Another round of tense action with a dose of controversy town in, here is my review of the section round of 6 Nations action.
How did the predictions go?
First here is a link to my predictions.
3 out of 3, so fantastic.
England 47 v 17 Italy
Italy started the stronger of the two sides getting an a early try but errors saw them mess up a couple of opportunities before England got on the board. Those errors proved very costly as England had an inspired 8 minutes scoring 15 points and taking a 10 point lead into half time.
A try for Italy after an England penalty early in the second half temporarily pulled them close. Again England managed to put together a period of play where everything went right scoring 29 points in 14 minutes so the game was won with just over 10 minutes to play. Italy did pick up a late consolation try for their endeavours but after those early errors were never really in the game.
Key Stat: Average meters will ball England 5.0 Italy 2.2
Early errors (Turnovers conceded England 9 Italy 18) when they were on top really cost Italy, but a 20% goal kicking record didn’t help the cause either. In the end though England were just more incisive when they did choose to run with the ball. I say choose as the half backs were more than happy to kick the leather off the ball when it was right to do so.
Ireland 18 v 11 France
Another massive defensive effort from the Irish saw them over come France. With Ireland taking advantage of their territorial dominance in the first half to kick themselves to a 12-6 lead at half time. In the second half the French upped their to get into the right areas of the pitch. But just like in the first half when ever it looked like they were getting things going they would turn the ball over. With the Irish using their choke tackle to great effect they stretched with lead out to 12 points with a perfect kicking display. It was only at the very end of the Irish yellow card that France finally managed to score a try. But Ireland held out of the last ten minutes to remain unbeaten.
Key Stat: Turnovers conceded Ireland 7 France 18
A combination of the Irish choke tackle and poor execution led to France’s downfall.
Scotland 23 v 26 Wales
This one was as tight as the final scoreline suggests. Wales started the stronger and got the first point own the board with a penalty. Only for Scotland to get a try against the run of play and it could have been worse for Wales when another chance soon after was dropped. As it was exchanged penalties meant that the sides were only split by 4 points after the opening quarter of the game. Just after the hour mark the Welsh took full advantage of the Scottish being down to 14 men and took a 10-16 lead into half time.
The second half was equally tight as both sides exchanged penalties meaning that the Welsh were just keeping their noses in front. That as until Davies broke through some tired tackling to open up a ten point lead. Scotland did reply at the death but took too long over the conversion and the game came to a controversial end as the Scots believed that the ref had indicated there was still time on the clock.
Key Stat: Yellow/red cards Scotland 1/0 Wales 1/0
The Welsh managed to score 10 points when Scotland were down to 14 men, but only conceded 3 when reduced themselves. In the end that was enough to win the day.
