at least we won our last game...

 

And in the process helped England win the tournament by stopping Wales. Alors, merci!:P

 

Superb Ireland end England's Slam hopes

 

2011 Six Nations: Ireland 24-8 England

 

Ireland destroyed England's Grand Slam hopes but the visitors won the Six Nations after France beat Wales in Paris in the tournament's final match.

 

Three Jonathan Sexton penalties gave Ireland an early 9-0 lead which they extended as Tommy Bowe scythed over. Toby Flood kicked a penalty for England but Ireland led 17-3 at half-time. Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll broke the championship try-scoring record with his 25th try before Steve Thompson collected a consolation score.

 

The result was a crushing disappointment for the visitors, who were chasing a first Grand Slam since 2003 when England manager Martin Johnson captained them to a thumping 42-6 win in Dublin.But the youthful visitors - 10 of the side were 25 or under - were on the back foot from the first whistle and Ireland never looked like losing as they secured a seventh win in eight attempts against England.

 

The hosts looked far more fired up than the visitors in the opening stages. Declan Kidney's side were better at the breakdown for much of the match and looked much more threatening with ball in hand as they ended a disappointing championship on a vibrant note. Wales' defeat in France ensured England secured the Six Nations title, but as Johnson admitted afterwards, it was little consolation after their Grand Slam dreams turned sour.

 

Former England hooker Brian Moore said there could be "no arguments" about the result in Dublin, adding "Ireland were the better side from first to last". Fellow BBC pundit Jeremy Guscott said Johnson would be "disappointed" that his side had lost but added that they would learn from the experience, saying "every team has to go through pain and hurt to make them better".

 

Ireland butchered England at the first scrum and soon took the lead as Sexton - back in place of Ronan O'Gara at fly-half - popped over a penalty after the visitors were off-side at a line-out. The hosts dominated early territory and possession and doubled their advantage when Chris Ashton was penalised for a high tackle on Sexton and the fly-half landed his second penalty. Ireland were doing a great job of turning over possession as they prevented the England ball carrier from getting to ground, and Kidney's side were also playing with pace and width in attack.

 

They looked to have pulled further clear with a marvellous try, but Bowe's final pass to O'Driscoll was correctly ruled forward. It was a disappointment for the captain as it would have taken O'Driscoll, who went into the game level with Ian Smith on 24 tries, clear on his own as the all-time leading try scorer in the history of the Five and Six Nations.

 

However, his side had been awarded an advantage and Sexton duly made it 9-0 with just over a quarter of the match played. England, who had been forced to bring on Simon Shaw in the second row for the injured Tom Palmer, had barely registered as an attacking force. And when they finally earned a very kickable penalty, Flood's kicking boots deserted him and he pulled it badly to the left of the posts.

 

The mistake was immediately compounded as Ben Foden was forced into a desperate defensive kick and Jamie Heaslip carried the ball back with menace. The entire England defence was caught off-side and Sexton tapped the resulting penalty and committed the defence before sending Bowe striding over. Sexton missed the conversion but with less than half an hour on the clock England's dreams of the Grand Slam were as good as over. They finally managed to get on the board through a Flood penalty but a bad half continued for the visitors as they lost Ben Youngs to the sin-bin.

 

The 21-year-old England scrum-half had endured a difficult time, not helped by conceding a silly penalty at a scrum. And when England just managed to halt a David Wallace charge for the line Youngs took the ball into touch and then threw it into the crowd.

 

Sexton made no mistake with the penalty and England were 17-3 down at the break, a margin which got worse as O'Driscoll crossed for his record-breaking 25th try seven minutes after the restart. The iconic Ireland captain finished off another sweeping move by rounding Louis Deacon and diving over in the corner. The resounding chorus of the Fields of Athenry was hushed only as long as it took Sexton to drill over the conversion and make it 24-3. England gave themselves some hope as replacement hooker Steve Thompson intercepted an Eoin Reddan pass and scampered over from 40m, but the normally reliable Jonny Wilkinson could not convert.

 

As the game wore on the visitors enjoyed increasing possession but they rarely threatened to score and their Grand Slam hopes had disappeared long before the final whistle sounded to spark a party in Dublin.

 

 

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9426975.stm

 

France 28-9 Wales

 

France ended Wales' scant hopes of Six Nations glory at the Stade de France where the visitors gifted lock Lionel Nallet two tries. Wales' sin-bin habit also continued -fly-half James Hook this time the culprit - as they finished fourth in the tournament with France second.

 

Vincent Clerc also went over as France responded to coach Marc Lievremont's harsh words after the defeat by Italy. Hook kicked all Wales' points as their attacks again lacked a clinical edge. Ireland's 24-8 win over England in Dublin earlier in the day meant Wales went into the match knowing they had to either beat France by 27 points or run in eight tries in a 26-point victory margin.

 

That was never going to be realistic on a night when France had to respond to the scathing criticism of Lievremont following their 22-21 loss to Italy in Rome, their first defeat to the Azzurri.

 

The visitors were a distant second-best as their championship ended by being topped and tailed in defeat, in the opening game by England and in the last in Paris. Wales also went into the game with controversy surrounding their coaching set-up, defence coach Shaun Edwards having been banned from involvement for the game in Paris after internal disciplinary action.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9427807.stm

 

Six Nations: Grand Slam loss a scar says Martin Johnson

 

Manager Martin Johnson said England were "desperately disappointed" after their Grand Slam dreams were ended by a 24-8 defeat by Ireland in Dublin.

 

"Let's take it on the chin, they outplayed us. We had a horrible first half," he told BBC Sport. Wales' defeat in France meant England won the Six Nations title but it was little consolation for Johnson. "We came to win and we've fallen way short. This is a scar and we'll have to wear that scar," he added.

 

England fielded a side containing 10 players aged 25 or under and Johnson said his team's inexperience played a part in their poor display. "We compounded errors, we knocked balls on - pressure's the name of the game," he said. "We had a lot of guys doing this for the first time - not a Grand Slam decider but playing a full championship - and there were a few errors.

 

"We've got what we've got - a team of good young players. Everyone's got a win and a loss in them, you get that if you don't play well and we got it today. It was horrible today, our best two attacking moves in the second half ended with us giving the ball straight to them. "If everyone makes one mistake, that's 15 mistakes and it was that kind of day. It's just disappointing, we could have been better."

 

Stand-in captain Nick Easter admitted: "Ireland were the better team. We were second best from the get go. "We won the kick-off and I think that's about the only time we were on top. We were playing catch-up in the second half but it was the first 20 minutes that really killed us. We had a lack of urgency and lack of discipline at times and unfortunately we didn't deliver on the day. They played very well and we didn't execute well, but it's a young team, we've got to learn from it and learn pretty quick. "Next time we'll be tested will be in the World Cup, so we'll find out a lot more then."

 

Easter said that winning the title did not make up for failing to complete what would have been a first Grand Slam for England since 2003, adding that he did want to seem "ungracious" that he was disappointed. "We missed out on the big one but this gives us some sort of reward for the strides we've made this season," he added.

 

England flanker James Haskell and fly-half Toby Flood could not hide their disappointment. Haskell said: "I am bitterly disappointed. You play four games and then lose the last one. Whatever happens about the title it takes the edge off eight weeks of hard work. "We were our own worst enemies today. If you shoot yourself in the foot every play it makes it 10 times worse."

 

Flood added: " "You go into every competition to try and win it and we are in a better position than we have been in recent years. "But it is a huge disappointment we weren't able to finish it off - and we weren't even close to doing it. They hammered us."

Congrats England!!!! You deserve it!!!

 

Nallet tweeted this morning that it was "easy to win when everybody wants it"....that says it all. Hope our guys will get their head straight for the WC.

Is rugby a recognised sport?

Is rugby a recognised sport?

What do you mean :inquisitive: ?

I'm only kidding.

I see England are out. Silly Billy's.

I'm only kidding.

I see England are out. Silly Billy's.

 

Lost the last game but still did enough to win the championship :D