SCOTLAND FINISH WITH WIN, WALES FAIL TO STOP FRANCE, ENGLAND FALL AT TWICKENHAM

 

 

(Images taken from Sky Sports and England Rugby)

It was the final week of the Six Nations but things were not as straight forward as they first looked. Yes, France and Ireland looked to be the most likely sides to win the championship. But England, despite the Paris disaster were still in a position to win it, assuming Wales beat France and Scotland had a slim chance of pulling off a supreme fluke if they battered Italy in Rome.

So the first stop was Stadio Flaminio where Scotland had lost before. Even a win for Frank Hadden's rejevenated crew wasn't a sure bet, the Italians have given the traditional big guns a headache. Admittedly not a match I'd have been interested in at all had I not been a Scotland fan but with the Scots having got both of their wins at Murrayfield, this match was going to be interesting.

Well it was the Italians who attacked first and when Ramiro Pez lobbed the Scottish defence, the home side found themselves well sorted. Mirco Bergomasco snapped up the try and Pez converted. Not a problem for the Scots though who replied by mauling the Italians to their own line before Chris Patterson barrelrolled through to grab a try which he converted to draw his side level. Both sides blew chances to retake the lead with Scotland in particular firing off passes that belonged in an NBA Allstar game before Gordon Ross booted the ball through the posts for a drop goal. 10-7 Scotland at half time.

The second half was a lot more cagey on both sides. Scotland were dodging the most bullets, particularly when a wayward pass gave Pez an oppitunity which be blew, though he did get to level the scoreline with a penalty. The Argentine born kicker did try to recreate his first half try late on but his teammates couldn't hack their part in the play. In the last minute though, Patterson was given a shot at a penalty kick 43 metres out...and like most times this season was on the money. 13-10 Scotland and an appropriate end to the Scots best Six Nations for a while(though the win was no where near big enough to keep them in Championship contention), the Italians picking up the wooden spoon on this occassion.

Next stop was the Millenium Stadium. I'm never usually one to bother with Wales vs France matches but this match was crucial if England were to have half a chance of actually winning the title despite the cack ups that have been made this season then Wales had to win this match. Whether that result was actually workable though depended on which Wales turned up, the very edible Welsh steak or the hungry Welsh dragon.

Cliches aside it soon became clear that the Welsh dragon was in it's lair and it advanced swiftly on the visitors before forcing an penalty which Stephen Jones kicked. France replied though Dimitri Yashvili but then Les Bleus went down to 14 when Raphael Ibanez got sin binned and got themselves scorched as a result. First Jones kicked another penalty and then Shane Williams blasted through the French defence only to get pulled down...but Les Bleus hadn't covered Hal Luscombe who said "merci beaucoup". Jones converted and though Yashvilli could only put in a penalty. 13-6 Wales at half time and the French title looked precarious.

Of course the French weren't going to take that lying down and it wasn't long into the second half that they drove through for an early try, Dimitri Szarsewski getting the credit. Now the match was anyone's but it was the French that overheated, allowing comeback boy Gavin Henson a penaly which he stuck for three points. In theory this had the makings of a great Welsh victory to follow up their win in Paris last year. France certainly didn't look like coming back...but then out of nowhere Robert Sidoli kicked the ball out for a lineout on the Welsh 22. The title chasers weren't in the mood to look a gift horse in the mouth and Florian Fritz was laughing for the second week in a row. It was Jean Baptiste Elissalde who converted the try and the substitute finished the Welsh off with a late penalty. 21-16 was the final score and it was France's luckiest win of the year.

England's chances were blown for good now but they still had Ireland to deal with and the men in green still had a title to go after, though they did need to hammer England by 34 points to get it. Even against the '06 vintage England, that's mission impossible at Twickenham. Really this was a match that Andy Robinson's crew should have looked to win.

Well England kicked off and soon the battering ram got to work. The Irish defence couldn't hack it and from a scrum Martin Corry barrelled in. The ball was then spun out to Jaime Noon who went over inside a minute to remind Ireland that this was Twickenham and England meant business. Ireland were able to reply though and soon found a stupidly big hole in the English defense when Ben Cohen failed to pick up Brian O'Driscoll's kick, allowing Shane Horgan to run through and level the match. The Irish kept up their momentum and Ronan O'Gara gave then the lead with two penalties. Andy Goode replied with a penalty of his own but England were still dissapointingly 11-8 down at half time.

In the second half O'Gara and Goode exchanged penalties before England really got going, driving the Irish back to their tryline. Five metres out and finding space was no problem whatsoever, Steve Borthwick running in for the home side to retake the lead, Goode converting. It was still anyone's game though which meant that England couldn't afford to be stupid with a lineout right by their own tryline. That's what happened though and Dennis Leany was the beneficary when the ball was thrown too long, O'Gara converting. Ireland's lead. England made up for things by forcing a penalty which Goode blasted in from long range. 21 all. A Cohen run forced yet another penalty and another Goode penalty(one thing we certainly don't lack are good kickers) gave England what would surely be a needed win late on. Slight problem, there was still enough time for the ball to slip to Shane Horgan who toasted the entire England defence only to get stopped by Lewis Moody. It wasn't enough though as Horgan got given another shot at the tryline which he took, O'Gara converted and though the margin of victory was nowhere near enough to give them the title. 28-24 was still enough to give Ireland the Triple Crown and leave England with a lot of thinking to do before next year's World Cup.

So France took the title with Ireland second, England third, Scotland fourth but more deserving of third. No side really stood out this year and from at England point of view the Championship ended in depressing fashion, particularly given my early predictions of a Grand Slam.

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