Rugby Mad Blog

Six Nations Game 1 – England vs Italy (36-11)

The Six Nations has rolled around again, and every England fan was hoping for an improvement over their lacklustre Autumn performances. When Andy Goode [left] scored a try within 95 seconds of kickoff, we were thinking it might come true. But the euphoria was short lived.

To be honest, most people were more interested in the shocking performance of the hapless Mauro Bergamasco, a Flanker playing Scrum Half. Itatian coach Nick Mallett might have had his hands forced by injury nightmares, but within the first few minutes, it was obvious to everyone that he was far from competant at No. 9.

Another Bergamasco error saw him sucked into a ruck, missing the ball as it popped up for James Haskell to flick a pass towards Harry Ellis [right], who took full advantage and sprinted 20m to cross the line with a slide, evading Italian defenders.

Minutes later the Italian’s day went from bad to nightmare when he botched a pass to Gonzalo Garcia, enabling Andy Goode to gather, kick ahead and the move was finished off by Riki Flutey [left].

That left England going in at the break 22-6 up.

Thankfully, Mallett put us all out of our misery an brought on his 5th choice Scrum Half  Giulio Toniolatt for his second cap in the second half. He was certainly an improvement!

There were three more tries in the second period – a second for Man-Of-The-Match Ellis, a consolation try for Miro Bergamasco (at least one brother did something right), and a welcome return to the scoreboard (and team) for Winger Mark Cueto [right].

The final result was a rather flattering 36-11. There will be plenty for Martin Johnson to work on during the coming seven days. I can hardly see the Welsh quaking in their boots for next week’s clash at the Millennium Stadium. But one or two England fans might be.

EDF Semi-Final 1 – Leicester Tigers vs London Wasps (34-24)

As a neutral watching the game, it was a very entertaining 80 minutes, with the lead changing hands several times, often against the run of play.

I had travelled to the Millennium Stadium with the Saraacens supporters. We had seats in the East stand, about 4 rows back. Good in theory, but pretty bad for the first 40 minutes on a sunny afternoon with the roof open – couldn’t see a thing with the sun straight in our eyes. Eventually it dipped below the stadium roof, and I was able to get some half-decent photos. Paul Sackey scored a great try in the first half, and the teams went in 13-12 at half time.

[Paul Sackey is enveloped by Andy Goode and Harry Ellis, looking sharp for the Leicester defence]

Things opened up a little in the second half, with the Tigers putting more points on the board than Wasps. Sackey managed another touchdown in the second half, along with team mate Danny Cipriani. Whilst for the Tigers, Seru Rabeni, Dan Hipkiss and Martin Castrogiovanni all crossed. No-one was more surprised than the Prop himself, when Castrogiovanni found himself in space, ball in hand and the line 20m away. He lumbered forward and no-one was at home to defend. He did the most exuberant belly-flop to get his try that I’ve ever witnessed. Didn’t realised Props bounce quite that well!

[Martin Castrogiovanni belly-flops his way to a try]

In the end, Leicester were the deserved winners, and will go into the final with confidence after that performance. See more match photos from the game.

Six Nations Game 2 – England vs Scotland (42-20)

What can you say? For someone who has not played international rugby for 3+ years, and has barely played more than a handful of club matches in that time too, you just have to admire Jonny’s skill and determination to then come on at Twickenham and play a blinder of a game.

Whether or not you agree with the try that was awarded to Jonny in the second half, you can’t deny he made a huge impact in the game.

Harry Ellis [right] was held up over the line after a few minutes, then two teams traded a couple of early penalties, then Jonny punted over another before Simon Taylor’s try from a crap England lineout. Paterson converted and all of a sudden, England were down 6-10.

To be fair, most of England’s lineouts were solid, and Scotland didn’t seem to compete much in the air, which was a surprise.

I thought Ellis played a blinder of a game too, as did Brian Ashton who thought it was his best game in an England shirt.

A few more penalties later (to England), and all of a sudden, Billy Whizz [left], another player recently out of the Interanational wilderness, strikes for his first try of two during the game. And England went in to the break leading 17-10.

Thankfully for the English fans, there was more of the same in the second half, with Martin Corry stealing a lineout, followed by a huge shove from the forwards, a tackling error from Sean Lamont, and Jason Robinson was over the line for his second.

So, two gambles in selection from Brian Ashton paid off – and so did the third, that of Centre Andy Farrell [right]. He was passing and distributing well, made some good breaks and generally looked like a far more experienced Union player than he actually is. He worked well with Mike Tindall, too, which is great news for the midfield.

A few more points for Jonny, plus a late consolation try for Scotsman Dewey, and the final score was 42-20. Other notable points from the game – Danny Grewcock was winning his 67th cap, which made him the most experienced England man on the field. He made some great lineout jumps and generally behaved himself discipline-wise. And Jonny’s 27 points beat Rob Andrew’s record of 24 for a Calcutta Cup match.

Jonny and the rest of us were hugely relieved the only injury he picked up was a fat lip, and he said the rest of the game went like a dream.

So, a great start for England. Bring on Italy next week!

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