SCOTLAND DODGE WOODEN SPOON. ENGLAND BLOW GRAND SLAM, FRANCE GIVE ENGLAND TITLE
The last time Scotland faced Italy things didn't exactly go to plan and the men from north of the border where seen off 16-12 by the Azzuri at the Stadio Fluminio in an encounter that the Italians won with a late converted try. The last time the Scots saw off the Italians was back in '09 at Murrayfield, when they won 26-6. Scott Gray, now playing for the Northampton Saints got one of the tries on that occasion in one of Scotland's smoother performances in recent times. Of course the Azzuri aren't always such smooth opponents for the Scots and even at Murrayfield they have not been bulletproof. More often than not the two sides have been scrapping for the wooden spoon.
This time around, things were no different and the Scots really did have their backs against the wall. Italy had picked up an unexpected win last time around, Scotland had occasionally shown sparks of quality but they hadn't counted for anything in terms of results. So as the two sides met at Murrayfield it was Andy Robinson's crew that had everything to prove. Nikki Walker started the match with Max Evans out injured while Edinburgh's Geoff Cross was also set to try his hand for the Scots. The fall from Robinson was for high class rugby from the kickoff to the final whistle. It was the ultimate do or die. There may be no punishment for finishing bottom of the table other than the figurative whacking over the head with a wooden spoon but that is a utensil that no one wants.
Luckilly the Scots were in the mood to weakly accept humiliation and a Patterson pen did pretty nicely for starters. However then Andrea Masi managed to make morons of the entire Scottish defence on the way to grabbing a try. The Scots retook the lead through another Patterson pen though. After that though both sides had a fair number of opportunities before a Mirco Bergamasco pen gave Italy back the lead. The biggest laugh in the remainder of the half was the ref picking up the ball! A bigger laugh for Italian fans would have been a disasterous Scottish penalty miss though. Scotland were 8-6 down at half time and had forty minutes to avoid the wooden spoon.
Well the first few mins of the second half were less that spectacular but then Scotland got a breakthrough when Hines soaked up a load of defenders before handing to De Luca who ran into the corner. Then in was the Italians turn to fall apart and Nikki Walker grabbed Scotland's second try in quick succsession, Patterson converting. Patterson kicked another pen but the Italians still had big ideas and needed big tackles to stop them! The Scots survived though and went on to claim a 21-8 win. It was about time that Scotland put on that sort of performance and not before time either, there are clearly lessons to learn from this campaign though.
Last time around, England were beaten 20-16 by Ireland at Twickenham. That was an embarrassing display with the men in green taking the mick out of us to grab an early try and after that, well it was just weak from us. The last time we faced them on their turf was back in '09, well we were actually more impressive on that occasion but still fell 14-13 at Croke Park. The last time we beat them was back in '08 and we whacked them 33-10 at Twickenham on that occasion. For the last time we beat them on their turf you have to go back to our Grand Slam year of '03 when I would have been splitting time between South Bank Halls of Residence and Teddington. We hammered them 42-6 at Lansdowne Road to complete the slam with Martin Johnson as captain.
This time around, well once again the Slam was up for grabs and this time around Martin Johnson was the coach. As for the Irish well they had been having a hit and miss tournament so far so heading over there to pick up the Slam looked to be relatively straightforward. Amongst other things it was our first rumble at the newly rebranded Aviva Stadium. Easter was to captain the side with Tindall being out injured and Banaha also getting a starting spot. Well, if this England side weren't going to be ready to rumble then seemingly they never would be. The tenseness was there. Eight years is a verylong time. Time to get the job done!
Unfortunately, the Irish had other ideas and it was they that took the lead through a Johnathon Sexton pen. Before England know what the hell was going on, Sexton got another pen. The men in white just looked dead! And then came another Sexton pen! And then Sexton tapped the ball to Tommy Bowe who just cruised over the line. Watching from home my jaw was on the floor. Finally England got on the scoreboard with a Flood pen...but then one of our guys got thrown in the bin and Sexton grabbed himself another pen. England were 17-3 down on what was meant to be Grand Slam day! Did they have what it took to turn this disaster round?
The early answer appeared to be no as the Irish picked up where they left off with Donncha O'Callaghan running through before running into trouble...only to offload to Brian O'Driscoll and he went over, Sexton converting. Finally someone dived into the Liffey in an effort to rescue the Grand Slam, Thompson intercepting and Irish pass before bombing it to the line with no one able to catch him. That was as good as it got though, England were just a mess. The expectation going into the match turned to gloom as it became obvious that the best team in this year's championship had fallen apart at the last hurdle. Ireland won 24-8 - the title was still up for grabs.
Last time around, Wales faced France at the Millenium Stadium. Well France opened the scoring with an Alexis Pallison try converted by Morgan Parra who then added two pens before converting a Francois Trinh-Duc try. The Welsh were nowhere at half time. The home side finally got their act together in the second half with Stephen Jones grabbing two pens before converting a Lee Halfpenny try. Frederic Michelak turned back the clock to stop the rot with a pen before Parra game back with another pen of his own. Jones converted a Shane Willams try right at the end but it was too little too late and France won 26-20 to remain on course for the Grand Slam(which they went on to claim).
This time around, well after the disaster in Dublin, things had gotten a little awkward for me. England could still lose the title...to Wales. The Welsh in the meantime needed to beat France at the Stade de France by 27 points. Which meant that despite the fact that I have Welsh blood counted for zippo compared to the fact that I still wanted my team to win the title. Now the French were coming of the back of both humiliation by Italy and a pretty serious rant by Marc Livremont. That resulted in a minor overhaul of the Les Bleus side. However there were certainly plenty of reasons for optimism for English fans declaring loyalty to France - it had been a while since the Welsh conquered Paris.
Still, the visitors certainly hit the ground running with James Hook opening the scoring with a pen. Parra quickly levelled with a pen of his own though the Welsh had some good phases after that but weren't able to make anything with them. The French then took the lead with another Parra penalty but both sides were smothering each other which was ultimately fine by me only for Les Bleus to require a try saving tackle that could have changed all of that! The home side ultimately had the last work of the first half though, the Welsh turning the ball over and Nallet just cruising over the tryline. France led 11-3 at half time and England were 40 minutes from the title.
The Welsh had other ideas though and James Hook kicked over a pen early on but then the French attacked and Pierre charged down a Welsh clearance before firing it to Nallet who grabbed his second try of the match, Parra converting. Wales replied with another Hook pen only for Parra to restore France's twelve point lead. A binned Welshman made it even harder for the visitors to get back into the game and then Trinh-Duc lobbed it to Clerc for a run under the posts. Parra converting. After that, well the French fans sung La Marseilles and both sides knew that the game was up. France was 28-9 to end their tournament on a high.
So, time to wrap of this season's final standings. England win the championship, two points ahead of second placed France. Scotland move up two 5th place, six points behind England and level on points with Italy and the wooden spoon and dodging the humiliating utensil thanks to a +41 match points difference advantage.
So, finally, for the first time since '03 England have won the Six Nations championship. You have to say that prior to the last round of matches we were the only team that looked to have the consistency to win the title! You also have to say that this time last year the title was an optimistic hope. Now it is ours. OK, the class of 2011 have yet to quite match the '03 team but this has still proven to be a very high quality outfit. Martin Johnson can noe claim Six Nations titles as both captain and coach. Chris Ashton, Mark Cueto, James Haskell, Ben Foden, and Nick Easter. Just five of the plays that have secured their place in rugby history with this triumph. Next up, we set course for New Zealand and the RWC. We'll surely have gotten people's attention Down Under after this!
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