Rugby Mad Blog

Six Nations Game 15 – Wales vs France (29-12)

Wales made their intentions clear from the start, and were pressing the French lines within five minutes. Then their opponents killed the ball, and James Hook [right] stepped up to take the penatly. First blood to the Welsh, 3-0. Hook had another go at goal in the 14th minute, which saile just wide of the posts.

The French were committing a lot of players to rucks, while Wales only used the minimum. David Skrela‘s kicking was pretty awful too – including one restart which actually went backwards!

The Welsh made a break in the 18th minute and Les Bleus found themselves offside. Hook stepped up for another punt which went plumb through the middle, 6-0 up.

In the next minute, Wales themselves were penalised, France took the penalty by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, and they were back in it at 6-3. They gave it away again a few minutes later when Julien Bonnaire was caught monumentally offside at a ruck, Hook made it 9-3.

On the half hour, France made decent inroads into the Welsh half. They recycled several times, inching their way upfield. 10,000 French supporters chanted “Allez Les Bleus!” but they couldn’t turn possession into points.

Just before half time, Gavin Henson [left] was pinged for a high tackle on Fulgence Ouedraogo and went to the bin. The penalty kick from Elissalde was easy, and so Wales went in 9-6 at the break, but with the prospect of starting the second half with only 14 men.

The French came out with all guns blazing, but tried to play too much rugby. They gave away a penalty very close to their own line. Hook took the kick from out wide; it wasn’t quite on target.

Then Les Bleus were making ground again, but ferocious Welsh tackling kept their line firm. Gethin Jenkins clashed heads with a Frenchman and France won another penalty – Elisslade levelled the score at 9-9.

Henson returned a minute or tow later, much to the relief of the crowd. The Welsh were desperate for some possession in order to make headway. Shane Williams broke away, passed to Martyn Williams and worked upfield. France regained after a Welsh chip ahead.

In the 60th minute, the stadium erupted when France spilled the ball, and Shane Williams fell onto the ball just under the posts. It was his 41st try for Wales, making him the all-time try scorer for his country. The conversion by Stephen Jones [left] was a foregone conclusion – and Wales were 16-9 up.

The Welsh were fired up now, three minutes later they won a penalty 37m out from the posts. Jones’ kick was good again and Wales were 19-9 up.

France’s Vincent Clerc made a break and the Welsh fumbled their defence. France got the put in at a 10m scrum. But the Welsh forwards weren’t buckling – they won the scrum against the head.

With almost 10 minute left, Wales gave away another penalty; Dmitri Yachvili on as a replacement, kicked the three points and it was 19-12. Not long after, Stephen Jones eroded the difference again with another penalty and Wales clawed back their 10 point advantage, 22-12.

The final nail in the French coffin came with only 5 minutes left on the clock. Mark Jones broke away and flew up the pitch to within 1m of the French line. France scrambled the defence, a bit of ping-pong, then Lee Byrne caught a phenomenal up-and-under. Martyn Williams [right] did the honours with a 20m run to slide under the posts. Stephen Jones conversion were a formality. Wales 29-12.

The last three minutes were filled with noise from their supporters. A well-deserved victory for Wales, and a great achievement to win the Grand Slam again. They have played some excellent rugby throughout the tournament and fully deserve their title. Remarkably, they only conceded 2 tries in their 5 matches this year. And what a turnaround from their lacklustre World Cup campaign a few months ago.

The ref blew up for full time and the stadium roof almost lifted off with the noise. Well done Wales.

Six Nations Game 14 - England vs Ireland (33-10)

After poor performances from both sides last week, it was crunch time for England and Ireland’s last game of the Championship.

Ireland struck first with a try from Rob Kearney in the 4th minute – just the start that English fans at Twickenham didn’t want! Ronan O’Gara added the extras without a hitch, and the hosts were down 0-7. England were caught holding on a few minutes later, and O’Gara punished them with another kick. 0-10 down and it wasn’t looking good for England.

In the 12th minute, Danny Cipriani [right] replied with a penalty of his own, clawing back 3 points. A few minutes later, Paul Sackey scored a wonderful try in the corner. Cipriani converted to bring the scores level at 10-all.

Toby Flood chipped ahead and gathered himself, and Irish hands were caught in the subsequent ruck. Another three points for Ciprirani, and England went ahead 13-10. There the score remained for the rest of the first half.

In the second period, England opened the floodgates. Despite an early Irish attack, it came to nothing. Lesley Vainikolo got a bit of a run in the 43rd minute, and England were pressuring the Irish defence. The men in green were caught playing on the ground again, Cipriani added another 3 to his total and England were 16-10 ahead.

Another Irish attack in the 46th minute came to nothing after a knock-on. At 55 minutes, old hand Jonny Wilkinson came on to the park. Then Iain Balshaw flew up the wing, who passed to Matthew Tait [left] to cross in the corner. The extras brought it to 23-10.

In the 70th minute, Jamie Noon broke through the Irish defence in the left corner, juggling the ball in mid air, but keeping control long enough to score by the flag. Another conversion and the Red Rose boys were leading by 20 points, at 30-10.

With 8 minutes left on the clock, the Irish were caught once again, playing the ball in a ruck. The resulting penalty was true from Cipriani and the hosts were 33-10 up.

The last couple of minutes saw Ireland pushing for the line, but they knocked on and England ran a move up into the Irish half. They couldn’t make another score, but at least they looked much more convincing this week.

Danny Cipriani’s full England debut was impressive – Jonny needs to watch his back if he’s not to be overshadowed by the young buck.

Six Nations Game 13 – Italy vs Scotland (23-20)

The Italians managed first blood when their pack were scrummaging well, and the Scots half collapsed – ref Nigel Owens gave a penalty try on 12 minutes and the conversion was good.

In the 20th minute, Scot Ally Hogg managed a try, his 10th for Scotland, from a great offload in the tackle, just reward for a long period of possession. Only the Scots 2nd try of the championship. Chris Paterson managed his 31st kick at goal with no trouble, to take the scores level at 7-7.

Italy infringed at a ruck in the 25th minute, and up stepped Dan Parks [right] for a huge 43m penalty to take the Scots ahead, 7-10. The just before half time, the Italians drew level once more through a penalty kick. A tense time for both teams, and interesting watching for neutrals.

Scottish Captain Mike Blair broke away from traffic to touch down between the posts just on the stroke of half time. Paterson converted to give them the advantage at the break, 10-17.

The Italians missed a chance for a penalty in the 48th minute. There were a few breaks and half breaks, with Scotland missing some important tackles. The Italian scrum was looking convincing as it had at the start of the first half. Both teams were throwing it around and whilst it was entertaining, there were alos plenty of errors and knock-ons.

The Azzurri turned over a Scottish attack when they intercepted a poor Dan Parks pass. Sergio Parisse flew down the pitch, passed in field to Gonzalo Canale who dived over between the posts. The conversion made it level pegging, 17-all with 20 minutes to go. The Roman crowd went mad, yelling “ITALIA” at the top of their lungs.

Andrea Marcato [left] kicked the home side in front at 70 minutes when Scotland were caught offside. 20-17 up, and the Stadio Flaminio went into overdrive. A couple of minutes later, Scotland levelled it again when Chris Paterson took a penalty, making is 32nd successfull kick in a row. 20-20 with eight minutes left.

In the 77th minute, Italy had an attacking lineout on the Scottish 10m line. The forwards went mauling and then it went to the backs, through several phases. More pick and drive, the clock ticking down. Canale was stopped a couple of metres short of the line. The Italians were chanting in the crowd and the Scottish defence was working overtime. Then it came back to Marcato, in the pocket for a sweet drop goal in the last minute. Italy 23 Scotland 20. The time ticked away, and an Italian boot kicked it out to touch. Once again, the Stadio Flaminio went nuts.

So, Italy won the game, and the Wooden Spoon, but that didn’t seem to matter. And what an entertaining game – always nail-biting, even for a neutral to watch. The Azzurri’s grins said it all.