Sat Feb 27, 2016 11:52 am
Weekend three scores and comments
Friday night:- Wales 19-10 France
WELL this didn't live up to my expectations, and the first half was quite tedious, not helped by the over fussy refereeing by wayne Barnes - much to the annoyance of superb co-commentators Brian Moore and Jonathon Davies.
The roof was not closed due to technical difficulties but that did not dampen the atmosphere of the vociferous welsh voices in the stands at the Millenium (Principality) Stadium. I really do wish England had a more enthusing National Anthem like the French and the Welsh do.
Dan Biggar was slightly off with his kicking in the first half, which is very unlike him, maybe a twitch too many or a not enough shuffles in his pre-kicking reportoire.
Wales dominated both possession and territory but didn't make that dominance count and only took a 6-3 lead into the interval
The second half was an improvement on the first (it had to be really) and the hilight of the game was George North's second try in as many games which was a comedy of errors before it went over, he actually had an 'air shape' in attempting to move the 'oval shaped ball' forward towards the line before eventually diving over for his 25th welsh try.
France now decided to at last partake in this game of Rugby and had long periods with the ball but the Welsh defence held firm magnificently, they did eventually get a try very late in the game, but by then the game had gone.
It Could have been a different matter for the French and for the game for the spectators if they had made better use of their subs and brought on Francois Trinh-duc early
England 21-10 Ireland
Eddie Jones perfect start as England coach continued on a chilly night in south west London
England took a deserved 6-3 lead into half time in a stop-start game with two penalties for Farrell and one for Sexton.
England had most of the possession but were kept at bay by a rugged Irish defence, i)ncluding a fantastic last gap stop by Irish Captain Rory Best) and also the TMO, which ruled out a try from Man of the Match, Billy Vunipola
The second half began with Ireland taking advantage of James Haskell being sent to the sin bin for a high late tackle, opting for a line out instead of a penalty, which leads to a try by connor Murray, converted by sexton to take ireland into a 6-10 lead.
But two tries in five minutes from Anthony watson and Mike Brown snatch back control of what had been a tight-error strewn match, Ireland just cannot cope with the strength and attacking prowess of Billy Vunipola
Only a desperate last-gasp tackle from Jack Nowell denied Rob Henshaw a try in the corner for Ireland, and Danny Care then became England's second man to be yellow-carded for not rolling away as Ireland pressed again, almost getting another try but the TMO is not convinced enough to award a try
England weathered the storm, and scored at crucial times in the match to win the match 21-10
Italy 20-36 Scotland
(I didn't actually watch this game, so this is took straight from the BBC website)
Scotland brought an end to a nine-match losing run in the Six Nations with a precious 36-20 win over Italy in Rome.
Vern Cotter's team thundered into a 17-3 lead with clinical early tries from John Barclay and John Hardie.
Italy responded with scores from Leonardo Ghiraldini and Marco Fuser, while Scotland lost Finn Russell and WP Nel to the sin-bin in the last quarter.
But Greig Laidlaw's nerveless goal-kicking and Tommy Seymour's late try saw them over the winning line at last.
Key to Scotland's win was their scrum. It was exceptional, winning penalty after penalty, lifting several sieges and affording the outstanding Laidlaw the opportunity to bang over three-pointers, which he did like a metronome.
Kelly Haimona opened the scoring with an early penalty for Italy, but that was just a precursor to that explosive passage from the Scots.
Barclay's 10th-minute try had its origins in fast ruck ball. When Scotland attacked space, Tim Visser drew two Italian defenders and found Stuart Hogg, who took the contact, hit the floor and offloaded to the on-rushing Barclay, who dives over to score Scotland's first try, and it was followed by another seven minutes later.
Russell made the initial incision, slipping through a gap and putting the Italians on the back foot. The fly-half had an arriving army of forwards to support him, among them Ryan Wilson, who had come into the starting line-up as a late replacement for the injured David Denton.
Wilson was outstanding in those early moments and it was his pass that put Hardie over in the left corner.
When Laidlaw added a penalty just before the half-hour, Scotland led 17-3 - alien territory for a team that had forgotten how to win these games.
The visitors became strangely passive after they built their lead and Italy roused themselves at last.
The hosts got their hands on the ball, showed patience and power and, when Gonzalo Garcia blasted over Laidlaw, veteran hooker Ghiraldini crashed over.
Haimona added the conversion to make it 17-10, before Laidlaw missed his only shot at goal with the last kick of the half.
He and Haimona traded penalties early in the second half before the Scotland captain boomed over another kick close to the hour to give his team a 13-point cushion.
That feel-good factor was seriously threatened when Russell saw yellow for hands in a ruck and then Fuser went over for a converted try.
When Scotland needed their captain, he delivered. He kicked everything after the interval - four penalties and a third conversion, for a 21-point personal haul.The penalty that made it 29-20 in the 66th minute was massive. It was from distance, but he nailed it and kept his team calm in the process.Moments of concern did follow, though. Scotland struggled desperately at re-starts and put themselves under pressure, but they stood up. Russell returned but Nel exited - for a deliberate knock-on - and still Scotland held firm.
The last significant act was that try from Seymour. It began right down the other end of the pitch, where Italy were attacking. When the Azzurri spilled it, Russell hacked a kick downfield and when the space opened up, Hogg threw a pass out the side door to Seymour, whose 13th Test try was greeted rapturously by his team-mates.
) pfft 
