Black & Blue

We knew both teams meant business, when France stood just inches in front of the Kiwis as they performed their Haka. And they never blinked. And the French obviously thought old heads were best to front up to the All Blacks - their front row's combined age was 103!

In the 5th minute, big bruiser Serge Betsen [left] took a very heavy hit as he tackled Joe Rokocoko, appearing to get knocked out briefly. He looked extremely groggy once he'd come round, and was ushered off the pitch on the advice of the doctors. Imanol Harinordoquy replaced him and the game resumed.

The French won a penalty, took a lineout and then attacked into the All Blacks half - Damien Traille (a surprise selection at Fullback) attempted a drop goal but pulled it wide.

Both teams were scrapping well on the floor, desperate for turnover ball. The two fullbacks seemed to play a lot of ping pong too - smashing it from one end of the field to the other. Les Bleus were also up for the defence, putting in plenty of tackles. In the 12th minute, France gave away a penalty in their own half, Dan Carter [right] stepped up to take the kick, and New Zealand had the first points on the board, 3-0.

A French lineout was stolen by New Zealand, with Luke McAlister making a superb break. Support from Rodney So'oialo passing to Ali Williams who was just bundled into touch before he could cross the line. A minute later, the Kiwis were on the attack again, with Jerry Collins putting Luke McAlister over for their first try. Carter converted to take them to 10-0.

In the 24th minute, New Zealand found themselves on the wrong side of a ruck, but Lionel Beauxis couldn't add the points for France. Then the Allblacks won another penalty in the 31st minute - Carter had no trouble slotting it over the posts from 40-odd meters, leavinf France trailing by 13 points.

The French had a chance with a lineout in the All Blacks half. They won it, swung it from side to side, and forced a penalty. Since Beauxis' boot didn't seem to be accurate, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde stepped forward for the kick - he didn't have any more luck. So six points thrown away so far.

In the dying seconds of the half, France got another penalty and Beauxis was back for the kick - which he finally struck well. Three points on the board at last.

The first score in the second half was vital, New Zealand certainly lookwd the more hungry for it, until the French broke into the Kiwi's half in the 44th minute. They came up just short of the line, and New Zealand cleared. Veteran Hooker Raphael Ibañez [left] took the lineout throw one-handed, as is his style. The French went for the line, and Luke McAlister was judged to have obstructed the attack and was sent to the bin for ten minutes. Beauxis added the three points to bring them back to 13-6 behind.

The All Black forwards had a go at pick and drive, time after time, inching up to the French line in the 49th minute. But they knocked on and so the French had to take a 5m scrum. Soon after, at 51 minutes, two crucial substitutions were made - Chris Jack coming on for Keith Robinson, Dmitri Sarzewski on for Ibañez, and Sébastien Chabal on for Fabien Pelous.

France did monumentally well to score in the 54th minute, with Thierry Dusautoir [right] going over for a converted try. 13-13. Game on! Worryingly for the Kiwis, Dan Carter limped off in the field in the 56th minute, closely followed by Byron Kelleher.

With 20 minutes to go, both teams were figthing for extra points. Jerry Collins was pinged at the scrum for being offside, and France drilled the ball into the All Blacks half, but the lineout was nicked by the blacks. France were pushed back into their own half and on the defensive. Pushing up from 2m, Rodney So'oialo [left] dived over for a try on the line. McAlister was unable to convert, so the Kiwis were just 5 points ahead, 18-13.

France brought on Freddie Michalak and almost his first touch saw him breaking up the pitch, he passed to Yannick Jauzion [left], who ran for his life to the tryline. It was an easy conversion, and France were ahead for the first time, 18-20. I'm sure the All Blacks didn't think this was in the script!

As the minutes ticked by, France still kept attacking, either with huge kicks to touch or the hard way, ruck by ruck. In the 74th minute, it was New Zealand on the attack, but the French defended hard. Still the Kiwi's kept up the pressure, inching towards the whitewash. 10m, 6m, 3m and France turned it over! The clearance kick across field fell into Chris Jack's hands, but he wasn't fast enough to run it anywhere before the French defence bore down on him.

The All Blacks swung it wide again, and still the French turned it over, with a kick out of the pitch to clear this time. 90 seconds to go, and the Kiwis had an attacking lineout in the French half, but it was a long way to work the ball upfield. Andrew Hoare threw in, New Zealand retained possession but were knocked back towards their half. Luke McAlister tried a drop goal, but it was nowhere near.

20 seconds to go, a 22m dropout. Michalak kicked, the Kiwis collected, passing out wide to the left. The clock went over 80 minutes. Still the All Blacks had possession. France turned over, and Elissalde ran for his life, kicked to touch, and Cardiff erupted with waving tricouleurs.

What a pulsating last few minutes! And who would have put money on that result? New Zealand must have been gutted. And frankly, I'm much happier that England are facing Les Bleus next week, rather than Les Noirs

Loose-Head Birthday

This blog is one year old today.

Not much of a milestone in blogging terms, you may say. But I've enjoyed blethering away about my favourite sport for the past year. Whether anyone else is reading is immaterial!

I'm looking forward to the rugby-fest that presents itself on Saturday: three games on the trot. Need to stock up on beer and take the phone off the hook!

Jason Robinson's training injury is a bit of a worry, having been scoring well since his return to international duty. Let's keep the fingers crossed it's nothing serious. I'll stick my neck out (no pun intended) and make a few predictions:

Scotland vs Italy, 15:00, Murrayfield
The Scots are on a roll from last time round, and Italy have now lost two in a row. Plus, the Scots have home advantage, even if the ground will be far from a sellout. I think if Italy were to beat anyone this year it would most likely be Scotland, but I'm not sure they're fired up enough yet. So, Scotland to win.

Ireland vs England, 17:30, Croke Park
The clash everyone's talking about. Brian O'Driscoll, fit for this game, thinks Wilkinson will be a big influence (he's not wrong). England looked relaxed in training yesterday, according to reports. If they can keep their composure, they may upset the party at Croke Park. But Ireland's midfield are more of a threat than either Scotland or Italy have been - so Andy Farrell better be on his toes. I think Ireland will win, but not by much. Actually, I don't mind either way as long as it's a great game and doesn't get swung by iffy refereeing decisions.

France vs Wales, 20:00, Stade de France
The Welsh are smarting from two losses, and basically have nothing to loose by going to Paris and doing a number on the French. Captain Raphael Ibañez is worried about Gallic complacency, which could indeed by their undoing. But do Wales have the bottle at the moment? I think not, so my money's on France to win.

Cracker At Croke Park

Six Nations Game 6 - Ireland vs France (17-20)

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.

A Muddy Affair

Hilly's Benefit game at Vicarage Road was pretty wet at times yesterday, and the World XV rather unwisely had a white kit, which very soon ended up sludge brown. You could spot the subs a mile off when they came on the pitch, we were nearly blinded by the Ariel Whites!

Bit of a pity Saracens XV trailed so far behind, but it was an entertaining game to watch, all the same. And lots of tries! Well done to Academy sub number 22 Richard Gill, who scored a try for Saracens a few minutes after coming on the pitch. He aslo made a very decent tackle on old stager Carlos Spencer, obviously a youth not afraid to get stuck into icons of the game. And just like seeing Captain Hugh Vyvyan dropping a goal a few months back, I also witnessed something I was never expecting - Saracens prop Ben Broster converting a try with a very decent hoof from the touchline - move over "Glenda" Jackson!

There were some great rugby names on both sides, notably David Flatman and Tony Diprose - former Sarries who returned to pull on the black jersey for the afternoon - and as well as King Carlos, the World XV boasted the likes of internationals Justin Marshall, Matt Burke, Joe Roff, Xavier Rush and Raphael Ibanez. They were captained by the inimitable Lawrence Dallaglio. You can see a bunch of the boys getting stuck into each other in the attached photo.