What a breathtaker!

After 61 years Ireland achieved a deserved Grand Slam defeating Wales at the Millenium Stadium. This is also their first victory in the 6 nations, their former victory being in 1985.


During the first half Stephen Jones scored two penalty kicks for Wales, while his teammates put more and more pressure on O'Gara that started to look uneasy, despite the rousing speech he gave to his mates in the morning. When the second leg began Wales only had to score a converted try to win the tournament, but after only a few minutes Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll scored the first try of the day, and Ronan O'Gara added two points to the game-bag putting Ireland on the lead.

Before Wales knew what was happening O'Gara kicked a wonderful ball beyond the Welsh line and Tommy Bowe scored another try. When asked about his try he simply said "it was nice". By the way, Bowe also sang a song during the presentation of the trophy in Dublin... lucky he's a rugby player and not a singer!


Stephen Jones kicked two more very important balls bringing the score to 12-14, with just one kick away from robbing from Ireland their long deserved glory; kick that arrived with just three minutes left to play when Stephen Jones pulled another ace out of his sleeve and scored a drop kick that couldn't give Wales the title but destroyed the Irish dream. With just a minute to play mr drop kick himself Ronan O'Gara reset the score to 17-15, freezing the Millenium Stadium.


As Paddy Wallace recalled later, he "just felt the game had sort of a lack of excitement", so he conceded a penalty from 50 meters. Ronan O'Gara (half?) joking declared that he "was ready to kill Paddy", which at the time was in a "Oh Jesus what have I done" mood.

The kick was short, Jones was torn apart and Ireland gained the Slam.


Later he swapped his jersey for O'Gara's (who hopes to get it back... quite an important keepsake!).

Back in Dublin, where a huge crowd welcomed the whole team, captain Brian O'Driscoll said about the victory "it's been fantastic". When asked how he felt the day after he said "you're not as sore as you would be if you'd lost"... that made me smile, as it reminded me of good old times when rugby was not only something I could write about.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney, who won the Six Nations and the Grand Slam on his first year on the bench, talking about his team said "yesterday it was their day... it was everybody's day, really". Sure it was my day! All rugby lovers should thank both teams for the thrilling match. I hope that Pancho will really bring me that DVD... Some pintes of Guinness should do, as I don't think our pubs have run dry of beer, even if maybe in Dublin they did: Llanelli beating New Zealand was probably a bigger occasion, but Ireland is looking forward to more victories and they would like to get used to it. Or, at least, they hope they won't have wait for another 61 years before the next one!

England takes back the Calcutta Cup

Despite they conceded too many penalties, as in almost every match of the tournament, despite Chris Paterson ending the tournament with a 100% kicking record, despite losing Ellies for an injury (luckily evertything revealed to be all right) England defeated Scotland 26-12. Scotland did not have much to show, while England gave away all their possibilities for the championship in the first matches.


And, still, they don't have a real kicker. How I miss Wilko! I hope he'll be well soon. There are rumors about him moving to France, but let's wait for him to recover and see.

And, talking about kickers, isn'it strange that Paterson only seemed to kick the "easy" penalties, leaving all the kicks from the distance to is teammate Godman? Maybe he didn't want to spoil his perfect track?

Another wooden spoon for Italy

France seemed aghast last week, but they recovered pretty soon crushing and crunching Italy 8-50. The first of the seven tries holds Sebastien Chabal's signature: he broke not the first nor the last tackles in the day and scored calmly holding the ball with just one hand (yes, not one arm, one hand).
Some five minutes later Francois Trinh-Duc scored a wonderful try, elegantly sending the Italian defence to a wild-goose chase with a dummy.

Just the time to kick the ball into play and France scored another try. And it went on and on, up to 50 points, only interrupted by a try by Sergio Parisse.

Italy could still compete with England: the former collect wooden spoons as the latter collect sin bins... or at last as they used to, as they seem to have inverted their route.

England reborn

In a stunning turn of events England forgot everything about sin bins and remembered everything about playing rugby, crushing France 34-10 after an incredible 29-0 after the first half, by which they had by far secured the match despite the two French tries.


It was pretty clear how England wanted to play the match since the very first seconds, when Cueto scored the first try of the series. The total tries count was 5-2, but it does not express the full extent of the English mastery of the match, also due to far too many handling errors by France. Moreover, I think that if Flood had not left the match for a quite monotonous Goods, who tried the same short kick for his wing a hundred times, the blow to the French team would have been heavier.

The real story of the match is told in the overtime minutes, when England were still trying to score another try, while France, as soon as they grabbed possession of the ball, kicked it out only wishing for the showers.

Congratulations Ronan

With 17 poinst scored against Scotland in one of his best performances so far, Ronan O'Gara is now with 492 points the highest scorer in the history of the tournament, overtaking unlucky Jonny Wilkinson who remains at 479. Chris Paterson, even if more than a hundreds of points down below, still holds his perfect stripe.


Peter Stringer, man of the match, played at a very high level, showing he masters many of the little techniques that belong to a very good scrum half. This time I really liked him.

And congratulations go to Ireland as well, as they are now just a match away from a deserved grand slam. Looks like Declan Kidney knows his job... I am really looking forward to the clash against Wales, hoping that what we saw against Italy was just a diversion from the real rugby they can play and that we will enjoy a terrific match.

Wales still hoping

After beating Italy on their own ground Wales is retaining hope for the title, even if after this narrow 15-20 escape they'll have to utterly defeat Ireland in the Millenium Stadium (yes, I wish I was one of the lucky possessors of a ticket!).

The defeat against France seems to have hit the Welsh more than it seemed ad first, up to the point that they were very close to losing the match to the best Italy seen so far. Shane Williams continued his scoring stripe, also keeping his average of one try per match against Italy; Shanklin's try finally gave Wales some of the breath they needed. Nevertheless, scoring two tries against zero wasn't enough to say that Wales really deserved to win, as what really costed Italy the match were their errors.

Sergio Parisse was voted man of the match, and I really appreciated his perfect positioning and energy, if not the careless way with which he handled a couple of balls, but that's ok in the end.

Will Italy surprise us all next week? they still have a long way to go, but France could still be shattered by their match against England...

Ireland still on the go

Ireland are only the only team that can go for the Grand Slam, which they've been missing in the last 61 years. Their next clash will be against Scotland in that temple of rugby which is Murrayfield.

The game with England was very hard and it ended 14-13, with England dangerously coming closer within just a couple of minutes from the end of the match thanks to a try scored by the English full back Armitage. Maybe the ghosts of the match with France that last year robbed Ireland from all their hopes for the title came lingering around, but they were banished away by the final whistle.

The only try scored by Ireland has O'Driscoll name, once and again named man of the match.

And, once and again, England piled up their sin bin collection, sending Johnson up in arms: he'd better try and correct this attitude if he wants his team to collect points instead of cards. He insisted with his players that they lost the match because of their ill behaviour and their untrust in their own defence, which, on the opposite, has proved quite tough. Johnson said he still didn't know whether any player would pay for his actions losing his place in the team: should a coach of a football team say the same, at least here in Italy, he'd be considered the real culprit (the scapegoat) and he'd be given the axe within the week, esp. given the stripe of bad results achieved. Just an impression of mine. Luckily no news have been heard about this.

The strangest of things, this time I did not see Stringer play so close to the edge of the rules, in that unnerving manner I so often spot when I see him play. Again, just an impression of mine, but luckily impressions come for free and everyone can have their own.

Give me back the 5 nations

With the maximum respect for everyone, but... what's the point, beyond economics? Italy won just 2 out of the last 13 matches, and last Saturday clash was not one of the lucky ones, being outclassed by Scotland 26-6. OK, Scotland did not play a wonderful rugby, but they played rugby. On the other hand, someone else has seen too many matches with Zinzan Brooke. The match really had a bitter taste... even more if we consider the fact that the clash against Scotland was considered the only one that Italy could actually win. How much time shall pass before someone will start keeping Italy at arm's length? Quite a long time, if we only look at the ticket sales. But how many people will still want to go to see such matches?

Well at least there was a very good reason to be there: all the stadium sang the anthem without any instrument supporting voices, and it was really thrilling.

Another back-to-back Grand Slam missed

That's sad for Welsh supporters... and I did not even see but the last few minutes of the match!

Another hard lesson for Italy

As predictable, Ireland showed no mercy for Italy, punishing them whenever they gave them an occasion - and Italy gave more than one. Maybe the final 9-38 is a bit too heavy, but Ireland was way better than Italy, except for the first 30 minutes in which the Azzurri managed to hold the field, thanks to a better organized scrum (this time they had a proper scrum half). In the remaining time Italy showed the will to produce good rugby, but, alas, they did not produce good rugby, never really worrying the Irish team which in turn scored five tries, two of them in the very last minutes, increasing their already remarkable advantage.

Ireland are thus sailing to their objective, while Italy is still making for the wooden spoon. Somebody has already started wondering whether they really belong in the tournament, reminding that economical reasons played a strong role in their admittance. Will they be given the axe?

By the way, I am really proud to say that I have a wooden spoon myself: my friend and teammate Paolo Ragusi gave it to me after our dreadful season against the best teams in Italy when we were both seventeen. We lost each and every match, so I really deserved it!

Another grand slam?

Wales are paving the road for their second consecutive Grand Slam, something they have been chasing in the last 100 years; the Dragons defeated England 23-15 at the beautiful Millenium Stadium (even if my heart still dwells in Arms Park). The game was not the one-way clash most people were expecting, but it was well fought and quite enjoyable.

Unluckily for England this time Stephen Jones wore his right shoe on his right foot (and the left shoe on the left foot) and he booted 18 points for Wales, leading them to victory even if England scored two tries against the single one realized by young Halfpenny - who also booted a penaty.

It should be obvious by now that England have some problems with the rules, and it is costing them an arm and a leg. Moreover, Martin Johnson does not seem fit to make them turn about: besides, when a coach, instead of focusing on correct play, has the players train with just fourteen men on the field just in case of a sin bin, well, you start asking yourself a couple of questions.

France beats Scotland

But unfortunately I wasn't able to see the match... 22-13 the final result, one try on each side... not exactly the outcome I was hoping for :-(

Wales still the team to beat

After beating Scotland 26-13, with a try count of 4-1, Wales is putting forward all the assumptions for another great tournament. Scotland managed to hold the Welsh for the first 25 minutes, but the end of the first half reported a quite heavy 16-3.

Cross tackling Byrne while the latter was in the air to catch the ball was a good demonstration of why air tackles are no longer allowed; the rule was introduced to protect the jumpers, but this time the worst time was passed by the tackler, who was severely blown by a knee on the head. Beyond the normal recovery time Cross got another ten minutes to recover due to the sin bin subsequent the dangerous tackle.

That was probably the start of the end for Scotland, that could no longer hinder the Dragons whose backs really ravaged, with Shanklin breaking the ice with the first try of the day, followed by the ones scored by Alun Wyn Jones, the rookie Halfpenny and the unfailing and ubiquitous Shane Williams.

A try in the last 10 minutes was all the Scots could scrape together, which is something if you consider the fact that Wales only conceded two tries in last year tournament.

England is now hoping not to be skinned alive next week (maybe Stephen Jones will wear his banana shoes again...)

O'Driscoll alive and kicking

Saturday's match against France showed everyboy that Brian O'Driscoll is back, and he's back to stay, despite what his detractors might have said. And, talking about detractors, I heard people say that Sebastien Chabal was just a bag of fat walking around... well I think that everybody saw that he's not, even if I liked him better as a flanker than as a lock.

Declan Kidney's first appearance in the RBS Six Nations as a head coach was a great victory, and Ireland played a very good rugby. France did not let them loose, even if they did not capitalize everything they produced, and the result was a very enjoyable game, with Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy scoring three wonderful tries that let Ireland win 30-21 over France, which is something that had not happened in quite a while.

The Irish are keeping their feet on the ground - Kidney will care for that - but people are starting to wonder wheter this could be the right year, maybe playing for the Grand Slam against Wales on the last day of the tournament.

Italy steamrolled by England

Having an English friend is wonderful (even if maybe you don't call him as much as you should... Hi James!). Sometimes, though, it is a horrible thing, as it exposes you to all kinds of mockery. Saturday was one of these times, even if, at least up to now, I have been spared the mocking. So much time seems to have passed since last year's match...

Due to a certain lack of scrum halves, Nick Mallet tried the Mauro Bergamasco trick and lined him up as number nine. I think Mauro is a very good player. When he plays as a flanker. Saturday's experiment was a complete disaster - and this to compete in the euphemistical contest. The official RBS Six Nations mercilessly reported that "Italy’s one-dimensional attack was not at all difficult to read with Bergamasco at scrum-half". Welsh icon Jonathan Davies said Mauro's match was one of the worst ones in history for an international player. Mallet admitted his error, so we'll see Paul Griffen back in action.

The transition from the two roles is not easy, and I know what I'm talking about because I did it myself in my youth in the west that is forgotten (it was 1988), when Santa (not Santa Claus, but Andrea Santamaria, our great coach at the time) first lined me as a scrum half against Calvisano (and a few of our opponents might as well have been in the team that won the italian title last year): we gained a beautiful victory, so from that day on we practically played with three flankers and a number eight. But this is a different story...

To save the day, I liked the try scored by Mirko Bergamasco, but the game, which ended 36-11 with England scoring 5 tries, was quite dull, even if I have to admit I haven't followed it with all my attention - sad but true, it did not deserve it - and I had something else on my mind.

Don't ask. The picture is more than a smell of a scent.

And I'm still longing for Jonny Wilkinson.

Waiting for the clashes

Next weekend the RBS Six Nations will begin with England hosting Italy in Twickenham, Ireland hosting France in Croke Park and the Grand Slam Winner Wales visiting Scotland in Murrayfield. Starting to feel the excitement...