Ronan O'Gara of Ireland attempts to burst through against Italy

 

Ireland 16-11 Italy

 

Ireland (10) 16

Try: Dempsey

Con: O'Gara

Pens: O'Gara (3)

 

Italy (3) 11

Try: Parisse

Pens: Bertolussi (2)

 

Ireland got off to a winning start in the RBS Six Nations but it was not the convincing performance they hoped for.

 

They landed the first try in the 18th minute when Ronan O'Gara's crossfield ball was gathered by Andrew Trimble who laid off for Girvan Dempsey to go over.

 

Italy fought for everything and were rewarded with a try by Sergio Parisse midway through the second half.

 

O'Gara kicked three penalties to keep Ireland ahead but a late miss caused a nervy last few minutes for the hosts.

 

Ireland next face France away but will be without centre Gordon D'Arcy who went off in the first half with a stress fracture to his forearm.

 

Ireland took a while to settle from the kick-off but they nudged ahead with an O'Gara penalty in the 15th minute.

 

Soon afterwards Eddie O'Sullivan's side stretched their lead with the only try of the first half.

 

O'Gara's precise kick landed in Trimble's hands and the Ulster winger rode Mauro Bergamasco's tackle before finding Dempsey who dashed home.

 

The conversion made it 10-0 to Ireland and took O'Gara to 400 points in the Six Nations.

 

D'Arcy had to go off in the 26th minute after injuring his right arm in tacking Andrea Masi.

 

That meant Rob Kearney coming on as winger and Trimble switching to inside centre.

 

Biarritz lock Santiago Dellape was sent to the sin-bin for punching on 30 minutes.

 

But Italy defended strongly and even produced a penalty through Bortolussi.

 

Early in the second Ireland had 10 minutes with a man down as Simon Easterby was sin-binned for playing the ball after the tackle.

 

Italy frequently used cynical measures to halt Irish attacks and one such moment was punished by referee Jonathan Kaplan and O'Gara's kick made it 13-3.

 

But Ireland were never able to shrug off the dogged Italians and the contest was sparked into life as the visitors got their try on the hour.

 

Skipper Parisse was credited with the score after a lengthy deliberation by the video judge confirmed the charge over was legitimate.

 

Bortolussi's conversion attempt was wide of the posts but Ireland had every reason to be worried with the gap down to five.

 

But nerves were eased a little as O'Gara landed a penalty awarded for a handling offence on the floor.

 

However, Bortolussi's second penalty brought it back to 16-11 to make things a little too close for comfort for the Triple Crown holders.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7224116.stm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTpIWEu3Z4

France outclass sorry Scots

 

Clerc celebrates his second try with an extravagent dive

 

France got their new era off to a winning start as they outclassed Scotland to win their Six Nations opener at Murrayfield on Sunday.

 

Dan Parks's early drop-goal put Scotland ahead, but a disputed Vincent Clerc try put France in control.

 

Julien Malzieu also crossed before half-time as France's attacking flair proved too much for Scotland.

 

The outstanding Clerc extended the lead after the break with his second as a new-look France hit the ground running.

 

In the build-up to his first match in charge of Les Bleus, new coach Marc Lievremont promised a return to the French traditions after replacing the more prosaic Bernard Laporte, and his players certainly lived up to expectations in an impressive showing.

 

France, with four debutants among their ranks, attacked from deep from the off and showed a willingness to tap-and-go from anywhere on the pitch, even spurning kickable penalties to keep the ball in hand.

 

With Murrayfield pumped up to fever pitch, Scotland killed the atmosphere stone dead with the most inauspicious of starts as Parks sent his kick-off sailing out on the full.

 

Parks quickly made amends by slotting over a tidy drop-goal, and a couple of excellent tactical kicks put his side in promising positions as the home team started the match full of attacking intent

 

Livewire scrum-half Mike Blair was at the heart of their best moments and a powerful run from Nikki Walker kept his side on the front foot.

 

But the momentum Scotland were beginning to build came to a shuddering halt with Clerc's controversial try after 11 minutes.

 

Some delightful handling released Clerc down the right touchline, and the winger exchanged passes - with one looking suspiciously forward - with Cedric Heymans before cutting inside and going through Nick de Luca's tackle to score.

 

Damien Traille added a penalty to take France 10-3 clear, while Parks' missed badly with his first penalty attempt.

 

France's adventurous approach paid rich dividends on 23 minutes as, after a quick tapped penalty on halfway, debutant winger Malzieu chipped into acres of space and collected the ball - with the help of some generous defending by Parks and Rory Lamont.

 

Parks cut the gap with a penalty, while Elissalde missed two kicks at goal in quick succession but there was no doubt which team was on top as the players went into half-time.

 

Scotland centre De Luca knocked on soon after the start of the second half - his third mistake of a nervy debut - to hand France an early attacking foothold, but a Malzieu knock-on spared his blushes.

 

But Traille soon punished a collapsed scrum from Scotland with his second penalty, and all the rugby was coming from a French side clearly relishing the opportunity to play with such freedom.

 

Clerc was popping up with ball in hand all over the field, and he claimed a deserved second try after 64 minutes as he got on the end of his own grubber kick ahead to score next to the posts.

 

Scotland did not give the game up, with replacement Chris Paterson stopped inches short of the try-line after hacking forward a loose ball and Chris Cusiter having the ball knocked out of his grasp as he tried to dive over a ruck.

 

But it was France who ended the match on yet another attack from deep as their approach sent out a warning to the rest of the Six Nations.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7222661.stm

England 19-26 Wales

 

 

England (16) 19

Try: Flood

Cons: Wilkinson

Pens: Wilkinson 3

Drop-goal: Wilkinson

 

Wales (6) 26

Tries: Byrne, Phillips

Cons: Hook 2

Pens: Hook 4

 

Wales claimed their first win at Twickenham for 20 years with a superb second-half comeback to defeat England.

 

England dominated the first half, with Jonny Wilkinson's boot and a Toby Flood try giving them a 16-6 half-time lead.

 

But the second half was a different story as James Hook kicked Wales to within seven points of England.

 

Lee Byrne finished off a superb move before Mike Phillips put Wales ahead for the first time after Iain Balshaw's indecisive kick was charged down.

 

It was Wales' first match under new coach Warren Gatland, and the New Zealander must have said something special to his players at half-time as they recovered from a terrible first half to get his reign off to a winning start.

 

England took the lead within a minute as Martyn Williams conceded a penalty straight from the kick-off, which Wilkinson knocked over with ease.

 

Hook quickly levelled the scores, but the warning signs were there for Wales as the visitors began to turn the ball over with alarming frequency.

 

Shaun Edwards, brought in as Wales' new defence coach, would not have been impressed as England winger David Strettle beat seven tacklers on a weaving run to within 5m of Wales' try-line in the opening minutes.

 

Wales were fortunate that Strettle failed to notice the unmarked Paul Sackey, but they fell behind again when Wilkinson kicked his second penalty.

 

A right-footed Wilkinson drop-goal kept England's scoreboard ticking over, and England extended their lead when his cross-kick isolated Mark Jones against debutant Lesley Vainikolo, on for the injured Strettle.

 

The former rugby league star, sporting an extravagent hairstyle to mark the occasion, outjumped Jones and offloaded one-handed for Flood to score under the posts.

 

Hook kicked his second penalty to keep his side within 10 points of England, but the pressure was almost exclusively on Wales as their bad habit of turning over ball continued to undermine their hopes.

 

Wilkinson missed with a penalty but, after Sackey had a possible try ruled out by the video referee, England ended the half camped deep in Wales' 22.

 

Wales needed a steady start to the second half, but a suicidal attempt by Shane Williams to break from his own line ended with Wilkinson kicking another penalty to put his side 19-6 up.

 

With nothing to lose, Wales began to play with a little more fluency and Hook narrowed the gap after James Haskell conceded a penalty.

 

A superb break from Henson - courtesy of glorious steps past Wilkinson and Andy Gomarsall - kept the pressure on England.

 

Some schoolboy errors saw England concede 70m in the space of a few seconds as player after player refused to take responsibility for a ball going backwards, and Hook punished them with another penalty.

 

England's first-half dominance was fast becoming a distant memory as a simply dreadful Wilkinson pass - which missed replacement Danny Cipriani by a good five metres - gave Wales the perfect attacking opportunity.

 

Hook danced around three tacklers and offloaded for Byrne to score and the fly-half then curled in a beautiful conversion to level the scores.

 

But worse was to follow for England just moments later as Balshaw dithered over a clearance kick deep in his own half and saw Phillips charge him down.

 

Gethin Jenkins claimed the loose ball, and two passes later Phillips dived in at the corner - going through Balshaw's last-ditch tackle - to put his side ahead for the first time.

 

Another superb Hook conversion put Wales seven points clear, and England never looked like getting close to their opponents' try-line.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7215056.stm

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYBhThwzQNo

Wales 47-8 Italy

 

 

Wales (13) 47

Tries: Byrne (2), Shanklin, S Williams (2)

Con: S Jones (3), Hook (2)

Pens: S Jones (4)

 

Italy (8) 8

Try: Castrogiovanni

Pens: Marcato

 

Unbeaten Wales cranked up their Grand Slam charge as they romped to a record Six Nations victory over Italy.

 

Warren Gatland's revolution continued as Wales put Italy to the sword in Cardiff to set up a potential Triple Crown decider in Ireland in two weeks.

 

Lee Byrne and Shane Williams both scored twice while Tom Shanklin crowned his 50th Welsh cap with a try.

 

Stephen Jones enjoyed a 100% record with the boot as he kicked 20 points to guide Wales to a stunning win.

 

New coach Gatland, enjoying his first Six Nations campaign, inspired Wales to their third successive triumph as his men followed up victories against England and Scotland in style.

 

The Welsh had previously been guilty of starting slowly but showed instant intent against Italy at the Millennium Stadium as Jones landed two penalties in the opening 10 minutes.

 

Jones was slightly dazed for his third minute strike as Italian giant Carlo del Fava had cracked the Scarlets star in the head with his knee just as Peel was taken out by the offside Santiago Dellape.

 

But experienced Jones, replacing fly-half sensation James Hook, made no mistake as Wales capitalised on Italian errors.

 

Yet it was slack Welsh play that gifted Italy the first try of the afternoon after 12 minutes.

 

Matthew Rees's line-out throw just 10 metres from his own line was far too long for Ian Gough and Martin Castrogiovanni punished the hosts as the Leicester prop bulldozed his way over for a surprise score.

 

Gonzalo Canale should have added to Wales' woe just minutes later but after the Italian backline had cut the hosts' defence to shreds, but the centre couldn't do justice to a sublime move.

 

Great inter-play between Andrea Masi and Ezio Galon created the opening but after Masi set him free, Clermont Auvergne star Canale let the ball slip through his fingers with the try line at his mercy.

 

And Wales made the visitors pay as within five minutes as after sustained pressure, a long Gavin Henson pass released Byrne to score in the corner.

 

As the Ospreys full-back celebrated his second try of the Championship, Jones smashed over a tricky touchline conversion.

 

Andrea Marcato, a controversial selection to replace the injured David Bortolussi, had hit the upright with his first two kicks at goal, a conversion and a penalty.

 

But on the stroke of half-time, the Italian full-back gave Nick Mallett's side what proved to be false hope with a penalty to reduce their deficit to five points.

 

But within 60 seconds of the break, Italy's good first-half work was blown apart by one of their own.

 

Fly-half Andrea Masi was the enemy within as his blind looping pass was intercepted by Shanklin.

 

The Blues centre gratefully accepted the gift and celebrated his half century of caps with arguably the easiest try of his international career.

 

Mike Phillips, on for the injured Dwayne Peel, should have helped Wales extend their lead still further.

 

But the replacement scrum-half failed to offload the ball quick enough to the supporting Mark Jones, who would have cruised over.

 

Wales were starting to turn the screw and their intense pressure earned Jones another two kicks at goal, despatching both, the latter after Mirco Bergamasco was sin-binned for slowing the ball down at a ruck.

 

Coach Gatland's decision to pick master Jones ahead of pupil Hook proved an astute decision, the Scarlets fly-half revelling in his 68th cap.

 

Jones' deft pass released Williams for his third touchdown in two games before Jones added the extras with the boot.

 

Wales punished another Italian mistake with 12 minutes remaining as Ospreys full-back Byrne claimed his second try.

 

Williams put the icing on the cake as the Ospreys winger danced over for his 39th Wales try, closing to within one of Gareth Thomas' record of 40 tries.

 

Hook had replaced the faultless Jones and his late two conversions secured the first Welsh victory over the Italians since Wales' last Grand Slam triumph in 2005.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7258600.stm

Ireland 34-13 Scotland

 

 

Ireland (14) 34

Tries: Wallace, Kearney, Horan, Bowe 2

Cons: O'Gara 3

Pens: O'Gara

 

Scotland (6) 13

Try: Webster

Con: Paterson

Pens: Paterson 2

 

Ireland produced a fine attacking display to comfortably beat Scotland in their RBS Six Nations clash in Dublin.

 

The visitors dominated early on without scoring and they were dealt a sucker punch by David Wallace's try.

 

After Chris Paterson's penalty response, Geordan Murphy's spectacular catch helped set up a Rob Kearney try.

 

Ahead 14-6 at the break, Marcus Horan's try extended Ireland's lead and while Simon Webster's score gave Scotland hope, two Tommy Bowe tries sealed it.

 

Ireland will now try to spike Wales' guns at Croke Park in a fortnight and set themselves up for a Triple Crown clash with England in the final round of matches.

 

After a slightly nervous start, the hosts moved through the gears to build on the promise of their narrow defeat in Paris a fortnight ago.

 

Murphy made the most of his late call-up after injury to Girvan Dempsey by producing a man-of-the-match display in his favoured full-back position.

 

The visitors should have taken the lead in the fifth minute but Paterson opted to take a quick tap in the Irish 22 instead of kicking a straightforward penalty.

 

As had been the case early on in Paris, the Irish line-out struggled in the opening minutes with two of Bernard Jackman's throws being stolen by the Scots.

 

The Irish finally began to show fluency in the 14th minute when Eoin Reddan's dart got the three-quarters moving only for Bowe's attempted pass to Andrew Trimble to be intercepted by Ali Hogg.

 

The Irish pack attempted to burrow their way over the Scottish line in a succession of drives in the 21st minute.

 

From the resulting scrum, Wallace was given acres of space to score under the posts after Jamie Heaslip's pick-up.

 

Ronan O'Gara added the extras and suddenly the Irish were 7-0 ahead despite Scotland's early territorial domination.

 

Paterson replied from a penalty straight after the restart after Jackman had been penalised but it proved a brief respite for the Scots as the Irish responded with a second try on 26 minutes.

 

Murphy was involved in nearly all Ireland's best attacks and the Leicester man's superb high catch helped set up the Irish score.

 

O'Gara saw the opportunity after the quick ruck, sending Brian O'Driscoll into space, and the skipper's perfect looping pass enabled Kearney to score in the left corner.

 

Paterson's second successful penalty reduced Ireland's lead to eight points in the 33rd minute.

 

The Scots were then held up inches short of the Irish line on two occasions before Nathan Hines' petulance saw a penalty being reversed to ease the pressure on the home side, who went in 14-6 ahead at half-time.

 

Scotland were dealt a hammer blow after their break when O'Gara's diagonal kick was grasped with ridiculous ease by prop Horan - hovering on the right wing - who ran in unopposed for Ireland's third try.

 

O'Gara missed the difficult conversion but the Munster fly-half soon knocked over a penalty to extend his team's lead to 22-6.

 

Scotland were given a glimmer of hope when Simon Webster ended his team's try-scoring famine in the 53rd minute, after Andrew Henderson's pass and some sloppy Irish defence.

 

Paterson's conversion cut the deficit to 22-13.

 

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan responded by introducing fit-again Paul O'Connell for Mick O'Driscoll.

 

Hooker Rory Best was already on for Jackman, after the Leinster man's initial cut near his left ear.

 

Webster's try gave Scotland renewed belief as there was a brief lull in the Irish performance.

 

However, another sensational Irish backs move ended the game as a contest in the 61st minute with O'Gara and Andrew Trimble involved before Bowe's wiry frame enabled the winger to score the try.

 

Scotland suffered a further blow when replacement Jim Hamilton was carried off with a suspected broken leg.

 

Right at the finish, Bowe rounded matters off with his second touchdown and Ireland's fifth try.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7260841.stm

France 13-24 England

 

Paul Sackey (left) scored England's opening try of the match

 

France (7) 13

Tries: Nallet

Cons: Traille

Pens: Parra, Yachvili

 

England (13) 24

Tries: Sackey, Wigglesworth

Cons: Wilkinson

Pens: Wilkinson 3

Drop-goals: Wilkinson

 

 

England repeated their World Cup semi-final win over France to end Les Bleus' 100% record in the Six Nations.

 

England took the lead through Paul Sackey and a conversion and penalty from Jonny Wilkinson made it 10-0.

 

France hit back through Lionel Nallet's converted try but a second Wilkinson penalty made it 13-7 at the break.

 

A Morgan Parra penalty cut the gap to three but Wilkinson added a penalty and drop-goal before Richard Wigglesworth's last-gasp try killed off French hopes.

 

England had not won away to France in the Six Nations since 2000 but the last time they met in Paris, in the World Cup semi-final in October, England ground out a 14-9 win.

 

On that day France, under former coach Bernard Laporte, tried to match England's traditional strengths by playing a conservative style.

 

But a change of coach, with former Under-21 boss Marc Lievremont taking the reins, has seen them revert to the style known around the world as "French flair".

 

The match was billed as a clash between England's grizzled pack and French youthful exuberance, and to a large extent it proved to be just that.

 

England showed flashes of wit and invention in attack and their defence was heroic, but in the end it was their dominant pack which proved to be the difference between the two sides.

 

The hosts certainly followed the script from the opening whistle.

 

Jamie Noon's thumping tackle set up the opening try of the game

 

England did not legally lay a hand on the ball for the first two minutes and barely touched it for the first five as France whipped the ball about with abandon.

 

However, that made them a touch predictable and as they spun the ball wide once too often Jamie Noon hammered France full-back Cedric Heymans in the tackle.

 

In the process the Newcastle centre knocked the ball forward but the referee was unsighted and Sackey pounced.

 

The winger, who had trials with Crystal Palace, Reading and Aston Villa football clubs as a teenager, demonstrated his soccer skills as he kicked ahead before scoring in composed fashion.

 

Wilkinson drilled the conversion between the posts and when France held on at a ruck after England stole a line-out he slotted the penalty to put the visitors into an early 10-0 lead.

 

France went into the match without a recognised top-line kicker, with centre Damien Traille handed the role, and when they were given their first shot at goal the Biarritz man missed a difficult long-range effort.

 

England suffered a blow after 20 minutes as James Haskell limped off with an injured ankle, with Leicester's Tom Croft coming on as replacement to win his first cap.

 

Within five minutes the hosts had scored their first try. Scrum-half Parra, just 19, orchestrated a surging attack and giant lock Nallet was on hand to drill over from a yard.

 

Traille converted and although Wilkinson soon hit back with a penalty after France infringed at a ruck, Traille belted a kickable penalty against the posts to ensure the visitors led 13-7 at the break.

 

France played with plenty of pace in the first 40 minutes but they upped the tempo even further after the interval and hit back when the precocious Parra replaced Traille as kicker and slotted a tricky penalty after hooker Mark Regan lost his discipline at a ruck.

 

However, as the half wore on the French whirlwind subsided and the England pack began to make some headway, with Andrew Sheridan and Co putting the French front row under increasing pressure.

 

They failed to take advantage of two penalties as Wilkinson firstly missed to the right and then fell short.

 

But the fly-half made no mistake with a 65th-minute drop-goal after a thunderous midfield charge from ex-rugby league star Lesley Vainikolo had set up the position.

 

In the process Wilkinson overtook former Argentine great Hugo Porta's mark of 28 to become the all-time leading drop-goal scorer in Test rugby.

 

As the game entered the final 15 minutes France were looking increasingly ragged, while England were beginning to butcher the callow French front row.

 

The hosts managed to cut the gap to six points through a 73rd-minute Yachvili penalty, but the visitors were not to be denied and Wigglesworth scooted over at the death to ensure a second memorable night in Paris for England in the last four months.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7256430.stm

Yay, it's always good to beat the French :)

Weeeeeeee! Yay Wales! Triple Crown, Grand Slam & won the whole tournament! :D

 

And to think when i first started watching the 5 Nations, approx 12/13 years ago, you were always in contention for the wooden spoon. :P

well done Wales, you did well considering last September you got knocked out of the World Cup at the ground stage