After the disappointing performances of the first game, the clash at Croke Park was somewhat more entertaining. It was a much closer game, and showed plenty of skill from both teams.

After an early Irish penalty, the French struck with a try from old war-horse Imanol Harinordiquy [left]. He’s been in and out of the team for years, but fully justified his inclusion today with some sublime play at the set piece, at the breakdown and in the loose.

The Irish pulled back to within a point after a Ronan O’Gara penatly. Then a try by Jamie Heaslip pulled them further ahead. The French landed a drop goal just before half time to bring the score to 13-10.

The second half was bearly 3 minutes old when Ireland’s talisman Captain Brian O’Driscoll [right] showed why he’s still in the team. He takes a quick ball off the top of a lineout and evades his man for a wonderfully engineered try. Vintage O’Driscoll, for sure.

France hit back on 50 minutes when Lionel Beauxis kicks to his wing and Maxime Medard crosses to bring the scoreline to 20-15. Beauxis adds three points with another drop goal to bring the French to within two points, 20-18

The Irish turned the screw in the 66th minute when Gordon D’Arcy crossed just by the posts after a lovely sideways jink to evade the French fingertips. O’Gara’s conversion put the men in green further ahead.

A penalty apiece before the end of the game brought the final score to 30-21. It was a highly entertaining game, and the Irish will be pleased at how confident and fit the team looked. They will head to Rome with their tails up. Meanwhile, the French will need to regroup before they go back home to Paris to face Scotland next weekend.

Ireland started well with a couple of penalties against the men in red, but eventually the Welsh were able to claw one back for themselves and the score stood t 6-3 at half time. Welsh scrum half Mike Philips [right] spent ten iminutes in the bin either side of the break for a professional foul.

But despite having a specialist player out for his sins, Wales managed to hang on to their hats with Shane Williams filling in at No. 9. They even managed to take another penalty off Ireland to bring the scores level.

With Philips back on, Wales got fired up again and Shane Williams saw a miniscule gap in the Irish defence, broke through and scored his 40th try for Wales in 55 tests. Stephen Jones’ conversion brought the score to 13-6!

Soon after, Martyn Williams took out Eoin Reddan with a naughty trip, and spent time in the sin-bin. Ronan O’Gara slotted the penalty for that offence, and another a little while later to bring the Irish to within 1 score of salvaging the game.

But it was not to be, and Ireland finished on the wrong end of 1 12-16 defeat at home. The Welsh fans were in fine voice at Croke Park as Captain Ryan Jones [left] lifted the Triple Crown, tied with red ribbons flying about, above his head. So only France now stand in the way of a possible Welsh Grand Slam.

After their disappointing performance in the World Cup last autumn, Ireland were out to prove they can play decent rugby. The game took a while to get going, but around ten minutes, Ireland managed to put together a few phases and attack the Italian line, but the Azzurri turned the ball over to save a try. Ireland managed a penalty a few minutes later, taken by Ronan O’Gara [left]. Then Ireland threw away another scoring opportunity when Geordan Murphy put a poor pass over to Girvan Dempsey, and Italy gathered.

Ireland got a scrum, and the ball was passed across several hands when it reached O’Gara, who punted a great cross-field kick to Andrew Trimble, who then passed to fullback Girvan Dempsey to finish it off. O’Gara took the extras, taking him to 400 points in the Championship.

Eoin Reddan [right] was making his first Six Nations start, and looked pretty sharp, providing quick ball to O’Gara and sniping at the scrum. Peter Stringer has made the green No.9 jersey his own for many a year, so Reddan definitely has a tough job to break into the team permanently. Similarly, Italy’s permanent fixture at Hooker, Alessandro Troncon, has now retired, and the Azzurri were giving Leonardo Ghiraldini his second cap.

Italy’s lineout was working well, compared to the Irish; Rory Best didn’t have his best day at the office. Towards the break, Santiago Dellape was sent to the bin for punching, but the remaining 14 Italians threw everything at the Irish defence. Their reward was a penalty, and they went in at half time 10-3.

Straight after half time, Reddan made a lovely break and it looked like a try was inevitable, but Ireland knocked on with the line beckoning. Later, Simon Easterby [left] spent ten minutes in the sinbin for playing the ball off his feet. Italy gained a penalty opportunity, but the kick went wide.

Around 55 minutes, Italy were pinged and O’Gara potted another 3 points easily. When Easterby came back on, Italy made a good break up the field and on the stroke of 60 minutes, they rolled a maul over the line. The video ref took an age to decide, but the score was good. Captain Sergio Parisse was the man closest to the ground. But David Bortolussi missed the conversion, and the score moved on to 13-8.

Italy were caught with hands in the ruck in the 65th minute, which was a gift of another 3 points for Ronan O’Gara. And 3 minutes later, Ireland gave away a penalty themselves, which Bortolussi slotted over.

Both teams kept fighting for the last ten minutes, but the final score stood at 16-11. Italy certainly didn’t discrace themselves this time round – their lineout was solid – they only lost one all afternoon, certainly better than the Irish lineout which looked shakey at times. O’Gara missed a late penalty which was quite unusual from him – it wasn’t a particularly difficult shot.

As usual, the Italian forwards were very physical, and there were plenty of big hits put in. Ronan O’Gara bossed the Irish team reasonably well, but they looked a bit shakey – less than convincing. The bright spark for them was Eoin Reddan, who proved himself to be a great option at 9 – he made some lovely runs at the breakdown and distributed well. I’m sure he’ll be seen in a green shirt again very soon, and fully deserved his Man of the Match award.

[Eoin Reddan, Ireland's Man of the Match in action for Wasps last season]

Argentina had a punt at goal in the 9th minute, but Felipe Contepomi couldn’t manage to score. They nearly had a try shortly after with a chip and chase, but the Irish defence held firm.

The first 10 minutes saw Irland in charge, but the next twenty seemed to belong to Argentina. In the 14th minute, Argentina had a great drive to the line, the forwards rumbling along, eventually winning a put-in at the scrum on 5m from the Irish line. From the back, it swung out to the right wing and Lucas Borges [left] went over for a vital first score. The conversion went wide, so it was only 5-0 up for Argentina.

Ireland won a penalty in the 19th minute, this time Ronan O’Gara chose to take 3 sure points to make it 5-3. At the restart, Argentina were on the attack, and the try wasn’t quite on, so Juan Martín Hernández [right] dropped a lovely goal from midfield to nullify the Ireland penalty.

In the 23rd minute, Hernández took a fantastic high ball like a pro fullback, and the resulting chip ahead from Agustin Pichot saw O’Gara have to clear to touch in panic. Phases from the lineout and resulting scrum saw Argentina push right up to the line, only coming up short with a knock-on.

The Ireland scrum was won but they had to clear quickly from the in-goal area, giving Argentina a couple of attacking lineouts in the Irish half. Eventually, Argentina were done for not releasing the ball, and O’Gara finally found a good kick into the opponents’ half. Ireland were making headway, but some hard tackles saw Ireland driven 20m back into their own half.

Soon after, Ignacio Corleto gave away a penalty by shouldering Geordan Murphy. From the penalty, Brian O’Driscoll [left] ran through the Argentine defence to score next to the posts, the first try Argentina have conceded so far, and the conversion came easily to bring Ireland into the lead, 8-10.

The pendulum seemed to swing back again, with the Irish bossing things around. Argentina won a scrum on the half way line, and they were back into attack mode in the Irish half. The defence held the try at bay, but Hernández took another pop at goal to bring the lead back to the Pumas, 11-10.

It was another fantastic piece of play in the Irish half, which started with Hernández again taking a high kick of his own, some great passing out of the tackle and winger Horacio Agulla scores a try in the corner! Contepomi converted with a bounce off the woodwork. Ireland looked in trouble, going in at the break 18-10.

After the restart, Argentina mauled their way into the Irish half, won a penalty and Contepomi did the honours – 21-10. Another nail in the Irish coffin…

The men in green worked their way patiently upfield from a lineout, but Argentina turned it over. They cleared, but Ireland had another lineout, worked it across field and Geordan Murphy [right] was the last man in the line to dive over in the right corner. O’Gara’s kick went wide, so it was 21-15.

At 50 minutes, Ireland won a scrum in their own half, kicked high, but it was a 22m dropout. Just after, Argentina lost their lineout, but turned over Ireland’s attack, and drilled the ball back into the Irish 10m zone. Argentina’s turnover abilities seemed prolific – how often did we see green go to ground with the ball, only for it to emerge in the hands of a blue and white jersey?

Just when Ireland seemed to be putting a few phases of play together, they have a shocking forward pass and give Argentina the scrum 40m out. In the 61st minute, Argentina forced another penalty and Contepomi added another three to take them 24-16 in front. Donncha O’Callaghan [left] made a high tackle on Contepomi in the 64th minute, and gave away another penalty – 27-16 ahead. The Irish hill seemed insurmountable – time to bring on some subs.

In the 67th minute, Ireland nearly touched down but for a massive defensive catch from Ignacio Corleto, taking the ball out of his hands. Argentina camped in the Irish half again, going through the phases and waiting patiently for points any way they can – drop goal, penalty or try. Pichot passed but the drop goal attempt was wide.

The Pumas pack had the game by the scruff of the neck, rucking for their lives, turning over possession and making massive hits. Ireland had a late renaissance during the last ten minutes. Roncero gave away a penalty in his own half, and Ireland went for the corner. The lineout was taken well, the Irish supporters were singing away, the forwards rumbled on, possession was kicked away and Argentina’s scrambled defence took off the heat.

The final nail in the coffin came in the 79th minute when Juan Martín Hernández slotted a left-footed drop goal, his hatrick, taking their final tally to 30-15.

Every time Ireland came at them, the Pumas seemed to have an answer. They looked by far the sharper team, and can now look forward to a quarter final against Scotland in Paris, sending the French to Cardiff to face the All Blacks for their quarterfinal. Not at all what the host nation had hoped for, and those pesky Pumas have done them no favours. And with the way Scotland have played so far, they must be seen as underdogs for the match – so who knows h
ow far the Pumas can go? Good for them!

A month ago, who would have put money on England and Scotland being the only two home nations to make it into the quarters? And I’m not betting my mortgage on how long Eddie O’Sullivan can remain in his job, after such a promising Irish team (at least on paper) have failed to deliver. Funny old game, eh?

The first half didn’t see any tries – but France got four penalties out of five; O’Gara scored a drop goal but missed an early penalty attempt.

It took Freddy Michalak‘s [right] crossfield kick in the 59th minute to put Vincent Clerc over in the corner for the first try of the game. He matched it ten minutes later in the same corner, but again, Elissalde could not add the extra two points.

So, at 25-3 as the final score, France will be pleased with their performance. Ireland were let down by poor discipline and sloppy play, gifting their opponents the chance of 7 kicks at goal, and 15 of their points. For Ireland to go through to the Quarter Finals, they have to beat Argentina convincingly in their last pool game, something I really can’t see happening on the evidence so far. Eddie O’Sullivan must be a worried man right now.

They made a nervous start, with Ireland making unforced errors, while Georgia held their own in defence. A missed penalty opportunity only made things worse for the men in green, but they calmed down a little when Hooker Rory Best [left] crossed the line in the 16th minute, with Ronan O’Gara adding the extras. 7-0 looked respectable at last. But it was another 20 minutes before more points were scored.

This time, Georgia turned over possession, made a great break and won a penalty, David Wallace [right] being sent to the bin for 10 minutes for cynical play. Merab Kvirikashvili took the points and they went in 7-3 at half time.

You would have thought that Eddie O’Sullivan would have given his side a rocket during the break, but the Irish came out in the second half still looking sluggish.

Things went from bad to worse for the men in green, when Giorgi Shkinin scored a fantastic intercept try, running two thirds of the pitch. It was an easy conversion, and suddenly Georgia were in the lead, 7-10, with only their second try in a Rugby World Cup game.

Around 49 minutes, Ireland seemed to wake up when they took a lineout and pushed hard. Georgia had some great defence, and the Irish knocked on! Kvirikashvili made an immense clearance kick a little later, pushing deep into Irish territory. Ireland conceded a 5m lineout, but it was overthrown and Ireland were out of trouble.

After 55 minutes, Ireland went on the counter-attack, when Girvan Dempsey [left] went over the whitewash with O’Gara taking the extras to make it 14-10.

The last quarter was pretty furious – Georgia never gave up and pushed up to the line several times, only for them to knock on or be turned over at the last minute. Sadly, a couple of drop goal attempts also went wide. The were camped in Irish territory for a good while too. At 77 minutes, Georgia did manage to get across the try line, but it was judged to have been held up by Ireland, truely a lucky escape for them.

In the end, Georgia, a country with only 8 rugby pitches and 300 registered players, so very nearly turned over a big scalp, only the luck of the Irish keeping them safe from World Cup ignomony.

It seems that 2007 is the year when the smaller nations give some of the big boys a fright, and it’s been brilliantly entertaining to watch.

Italy stole Ireland’s first lineout, but the next green throw-in was good. Then Italy turned over Irish ball, made a canter upfield but it went out into touch over the try line.

Soon after, Ireland were making great headway up the field when Sergio Parisse made a massive hit on Girvan Dempsey [left], which had the crowd gasping. Five minutes in, and Ireland were givena a penatly, which Ronan O’Gara duely punted over, 0-3 to the hosts

In the first few minutes, Italy seemed to have control of scrum and lineout, but are prone to giving away penalties. However, Italy were pushing the Irish line through loads of phases. They couldn’t be breached, but Ramiro Pez saw his opportunity and dropped a lovely goal to level the score 3-3.

Ireland stole an Italian lineout, Simon Easterby [right] taking off with the ball in the Irish 22, but he was caught holding on. Pez took the points, 6-3.

Sixteen minutes in, Dempsey broke free and went over in the corner for a lovely try. Marco Bortolami didn’t stand much of a chance chasing the fullback. O’Gara’s conversion from way out wide drifted off course at the last minute, so Ireland just took five points to make it 6-8.

Ireland’s scrums weren’t going well, but they stole an Italian scrum in Ireland’s half, David Wallace [left] turning it over at the back of the scrum. They then ran up the field, passing through several hands before Simon Easterby went over in the opposite corner. O’Gara again missed the conversion, but they were ahead 6-13.

Italy came back straight after, but their attack looked rather predictable. Eventually they got a rolling maul going, Ireland infringed, and Italy had a chance to claw back a few points. Pez did the honours to make it 9-13.

Just before the half hour, Italy had possession but weren’t making a lot of progress, Pez was in the pocket and pinged another sweet drop goal to encroach again on Ireland’s lead, pinning it back to one point 12-13.

The men in green promptly botched their next lineout and Italy stole the ball. They worked it up field into the Irish half, but Ireland turned them over. Several phases saw the ball move towards the Italian line.

The last few minutes before half time were pretty scrappy from Ireland. Just on the half way, Ireland gave away a penalty, but this time Pez’ boot just pushed it wide.

Then Ireland made amends with a break to take Gordon D’Arcy [right] over the line. The replay showed what looked like a forward pass in the immediate phases before, but none of the officials picked it up, so the try was allowed to stand. O’Gara added the points from the boot, and the Irish went in at half time with a 12-20 lead.

In the second half, Ireland’s first lineout wasn’t straight, and Italy won possession from th scrum. They moved up to the 5m line, when Ireland knocked on, to another scrum was set with the Azzurri to put in. Denis Hickey managed to intercept an Italian pass, and chipped ahead. Blue and green chased, but a blue shirt managed to land on it before green could ground for a try. Ireland gained possession from the restart. They then had a quick tap and go penalty and all of a sudden, Girvan Dempsey was over again just under the posts. O’Gara slotted the points and Ireland began to turn the screw, making it 12-27. They needed points badly to have any chance of winning the championship.

Around fifty minutes, there was a lovely Irish chip ahead, but Brian O’Driscoll [left] knocked on inches from the line. Italy secured their scrum ball and cleared to touch. Ireland won the lineout, spun it out wide, and cut loose sending Shane Horgan over in the corner. O’Gara’s boot sent it wide, making the score 12-32.

Then the forwards had a go, mauling to the line. They came up just short but shipped it out to the backs, Denis Hickey going out wide for Ireland’s sixth try. O’Gara’s conversion just shaded through the posts.

Ireland had a scrum put in close to their own line, they won ball and the centres broke free, flying up the pitch. A kick ahead was chased by Ronan O’Gara [right] who grounded it confidently and promptly converted it too, to make it 12-46. Brian O’Driscoll limped off with 20 minutes to go, but his team were looking like romping away and setting a huge score for France to chase in Paris, if they want to win the Championship.

The Italians slowed their haemerage of points a little, and kept possession for some minutes, frustrating Irish attempts at cutting loose any more. Then, with five minutes to go, Captain Marco Bortolami [left] took a high cross-field kick and just crashed over the line for a late Italian consolation try. Scanavacca’s kick just went wide, leaving the score at 17-46.

With just three minutes left, Denis Hickey cut loose and scored Ireland’s 8th try. O’Gara failed to convert again, so the score stood at 17-51. D’Arcy was named Man of the Match. Even as the clock went into
the red, Ireland kept the ball alive and were going for another score, with three tap and go penalties being allowed, two for Ireland and one for Italy. Roland de Marigny manged to go over in the last seconds, the decision went to the Video ref as it looked like a double movement. It was allowed, after several reruns to deliberate. Scanavacca added the two points with the boot and Jonathan Kaplan blew up for full time, 24-51.

That gave France a target of 24 points to chase for the Champoinship.

Or, read my ten word review.

Scotland started relatively hesitantly, but still smarting from the first seven minutes of their game, it was perhaps understandable.

Ireland got a couple of penalty kicks in the first ten minutes; Ronan O’Gara punted one over but missed the second. Ireland then began to get into gear, winning lineouts and running the ball. Pushing their forwards up the field in mauls. Girvan Dempsey [left] fumbled a pass in the Scottish 22 which would probably have been a try if he’d have held on.

Round about 15 minutes, Scotland made a break, and were awarded a penalty kick – Chris Paterson duely did the honours to make it 3-3.

Each side had a little go at the other, and Ireland looked dangerous when they got the ball, but for the first 20 minutes, it wasn’t the massacre that perhaps observers were expecting.

Sean Lamont [right] made a great break around 25 minutes, and Chris Paterson took a pass to charge up to the Irish 22, but he was brought down and gave away a penalty for holding on.

Close to the half hour, Ireland made a forward pass; the teams had a go at a little handbags, and Brian O’Driscoll was singled out. Ireland were pushed back 10m and Scotland had a lineout. However, off the back of that, Dan Parks’ kick was charged down by Ronan O’Gara, and three or four passes later, O’Gara was through the sticks. The conversion was good, and it was 3-10 to the visitors.

After the restart, Scotland stole a lineout and made excellent headway up the field. They were then awarded a scrum on the Irish 5m line. They swung it out wide and got rucked at the other side of the field. Scotland knocked on, so it was an Irish scrum this time on 5m. Surprisingly, Ireland gave away a penalty when the front row went to ground. Paterson kicked the points, to claw it back to 6-10.

Three minutes to half time, Scott Murray was pinged for holding on, and Ronan O’Gara took the points with his boot, making 6-13.

Scotland were making good progress, going through the phases, but an Irish tackler failed to roll away, and Scotland were awarded another penatly 39m out. Paterson did the honours – keeping in touch at 9-13 at half time.

Just after the restart, Nathan Hines was penalised for not rolling away, and the ref sent him to the bin, having warned them all in the first half. Ireland had a lineout close to the Scottlish line, and got within 1m, but Scotland turned them over, despite being a man down. Sean Lamont came in for the scrum so at least the blues still had 8 men to pus. Despite pressure, Dan Parks [left] managed to clear to the 10m line.

Ireland won their lineout and ran it quite a way up field, but lost it into touch after an iffy pass.

Around 47 minutes, Ireland made another big break, Denis Hickey looking certain for a try, but Sean Lamont managed to bundle him into touch right at the corner flag, and Scotland had a 22m dropout.

After the restart, Brian O’Driscoll passed forward to Denis Leamy, so Scotland won the put-in. Then the Scottish forwards went for a trundle and rumble, going through half a dozen phases until Ireland infringed – Paul O’Connell [right] coming in from the side and the Scots were looking at a punt at goal. Parks did the honours to bring the blues within one point of Ireland.

So Scotland were immensely lucky to survive Hines’ spell in the bin without shipping any points, even more lucky to score another three!

Ireland pushed again, but Chris Cusiter [left] made a fantastic hit on O’Gara to bundle him into touch. The Scots won the resulting lineout, but lost it when Murray caught a pass with his foot on the line. Ireland messed up their lineout, not straight, and so Scotland got the scrum put-in.

A few moves on, Scotland had a 7m lineout, won by Scott Murray, and the forwards went for a drive, albeit slow to start. They were pushed backwards, then the ball changed hands several times. Scotland were camped in the Irish 22 for a few minutes, and Paterson’s drop goal attempt went wide, but with 20 minutes to go, he was able to put Scotland ahead with a penalty – 15-13, game on.

This seemed to fire up Ireland, and they looked like they were going somewhere, but a Scottish clearance kick landed loose in the Irish 22 and was fumbled into touch to give the blues a lineout. They won it, but were penalised for holding on. The Irish kick missed touch and Scotland had another go at running the ball. Ireland were penalised next, coming into the side of a ruck. Paterson opted to kick for the sticks, and did the honours, his 20th in a row. So, with 15 minutes left, the Scots were up 18-13, to the surprise of everyone.

Ireland won another penalty shortly after the restart (blues not rolling away). O’Gara took the points from 30m out, and the Scot’s lead was cut to 2 points. Nailbiting stuff for the supporters at Murrayfield.

With 12 minutes left, Denis Leamy was replaced by Neil Best [right] and made some progress into the Scottish half. They were awarded another penalty, taken by O’Gara, so they were then 1 point clear, at 18-19.

As the final ten minutes unfolded, Ireland started to wake up, getting a few runs in and winning another
penalty in the Scottish half. It was a long shot at 47m and it didn’t quite make it over the bar.

The Scots took it upfield for a short way but were turned over and Ireland turned the screws again. Close to the Scottish line, Brian O’Driscoll went down injured after being tackled. Then Scotland chased a kick ahead from Sean Lamont, which Peter Stringer failed to gather cleanly. Scotland got the resulting scrum and the blues crept up the field, but knocked on in Irish territory.

Ireland’s scrum was solid, and with under two minutes to go, all they had to do was hold on to the ball and not give it back to Scotland. O’Gara had to kick for touch, and the Scots had a lineout was won safely. Another run up the field was stopped at the half way line. They regrouped, but it was turned over by Paul O’Connell. The whislte blew, and the men in Green were relieved to have held on for a one point win, and the 2007 Triple Crown.

Or read my ten word review.

History was made today when Rugby was played for the very first time at Croke Park, the fantastic stadium owned by the GAA. Looks like there was a superb atmosphere in the place, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the anthems sung with as much passion!

Two missing links for Ireland today were captain Brian O’Driscoll and Scrum Half Peter Stringer [left], both missing the game through injury.

The French forwards hard a early driving maul and the subsequent move made Ireland infringe – David Skrela took the 3 points. Then the French disrupted an Irish lineout and won a scrum against the head, making by far the best start to the game. Another 3 points followed quickly, but by 13-odd minutes in, Ireland woke up, the French came in from the side at a ruck and Ronon O’Gara popped the ball over Ireland’s first 3 points.

Ireland’s comeback didn’t last long when Geordan Murphy‘s mis-tackle let Franch Captain Raphael Ibañez [right] in for a great try, Skrela adding the two points, leaving Ireland 10 points down.

Ireland then won a solid lineout close to the French 10m line, but the passes in midfield were a mess, and even the following Irish scrum could not make any ground.

A couple of minutes later, the Irish had an attacking lineout at 5m and went for a catch and drive, but the midfield passing caused the French to give away another penalty in their half and O’Gara punted 3 points.

The French forwards seemed to have the upper hand, wheeling the odd scrum and certainly giving as good as they got. But after 30 mins, Ireland had a 22m lineout in French territory. Several phases later and a couple of dummies from Ronan O’Gara, a great back pass from flanker David Wallace [left] and O’Gara was over the line to rapturous applause. The conversion went wide, but Ireland were back within 2 points of France.

Rory Best was penalised for slowing the ball down at a ruck, but Skrela missed the posts and the score remained 11-13. France won a scrum an Imanol Harinordoquy [right] made a big break – France looked sure to score but Geordan Murphy‘s defence close to the line saved the try. Skrela missed another penalty just before half time, and Ireland were lucky to go back to the changing rooms trailing by just 2 points.

Ireland made a brighter start to the second half, taking control of the ball. Sebastian Chabal was penalised twice in quick succession and Ireland won an attacking lineout in the French half but they weren’t able to get very far. Ref Steve Walsh was rather quick with his whistle at one point when France had knocked on, and Geordan Murphy [left] thought he was in for a try, but play was deemed to have stopped. Queue lots of jeering from the stands!

Ireland had a go at the French from a turnover ball, and looked dangerous for a few phases, but they ultimately knocked on and France won it back. Denis Hickey made a great break in midfield, but he could not reach the hands of his receiver. The teams played ping-pong with a bit of kicking until Mignoni lost the ball in touch – all of a sudden, Ireland had a lineout in the French 10m line but didn’t take advantage of it.

The Irish began to pile the pressure on with several attacking phases, forcing France into making errors. Harinordoquy came in from the side at 55 minutes, and O’Gara duely punished the French by kicking Ireland into a slender 1-point lead.

With just over 10 minutes to go, there was a spate of substitutions, but Ireland looked like they were gaining the upper hand. A fumble from Harinordoquy led to an Irish attacking lineout – a few phases later and France had turned it over.

An Irish scrum was nearly wheeled a bit later, but Ulsterman Isaac Boss [right, now without chinstrap beard] did well to kick for touch. The French lineout was won, but the ball changed hands several times in the next few minutes, with both sides desperate to put more points on the board.

Replacement back Andrew Trimble [left] made a good break too, the last Irish hand knocked on and the opportunity was lost.

The Irish scrum wobbled a bit and Boss was penalised for not feeding a steady scrum, giving France a chance at a drop goal – Bauxis hit the post and Hickey’ clearance went straight back to French hands. Ibanez was substituted but then Ireland won a penalty. The last ten minutes were agony – even for an English supporter!

The Irish forwards mauled their hearts out and made a good few yards before the French brought it down. Penalty Ireland. Cue O’Gara’s kick, on the French 10m line. Croke Park was silent until it sailed over the posts. Cue hysteria! Beautiful strike.

Danger hit immediately after when Franced rushed into the Irish half and
Vincent Clerc [right] took the ball over the line. With the conversion good, Ireland had let the game slip away as Mignoni punted it into the stands.

What a cracking game – so nearly Ireland’s up til one minute from the end.

Or read my Ten Word Review.

The Irish made a dream start with Hooker Rory Best [left] going over in the corner in the first minute. The conversion went wide, but it fired up the men in green and Wales had to sit up and take notice.

There was some fast and furious passing with plenty of ground being made on both sides. Wales seemed to have a good spell but didn’t manage to turn in any points apart from Stephen Jones‘ penalties.

Brian O’Driscoll [right] finished off a great phase of play to score in the corner, dragging a couple of Welsh tacklers with him over the line. Great strength!

Ireland went in 3 points up at the break, 9-12.

Early in the second half, rookie Welsh winger Chris Czekaj [left] was denied in the corner, by an early tackle from an Irish defender, but the ref awarded a scrum to Ireland (Czekaj having lost the ball forward), and the Irish came off lucky.

The two teams put each other under pressure for spells in the second half. Wales made a break from a slightly fumbled Irish lineout, and made good headway up the pitch, but lost it forward and gave away a scrum.

Shortly after, Ronan O’Gara made a big break, but it ultimately came to nothing. One worry was O’Driscoll pulling up with a hamstring tweak, but he was back on his feet soon after.

They kept the tempo up. Ireland’s forwards kept pounding the Welsh defence, but were turned over and Wales made some great ground. James Hook‘s attempted drop goal fell just short, which was a great pity as they deserved the points for their persistence.

At one point, Denis Hickey went off the field with blood pouring down his face, having caught a stud in the head. But a few stitches later, he was back on wearing a scrum cap and running round like nothing had happened.

Ireland’s forwards continued to pound the Welsh defence, coming up just short of the tryline. They got another chance with a scrum but Wales won a vital turnover. The clearance kick came back into Irish hands and the green advanced again. Eventually, O’Gara managed another brilliant score in the corner, and managed to convert his own from way out wide.

The Welsh immediately hit back from a lineout, and Czekaj almost made it to the line, but was just bundled into touch just short. A few furious minutes from both sides, but they couldn’t put any more points on the board.

I felt sorry for the Welsh, everyone played their hearts out for the full 80 minutes, but Ireland were just that little bit luckier when it mattered. Great game, even though there was only the one score in the second half.

Or read my Ten Word Review.