The
third round of the 2013 RBS Six Nations saw Wales travel to giant-killers
Italy, England welcome an underperforming French side and Scotland host Ireland
hoping to claim a huge scalp at Murrayfield. This year’s competition has provided
just as many shocks and as much drama as we have come to know and expect, the form-book is
disregarded in this unique tournament and any team can win on the day.
Welsh forwards set platform for away
victory in rain-soaked Rome
Italy welcomed Wales to the Stadio Olimpico
without their talismanic captain - Sergio Parisse, who missed out on the
important game following his suspension for abusing a referee in a Top 14
fixture. This was a big loss for the Azzurri, but Martin Castrogiovanni stepped
up to lead his side.
The first half was a real battle for
supremacy in the scrum, Wales had the upper hand in the early exchanges of the
set-piece and this allowed Leigh Halfpenny the chance to open the scoring for
his side with a comfortable kick at goal. Moments later, Chris Burton replied
in kind after Italy got the nudge on the scrum in Welsh territory. The Brisbane
born playmaker slotted the effort through the middle of the posts to bring the
scores level. The Welsh scrum began to
really prosper and the pack offered Halfpenny two further penalty chances, both
of which he converted.
The conditions in Rome were not ideal and
after a horrendous downpour, Italy managed to force the Welsh pack to collapse
a scrum. Burton added his second penalty and the half ended with the visitors
in the lead. Half-time score: Italy 6
Wales 9.
An innocuous kick from Mike Phillips
bounced horribly for Italy in their own 22 and Jonathan Davies was sharp enough
to hack the ball forwards, gather and score Wales’ first try of the match.
Halfpenny added the conversion, which dampened Italian hopes.
Burton was again successful from the tee
with a penalty to narrow the gap to seven points; however, the lead did not
last long. Another devastating Welsh scrum saw referee, Romain Poite yellow
card Castrogiovanni for repetitive scrum offences. Halfpenny increased the lead
to ten points at a crucial stage in the game.
With Italy a man down, Wales upped the
tempo and after a few phases in Italian territory, Alex Cuthbert came off his
wing and picked a wonderful outside arcing run and burst through several attempted
tackles to score the second try of the game for Wales in the corner. Halfpenny showed
his accuracy with the conversion as he made no mistake from the left-hand
touchline.
With Wales 15 points ahead, and conditions
worsening, the visitors were able to grind out a well-worked away victory. Full time: Italy 9 Wales 24.
Painfully physical English side out-work
an out-of-form French side
The first half was full of bone-shuddering
hits, Manu Tuilagi ripped part of his ear off in a collision with Toulouse’s
Louis Picamoles, however, the Leicester gladiator chose to stay on the pitch
and have his 19 stitches after the match.
England took the lead after only two
minutes after the French went off their feet at a ruck. Owen Farrell - who is
becoming a world-class goal kicker, slotted the penalty from 40 metres out.
Moments later, Clermont’s Morgan Parra responded with an effort of his own to
level the scores.
After Tuilagi made a devastating break in
to the French 22, the visiting side strayed offside. Farrell, playing the
advantage saw Chris Ashton in space on the right wing and put a cross-kick in
to the in-goal area, however, the effort was over-cooked and the ball flew out
of play. The penalty stood and the Saracens fly-half added the easy 3 points.
On the half our mark, Wesley Fofana, who
had returned to his strongest position (inside centre) made a searing 60 metre
break to score one of the tires of the tournament to date. However, it should
be noted that Courtney Lawes and Chris Ashton missed their tackles in the build
up to the try. The latter is really struggling for form in the England jersey,
and he didn’t do his cause any justice with a weak attempt with his left arm to
try and contain the Clermont speedster. Parra added the conversion, to worry
the home crowd.
Luckily, the French were penalised for
killing the ball in their own half and Farrell added his third penalty of the
game to close the gap to one point at half time. Half time: England 9 France 10.
England came out for the second half with
plenty of aggression and set up a promising rolling maul, however, it was
brought down illegally. Farrell punished the French mistake with the accurate
penalty attempt and England re-took the lead.
With 25 minutes to go, Tom Wood took a
chance in a ruck and hacked the ball forwards, it fortuitously bounced of Mako
Vunipola, however, England were not penalised. The ball was expertly gathered
by Tuilagi who accelerated off to the try-line to score unopposed. Farrell
could not add the extras, but this re-ignited the excitement of the home
support.
Sadly, England gave replacement Freddie
Michalak the chance to reduce the gap to 4 points from the kick-off. The
mercurial half-back skewed his attempt, however, it just about went through the
uprights.
Farrell, who had marshalled the game with
expertise and maturity beyond his years, tweaked his hamstring and saw a long
penalty attempt fall miserably short. He was replaced by Toby Flood and the
Leicester stand-off took his chance well, he added two penalties of his own to
help grind out a thrilling victory in front of a capacity Twickenham crowd. Full time: England 23 France 13.
Dogged Scottish defensive effort nullifies
Irish possession and territory at Murrayfield
The first half saw Ireland maintain an
unimaginable amount of possession (78%) and play almost entirely in the
attacking third of the pitch; however, the Irish lacked the killer blow to cut
a line and pile up the points. Declan Kidney’s side has a long injury list and
Cian Healey’s suspension added to his worries before the match. Influential
playmaker Jonathan Sexton’s injury gave the young Ulster 10 – Paddy Jackson the
chance to earn his first cap for his country. The youngster’s form in the Pro
12 has been fantastic; however, it looked like he let nerves get the better of
him as he missed two simple penalty attempts in the first half. It also looks
like he may lack the physicality needed to thrive on the international scene.
It took 35 minutes for Ireland to break the
deadlock, after continued pressure, Scotland were forced to conceded a penalty.
Jackson slotted the easy attempt and the only other chance of note in the first
half was a long range penalty attempt by Stuart Hogg. The full back, not a
regular goal kicker, boot his boot through the ball, however, it dropped short
of the bar. Half time: Scotland 0
Ireland 3.
The Irish came out for the second half and
played with a much higher tempo. Connor Murray looked eager to get his forwards
barging their way over the gain-line and this allowed Craig Gilroy the chance
to spin his way over the line for the first try of the match. Sadly, Jackson
could not add the conversion.
Four Craig Laidlaw penalties in the second
half allowed the Scots to grind out an unlikely victory. Surprisingly, one of
the penalty chances came from a naïve move from the veteran Ronan O’Gara. The
Munster fly-half came on to assure the Irish of victory, however, he foolishly
opted for an ambitious cross-kick to nothing in his own half and put pressure
on his side.
The second half wasn’t a victory parade for
the Scots though; the Irish were awarded a penalty on Scotland’s 5 metre line
with the last play of the game. The pick-and-go option should have continued, however,
Ireland chose to spin the ball wide too early, the ball went to ground and the
final whistle blew to the delight of the home crowd. Full time: Scotland 12 Ireland 8.
This match was won because of a determined
defensive effort, Scotland made a staggering 128 tackles compared to Ireland’s
44 and the home side only had 29% of possession in the whole match. It proves
that statistics can lie, and all that matters is the score at the final
whistle. With Sexton at the helm, Ireland would not have lost this game,
however, the Scots will gain confidence from the victory and the new coaching
set-up of Scott Johnson and Dean Ryan can look forward with excitement.
Do
you have any thoughts or comments on the 3rd round of matches? Who
shone for your team and who struggled? Comment bellow or message me on twitter
@tommyd91
No comments:
Post a Comment