22 Manu Tuilagi, 23 Elliot Daly

Wales:  15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Ireland run Italy ragged

Ireland delivered a nine-try hammering on Italy in Dublin on Sunday to pick up their first win of the Six Nations with a 58-15 victory.

Ireland's first win of the tournament came all too late with the title set to head elsewhere, but this was a welcome respite after a punishing opening trio of matches.

Italy frankly imploded, producing the kind of performance many feared before the start of the tournament when their squad looked short on quality.

Early optimism after they pushed France close in Paris has now completely gone.  This really was a shambles.

Operating at a faster tempo and producing more offloads than we've seen so far in the tournament enabled Ireland to pick Italy apart at will, and their head coach Joe Schmidt will have been happy to watch Ireland play with plenty of confidence after coming up short at Twickenham.

The result truthfully looked like a certainty well before half-time.

Gonzalo Garcia's drag of a foot across the touchline prevented Italy from getting the perfect start as Ireland's scrambling defence reached the centre before he could cross the line.

Garcia couldn't make the hosts pay for a slow start and they responded well, Leonardo Sarto's mad decision to bat the ball backwards after a high kick being pounced upon by Payne, before Ireland recycled to put away Andrew Trimble for a score in the corner.

All the momentum now was Ireland's, as a Robbie Henshaw grubber kick handed Ireland the territory which ultimately led to their second try through Jack McGrath from a short pick-and-go, Sexton converting for a 12-0 advantage.

A breakdown penalty enabled Edoardo Padovani to knock over three points on his first start for his country but it was Ireland, full of running, who always looked poised to score the next try with Sexton in full flow.

The fly-half released Keith Earls into space off an inside ball to position Ireland five metres out, before CJ Stander did the rest from close range.

Italy were on the verge of being cut adrift down 20-3 prior to half-time but their efforts were thwarted, with Ireland going up the other end to produce the try of the tournament so far.

All starting from Zebo's break inside his own half, the full-back combined with Sexton and Trimble before Ireland spread the ball to find Heaslip in the corner.

Sexton couldn't convert but Ireland still held a dominant 22-point advantage going into half-time.

Italy didn't exactly help themselves when a gift of a loose pass from Padovani was snapped up by Payne for one of the easiest tries of his career, the returning centre running under the posts for try number five.

Heaslip added to the rout with his second try as Ireland felt comfortable enough up 39-3 to withdraw Sexton before the 50-minute mark.

Sean Cronin, replacing captain Rory Best, sauntered through a gap for Ireland's seventh try through some unacceptably poor tackling as the scoreline ticked over in the hosts' favour.

David Odiete's in the corner offered Italy some consolation although it was only a brief respite, Ian Madigan grabbing Ireland's eighth try to take them over the half century.

Sarto and Fergus McFadden both crossed for late scores as Ireland completed an enormous triumph over an Azzurri outfit who deservedly look set to finish bottom ot the table.

Man of the Match:  All about attitude and Jamie Heaslip backed up his wise words in the week with a two-try performance.

Moment of the Match:  The sublime break by Zebo up the touchline which after going through multiple sets of hands set up Heaslip for a spectacular try in the first half.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Trimble, McGrath, Stander, Heaslip 2, Payne, Cronin, Madigan, McFadden
Cons:  Sexton 3, Madigan 2
Pen:  Sexton

For Italy:
Tries:  Odiete, Sarto
Con:  Padovani
Pen:  Padovani

Ireland:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Nathan White, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden

Italy:  15 David Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 George Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Alberto Lucchese, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Luke McLean

Referee:  Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)