Fantastic Battle In Cardiff

Six Nations Game 3 - Wales vs Ireland (9-19)

The Irish made a dream start with Hooker Rory Best [left] going over in the corner in the first minute. The conversion went wide, but it fired up the men in green and Wales had to sit up and take notice.

There was some fast and furious passing with plenty of ground being made on both sides. Wales seemed to have a good spell but didn't manage to turn in any points apart from Stephen Jones' penalties.

Brian O'Driscoll [right] finished off a great phase of play to score in the corner, dragging a couple of Welsh tacklers with him over the line. Great strength!

Ireland went in 3 points up at the break, 9-12.

Early in the second half, rookie Welsh winger Chris Czekaj [left] was denied in the corner, by an early tackle from an Irish defender, but the ref awarded a scrum to Ireland (Czekaj having lost the ball forward), and the Irish came off lucky.

The two teams put each other under pressure for spells in the second half. Wales made a break from a slightly fumbled Irish lineout, and made good headway up the pitch, but lost it forward and gave away a scrum.

Shortly after, Ronan O'Gara made a big break, but it ultimately came to nothing. One worry was O'Driscoll pulling up with a hamstring tweak, but he was back on his feet soon after.

They kept the tempo up. Ireland's forwards kept pounding the Welsh defence, but were turned over and Wales made some great ground. James Hook's attempted drop goal fell just short, which was a great pity as they deserved the points for their persistence.

At one point, Denis Hickey went off the field with blood pouring down his face, having caught a stud in the head. But a few stitches later, he was back on wearing a scrum cap and running round like nothing had happened.

Ireland's forwards continued to pound the Welsh defence, coming up just short of the tryline. They got another chance with a scrum but Wales won a vital turnover. The clearance kick came back into Irish hands and the green advanced again. Eventually, O'Gara managed another brilliant score in the corner, and managed to convert his own from way out wide.

The Welsh immediately hit back from a lineout, and Czekaj almost made it to the line, but was just bundled into touch just short. A few furious minutes from both sides, but they couldn't put any more points on the board.

I felt sorry for the Welsh, everyone played their hearts out for the full 80 minutes, but Ireland were just that little bit luckier when it mattered. Great game, even though there was only the one score in the second half.

Or read my Ten Word Review.

Jonny's Back - With A Vengence

Six Nations Game 2 - England vs Scotland (42-20)

What can you say? For someone who has not played international rugby for 3+ years, and has barely played more than a handful of club matches in that time too, you just have to admire Jonny's skill and determination to then come on at Twickenham and play a blinder of a game.

Whether or not you agree with the try that was awarded to Jonny in the second half, you can't deny he made a huge impact in the game.

Harry Ellis [right] was held up over the line after a few minutes, then two teams traded a couple of early penalties, then Jonny punted over another before Simon Taylor's try from a crap England lineout. Paterson converted and all of a sudden, England were down 6-10.

To be fair, most of England's lineouts were solid, and Scotland didn't seem to compete much in the air, which was a surprise.

I thought Ellis played a blinder of a game too, as did Brian Ashton who thought it was his best game in an England shirt.

A few more penalties later (to England), and all of a sudden, Billy Whizz [left], another player recently out of the Interanational wilderness, strikes for his first try of two during the game. And England went in to the break leading 17-10.

Thankfully for the English fans, there was more of the same in the second half, with Martin Corry stealing a lineout, followed by a huge shove from the forwards, a tackling error from Sean Lamont, and Jason Robinson was over the line for his second.

So, two gambles in selection from Brian Ashton paid off - and so did the third, that of Centre Andy Farrell [right]. He was passing and distributing well, made some good breaks and generally looked like a far more experienced Union player than he actually is. He worked well with Mike Tindall, too, which is great news for the midfield.

A few more points for Jonny, plus a late consolation try for Scotsman Dewey, and the final score was 42-20. Other notable points from the game - Danny Grewcock was winning his 67th cap, which made him the most experienced England man on the field. He made some great lineout jumps and generally behaved himself discipline-wise. And Jonny's 27 points beat Rob Andrew's record of 24 for a Calcutta Cup match.

Jonny and the rest of us were hugely relieved the only injury he picked up was a fat lip, and he said the rest of the game went like a dream.

So, a great start for England. Bring on Italy next week!

Or read my Ten Word Review

France Look Dangerous

Six Nations Game 1 - Italy vs France (3-39)

With France's hammering at the hands of the All Blacks in the autumn, and Italy touted as being on the brink of taking a big scalp, much was anticipated for the first match in Rome.

Unfortunately, it all rather went with form. After a slow start, and some reasonable Italian defence, Dominici intercepted a wayward pass for the first try. Then the French forwards put in the grunt work and Cédric Heymans [left] finished off the move for the second try.

In the first half, Italy seemed to have the ball for quite a while, and went through lots of phases of play, but when Fabio Ongaro was turned over close to the French try line, that seemed to be typical of Italy's inability to turn possession into points.

Shortly afterwards, Sébastian Chabal [right] went over the chalk with a quick pick and go, for his first try in French colours. I can't believe he's not been in the team more, considering his form for Sale over the past couple of years.

I think Italy's main problem seemed to be their tactics of constantly kicking to touch rather than keeping the ball in hand or defending better. Canale, Italy's No. 13, was the most convincing for me, making a lot of hard yards and decent tackles.

Chabal scored a second try and totally deserved his Man of the Match award, I think. Not only for his try scoring, but also the number of tackles he put in and ball scavanged.

Once the Italian front row was replaced, their pack did perform better at the scrum, and also stole a lineout from France. Pity they couldn't do more of that earlier on.

Jannick Jauzion [left] put yet another nail in the coffin with another try for France, with a well-seen strike. And Mignoni, the French Scrum Half, looked particularly dangerous too, constantly bothering his opposite number at the scrum and generaly at the breakdown.

So, despite Bernard Laporte's inistance that it was an experimental French side, they are looking quite dangerous, which is worrying for the rest of the squads!

Or read my Ten Word Review.

Half Term Report

The Men In Black had a great game against Narbonne on 14th January. They beat the French visitors by 47-20. Here's a shot from the match:

You can see more pictures from that game at rugbypix.com, as usual.

So Saracens are on course for a great half term report, having won their pool in the European Rugby Cup, which means they get a home Quarter Final. They play Glasow Warriors again (having beaten them once in Watford and drawn the return leg at Glasgow), on the last weekend in March.

They also beat London Irish 19-8 at Watford on 28th Jan, meaning they move up to 5th in the Premiership table, heady heights indeed! Plus, they have one match in hand as they still have to play the postponed game against Irish at Reading on the third weekend of March.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the Six Nations games this coming weekend. Especially with the return of Jonny at No. 10 and the inclusion of Andy Farrell at 12! Well worth watching. Dave Woods asks if Faz's presence will encourage some of our League brethren to watch the match too.

Normal Service Resumed

After a break for Christmas and the New Year, I shall resume normal service for 2007, blogging and blethering to myself. If anyone's listening, that's great. And talking of Christmas, if you're now suffering from the excesses of the Festive Season, you might raise a chuckle at the Halfbakery's suggestion of a Trolley For Dieters.

Now, on to the rugby... what's been happening since I last posted?

• Brian Ashton got the job as England Head Coach (I'm sure you know that already). He's now picked his squad for the Six Nations and beyond, naming Phil Vickery as Captain [see right].
• Some surprises in the squad - Billy Whizz is back from International retirement. Lawrence Dallaglio doesn't even make it into the England Saxons squad. Jonny Wilkinson gets the nod as one of three No. 10's, but is still not fully fit from his last injury and isn't likely to be playable for the first game against Scotland.

Meanwhile, Sarries have been doing OK over the break. They beat Quins away on 22nd, and Northampton at home on 27th December, but lost away at Leicester on New Year's Day. As of now they sit at 5th in the Premiership table. Heady heights indeed - let's hope they can keep it up in the second half of the season!

My next visit will be for their home game against Narbonne (European Challenge Cup match) on 14th January - so I'll post some photos after that.