Scotland claim Calcutta Cup

Scotland have ended 10 years of misery against the Auld Enemy with a 25-13 victory over England at Murrayfield on Saturday.

It brings to an end an eight-game losing streak for Scotland against England and represents Scotland's greatest triumph of the modern era.

Meanwhile, England's hopes of claiming a record third successive title have been cast into doubt while Ireland have now emerged as favourites following their convincing win over Wales.

Greig Laidlaw gave Scotland an early lead, making it nine from nine penalties in this year's Six Nations.

Owen Farrell levelled matters at 3-3 after 14 minutes but then out of nowhere Scotland scored the game's first try.  After driving a maul in to the 22, Finn Russell placed a well-weighted grubber kick through which bounced fortunately for Scotland, completely bamboozling Anthony Watson as Huw Jones pounced on the ball to run through and dot down for the game's first try.  Laidlaw's conversion made it 10-3.

England resorted to mauling as their primary weapon of attack and it was from here they won a penalty as Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist was penalised for pulling the maul down.  Farrell made no mistake from the tee, cutting the deficit to four with a quarter of the match gone.

Russell was pulling the strings on attack for Scotland and made two superb passes in the build-up to an excellent team try, the final pass a floater over the top for Sean Maitland to dive over in the corner.

Jones grabbed his brace, running a sublime line to scythe through the tackle of Nathan Hughes and still showed great strength to brush off the dual attentions of Watson and Mike Brown as he powered over the try-line with a truly world-class finish.

England immediately took the game to Scotland after the break, enjoying their best spell of possession of the game and the resistance was broken just four minutes in when Farrell ran a lovely line as Danny Care switched back to the blindside, catching the Scottish defence slightly off-guard.

A long period of no scoring ensued before Sam Underhill saw yellow in the 65th minute for a no-arms tackle.  Russell slotted the subsequent penalty to extend the lead to 25-13.

However, Scotland showed tremendous character on defence to deny England any further scores and secure an historic victory.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Jones 2, Maitland
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw, Russell

For England:
Try:  Farrell
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Blair Kinghorn

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ireland overpower Wales in Dublin

Ireland maintained their unbeaten 2018 Six Nations record with a 35-27 victory over Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

The hosts completely dominated the match, enjoying 69 percent possession and 75 percent territory with Wales having to make 175 tackles.

In the first half, however, Ireland could not convert their dominance into points while Wales scored from the one chance they had.  But after the break, Ireland were more clinical and capitalised on their superiority, as Wales tired due to the sheer amount of tackles they had to make.

Ireland had all the attacking flair and creative instinct with their New-Zealand style offloading game coming to the fore, while Wales were old-fashioned and attritional.

The half-back pairing of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton bossed the game and were excellent in their decision making on the day, whereas Dan Biggar and the Wales backline went missing.  Pity because the Wales back row were excellent.

Leigh Halfpenny gave Wales the early lead with a penalty.  Soon after, Sexton had a penalty of his own but hit the post.

However, Ireland did have their try soon afterwards.  Slide-rule precision from the hands of Sexton found Jacob Stockdale on the left wing who dotted down.

With Wales on a rare attack, the ball came loose from Rob Evans’ pass.  Nippy scrum-half Davies picked the ball up and had plenty of space to make a sniping run through a scrambling Irish defence and dive over.  Halfpenny slotted the conversion for a 10-5 lead.

Halfpenny added a penalty soon afterwards to extend the lead to 13-5 as Wales seemed content with not having to play rugby while still keeping the scoreboard ticking.

Sexton got his first points off the tee after Wales were penalised for offside as Ireland opted to take the points with still enough time to get a try before half-time.

And they did reclaim the lead before the interval when Bundee Aki showed his physical prowess to bust past two defenders and still have the strength to stretch out and dot down.

Ireland were more clinical after the break and were justly rewarded.  Slick interplay between Earls and Rob Kearney made the break down the right.  The forwards expertly took the ball up through close quarters and when they were close enough and the time was right, propelled Dan Leavy over the line.  Sexton’s conversion made it 22-13.

Wales simply could not cope by now with Ireland as their plan was simply to get close to the line and once there, take it up and over through their powerful forwards;  this time Cian Healy burrowing over from close range to cap off a fantastic individual display.

But the Welsh seemed to get a second wind.  Biggar made 25 yards by successfully chasing and regaining Davies’ box-kick.  The ball was recycled and spread through the hands with Hadleigh Parkes’ looping pass over the top finding Josh Navidi who only had to draw his defender and release Shingler for a clear run to the line down the right wing.  Halfpenny made a difficult conversion to bring Wales within a converted try.

Ireland’s forwards claimed a moral victory winning a late scrum penalty.  Murray held his nerve with the kick, as it went in off the bar, giving Ireland a ten-point buffer.

But Wales weren’t done yet and Steff Evans, who had a very quiet game, popped up for the try to cap off a wonderful team move and set up a tense finale.

From the restart, Wales went on the attack in search of a dramatic comeback and made their way upfield.  But a slow, looping pass in midfield was intercepted by Stockdale, who was never going to be caught, grabbing his brace and securing the 37-27 victory.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Stockdale 2, Healy, Leavy, Aki
Cons:  Sexton 3, Carbery
Pens:  Sexton, Murray

For Wales:
Tries:  Davies, Shingler, Evans
Cons:  Halfpenny 3
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 James Ryan, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 George North

Referee:  Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gauzere (France), Matthew Carley (England)

France down Italy in scrappy encounter

France claimed their first win of the 2018 Six Nations, defeating Italy 34-17 at the Orange Vélodrome on Friday night.

Les Bleus squandered several chances in the first half.  However, after going into the break with a narrow 11-7 advantage, they wore Italy down and eventually put some daylight between themselves and the Azzurri in the second half.

France came into the match under pressure after narrow defeats to Ireland and Scotland.  However, it only took five minutes for Les Bleus to draw first blood.  Following an attacking lineout, they forced their way over the try-line, with Paul Gabrillagues grounding the ball.

But Italy hit back from an attacking lineout of their own and were awarded a penalty try in the 13th minute after the hosts collapsed the maul.

After a lengthy spell of pressure, France finally regained the lead in the 29th minute, with Maxime Machenaud slotting over a penalty won for offside right under the posts.

Back from a three-week ban for a homophobic slur, Mathieu Bastareaud did well to rip the ball out of Italian hands on the stroke of half-time, leading to another French penalty and three more points for Machenaud.

France squandered a glorious chance to score right after the break.  They found themselves with numbers out on the left, but with the try-line at their mercy, Lionel Beauxis swung the ball to nobody and the hosts knocked on.

Les Bleus did extend their lead through another Machenaud penalty in the 46th minute following a high tackle.  However, Italy hit back within four minutes.  Tommaso Allan nailed his first kick of the game after Sergio Parisse was taken out off the ball.

In the 60th minute, France finally scored their second try.  They attacked down the left once more, with Hugo Bonneval passing to Rémy Grosso out wide.  The winger offloaded back inside to the full-back as he was forced into touch and Bonneval finished off with ease.

Four minutes later, Nicola Quaglio was penalised for offside.  Machenaud stepped up to the kicking tee once more and extended the lead to two converted tries.

The scrum-half's last contribution before being substituted off for Baptiste Couilloud came in the 71st minute, when he popped his fifth penalty of the night over after France failed to make the most of an advantage.

In the 73rd minute, Bastareaud put the game to bed.  After Marco Tauleigne had charged through the Azzurri defence to initiate the attack, the centre was left to finish the job from close range.  He duly obliged, powering over the try-line.

With less than two minutes left on the clock, Italy scored a consolation try.  Following a set play, they moved the ball out to the left and breezed through the French defence.  Matteo Minozzi finished off the move.

However, the game ended in tears for the Azzurri as Luca Bigi was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on in the dying seconds.  France were unable to force their way over for one final try, but they nevertheless claimed a comfortable win.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Gabrillagues, Bonneval, Bastareaud
Cons:  Machenaud, Trinh-Duc
Pens:  Machenaud 5

For Italy:
Tries:  Penalty try, Minozzi
Con:  Canna
Pen:  Allan
Yellow Card:  Bigi

France:  15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Rémy Grosso, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Gaël Fickou

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Maxime Mbanda, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali 19 George Biagi, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Greig Laidlaw kicks Scotland to victory over France

Greig Laidlaw kicked six second half penalties as Scotland got their Six Nations campaign back on track following a 32-26 triumph over France.

The first half was a wonderfully free-flowing encounter with the sides scoring two tries apiece.  Teddy Thomas touched down twice for the French – his second taking them 17-7 clear – but Sean Maitland and Huw Jones crossed the whitewash for the hosts to leave it finely poised.

Although the second period was slightly more attritional, with three penalties from Laidlaw to two from Baptiste Serin the only scores in the third quarter, it was still an enthralling contest going into the final 20 minutes.

Laidlaw then levelled proceedings before the half-back added two more from the tee to condemn France to a second consecutive defeat.

It was a thrilling affair – quite comfortably the best game of the championship – and the early passage of play set the tone.

With conditions far more conducive for attacking rugby than in France’s narrow defeat to Ireland last weekend, the visitors looked to move the ball wider and enjoyed plenty of success.

Once again, Thomas, after his wonderful individual score in round one, was particularly prominent and he repeated that effort in the opening 10 minutes.

The wing virtually produced a carbon copy of that try as he picked up the ball on the right, weaved outside Finn Russell and then stepped inside Stuart Hogg for another magnificent individual touchdown.

Jacques Brunel’s men were on the front foot and Maxime Machenaud followed up converting Thomas’ score by adding a penalty.

Scotland hit back, however.  Against Wales, where they conceded early and duly folded, Gregor Townsend’s men could have gone the same way at Murrayfield but, to their credit, the hosts found their composure and, more importantly, their physicality.

Both Hamish Watson and Jonny Gray had surges which dented the opposition rearguard before the ball was shifted wide and Maitland crossed the whitewash unopposed.

Townsend’s side were playing much better but so were Les Bleus and another piece of Thomas brilliance saw them restore their 10-point buffer.  The hosts were exposed on the right once more and the Frenchman sprinted down the wing, kicked ahead and touched down.

Unperturbed, Scotland reduced the arrears when Jones took a brilliant line, but a second Machenaud three-pointer gave the visitors a 20-14 advantage at the interval.

Discipline was an issue in the second period with Laidlaw and replacement Serin, who came on at half-time, trading three-pointers.  The kickers then repeated the trick as Brunel’s side went into the final quarter 26-20 in front.

France were beginning to make errors, however, and they started to infringe more consistently.  Two of those were in kickable positions and Scotland’s scrum-half was in no mood to miss, adding a brace of penalties.

The home team sensed that their opponents were wilting and searched for the decisive breakthrough.  Townsend’s men were on the front foot and the pressure eventually yielded an opportunity for their sharp-shooter, which he converted.

Scotland maintained their intensity and Laidlaw made sure that they erased memories of their woeful performance against Wales.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Jones
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw 6

For France:
Tries:  Thomas 2
Cons:  Machenaud 2
Pens:  Machenaud 2, Serin 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Blair Kinghorn

France:  15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxine Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

England grind past spirited Wales

England kept their Grand Slam hopes alive when they claimed a hard-fought 12-6 victory over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

In a tough and uncompromising encounter, characterised by several brutal collisions, England outscored their hosts two tries to none with Jonny May crossing for a brace in the first half.

England were made to work very hard for this win but, in the end, they did enough in the first half to secure the result as a Wales penalty was the only points after half-time.  Although the visitors will rue some missed opportunities on attack.

The hosts made a bright start and opened the scoring as early as the third minute when May gathered a bouncing crossfield kick from Owen Farrell inside Wales' 22 before crossing the whitewash.

Farrell missed with the conversion attempt but although Wales had a chance to narrow the gap when England infringed from the restart, Rhys Patchell pushed his penalty kick wide of the posts.

England continued to dominate as the half progressed and in the 20th minute they increased their lead courtesy of May's second try.

Farrell threw a long pass to Joe Launchbury close to Wales' try-line.  And although the big second-row still had work to do, he did well to throw an inside pass to May, who went over untouched.

Farrell succeeded with the conversion attempt which gave his side a 12-0 lead, but Wales were soon back on the attack and were unlucky not to be awarded a try.

This, after a Patchell crossfield kick bounced off Steff Evans' knee and Gareth Anscombe appeared to ground the ball before Anthony Watson but the Television Match Official ruled that there was insufficient evidence of the grounding.

Referee Jérôme Garcès came back for an England infringement on defence and Patchell slotted the resulting penalty to open the visitors' account.

There were several tense moments over the next 15 minutes but Patchell's penalty was the final points of the half and although England held a nine-point lead, the game was evenly poised as the teams changed sides at the interval.

The second half was a tight affair and although the two teams spent time inside their opponents' half, they kept each other at bay with solid defensive efforts.

Wales finished stronger, however, and did most of the attacking during the final quarter.

Just after the hour-mark, Ken Owens and George North combined brilliantly before North offloaded to Scott Williams inside England's 22.  Williams was in the clear and sailed towards the try-line from five metres out but Sam Underhill did saved the day for the hosts with a brilliant cover tackle which took Williams into touch at the corner flag.

Wales continued to attack but had nothing to show for their efforts although they secured a losing bonus-point, three minutes before full-time, when Anscombe slotted a penalty.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May 2
Con:  Farrell

For Wales:
Pens:  Patchell, Anscombe

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

Wales:  15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Owen Watkin, 23 George North

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Eight-try Ireland cruise past Italy

Ireland made it two wins out of two in this year's Six Nations when they claimed a deserved 56-19 win over Italy in Dublin on Saturday.

Joe Schmidt's men were ruthless in the first half and went into the break leading 28-0.  Despite a few defensive errors in the second, they ultimately proved too good for Conor O'Shea's side.

After a sustained spell of pressure from the hosts, Robbie Henshaw scored the first try of the game in the 11th minute, after spotting a gap in the defence and surging through from close range.

Ireland continued to attack and only had to wait three minutes before scoring again.  A magnificent pass from Jack Conan sent Conor Murray away on the left and the scrum-half finished off.

Murray turned provider in the 21st minute following an attacking lineout, which had put Ireland just short of the try-line.  From there, he passed the ball to Bundee Aki, who crashed over.

14 minutes later, it was Aki's turn to set up a try.  After a clever dummy in the build-up, he passed the ball to Keith Earls, who eased over for the bonus-point try near the right touchline.

Italy shot themselves in the foot in the fourth minute of the second half, as Sergio Parisse's sloppy pass to Tommaso Allan was intercepted by Henshaw.  The centre ran through for his second try, but injured himself in the process and had to be replaced by debutant Jordan Larmour.

Captain Rory Best got in on the act in the 53rd minute, when he peeled away from a maul and crashed over for a rare try.

However, Italy hit back three minutes later, when Tommaso Castello charged through a gap in the defence and offloaded to Tommaso Allan, who scored the Azzurri's first try.

It didn't take long for Ireland to respond.  Jacob Stockdale eased through the Azzurri defence from close range and grounded the ball near the posts in the 60th minute following another attacking lineout.

Matteo Minozzi was the catalyst for a well-worked attacking move which led to Italy's second try.  Parisse got the final pass to Edoardo Gori, who scored in the 66th minute.

However, once again, Italy proved their own worst enemies, as Stockdale intercepted a Castello pass and darted through on the left to score Ireland's eighth try four minutes later.

Minozzi got a deserved try of his own with five minutes left on the clock after the ball was worked out left to him following an attacking lineout.  Nevertheless, it was too little, too late, as Italy narrowly missed out on a bonus point.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries:  Henshaw 2, Murray, Aki, Earls, Best, Stockdale 2
Cons:  Sexton 5, Carbery 3

For Italy:
Tries:  Allan, Gori, Minozzi
Cons:  Allan 2

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastien Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees:  Pascal Gaüzère (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff (England)

Seven-try England put Italy to the sword

England got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start when they claimed a 46-15 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.

In a fast-paced and entertaining game, both sides gave the ball plenty of air but in the end England proved too strong and outscored their hosts seven tries to two with Anthony Watson and Sam Simmonds scoring a brace each.

The win proved costly, however, as they lost the services of first-choice scrum-half Ben Youngs who left the field early in the game with what looked like a serious leg injury.  Youngs' leg got caught as he tried to get a pass out from a ruck in the 10th minute and he was subsequently replaced by Danny Care.

Despite finishing on the losing side, Italy were competitive for large periods and their tries were a fitting reward after they impressed with enterprising play which caught England by surprise.

The visitors started the game at a frenetic pace and opened their account in the third minute when Watson rounded off a well-worked try in the right-hand corner after brilliant work from Owen Farrell and George Ford in the build-up.  England's chief playmakers traded a couple of looped passes inside Italy's 22, before Jonny May hit the line at pace before offloading to Watson, who went over in the right-hand corner.

In the 11th minute, England launched another attack and once again it was May who caused confusion in Italy's defensive ranks when he joined his side's back-line before getting a pass out to Watson.

The right wing still had work to do but his pace took him past a couple of defenders before he dotted down in the same corner again.

Despite being under the cosh for most of the opening quarter, Italy soaked up the early pressure and replied with a superb try from Tommaso Benvenuti.  This after the ball went through several phases in the build-up before Tommaso Allan delivered a delightful long pass to Benvenuti who crossed for a deserved five-pointer.

In the 25th minute, England notched their third try when Ford put Farrell in the clear with a well-timed pass and he broke through the Azzurri's midfield before crossing the whitewash.

Just before half-time, Mako Vunipola was penalised for an infringement at a breakdown and Allan slotted the resulting penalty which meant England led 17-10 as the teams changed sides at the interval.

Shortly after the restart, England took the ball through several phases inside the Azzurri's half with Courtney Lawes prominent.  Lawes was eventually brought to ground deep inside Italy's 22 and from the ensuing ruck, Watson ran onto a pass from Care and beat a couple of defenders but he was denied his third try when he lost the ball while stretching over the try-line.

Italy thought they had narrowed the gap in the 47th minute when Tommaso Boni glided through a gap in England's defence before crossing the whitewash but the try was disallowed after television replays showed that he gathered a forward pass from Allan before dotting down.

Shortly afterwards, Farrell slotted a penalty after Italy were blown up for illegal scrummaging.  In the 52nd minute, Simmonds showed a superb turn of speed when he broke through a lineout on the edge of Italy's 22 before crossing for his first Test try on his Six Nations debut.

Italy did not surrender, however, and five minutes later Mattia Bellini rounded off in the left-hand corner after his side took the ball through several phases in the build-up.

That would be the last time the visitors would score points, however, as England finished stronger during the game's final quarter.  That was largely due to their strength in depth coming off their replacements bench.

Late tries from Ford, Simmonds and Jack Nowell knocked the wind out of the home side's sails and made the scoreline seem more flattering.  But England head coach Eddie Jones will be satisfied that his team managed to secure a bonus-point win away from home in their tournament opener.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Benvenuti, Bellini
Con:  Allan
Pen:  Allan

For England:
Tries:  Watson 2, Farrell, Simmonds 2, Ford, Nowell
Cons:  Farrell 4
Pen:  Farrell

Italy:  15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Renato Giammarioli, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda’, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Late Johnny Sexton brilliance stuns France

Johnny Sexton was the Ireland hero as his last-minute long range drop-goal broke France hearts, snatching a dramatic 15-13 triumph at the Stade de France.

Les Bleus were playing their first game under Jacques Brunel, following the sacking of Guy Noves, and it showed in the opening 20 minutes.

The Emerald Isle were initially far more assured in what they were trying to achieve with the ball and successive Sexton penalties gave them a six-point buffer.  Maxime Machenaud reduced the deficit from the tee, but the visiting pivot added another three-pointer for a 9-3 advantage at the interval.

Sexton and Machenaud then traded three-pointers after the break, leaving it finely poised going into the four quarter, but the French seemed to produce one final surge.

Joe Schmidt’s team had appeared too streetwise for an outfit still finding its feet, but Teddy Thomas weaved his way through the opposition’s rearguard for a superb try.  However, Ireland are a confident side under their astute boss and they maintained their composure to win the game when Sexton dropped a goal from over 40 metres.

The visitors began confidently and went through the phases impressively and against a French team eager to get into the contest, forcing Brunel’s men to infringe.

Keith Earls was also looking particularly threatening and those two factors allowed the away side to earn a couple of kickable penalties, which Sexton converted for an early 6-0 advantage.

The 2014 and ‘15 winners remained in the ascendency and created an opportunity inside their opponents’ 22 but, to the hosts’ credit, they remained resilient in defence.

For a team that has had little preparation time under their new head coach, Les Bleus were remarkably well organised and they managed to frustrate Ireland.  Schmidt’s men duly became far too narrow in attack and France profited at the breakdown, earning a pressure-relieving penalty.

Brunel’s team then got into the Ireland half and reduced the arrears via Machenaud before Sexton restored the visitors’ buffer at the interval.

It was a disappointing opening 40 minutes, particularly after Ireland’s bright start, and the attrional nature of the contest continued in the second period.

Both teams were trying every trick in the book to slow down opposition ball but the French stepped over the line in the 47th minute and the Emerald Isle’s pivot punished them with his fourth off the tee.

Ireland had been disciplined throughout the encounter and it kept the hosts at arm’s length, but a needless infringement allowed Machenaud to keep France in the game.

Schmidt’s men were in control and appeared to be heading for victory before Thomas picked up the ball, scythed his way through and crossed the whitewash.  Anthony Belleau converted and that looked to be the game, until Sexton displayed his qualities in the final minute.

The scorers:

For France:
Try:  Thomas
Con:  Belleau
Pens:  Machenaud 2

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 4
Drop-goal:  Sexton

France:  15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Kevin Gourdon, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements:  16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements:  16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Wayne Barnes (England), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO:  Rowan Kitt (England)

Wales get Scotland revenge

Wales exacted their revenge for last year's defeat with a 34-7 win over Scotland in Six Nations action at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Tries from Gareth Davies, Steff Evans and a Leigh Halfpenny brace proved too much for Scotland, who scored through Peter Horne.

Although they enjoyed superior possession and territory, Scotland were guilty of poor execution and Wales were happy to sit back and pounce on their mistakes.

Scotland also gave away too many penalties, refusing to learn their lesson and Halfpenny continued to punish them as he maintained his hundred percent kicking record throughout.

Scotland can count themselves unlucky to have gone behind against the run of play, having dominated the early exchanges.  Scrum-half Ali Price was slow to clear from the ruck and opposite number Davies read his pass like a novel, snatching the ball out of mid-air before winning the foot race with Scotland outside centre Chris Harris to dot down.  Halfpenny added the extras.

Wales doubled their lead six minutes later.  It was sloppy from Scotland to give away the scrum in the first place.  Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell made the initial break from the set-piece but was halted metres short.  Wales sucked in the Scottish defence before spraying the ball out wide to the right where Wales had two men waiting on the overlap.  Halfpenny didn't even need the man on his outside as he crashed over before converting his own try to give the home side a 12th-minute 14-0 lead.

Wales came flying out the blocks in the second half and were rewarded with a Halfpenny three-pointer five minutes in after referee Pascal Gauzere ruled that Scotland captain John Barclay had stolen the ball illegally at a ruck.

Soon after, Halfpenny slotted another penalty with Barclay the culprit again;  this time for not releasing the tackler.  This meant Wales led 20-0 with half an hour to go.

One could tell the Scotland backroom staff were not happy with the state of affairs when Scotland coach Gregor Townsend rung the changes on the 50-minute mark.  His counterpart Warren Gatland responded by making a string of changes of his own.

Ten minutes later, Wales had their third.  From a five-metre attacking lineout, the ball was switched from left to right as Wales showed patience in taking the ball through the phases.  The space was created courtesy of quick hands from Evans to free Halfpenny on the right flank for the full-back to grab his brace.  Halfpenny added the extras for a 27-0 lead.

A powerful carry up the middle from Wales flank Aaron Shingler got Wales on the front foot and the Scotland defence scrambling.  The ball was recycled out left to centre Hadleigh Parkes who did well to slip his tackler and delay the pass just enough for Evans to produce a stylish one-handed finish in the corner.

With two minutes left on the clock, Scotland scored a consolation try when substitute Horne hurdled his way through the space behind the ruck;  a momentary lapse of concentration from the Wales defence denying them a clean sheet.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  G Davies, S Evans, Halfpenny 2
Cons:  Halfpenny 4
Pens:  Halfpenny 2

For Scotland:
Try:  Horne
Con:  Horne

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Maitland

Referee:  Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  David Grashoff