ENGLAND FALL SHORT AGAIN, SCOTLAND PICK UP WIN

 

 

Last year, we faced the Irish at Twickenham. Well by that point we were out of the title race but though we took a while to get going, we did finally come up with a win to the tune of 33-10 which was enough for us to claim second place that year. Back in '07 though we had to go to Croke Park, the cathedral of all Irish sports. Well the Irish noise was deafening and the men in white never got going, falling to a 43-13 humiliation. Going into this year's tournament, we had yet to beat the Irish at Croke Park, the last time we won in Dublin it was at their old Lansdowne Road ground during our Grand Slam of '03. We actually claimed the Slam during that match, winning 42-6.

This time around well, England were very hit and miss. A solid but uninspiring win over the Italians was followed by a tight game against the Welsh which we eventually lost. In the meantime, Ireland were fancying themselves for a Grand Slam, particularly as we were visiting Croke Park again. Except this time round they were a little more nervous about us. For our part, well we wound up starting with Toby Flood as kicker and Vickery was back in business. England did still have to worry about discipline, particularly with one of the best kickers in the business wearing green. Cue more Croke Park noise and time for another rumble, it couldn't be worse than last time.

Well England certainly looked like picking up where they left off against Wales and soon forced themselves deep into Irish territory. The Irish responded but came up empty with England'd defence managing to smother the home side. It certainly helped that Ronan O'Gara had left his kicking boots in the dressing room and England took advantage by pressuring the Irish defence but it was eventually the Irish that took the lead through an O'Gara penalty. It was the men in green that had the late attacking but England came back and Flood kicked over a pen of his own. 3-3 at half time. So far a great result for England but the game was pretty scrappy overall.

Ireland attacked early in the second half and retook the lead thanks to a Brian O'Driscoll drop goal. Of course that's the time when our discipline lets us down yet again and we have yet another guy in the sinbin! Why oh why? Being a man down meant that the English defence was finally forced to give way and Thomas O'Leary set up O'Driscoll for a try. England replied with Armitage firing off a long-range penalty. Game still on. That was before we got a second sinbinning though, which we paid for through an O'Gara penalty. England did pretty much have the last word with Tindall setting up Goode who kicked on for Armitage to grab a try which was converted by Flood but in the end, Ireland won 14-13.

Scotland vs Italy is often the wooden spoon decider. Last time around the two sides met in the Stadio Fluminio and despite the Scots putting up a solid performance in the first half, the Italians turned it round to win the game 23-20. The last time the two sides met at Murrayfield it was even worse. The Scots defence on that day was worse than useless and after an opening try, the home side never had a chance, the Italians picking up a 37-17 win. For the last time the Scots managed to beat the Italians you actually have to go back to '06 at the Stadio Fluminio and even that was a very messy affair, with the Scots coming up with a 13-10 win.

This time around well, neither side has yet to win during this championship. However while the Italians haven't looked like making any side nervous, the Scots certainly showed that they were able to do the business against France and narrowly missed out on a win there. So a match between the two sides at Murrayfield? Well if the Scots weren't going to win this one they deserved to get whitewashed. Euan Murray was back in business and an Alexander Kellock was making his debut for the Scots. The Azzuri were appropriately nervous, recognising that the disaster of '07 was unlikely to repeat itself. The Scots were just expecting a physical rumble.

Well despite not even starting the match, it was still Patterson that got the first points on the board, kicking two penalties before dissapearing from play again, Italian indiscipline leading them into trouble though they did have some good attacking oopportunies early on and finally got off the mark thanks to a Sergio Pairese drop goal. The match got a bit scrappy after that but Godman restored the Scots lead with a penalty before later sending the ball to Morrison who then found Danielli who surged through for a try which Godman converted. Probably the classiest moment of the half and it led to Scotland leading 16-3 at the whistle and looking comfortable.

Italy certainly had their share of attacking play early on but were so determined to get a try, there were refusing to kick at goal and therefore, didn't score for ages...until Luke McLean kicked over a penalty. Scotland then got their act together and Dannielli and Thom Evans exchanged passes to set up new guy Scott Gray for a try with Patterson converting. Patterson then grabbed himself another pen which didn't go down well with the Scots fans as the Azzuri now looked well beaten. Italy had some late attacking opportunies but it still looked as though the Scots would have the last word. They didn't add any extra points but still, a 26-6 win will keep Frank Hadden happy for a while.

Elsewhere, Wales faced France at the Stade de France. Stepen Jones opened the scoring for Wales with a pen only to be quickly matched by Morgan Parra before Jones grabbed his second pen to return the lead to Wales. Lee Byrne then grabbed a Welsh try which Jones converted before Parra replied with another pen backed up by a Thierry Dusautoir try just before half time. Cedric Keymans grabbed a second French try before Parra added another penalty. Jones pulled three points back for Wales with a pen of his own but the Welsh weren't able to turn the game round again and a 21-16 France win left the Welsh championship challenge with a flat tyre.

So, at the end of three games, Scotland remain in 5th in the table, two points ahead of wooden spooners Italy. England have fallen to 4th and are actually level on points with the Scots but with a +18 match points difference advantage. Both this sides could in theory still win the title. It's a long shot though. Ireland are table of the table right now and four points ahead of both sides.

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