Owen Farrell slotted four penalties to keep England on top of the Six Nations ladder

by Paul Cook –

England remain the only team with a chance of securing a Grand Slam in this year’s tournament after defeating fellow hopefuls Ireland in Dublin. Italy’s loss to a resurgent Scotland ensured that the Red Rose stand as the only undefeated side after two rounds and with two home games from their last three, they appear to have a terrific opportunity to seal their first clean sweep since 2003.

France meanwhile, have recorded their worst start in 30 years as they fell at home to Wales, which in turn was the Dragons first test win in nine attempts.

After a fast flowing and entertaining opening round, conditions in Northern Europe over the weekend dictated a change of tack as wind and rain combined to cruel most attempts at expansive rugby. Having been unsuccessful in their last four competitive visits to Dublin, England had to be at their pragmatic best to decide a game which most observers had billed as the tournament play-off, even at this early stage.

They settled into an early rhythm while Ireland looked nervous and the boot of Owen Farrell had them 6pts to the good at the break. Discipline was key and England’s success in failing to concede a penalty in their own half in the opening stanza served them well but nine handling errors from the Irish contributed to their slender advantage.

The home side’s chances took a couple of severe blows when the exciting Simon Zebo departed early with a broken bone in his foot and on the half hour when pivot Jonathan Sexton pulled a hamstring and it took a while for them to find a foothold in the game. England gained a marginal upper hand at the set-piece, holding firm at scrum-time and managing to disrupt Ireland’s line out – a long time weapon of choice against them –but neither side could find the space or killer pass to break the opposition line.

Ireland upped the ante after the break, a much improved scrum effort forcing their opponents to collapse and giving Ronan O’Gara the chance to get them on the scoreboard. When James Haskell was shown a yellow card for playing the ball with his feet when he appeared to be merely trying to extricate himself from the bottom of a maul, the momentum had swung to the hosts and O’Gara levelled matters in the 57th minute.

It was here that the increasing maturity of this England side came to the fore and a mixture of combative defence, good line speed and some concerted pressure, not only quelled Ireland’s surge, it got them back in the ascendancy and two more three-pointers from Farrell all but sealed victory. A missed penalty from O’Gara with 10 minutes remaining proved decisive and England held firm for a landmark 12-6 win.

George North smashes over in the 71st minute to confirm Wales’ first win in nine tests

Over in Paris, the battle of the fallen saw France, shocked by Italy the week before, take on Wales, who were trying to arrest an alarming run of eight straight test defeats. It was little surprise then that a game that neither side dare lose failed to create much of a spectacle and went some way to illustrating the current woes afflicting both nations.

A scrappy start, where the only holes created inside either team’s danger zone were the ones left in a shocking Stade de France pitch by the opening scrum, saw both teams look to the boot and an error from their opposition to gain any kind of momentum. Leigh Halfpenny won the early skirmishes allowing Wales to settle and with fly-half Dan Biggar growing in confidence with every minute spent in the red jersey, the visitors started to find some inroads into French territory.

However, they couldn’t find the breakthrough they required and after some poor decision making from the French blew the couple of half decent opportunities they managed to carve out, the teams trudged to the sheds at 3-3.

Frédéric Michalak was struggling to guide his team around the park and only the sporadic darting threat of Yoaan Huget and the kamikaze runs of centre Mathieu Bastareaud could be considered a sign of better things to come.

The status quo remained after the break with a penalty apiece edging the score up to 6-6 before a moment of inspiration from Biggar with 10 minutes remaining, broke the French resistance. that proved to be the decisive moment. With Wales on the attack, he put an inviting kick over the retreating French defence and into the corner for George North to gather the perfect bounce into his midriff and smash his way to the chalk. A more important try in recent Welsh history would be hard to find.

Halfpenny capped off a fine individual display with a sideline conversion and a long range penalty to make it 16-6, ending the Welsh losing streak and leaving the pre-tournament favourites to be escorted from the field by a chorus of boos.

Stuart Hogg celebrates as Matt Scott races clear for Scotland’s second try

Italy stunned the rugby world with their heroics against France in round one, the challenge for the Azzurri was to back it up and a game against a Scottish side firmly on the backfoot seemed to provide them with the opportunity to further enhance their growing reputation. However, hell hath no fury like a Scotsman scorned and it proved to be a rude awakening for the Azzurri on a joyous day for Scottish rugby at Murrayfield.

An opening half played for the most part in the middle third of the field showed that Scotland had learned quickly from the flaws on display at Twickenham, flooding the breakdown with numbers and clearing the ruck with speed and precision, their second and back rows outstanding.

Greig Laidlaw had them 6-0 up after 25 minutes before the backline that promised so much in defeat to England, came to the fore. Ruaridh Jackson released Tim Visser for his 5th try in his first 7 tests, helping the home side to a 13-3 half-time lead and two five pointers in quick succession after the break ended the game as a contest.

Sean Maitland burst through a hole in the 43rd minute to put Matt Scott away to the line and just 4 minutes later, Luciano Orquera – who’d played the game of his life against France six days earlier – compounded his inept display with a gift intercept to Stuart Hogg inside Scotland’s 22, leaving the impressive 20yr old to sprint the length of the field with the excited screams of the Murrayfield crowd ringing in his ears. Game over.

Sean Lamont added a fourth in the 68th minute – the first time four Scottish backs have scored in the Championship since 1924 – and made it 6 tries in 2 games under caretaker head coach Scott Johnson, more than they managed in the entire 2012 tournament.

Alessandro Zanni bagged a consolation for Italy to leave a final scoreline of 34-10 but the visitors had been found wanting yet again. After France, this was definitely one step forward, two steps back.

Saturday 23rd February

Italy v Wales – Stadio Olimpico – 2.30pm (1.30am Sun AEDT)

England v France – Twickenham – 5pm (4am Sun AEDT)

Sunday 24th February

Scotland v Ireland – Murrayfield – 2pm (1am Mon AEDT)