France send warning to Ireland with 11-try demolition of Italy

France went some way to answering their critics as they produced a stunning performance to absolutely hammer Italy 73-24 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Two weeks after they were heavily criticised for losing to England, Les Bleus took out their frustration on the Azzurri by playing some absolutely spellbinding rugby.

Unlike at Twickenham, everything seemed to go to hand and they ended up crossing the whitewash 11 times.  That was despite going 7-0 behind to an early Tommaso Menoncello score.

Five of the tries came in the first half as Mickael Guillard, Peato Mauvaka, Antoine Dupont, Paul Boudehent and Leo Barre all touched down.

Dupont and Barre would both go over again in the second period while Gregory Alldritt, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Theo Attissogbe and Pierre-Louis Barassi also got their name on the scoresheet.

Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi followed Menoncello in touching down for the Italians but it was very much France’s day, who set up a mouth-watering clash with title favourites Ireland in the fourth round of the Six Nations.

Les Bleus were criticised for their profligacy against England but that accusation could not be thrown at them in Rome, despite seeing the hosts go ahead after an early Barre try was ruled out for a forward pass.

Thomas Ramos was the player penalised and that error was to prove costly as from the resultant scrum, Brex sent Menoncello through a hole and the young centre did the rest with a brilliant finish.

However, France would soon find their rhythm.  They absolutely dominated the collisions, with the Italian rearguard failing to deal with the ferocity of their opponents, and Dupont duly dictated proceedings.

Guillard was the first player to go over for the visitors as he powered through some weak tackling.  Although a Tommaso Allan penalty took the Azzurri back in front, it was only brief and two quick-fire tries rather encapsulated the game.

The first, a close-range Mauvaka effort from a driving maul was all about the forwards, but the second, which saw some lovely hands by the backline and ended in Dupont touching down, showed the other side of their game.

That beautiful balance was too much for the Italians, even if the hosts themselves constructed a stunning try for Brex just shy of the half-hour mark.

While there were brief moments of class from Gonzalo Quesada’s men, what the French were producing was simply a level or two above.  Everything was in sync and they added two more scores before the break via Boudehent and Barre to move 18 points clear going into the second period.

It was not necessarily game over at that point, given the chances Italy had created in the first half, but their spirit had been broken and France remained dominant throughout the second period.

They were playing some truly wonderful rugby and Alldritt added their sixth try before a stunning Attissogbe off-load allowed Bielle-Biarrey to cross for a seventh.

Italy could simply not stem the haemorrhaging and that man Dupont soon went over for a brace.  This time it was Yoram Moefana with the excellent hands that enabled the great scrum-half to add to his and France’s tally.

To the home side’s credit, they mustered enough of a response for Garbisi to score their third try, but it proved to be a brief respite as Barre joined Dupont on a double.

France did not relent and in the final five minutes, Attissogbe and Barassi rounded off a remarkable performance from Les Bleus.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Joshua Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla

France:  15 Leo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Oscar Jegou, 21 Alexandre Roumat, 22 Anthony Jelonch, 23 Maxime Lucu

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Finn Russell misses cost Scotland, England win Calcutta Cup

Finn Russell’s three missed conversions proved costly as Scotland somehow lost the Calcutta Cup following a 16-15 defeat to a poor England side at Twickenham.

The visitors utterly dominated the opening hour of the game but they found themselves just 10-7 ahead thanks to tries from Ben White and Huw Jones.

England’s only response came via Tommy Freeman but it was enough to keep them in the contest as the Scots’ profligacy harmed them.

The Red Rose would duly take advantage despite their pretty abysmal display with Marcus Smith kicking two three-pointers and Fin Smith adding one of his own which would confirm the win.

That was despite a remarkable ending to the match as Scotland manufactured a brilliantly worked try for Duhan van der Merwe.

It left Russell with a conversion out wide to win it but, like his other two efforts, it drifted wide of the uprights as Scotland failed to go five in a row against England.

Irrespective of what Scotland have done or what they go on to do, they always bring the performance against England and by and large they did so again on Saturday.

Considering how poor they were against Ireland and for large parts of their game with Italy, logic dictated that Gregor Townsend’s men would struggle at Twickenham, but they were excellent in the first half.

England’s defence certainly helped as their narrowness and passiveness enabled Russell, Tom Jordan and Blair Kinghorn to pick them off.

Scotland spread the ball wide with regularity and, as a result, that man Van der Merwe once again thrived.

The gargantuan wing was hugely influential for the first score as his off-load, combined with good hands from Kinghorn, sent Jordan free.  Although the centre still had plenty to do, he sent a beautiful pass inside for White to finish.

England did hit back as a spell of pressure resulted in Freeman crossing the whitewash, but the visitors were by far the better side.

Every time they had the ball in opposition territory they looked like creating something, which rather meant their two-try return in the opening half would have probably disappointed head coach Townsend.

Jones would get their second after more superb work from Van der Merwe, but they would fail to add to that for the next 60 minutes.

In fact, the Scots could have gone into the break behind had Ollie Lawrence got his off-load right having initially sent Marcus Smith clear.

Smith took play to within five metres before the centre got his hands on the ball for the second time, but his attempted pass went straight into touch to end the half.

Quite frankly, England were fortunate to only be three points behind at the break but they didn’t seem to heed the warning as Scotland continued to control matters in the second period.

Townsend’s outfit were comfortable against this English team but they almost became too relaxed as they failed to add to the scoreboard.

As a result, it enabled the hosts to edge their way into the contest and when the Scots conceded a penalty, Marcus Smith levelled matters off the tee.

All of a sudden, the visitors started to make errors and the Red Rose capitalised, with the two Smiths kicking a penalty apiece to take them 16-10 ahead.

That looked to have sealed the win for England, but there was a dramatic conclusion when Scotland manufactured another brilliant try.

Stafford McDowall scythed through the middle and the ball was sent out wide for Van der Merwe to finish.  It left Russell with a difficult conversion and for the third time in the game he missed to hand England the win and the Calcutta Cup.

The teams

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellie Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees:  Andrew Brace (Ireland), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO:  Tual Trainini (France)

Ireland in Wales scare but remain on course for Grand Slam

Ireland survived a huge scare to keep themselves on course for a Six Nations Grand Slam after they defeated Wales 27-18 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

In their first game since Warren Gatland’s exit, the Welsh were exceptional and gave as good as they got after a difficult start.

The visitors had controlled the first quarter, going 10-0 in front through Jack Conan’s try and Sam Prendergast’s penalty, but the hosts responded superbly.

A brace of Gareth Anscombe three-pointers got Wales back into the contest before Jac Morgan and Tom Rogers’ tries, which came following Garry Ringrose’s 20-minute red card, took them 18-10 ahead.

However, after Ireland returned to 15, the title favourites gradually assumed control.  Jamie Osborne’s score levelled the game while Prendergast added four more penalties in the second half to secure the win.

The build-up to the game in Cardiff had obviously been dominated by Gatland’s departure and the decision to bring in Cardiff’s Matt Sherratt on an interim basis.

Sherratt immediately made changes, bringing Anscombe and Max Llewellyn from outside the squad into the XV.

As a result, they looked a more balanced side on paper and it showed on the field, despite what appeared to be an ominous Ireland start.

Simon Easterby’s men have been impressive so far this Six Nations campaign and they looked to take their next step on the road to an unprecedented three-peat.

Like they did against Scotland, Ireland opened the match superbly, showing excellent intensity, physicality and skill set.  Wales struggled to cope and it was not a surprise to see Conan barrel his way across the whitewash.

Prendergast converted before the fly-half added a three-pointer as the visitors continued to control the gain line exchanges.

There were positive signs for Wales, however, with the scrum working well and the half-backs linking nicely to produce some promising moments.  That duly yielded two penalties for Anscombe as Welsh roars increased.

Belief started to seep into the hosts’ game and with Ringrose also in the sin-bin, they began to put the away side under real duress.  They pounded at the Irish line and Morgan eventually found his way over to remarkably take his team into the lead.

Ringrose’s yellow was then upgraded to red during the interval and with the visitors still down a man, they took advantage through Rogers’ stunning finish.

It was a hugely surprising turn of events, with serious questions being asked of the title favourites, but there is a reason why they have won this competition for the past two seasons.

Easterby’s men rode out the rest of the 20-minute red card period and in fact reduced the deficit through the boot of Prendergast before they levelled matters after Bundee Aki came onto the field for Ringrose.

Although there were a couple of customary bursts by Aki, it was fellow New Zealand-born star James Lowe who was the creator for the try as his incredible aerial skills allowed him to tap the ball back in-field for Osborne to touch down.

Ireland were back in the game but Wales were still vibrant and creating opportunities in attack.  However, the physicality of Ireland, combined with the kicking game of half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Prendergast, pinned the hosts back.

Under pressure, they conceded a couple of kickable three-pointers which the fly-half converted to take the Irish six points ahead with 10 minutes remaining.

Despite Prendergast’s kicking prowess, it was another mixed display from the playmaker and his errant clearance allowed the Welsh to get on the front foot.

They created a half-chance for Ellis Mee in the left-hand corner but, when it was deemed correctly that he had knocked on, that ended their hopes.

Wales duly succumbed to their 15th successive Test loss when a fifth Prendergast penalty rubberstamped the triumph for Ireland.

The teams

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau , 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:  16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Joe Roberts

Ireland:  15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Bundee Aki

Referee:  Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (England)

Ireland make Six Nations title statement with dominant win over Scotland

Ireland took another step towards an unprecedented Six Nations three-peat as they secured a thoroughly deserved 32-18 triumph over Scotland at Murrayfield.

Following their victory over England last weekend, they made it two from two in 2025 with another impressive display.

Ireland effectively controlled the match from start to finish, going 17-0 in front via Calvin Nash and Caelan Doris tries after half-an-hour, while Sam Prendergast added seven points off the tee.

There was a brief surge from the Scots as Duhan van der Merwe touched down and Blair Kinghorn kicked two penalties, but further scores via James Lowe and Jack Conan secured another bonus-point victory for the Six Nations title holders.

After a slow start in their Six Nations opener against England, Ireland were quite the opposite in the early stages of this encounter.  They were fast out of the blocks, playing at a tempo and intensity which the hosts simply could not deal with.

Easterby’s charges were hugely impressive and Robbie Henshaw set the tone with a powerful drive through the heart of the Scottish defence.  They then moved the ball through the phases with typical accuracy, forcing their opponents to infringe twice deep inside their own 22.

Instead of going for the posts, the visitors went for the jugular and their bravery was rewarded when Prendergast’s long pass was collected and finished by Nash, who was a late replacement for Mack Hansen.

It was an outstanding opening to the game from Ireland and they continued to dominate as pretty much everything went wrong for Scotland.

Their only success came at the lineout, with the Irishmen not helped by quick fire HIAs for Tadhg Beirne and then his replacement, Ryan Baird.

However, it was not enough to alter the momentum with all the chances being created by the back-to-back defending champions.  The Scots were perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty try when Duhan van der Merwe impeded Nash, but it did result in a yellow card for the gargantuan wing.

Ireland were also held up twice over the line by the desperate hosts, who did well to keep their tryline intact for the next 20 minutes.

That was until captain Doris found his way across the whitewash.  By that point, Prendergast had extended their lead off the tee and Scotland had seen Darcy Graham and Finn Russell both go off with head injuries after a nasty collision, but the Irishmen’s second try was nothing less than they deserved.

Once again, their young fly-half was at the heart of it when he broke down the left-hand side.  He decided not to throw the off-load and it proved to be the correct decision as his captain was on hand a phase later to touch down.

Scotland had been comprehensively outplayed and the loss of Russell certainly did not help matters, but they at least got themselves on the scoreboard on the stroke of half-time thanks to Van der Merwe’s brilliant finish.

Considering how the opening period went, it seemed like just a bump in the road for an Ireland side in complete control, but Scotland appeared revitalised at the start of the second half.

Kinghorn immediately reduced the arrears with a penalty and, following a stunning Huw Jones break, the full-back added another off the tee.

All of a sudden, Scotland found themselves back in the contest and within a converted try of their opponents, but that threat was only brief and Ireland soon re-established their dominance to put the game out of the home side’s reach.

Lowe, Doris and Jamison Gibson-Park set up a fine position and it was capitalised on by the left wing as he showed his strength to cross the whitewash.

Then came the decisive blow as with a quarter of the match remaining Easterby’s men killed off the contest when Gibson-Park’s utterly stunning kick was collected by Hugo Keenan.  Although the full-back was hauled down just short, Conan was on hand to go over and secure their second win.

Prendergast then added a three-pointer to extend Ireland’s lead before Scotland had the final word through Ben White’s late try.

However, it was barely a consolation score given the title ambitions they had before the tournament.  Instead, they succumbed for the 11th successive time to Ireland.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Referee:  James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO:  Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Fin Smith leads England to shock Six Nations win over France

England ended their wait for a victory over a Tier 1 nation with a gutsy 26-25 win over France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Player of the Match Fin Smith’s conversion in the 80th minute after Elliot Daly’s try was enough to get them over the line, but other scores from Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Fin Baxter ensured they took away maximum points in their quest for the Six Nations title.

The opening 10 minutes were as cagey as you could imagine, with kick-tennis dominating much of the game, but Les Bleus certainly looked to have the upper hand.

A delicious break from Thomas Ramos created their best chance to capitalise on this dominance, as he sliced open the English defence with ease, however just as France looked to pounce Alexandre Roumat spilled the ball and gave England an easy reprieve.

The full-back had another golden opportunity to put his team into the lead, this time from the tee, but the usually automatic kicker pulled his effort just wide.

England nearly made them pay for this miss too.  A turnover from Tom Curry gave them their first genuine period of possession in France’s half, and strong carries from Tom Willis and Lawrence saw them get to within touching distance of the line, but a pivotal turnover cost them just as they looked to pounce.

With broken field ahead of them, France looked to strike.  Les Bleus almost teleported up the pitch and to within striking distance of the English line, but Ramos’ pass was spilt into touch by the mercurial Antoine Dupont and yet another chance went begging.

This wasn’t the end of it though.  France stole the proceeding lineout and looked to set-up shop in England’s five-metre.  Some solid smash-and-bash from the pack gave them a perfect chance to finally cross the whitewash, however, Damian Penaud lost control of the ball and the chance was gone.

But, France did eventually make their dominance count as Louis Bielle-Biarrey latched onto Penaud’s clever grubber kick to score.

This seemed to bring England back to life, and they hit back with a try of their own through Lawrence as he powered over from short distance.

Momentum was beginning to shift towards the hosts now too, and a cheap penalty from Penaud allowed England to once again march into the 22;  however, a costly knock-on from Curry saw the attack grind to a halt just as quickly as it began.

The opening of the second-half was the complete opposite of the first, but it still had the same theme running through it.  France missed chances.

A sneaky rip from Bielle-Biarrey saw the Bordeaux flier motor towards the England line, but in keeping with the rest of the game, his pass to Peato Mauvaka fell to the floor just as the Toulouse hooker looked like walking home.

Les Bleus eventually did add to their tally, though, as Ramos knocked over two three-pointers to pull his side six points ahead.

This didn’t deter the hosts though, as Freeman soared highest to collect Fin Smith’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down and bring them back to within one point.

France hit back with an instant response though as Penaud crossed out wide.  Some delicious play from Ramos, Gregory Alldritt and Bielle-Biarrey marched the visitors down the pitch.  Then, quick hands through the backs found the Bordeaux winger in space out wide, and he made no mistake with the finish.

Again, England rallied after this and came within a whisker of scoring.  A cute delayed pass from Fin Smith saw replacement Jamie George charge through the French line, and he later connected with Tom Curry too, however a heroic tackle from Oscar Jegou denied the Sale man a certain try.

But, a costly French knock-on from the resulting restart gifted England possession back in the 22, however, another missed kick from Marcus Smith meant France got off scot-free.

England weren’t sent packing though, even with Smith’s latest miss of the tee, and they eventually made their pressure count as Baxter burrowed over from short-range.  A change in kicker proved just the ticket too, as Fin Smith’s conversion put England back ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.

This lead vanished in a matter of minutes though, as Bielle-Biarrey finished off a simply sensational counter-attack.  Ramos’ conversion split the uprights, and once again France led by six with just four minutes left on the clock.

With the clock winding down, England had one final throw of the dice, and they made it count as Daly powered over after a clever strike move.  Fin Smith’s conversion sailed through the sticks too, giving England that long-awaited win over a Tier 1 side.

The teams

England:  15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly

France:  15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements:  16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Émilien Gailleton

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees:  Andrea Piardi (Italy), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Wales woes deepen as Italy inflict 14th straight loss on Six Nations visitors

Wales suffered an eye-watering 14th successive international defeat as they were beaten 22-15 in a wet-weather Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

Italy’s only try in their victory came via Ange Capuozzo in the first period as Tommaso Allan’s 17 points off the tee kept them at arm’s length in what was a deserved triumph.

Wales would cross through Aaron Wainwright and were also rewarded a late penalty try, but it wasn’t enough to save Warren Gatland’s charges from yet another Test defeat.

For the Azzurri this is a history-making victory as it’s their first back-to-back triumph over a tournament rival, having overcome Wales at the Principality Stadium last year.

The inclement weather did not help in terms of a free-flowing contest but it is to Italy’s credit that they played the conditions better than the Welsh and duly ran out winners.

Wales came close to having the perfect start on two minutes when Tomos Williams’ cross-field kick proved just too strong for a chasing Josh Adams who could not gather.

And the Azzurri made them pay with Allan kicking his first penalty of the game four minutes later after Freddie Thomas was caught offside by referee Matthew Carley.

Ben Thomas levelled matters on 16 minutes when the in-form Tommaso Mennoncello took out Williams off the ball, with the Wales fly-half making no mistake from distance.

But then Italy began to turn the screw and their dominance bore fruit thanks to Garbisi’s sublime dummy and kick ahead for Capuozzo who finished expertly on the right wing.

The converted try and a second Allan penalty made it 13-3 before the half-hour mark and then Wales hooker Evan Lloyd was penalised at a ruck which moved it to 16-3.

Wales desperately needed a response but unfortunately for them, the first half would finish as it started, with a Williams kick not gathered by Adams in the wet weather.

Italy remained the superior side after the resumption but Allan was unable to repay his pack for a scrum penalty win as he was wayward for the first time on 52 minutes and again two minutes later, this after Taulupe Faletau was penalised for a blatant neck roll at the breakdown.  Thankfully for Wales, they remained just 13 points adrift of the hosts.

A third straight penalty miss would follow on 58 minutes, this time from Martin Page-Relo from inside his own half after wing Tom Rogers was penalised for a high tackle.

Still, it felt that those misses were unlikely to come back to haunt Italy, especially when the onrushing Adams was yellow-carded for making clumsy head contact on Garbisi.

Allan would stop the rot off the tee on 61 minutes as he made it 19-3 while Adams watched on from the sidelines, slotting his fourth penalty of the afternoon in Rome.

Finally, though the Wales fans would have something to cheer as their first try of this year’s Six Nations came via Wainwright after a solid driving maul which made it 19-8.

Allan did hit back with another three-pointer before Wales finally upped the tempo and impetus, capitalising on their profitable driving maul again which led to Marco Riccioni and Dino Lamb being sin-binned for blatant offences.  The latter would lead to Carley awarding a penalty try to make it a seven-point game but Italy held on for victory.

The teams

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla

Wales:  15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Eddie James, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Freddie Thomas, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements:  16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Josh Hathaway

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Paul Williams (NZR), Sam Grove-White (SRU)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Ireland's superb second half sees England shredded in Six Nations

Simon Easterby’s brief stint in charge of Ireland started in ideal fashion as they came from behind at the break to earn a 27-22 victory over England at the Aviva Stadium.

The Red Rose were impressive in the first half and held a 10-5 advantage at the interval through Cadan Murley’s try and Marcus Smith’s penalty.

Jamison Gibson-Park had responded for an Ireland side who lacked the fluency we’ve come to expect, but they rectified that in the second period.

They dominated the final 40 minutes, with tries from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan sealing the win.

It was yet another missed opportunity for England, who undid all the good work after the interval, despite Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman’s efforts giving them a losing bonus-point.

While few expected England to win against the defending Six Nations champions, most thought they would provide Ireland with stern opposition and so it proved as Borthwick’s side began on the front foot.

A mixture of accurate kicking and some fine moments in broken field kept the Irish defence guessing and they got their reward early on.

Marcus Smith had already shown the threat they can pose when he linked with Freeman to send the Northampton Saint scampering down the right.

Although that attack broke down, the visitors were deservedly on the board soon after.  Ollie Lawrence made the initial incursion before play was shifted left and Henry Slade’s grubber through was picked up and finished by Murley on his Test debut.

Following that fine attacking start, it was all about defence for the Red Rose as Ireland got into groove with the ball.

It offered a chance for Sam Prendergast to prove his selection and, at times, it worked well, but too often passes went to ground.

Ireland were certainly better than they were in the Autumn Nations Series, however, particularly with their intensity and physicality in the contact area, and it put the opposition under pressure.

It resulted in a string of penalties and eventually referee Ben O’Keeffe ran out of patience, leading to a yellow card for Smith.

The Red Rose held out well for the next 10 minutes but a simple missed tackle was eventually their undoing as James Lowe shook off Alex Mitchell and found Gibson-Park, who finished brilliantly.

Prendergast missed the conversion, though, and that proved costly as England moved five points clear at the interval through a Smith three-pointer.

Unperturbed, the hosts continued to dominate possession and territory, while the visitors’ discipline remained poor.  England were unfortunate with a few decisions but there were also some needless penalties and that gave Ireland front foot ball.

Eventually, the dam broke when they isolated Aki one-on-one with Smith, but the Ireland centre still did superbly to bounce him off and finish under pressure.

Ireland now had the momentum while the Red Rose continued to make errors and another infringement enabled Prendergast to make his first kick of the game.

The hosts were very much beginning to find their rhythm and they concocted a brilliant attack when Lowe took an outstanding line through the heart of the English rearguard.  It was Beirne who supplied the excellent support and the lock duly touched down to end the game as a contest.

All that Ireland required for the perfect evening was the bonus-point and that came through the returning Sheehan, who latched onto some more wonderful work from Lowe.

England did finish with a flourish thanks to scores from Curry and Freeman, but it was very much the hosts’ day.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Robbie Henshaw

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Fin Smith

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  James Doleman (New Zealand), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Scotland rescued by Huw Jones hat-trick as they edge Italy in Six Nations

Scotland withstood a scare from Italy as Huw Jones’ hat-trick helped them open their 2025 Six Nations campaign with a 31-19 victory at Murrayfield.

The hosts had opened in fine style, finding themselves 14-0 and then 19-6 ahead thanks to tries from Rory Darge, Jones and Ben White, but the Azzurri hit back.

Tommaso Allan responded with two penalties before another brace of three-pointers reduced the arrears to seven.  When Juan Ignacio Brex intercepted Finn Russell’s pass to level the scores, the majority of Murrayfield was concerned, but Darcy Graham and Jones rescued the Scots.

Graham was the spark for both of the centre’s second-half tries as Scotland saw off a spirited showing from the Italians.

Fast start

The Scots went into the 2025 Six Nations with hopes once again high that they could end their long wait for a title and their start showed why.

Gregor Townsend’s men dominated possession and territory against an Italian outfit that were slow out of the blocks.  Co-captain Darge took advantage of their opponents’ slack opening, starting and finishing a try which moved them into an early 7-0 advantage.

The flanker, who was utterly sublime in the first half, turned over the ball on halfway before the play was shifted wide for Duhan van der Merwe to storm down the left-hand side.

Under pressure, Italy infringed and, instead of going for the posts, the hosts went for the jugular and it paid off as Darge barrelled over from close range.

Scotland then built on that early score and once again Van der Merwe was heavily involved as he surged down the wing and passed inside for Jones to finish.

It had been a dreadful start for an Azzurri team who themselves had big ambitions coming into the tournament.  Their lineout was malfunctioning while they simply failed to hold onto the ball for any significant length of time, but they finally began to edge back into the contest.

The scrum had the better of the Scottish front-row and the home side also started to make a few more errors, handing Allan a couple of penalty opportunities which the full-back kicked to reduce the arrears.

All the threat was coming from Scotland, however, and a third try was soon forthcoming as Dave Cherry’s brilliant off-load enabled White to touch down.

Only discipline was really letting Townsend’s outfit down and a third infringement inside their own half enabled Allan to make it a 10-point buffer.

But it was becoming a real issue and, after a fourth three-pointer got Italy to within a converted try on the scoreboard, the pressure increased on the Scots.

It evidently told on Russell, who forced a pass in midfield, and Brex was on hand to intercept and cross the whitewash unopposed to level matters.  The match had turned on its head and a revitalised Italy were hassling the Scots into mistakes.

The hosts needed something special to re-establish control of proceedings and it came via the magnificent Graham.  The flyer received the ball on the right-hand wing, cut inside and sped away before Jones was on hand to collect and score.

Graham was also involved in their fifth score as he took the ball off the shoulder of Russell to take them deep into Italian territory.  Under pressure, the visitors duly ceded when Jones crossed the whitewash for his hat-trick.

Those tries gave Scotland enough of a buffer to see out the rest of the game, despite a late surge from Italy which saw them create a number of chances.  However, their profligacy meant that they came away from Edinburgh with nothing to show for their efforts.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe

Italy:  15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements:  16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Simone Gesi

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Luke Pearce (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)