Six Nations: Week 3 Review
Ireland secured their first win of the championships with a runaway 42-10 victory over Italy at the Aviva Stadium. Five tries from the Irish saw them demolish a woeful Italian outfit with Tommy Bowe scoring two tries.
Ireland's over eagerness saw them concede a silly penalty after Andrew Trimble failed to release the ball. Tobias Botes kicked through the penalty to give the Azzurri a seventh minute lead. A few minutes later, the visitors were then punished themselves for obstructing an Ireland attack which gave fly half Jonathan Sexton the opportunity to level the scores. Sexton's effort flew between the sticks, to bring the home side back on terms. The crowd started to get behind Ireland as they worked their way through the phases inching their way closer to the try line. With five metres to go, Italy were deemed to have been off their feet in the challenge and Sexton chose to kick into the corner signalling their intent to score tries. The decision by Sexton was rewarded with a try as Keith Earls powered through two tackles to score after the ball was recycled quickly from the ruck. Sexton added the conversion from out wide to make it 10-3.
Halfway through the half, Ireland were showing their dominance in territory as the backs were creating gaps in the Italian defence. Although possession was just in the home sides favour, Italy were still a threat as they pounced on a poor line out throw from Rory Best to drive into the Irish 22. With men over for the visitors, it was inevitable for them to score the try as it was the captain Sergio Parisse who dived over under the posts. Botes slotted the easy conversion making the score 10-10. With Craig Joubert about to blow for the end of the half, Tommy Bowe strolled over in the corner for his 21st try after a difficult pass under pressure from Rob Kearney saw space created on the far side. Sexton maintained his 100% record as the sides went into the break with the home side leading by seven points.
Jacques Brunel must have been ruing his choice at fly half as Botes missed another pivotal penalty which would have made the scores 17-13 if he had scored. His miss sparked the Irish front row as they forced their opponents to stand up in the scrum forcing the penalty. Sexton made it four out of four increasing the gap to 13 points. The visitors were lacking the same flair and ingenuity that they showed in the opening 40 minutes as Bowe scored his second try of the afternoon. Good work from Paul O'Connell and Stephen Ferris saw them drive the play underneath the posts, substitute Eoin Reddan quickly played the ball from the ruck to Sexton whose long pass fell to Bowe as he went over. Sexton kicked through the conversion to make it 30-10 to the Irish.
With 10 minutes left, Ronan O'Gara entered the frame to earn his 118th cap and overtake Brian O'Driscoll as Ireland's record cap-winner. The home side were coasting as Italy were playing their worse game in the tournament so far as they allowed substitute Tom Court to burrow over from a yard to score his first try for Ireland. Sexton extended the lead with another two points. As the clock struck 80 minutes, the greens stole the ball and Ulster's Andrew Trimble evaded the tackle to run 70 metres and put the icing on the cake for Ireland. Man of the match Sexton failed with his effort from wide as the match ended with the final score 42-10 to Ireland.
Ireland's first game in two weeks needed to go well as they make their trip back to Paris next week. Still room for improvement throughout the side but they simply bulldozed Italy in the second half with their superior forwards and backs. Sexton was magnificent with the boot throughout the game and Rob Kearney was also stand out in the game as his running from deep was causing havoc for Italy.
The Azzurri played out their worst game of the tournament by far as the constant lack of creativity was a key factor in their play. One major problem by far though is their fly half dilemma. Since Diego Dominguez left the international scene in 2003, they have not been able to fill that role as both Kris Burton and Tobias Botes have failed to live up to expectations. Italy next face a daunting trip to the Millennium Stadium to play Wales.
IRELAND (17) 42
- Tries: Earls, Bowe 2, Court, Trimble
ITALY (10) 10
Wales secured the Triple Crown at Twickenham for the first time beating England 19-12. 80 minutes of exciting rugby saw Wales edge the game after a late Scott Williams try kept their Grand Slam hopes alive.
Wales flew out of the traps as George North exploited a gap in the England line only to be halted by a retreating David Strettle. The visitors showed their superior strength and experience as they worked their way towards the England try line after 16 phases of play. They then showed their power in the scrum forcing the Whites front row to stand up rewarding Wales with the penalty in a kickable position. Leigh Halfpenny's effort went well wide of the right post. As the game continued, England started to feel their way into the game with centre Manu Tuilagi gaining big yards as well as solid kicking from Owen Farrell. Their pressure worked a penalty after Wales were deemed to be offside which Farrell dispatched to open the scoring.
Wales reacted immediately from the restart as Mouritz Botha was penalised for sealing off the tackle. Halfpenny made no mistake with his second kick to make the score 3-3. England's inventive play out wide was causing problems as Jamie Roberts was caught offside giving Farrell the opportunity to add another three points. Farrell duly added the penalty to put England in the lead once more. Five minutes later, Halfpenny brought the scores level again after Strettle failed to roll away from the tackle. Right on half time, Farrell kicked beautifully to make it three from three as his kick from the far side sailed through the posts to make the 9-6 to England from half time.
The home side started the second half like they finished the first with a fast upcoming defensive line. Just like last week, England charged down the kicker as it was Botha this time who almost scored the games opening try when he charged down Rhys Priestland's kick. Priestland then denied a try from an offside position which saw the referee issue a yellow card for the Scarlett. Farrell easily kicked the penalty to increase the gap to six points. In the 10 minutes Wales were down to 14 men, their discipline was faultless as they ran down the clock until Priestland returned as England struggled to retain the ball. The introduction of Ben Youngs, Courtney Lawes and Toby Flood freshened up the England team however Wales were in the ascendency as captain Chris Robshaw was found to have his hands in the ruck conceding the penalty. Halfpenny's attempt brought the scores to 12-12.
As the game went into the last five minutes, the crowd got behind both teams as they looked for the game winning moment. With England on the attack, substitute Lawes was held up by Scott Williams who ripped the ball from him and kicked forward. Williams gathered the ball and escape the challenge of Robshaw to dive over and score the game winning try. Halfpenny added the conversion to make it 19-12. As the clock ticked away, the home side drove their way into the Welsh 22. The ball was recycled quickly by Youngs and fell to Strettle who powered over the line to the delight of the home fans. The referee took the decision upstairs to the TV judge who concluded that the evidence was inconclusive meaning the try was not given seeing Wales clinch the win by the skin of their teeth.
England will be gutted at the late defeat as they gave everything into the game. Lawrence Dallagio said how it was the first time in a while that the players played for the shirt and that was evident today as there was massive effort all through the team. Owen Farrell was outstanding at fly half dictating the play brilliantly well and kicking superbly before he came off injured. The return of Tuilagi was also a plus as he will be a key player for the rest of the tournament. Il discipline in the last 15 minutes brought Wales back into the game as well as failing to make anything of Rhys Priestland's sin bin. England will now face a tough trip to Paris in two weeks.
Wales showed great resilience to keep themselves in the game as they were stunned by the new look England in the first half. Sam Warburton's first game of tournament saw him named the man of the match understandably for his try saving tackle on Tuilagi and great work ethic. Overall, Wales didn't play very well but the same could be said for England in their first two games as they showed why they are the team to beat in these championships. In international rugby, it's firstly about winning games whether you play will or not. Warren Gatland's side will welcome Italy to the Millennium Stadium next time out.
ENGLAND (9) 12
WALES (6) 19
France edged out an impressive Scotland 23-17 at Murrayfield after home debutant Stuart Hogg gave the Scots an eighth minute lead. The defeat for Scotland sees them slump to a third lose in a row and making it one win in eight for Andy Robinson's side.
Robinson's side scored their third try of the tournament from winger Stuart Hogg after they dispossessed Wesley Fofana from the scrum. Good work by the Scottish forwards saw Lee Jones offload to Hogg who sprinted past the defence to dive over in the corner. Although the visitors found themselves 10-0 down on 27 minutes, they did not keel over as great strength Francois Trinh-Duc brushing aside Greig Laidlaw set the French up into a good field position. A quick pass by Morgan Parra from the ruck to Vincent Clerc then saw him slip the ball under immense pressure to Fofana who powered through a number of tackles and ground to bring France back into the game. Parra kicked through the extras to make it 10-7 to the home side. Despite a good 40 minutes from Scotland, they ended the half on the back foot as Parra popped over three points to level the scores at the break.
France continued on the front foot in the second half as Parra slotted his second penalty of the match to give the French the lead for the first time in the game. However, the Scot's came fighting back on 55 minutes when Clerc was robbed of the ball by John Barclay from the ruck which then put the home side on the offense. Replacement number eight Richie Vernon galloped clear and found Jones who went over in the corner for his first international try. Laidlaw added the conversion to make it 17-13 to the Scot's. The tactical kicking of the home side was woeful all afternoon and the visitors used this to their advantage. The home side dozed off and let Maxime Medard run in to restore the lead for France after Julien Malzieu handed off a weak tackle to play him in. Fly half Parra was again on target to give the Tricolores a three point lead. With twelve minutes to go, the Murrayfield faithful were really getting behind Scotland but substitute Lionel Beauxis silenced them after he sweetly struck a drop goal through the posts to kill any chances of a Scotland fight back.
Robinson can be optimistic with his side's efforts as they gave France a number of problems. They took the game to the visitors winning all of their line outs and creating good opportunities on the attack. But their poor kicking did not help their cause as well as 12 errors. Besides three games where they have always been in contention, they have still lost three games. The Scot's make the trip to Ireland in two weeks in search of their first win.
Philippe Saint-Andre's witnessed the bad side of France today as they didn't really get going until they were 10-0 down. 142 tackles shows how much work defensively the French had to do on top of the 11 errors made in the game. France are the only team left that can threaten Wales to the Grand Slam but have to overcome their rescheduled game against Ireland next week first.
SCOTLAND (10) 17
FRANCE (10) 23
.jpg "Henry Pollock, who was part of the England U20s set-up last term, scored two tries off the bench")
