ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, SHOW CLASS BUT NO RESULTS
The last time England faced Wales it was our most embarrassing result for a while, we were running the show as per usual at Twickenham, and then somehow collapsed, allowing Wales to win 26-19. The last time we faced the Welsh at the Millenium Stadium, well we never get an easy run there. Last time round would have been '07 and we got beaten 27-18. The last time we beat them was a 47-23 hammering at Twickenham, and that was the sort of result I used to take for granted. For a win at the Millenium Stadium, well we haven't pulled that one off since our '03 Grand Slam. The scoreline was 26-9 that day, with me still in Uni Halls of Residence.
And our captain that day, Martin Johnson, is now the manager of the men in white. The line the commentators kept saying pre-match was that he'd never lost a match at the Millenium Stadium as a player. Well we haven't won a match there since he was a player either, and we return west of the Severn yet again. For England it meant a comeback for Joe Worsley and Mike Tindall. For Wales, it meant a chance to hype themselves up despite injuries of their own. However it was the men in white who were top of the table going into the match and while calling it a title decider would be counting chickens, there was the possibility of the Welsh being too cocky for their own good.
Unfortunately that proved not to be the case early on. The first English attack came to nothing, the first Welsh attack resulted in a Stephen Jones penalty. That was followed by one of our guys getting sinbinned and Stephen Jones put over two more pens while we were a man down. And yet we replied when Flutey jinked into the Welsh midfield before the ball found it's way to an unguarded Sackey who ran down the flank for a try. That inspired the men in white to more quality attacking play and Goode grabbed us a drop goal. The Welsh ended the half on the attack, but couldn't come up with anything before the whistle, still they led 9-8 at halftime but it was tougher than expected.
Well it wasn't long before another English player found himself in the bin while trying to prevent a Welsh try. Jones grabbed a pen instead and then the Welsh ripped us apart, sending the ball wide, Jones setting up Leigh Halfpenny for a try. And then Jones added another pen. They still couldn't put England down though, particularly not with Delon Armitage in the side. Ellis made the initial running and the first new star of the Johnson era just could not be caught on his way to his first international try, Toby Flood converting. Now the game was there for the taking and a turnaround seemed inevitable but somehow the Welsh held firm despite the constant England attacking. Jones had the last word with a penalty. Wales won 23-15 but the fire belonged to England.
Last time around, Scotland faced France at Murrayfield only to get beaten 27-6 with a disasterous performance. The last time the sides met in the Stade de France was in '07 with Les Bleus claiming the title at the Scots's expence, winning it 49-19 despite the Scots opening the scoring. The Scots haven't beaten the French since '06 and that was back at Murrayfield, the Scots running the show with the final 20-16 scoreline flattering the French if anything. The Scots have still yet to beat the French at the Stade de France in the Six Nations as we currently know it though. I was still doing my GCSE's when they pulled off a great 36-22 win in the '99 Five Nations.
This time round well it was an interesting encounter given that neither side managed to win their first match, therefore both had something to prove. For the Scots's part, the Evans brothers Max and Thom were given their first start together but the biggest surprise was that Phil Godman was still preffered to Chris Patterson at flyhalf. Simon Danielli was also back in business with Frank Hadden hoping for a better result than last time round. The French were also in experimental mood, partly forced by injury and they were the team under pressure at the Stade de France this time around. Whether the Scots could use that to their advantage remained to be seen.
Well like their last visit to Paris, it was the Scots that surged forward to start and could have had a try but the video ref ruled it out. It was certainly better than anything the French were capable of and it took them long enough to get into the Scottish half. And yet it was still Les Bleus that opened the scoring through a Lionel Beauxis penalty. That inspired some more French attacking but the home side came up empty and the Scots countered, resulting in Godman levelling the match with a pen of his own. However Beauxis put the French back into the lead with another penalty. 6-3 France at half time but the home side were stuttering and looked vulnerable.
Any Scottish optimism evaporated in the second half though when Maxime Medard surged through, possibly forward passed to Fulgence Ouedraogo but the try still stood, converted by Beauxis. Godman was still able to pull a penalty back though. Beauxis replied with a long rangle pen and then another after some good Scottish attacking turned out to be fruitless. Even better Scots attacking fgot some results though, the visitors charging towards the line, the try was inevitable and Godman set up Thom Evans to collect it before the kicker converted. Just when a late turnaround looked to be on though, Beauxis grabbed another pen and the French finished 22-13 winners.
Elsewhere, Italy faced Ireland at the Stadio Flaminio. It was the Azzuri that opened the scoring through two Luke McLean penalties but Ireland replied with a Tommy Bowe try converted by Ronon O'Gara before another McLean pen returned the lead to Italy only for Luke Fitzgerald to grab a try before half time, converted by O'Gara. David Wallace then gave the men in green clear air with another O'Gara converted try before the Irish kicker grabbed another pen. Fitzgerald grabbed his second try and O'Gara converted both that and the finishing score from Brian O'Driscoll. Ireland won the match 38-9 and certainly mean business this time around.
Well, that allows Scotland to remain in 5th place, level on points with woden spooners Italy with a +32 match points difference advantage. England are still two points ahead of the Scots but have still fallen down to 3rd place and are themselves two point behind Ireland who have hit the top after two games.
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