Ireland win 6 Nations
FRANCE 20 IRELAND 22
Ireland have been crowned Six Nations champions after a hard fought victory in Paris over France. This was a tense affair and in truth France could quite have easily spoilt the Irish celebrations had it not been for a disallowed try for a forward pass in the final minutes. This will matter little to the Irish though as their legendary centre Brian O’Driscoll got the perfect send off from international rugby.
O’Driscoll also picked up the man of the match award for the second week running for the part he played in the Irish tries and also his defensive work, especially against French bulldozer Matthieu Basterhaud. Ireland outscored their French opponents 3 tries to 2 with Jonny Sexton grabbing a brace and Andrew Trimble getting one. Sexton had an excellent tournament for the Irish and finishes at the top of the points scorers table with 66 points (2 ahead of Owen Farrell) and joint top try scorer with Mike Brown on 4. The French replies came through tries by Bruce Dulin and Dimitri Swarzevski with scrum half Maxime Machenaud also kicking 10 points but it proved not enough to secure the victory.
The victory for Ireland sees them lift the trophy for the first time since 2009 and France finish in 4th place to end a disappointing tournament for Les Bleus.
Italy vs England
ITALY 11 ENGLAND 52
In the first match of the final round of this years Six Nations, England crushed Italy 52-11 in the Roman sunshine. The 41 point winning margin still left Stuart Lancaster’s side short on points difference to Ireland at the end of the match but it needn’t have mattered as the Irish eventually won in Paris. The English scored 7 tries in total with Mike Brown getting 2 and there were one each for Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell, Chris Robshaw, Mako Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi. Fly half Farrell again proved deadly with the boot; converting all 7 tries and also kicking a penalty to leave him with a total of 17 points. Man of the match Brown getting his fourth try of the tournament to give him the title of joint top try scorer with France’s Yohan Huget. As many were expecting before the match, Jaques Brunel’s Italian side were no match for the English and it was just a matter of how many they would lose by. They did put up some resistance though with their 11 points coming from a try by Leonardo Sarto and two penalties by Luciano Orquera. The result left the English top of the Championship with the Irish/France game left to play but it wasn’t to be for Lancaster’s men as Ireland came out on top. The English coach will be happy with his teams efforts this campaign and should take many positives from their performances with the 2015 World Cup on the horizon. The Italians on the other hand can take very few positives from a campaign where they have lost all four matches and finish with the wooden spoon.
Team of the Tournament
15 - Mike Brown (Eng)
14 - Johan Huget (Fra)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (Ire)
12 - Jamie Roberts (Wal)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ire)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (Ire)
9 - Danny Care (Eng)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Ire)
7 - Chris Robshaw (Eng)
6 - Peter O'Mahoney (Ire)
5 - Courtenay Lawes (Eng)
4 - Devin Toner (Ire)
3 - Mike Ross (Ire)
2 - Dylan Hartley (Eng)
1 - Cian Healey (Ire)
Replacements: 16: Joe Marler, 17: Rory Best, 18: Nicolas Mas, 19: Alun-Wyn Jones, 20: Billy Vunipola, 21: Conor Murray, 22: Luther Burrell 23: Rob Kearney