The Six
Nations kicked-off with a bang on Saturday, were treated to an enthralling battle
between Wales and Ireland in Cardiff played at a very high tempo, a physical and
skilful encounter between England and Scotland and a surprise victory for Italy
against France in Rome. This tournament always provides entertaining matches,
and if the opening round was anything to go be, this season’s will be the most
exciting yet. No team is assured of victory, home or away and form has nothing
to do with the outcome on the day. This article gives summarises the key
moments in all three of last weekend’s matches.
Wales
22 Ireland 30. Ireland’s first-half effort blows Wales away
The Irish performance in the first half at
the Millennium Stadium was phenomenal, but it was built on the basics; they ran
on to the ball at pace from depth, committed to the breakdown and got the
set-piece right from the off. It only
took 10 minutes to break down the Welsh defence, Jonathan Sexton found Brian O’Driscoll
who picked a smart arcing running-line, drew in three defenders and then
offloaded out of the tackle to Simon Zebo, the Munster winger who touched down
with ease. Sexton added the conversion and shortly afterwards added a penalty.
Dan Biggar’s hesitated attempted clearance
was charged down by Rory Best who found his captain Jamie Heaslip, who in turn
shipped the ball on to Zebo, the pass was behind him, but an extravagant sideways
flick-kick to himself allowed him to collect the loose ball. A phase later and
Leinster’s Cian Healey barged over the line from a couple of metres out. Sexton
added the conversion to make the score 17-0 in the visitors’ favour.
Shortly before halftime, the Welsh got on
the scoreboard after the Irish went off their feet at a ruck in their own half.
Leigh Halfpenny slotted the penalty. This gave the home crowd their first
reason to cheer in the game, but Sexton soon cancelled out the score with an
effort of his own before the break. The Irish lead by 20 points at half-time –
Wales 3 Ireland 23.
The onslaught didn’t end straight after
half-time. The Irish immediately put Wales under pressure, Rob Kearney made a
quick break, but he was just halted before the line. However, the astute O’Driscoll
noticed a lack of Welsh guards at the ruck and simply reached out through the
ruck to score Ireland’s third try of the match. Sexton made no mistake with the
conversion to stretch the Irish lead to 27 points.
Finally the Welsh comeback came after
continued pressure in the Irish 22. Dan Biggar found Alex Cuthbert who cut an incisive
outside run from ten metres out to open the Welsh try-scoring account.
Halfpenny added the conversion and ten minutes later, he got on the end of a
flowing Welsh move and finished really well under heavy pressure (from Heaslip
and Zebo) in the right-hand corner.
Exeter’s Craig Mitchell burrowed his way
over five minutes from time and the replacement’s effort gave some diehard fans
a faint hope of a miraculous comeback. Halfpenny added the conversion, but time
was not on Wales’ side.
The Welsh tried to force something from
deep, however, the Irish defence held firm.
Full
time: Wales 22 Ireland 30. Man of the Match: Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
England
38 Scotland 18. Despite early scare, Stuart Lancaster’s men earn a convincing
win over the Scots
Owen Farrell opened the scoring for England
with a simple penalty after Scotland were penalised for handling on the ground.
However, shortly before 10 minutes had passed in the game, Mike Brown’s
clearance kick failed to make touch and his kick-chase was weak. Stuart Hogg made
a scything kick-return and Scotland built up a few phases. Debutant, Sean Maitland
popped over in the right-hand corner which silenced the capacity Twickenham
crowd. Greig Laidlaw could not add the touchline conversion.
The Scottish lead did not last very long, Farrell
added a further two penalties to ease the worries of the Twickenham faithful.
Tom Youngs gave away a silly penalty at a ruck in England’s 22 which game
Laidlaw the chance to add another three points for the visitors.
After 30 minutes, England had worked their
way in to the match and a spell of
intense pressure in the Scottish 22 followed.
A big carry from Joe Launchbury put Scotland on the back-foot and Chris
Ashton smashed his way through two defenders to score England’s first try of
the match. Farrell added the conversion and shortly afterwards slotted another
penalty. However, just before half-time, England transgressed at the breakdown
and Laidlaw closed the half with a successful penalty kick – the score at
half-time: England 19 Scotland 11.
Two minutes after the break Billy
Twelvetrees crashed over the line, he simply hit the line at pace and brushed
through two would-be-tacklers. The Gloucester centre was delighted to score on
his debut, he worked hard, making several key carries over the gain-line and he
created a lot of opportunities for his team mates. With Manu Tuilagi due back from
injury, Lancaster has a big selection headache in store for the game against
Ireland. Farrell added the conversion to Twelvetrees’ try and England looked
like they were cruising to victory.
James Haskell replaced Ben Morgan at No.8
and the Wasps wing-forward made an immediate impact. He forced a turnover in
the Scottish half and this allowed Ben Youngs to make a searing break into
their 22 which helped set-up the moment of the match. Farrell, who has been
criticised by many for not having an expansive game, first delayed his pass to
hold the opposition defenders and then produced a wonderful looping pass which
took out three defenders and put Geoff Parling in for his first try for
England. The promising Saracen playmaker made his only error off the tee from
that conversion, but few could rebuke him for that miss after such a marvellous
pass.
With ten minutes to go, Scotland scored a
consolation try after turning the ball over in their own 22. Maitland kicked
ahead and Hogg hacked ahead again and gathered the ball before the chasing Toby
Flood could get anywhere near him. The try was testament to the new belief in
the team, but it wasn’t going to affect the result.
There was still time for Harlequin’s Danny
Care to dart over the line from a short distance to rub salt into Scottish
wounds and add some extra gloss on to the English victory. Farrell added the
conversion from under the posts. The fly-half was rightly named man of the
match for his control of the game, excellent tackling, 7/8 successful kicks at
goal and some delightful passing,
Full
time: England 38 Scotland 18. Man of the Match: Owen Farrell (England)
Italy
23 France 18. Hard-working Italy dispatch lacklustre French in Rome
The away fixture in Rome has become a real
nightmare for French teams. Two years ago, Italy won 22-21, Italian rugby’s
finest day, until last Sunday. The French did not look as passionate or as well
organised as the Italians, which was a huge shock. Philippe Saint-Andre’s side
were confident going into the game after a successful autumn international
series. However, form can be irrelevant on the day.
Luke McLean gathered a kick in his own half
and made his way up to the half-way line, this sparked the Italian forwards in
to action, who offloaded well and carried well in to French territory. Surprisingly, Luciano Orquera beat several
players as he made a very influential break and then released his captain,
Sergio Parisse to score the first try of the match with ease. Orquera added the
conversion and Six Nations fans around Europe began to wonder if another shock
was on the cards in Rome.
However, shortly afterwards the French
responded as Louis Picamoles powered his way past his opposite number Parisse
to score France’s first try. Frederick Michalak, playing at fly-half for the
French could not add the conversion.
Orquera kept the scoreboard ticking over
when he received slow ball, he popped a drop-goal over from 25 metres out in a
clinical display any fly-half would be proud of.
The French forwards fought their way over
the Italian try-line; however, the TMO ruled that no try could be given as the
ball was held-up. Following this, Michalak
kept the visitors in the game with a penalty.
After 34 minutes, the visitors took the lead
from the Italians; a fine team try was finished by Benjamin Fall who cantered
in under the posts. Michalak made no mistake with the simple conversion. This
gave France a narrow two-point lead at the break. Half-time Italy 13 France 15.
It was a slow start to the second half,
with Michalak adding another penalty after the Italian scrum folded in their own
half. Five minutes later, the Italians
pressed the French try-line. Patient play allowed Orquera to make a half-break
and Martin Castrogiovanni was on his left-shoulder to crash over for Italy’s
second try. Orquera added the conversion; the French spirit was going to be
really tested now.
Chris Burton came on for Orquera, who had
run the show for the first 60 minutes and Burton followed suit with a drop-goal
12 minutes from time. This gave Italy a five-point cushion in the closing
stages of the match.
You would imagine that France, currently
ranked 4th in the IRB World Rankings only 5 points down against
Italy (10th) would be able to call upon an inspired comeback.
However, this was not the case, the French looked unmotivated and lacked any
urgency and commitment to claw their way back in to the game. It was a big
error to put Michalak at 10, he hasn’t played there often for Toulon this
season and it showed; he missed touch from penalty kicks and lacked the control
needed to boss the game.
Another error was not playing Morgan Parra
from the start of the game; Clermont’s scrum-half was seemingly the only player
trying to up the tempo at the end of the match. The French managed to muster
one effort in the Italian 22, but the damage had already been dealt by the
professional game plan and execution from Orquera, Parisse and Burton.
Full
time: Italy 23 France 18. Man of the Match: Luciano Orquera (Italy)
What
did you think about Round 1 of the RBS Six Nations? Who stood out for you
personally? Do you think Italy can cause any more shocks in the tournament?
Post below or send me a tweet @tommyd91
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