ENGLAND BLOW TITLE CHANCES

 

Well the last time England faced Scotland in the Six Nations, neither side was really looking for anything other than pride, and it was the men in white that came away with that at Twickenham, though at 26-12 it was messier than it should have been. The last time the two sides faced each other at Murrayfield though back in '08, it was the men from north of the border who came out on top, winning 15-9, even though it was only a kicking contest. Fact is, the men in white haven't won at Murrayfield since my Uni days in '04, when Paul Grayson of all people was the man kicking the ball between the posts in a 35-13 win. Wierd to think it's been six years.

Yet that was pretty much what England needed to do now. Beat a wooden spoon bound Scotland team at Murrayfield to resurrect their own title chances. The fact that said Scotland team was coached by former England coach Andy Robinson made things slightly more interesting. And given that England were the only one of the two teams with a title chance going into this match, it was pretty clear where my loyalties would lie on this occasion. And yet, this was still a Scotland team trying to save itself from the wooden spoon. Joe Worsley was brought back into the picture in an attempt to neutralise the Scottish threat. It was do or die.

Well the opening exchanges were a bit messy and Scotland were the first to benefit with Dan Parks slotting a penalty. Johnny replied relatively sharpish for England yet Scotland restored their lead through another Parks pen. Scotland then continued to enjoy the better game, though Robinson wasn't particularly happy with some of the calls going against his guys. Wilkinson then grabbed a penalty to level the game though Parks replied with a drop goal to put Scotland up 9-6 at the whistle. Not the greatest advertisment for rugby of all time from either side. Surely England at least could find more gears than this - they certainly needed to.

Well England weren't in a mood to hang around and Johnny levelled the scores with another pen...only for him to leave the field with yet another injury. Flood came on in his place and gave England the lead for the first time in the game with a pen of his own, though Parks immediately replied. Both sides had chances to seal the game with a try but they were wasted. Flood and Parks exchanged pens one more time and the game descended into a dirge from which it never recovered. The Scots were happier with a 15-15 draw than the English. Other than the Wales win, this has been a pretty farcical campaign from the men in white this year.

Elsewhere, Ireland faced Wales at Croke Park. Wales opened the scoring with a Stephen Jones penalty only for Ireland to turn things round with two Dave Sexton penalties before Keith Earls and Tomas O'Leary grabbed a try each. Jones pulled three back for Wales with a pen before half time. Sexton and Jones exchanged a pen each in the second half before Earls grabbed his second try for Ireland. Jones grabbed one last pen before Sexton finished the Welsh off with a drop goal. The final score was 27-12 Ireland and with that, the men in green were able to keep their title challenge alive - assuming they could get a favour from England of all teams.

France faced Italy at the Stade de France. Imanol Hardinordaquy opened the scoring with a try for France that was converted by Morgan Parra who went on to add a pen and convert the first of two tries from David Marty before half time while Italy got off the ground with a Mirco Bergamasco pen. Parra and Bergamasco exchanged pens early in the second half before Parra converted tries from Marc Andreu, Yannick Jauzion and Alex Lanandry. Italy replied with Bergamasco converting tried from Paulo del Fava and Pablo Cannavosio but it was too little too late and France came away 46-20 winners and still on course for the Grand Slam.

So, France are now top of the table. Two points ahead of them are Ireland in second place with England one point behind them in third. Further down, Scotland are still on course for the wooden spoon.

Click here to go to 'other sports' archive

Comments go here

Click here to return to sports homepage

Click here to return to Matt G's homepage