Davies warns Cuthbert over France
Pundit Jonathan Davies fears Wales wing Alex Cuthbert’s burgeoning career could be damaged by moving to a French club.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
Rugby: Wales to meet France
Wales are to play a mid-season international against France.
ESPNSTAR.com
Wales win Grand Slam after tense battle with France in Cardiff
Wales beat France 16-9 to claim the 2012 Six Nations title, and their third Grand Slam in seven years. Wing Alex Cuthbert scored the only try of the game, while Leigh Halfpenny kicked 11 points.
Elsewhere, Scotland picked up the Wooden Spoon as they lost 13-6 to Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. Scotland coach Andy Robinson will more than likely face the chop after having lost five from five.
At Twickenham, England gave Ireland a bit of a St Patricks Day hiding as they beat them 30-9, more than likely securing intermim coach Stuart Lancaster’s position.
We’ll get clips and highlights over the best bits from the Six Nations, Super Rugby, and everywhere else, over the next few days.
Congratulations to Wales on a deserved win. What are your thoughts on the day’s results?
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Wales 16-9 France
Wales clinch a third Grand Slam in eight years as they edge past France 16-9 at a delirious Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
England defeat France in Paris in Six Nations classic
England beat France away from home for the first time since 2008 as they came away 24-22 winners in a classic Six Nations encounter in Paris on Sunday afternoon. A last minute dropgoal attempt from Francois Trinh-Duc fell short for the hosts.
In one of the more entertaining Six Nations games we’ve seen in recent times, Le Crunch turned out to be a classic battle that went right down to the wire as France fought back after England took an early lead. Two quickfire tries, first a great effort from Manu Tuilagi, then a Ben Foden try set up by Ben Morgan, gave England a 14-3 lead in the first half.
France chipped away and the second half was a far tighter affair. A fantastic try from Tom Croft then appeared to seal the deal for the English, but thanks to Julien Dupuy, Lionel Beauxis, and Morgan Parra, who all contributed points from the tee, and a Wesley Fofana try with 6 minutes left, we saw a thrilling finale to the game.
If Trinh-Duc’s dropgoal attempt had just a meter more on it, it would have been the French celebrating, but instead England took a famous win in Paris, and still have a mathematical chance of winning the Six Nations.
“It’s hard to come back against the English after such a bad start. We clawed back into contention thanks to our pride,” said brilliant French number eight, Imanol Harinordoquy.
“The two turnovers did for us. Once again we came back into it and we didn’t miss out by much. It’s hard to beat the English once they get ahead,” he added.
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France 22-24 England
England score three tries in a nailbiting 24-22 victory over France to become the first side to win a Six Nations match in Paris since 2008.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
England unchanged for France test
Owen Farrell retains his place at fly-half as England name an unchanged XV for Sunday’s Six Nations match against France.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
France vs Ireland ends in disappointing stalemate in Paris
A second half comeback from the hosts resulted in a 17-17 draw between France and Ireland in their rearranged Six Nations fixture on Sunday afternoon. The outcome rules out France’s chances of a Grand Slam, while Ireland’s title aspirations are now over.
Brilliant Irish winger Tommy Bowe scored twice for the visitors as they raced off to a first half lead, his first try coming from an intercept after a loose pass by center Aurelien Rougerie.
He scored again later on from a fantastic chip and chase effort, but the second half boot of Morgan Parra, and the pace of emerging talent Wesley Fofana both ruled out an Ireland victory.
“Itâs disappointing for us, we played good rugby in the first half, we didn’t match it in the second. Itâs disappointing, we had a great opportunity to win and we didnât take it. Itâs frustrating for us, you donât get many chances to win here,” captain Paul O’Connell told BBC1.
Thierry Dusautoir said his team are very disappointed, echoed by coach Phillipe Saint-Andre. “In the dressing room it felt like a defeat. The Irish defend very well and contest the breakdown well. You have to congratulate the Irish, but you can’t give points away easily like we did.”
France play England at home next, then host Wales in the final game, with the Welsh side aiming for a Grand Slam, depending on what happens in their next fixture against Italy.
Ireland, having just one win under their belt from three Six Nations outings this year, host Scotland next weekend, then travel to Twickenham to face England.
Below are quick highlights from the game, featuring the tries and a late drop goal attempt.
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France 17-17 Ireland
Ireland end France’s Grand Slam hopes by securing a 17-17 draw in an entertaining and keenly fought Six Nations match in Paris.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
France feel they have an advantage ahead of clash with Ireland
The postponed Six Nations game between France and Ireland will take place on Sunday afternoon as both sides look to get a win to reach their respective goals. No ice is expected, and the result may have lasting affects on both sides.
If France aren’t able to beat Ireland this weekend, they’ll not only lose out on a Grand Slam, but they could see themselves dropping out of the top three of the IRB World Rankings.
Ireland on the other hand sit in eighth place, their worst since the introduction of the rankings, and cannot go any lower as they have a decent buffer over Tonga.
A win however will see them move to seventh, one place ahead of Argentina, with France slipping down to Fourth. South Africa will then resume their position in the top three. A win by 15 points or more will see Ireland overtake England in sixth place, and France drop down to fith, with Wales benefitting in fourth position.
French coach Phillippe Saint Andre has said that they’ve enjoyed having the extra time to study their opponents, while Aurelien Rougerie has said the postponement left them with the upper hand.
Since 1972 when they won in Colombes, Ireland have won in France just once, when Brian O’Driscoll scored a hat-trick for a 27-25 victory in 2000. With the home side having won nine consecutive games at Stade de France, dating back four years, they will be odds-on favourites.
Below is a short video where we hear from Rougerie and prop Vincent Debaty, who says that while the rearranged game was disruptive, they will need the all of the home support.
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Best says Ireland can beat France
Rory Best believes Ireland can end the country’s long wait for success on French soil.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
France leave Murrayfield victorious after Scotland scare
Scotland scored two tries as they looked to upset World Cup finalists France at Murrayfield, but couldn’t hang on for a win as the visitors came away 23-17 victors, keeping their hopes of a Grand Slam alive.Â
Scotland produced one of their better performances in recent times but the stats say that this was their fifth straight defeat, and third in a row in the Six Nations. They can however take a lot of positives from a game in which they scored two tries.
Had it not been for injuries to Rory Lamont, Greig Laidlaw, and Mike Blair, the Scots could well have sprung a surprise win over the French, who admitted later that they were caught off guard.
“We were taken aback by by the rhythm and dynamism of the Scots in the opening 15 minutes,” said captain Thiery Dusautoir. “We got back into it little by little and found our own rhythm and gradually asserted ourselves on the match against a really good Scottish side.”
Coach Philippe Saint-Andre echoed the sentiment, saying that it won’t be long before Scotland come good on all their promise.
“The difference between winning and losing is in small details. When you look at Scotland’s last four games, in the World Cup they lost in the last minute to Argentina and the try by England (in New Zealand) was in the 77th minute,” explained Saint-Andre.
“Against England again in the Six Nations, Scotland created four or five opportunities but one turnover and England won the game. And against Wales they had control of the first half and then they had a yellow card and Wales scored two tries.
“We just said ‘we’re worried, we hope it wouldn’t be us’. I’m sure Scotland will very soon beat a fantastic team because they have some fantastic players,” he added.
France will need to win their next two games if they hope to have a Grand Slam finale showdown with Wales in Cardiff. It’s a an uphill battle though with Ireland, England, and then Wales the three sides they face over the next three weekends.
Do you think France, with their classy backs and experienced pack, can go all the way?Â
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Scotland 17-23 France
France prevail 23-17 at Murrayfield as Scotland slump to a third straight defeat in this year’s Six Nations.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
Blair backs Scots to upset France
Mike Blair says Scotland can surprise France if they cut out the mistakes that have blighted their Six Nations campaign so far.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
France start Six Nations campaign with solid win over spirited Italy
France opened their 2012 Six Nations campaign with a convincing 30-12 win over Italy at the Stade de France on Saturday. One of the highlights of the game was a fantastic try scored by winger Julien Malzieu, while debutant Wesley Fofana also crossed.
New France head coach Philippe Saint-André saw his side score four tries past their continental cousins, although the Italians performed valiantly in the tight â dominating possession and territory for most of the match.
The French backs proved too difficult for the Azzurri to contain, with tries scored by centres Fofana and Aurélien Rougerie, as well as wingers Malzieu and Vincent Clerc. Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili added 10 points from the boot.
Whereas Les Bleus capitalised on all of their opportunities, the Italians were unable to finish off a series of promising attacks and will have to improve before next weekâs fixture against Scotland.
Despite his sideâs convincing performance, Saint-André said that there was room for improvement:
“It’s good to win but there is a lot of room for improvement; the glass is half full and half-empty,” the former France winger said.
“We should gain more possession, we lacked aggression, especially at the beginning. As a coach, you seek perfection but today you saw great defence, good discipline and we even scored four tries.
“Up front we could have performed better. We lacked aggressiveness at the start of match in clearing out and as for taking the game to them, we did some things of quality but we were often guilty of failing to finish them off well.
“But It’s a first victory, so you have to have a smile,” he said.
What, or who, impressed you most in this match? Leave a comment below to let us know.
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France v Italy
Preview of Saturday’s Six Nations fixture between France and Italy.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
Fight Night in France – Agen vs Biarritz mass brawl
Biarritz moved out of the Top 14 relegation zone last night with a 15-6 win over Agen in a match that was fiery to say the least. Dimitri Yachvili kicked most of their points for their second successive win, following on from th 25-6 win over Toulon last weekend.Â
Marcelo Bosch kicked a dropgoal to make up their total score as they beat a determined Agen side to move into third from the bottom of the table. That position is subject to other results this weekend however.
“We needed this success to back-up our win over Toulon and confirm our form,” said prop Sylvain Marconnet. “It’s all smiles in the dressing room. We’ll savour this win and we continue with this spirit then we will be on our way. Of that, I’m absolutely certain,” he added.
In tryless game in bitter conditions, things soon got heated and with twenty minutes left, the gloves came off following a bit of foul play off the ball at the lineout. Marconnet, and quite possibly 29 other players and officials, got in the thick of it as things boiled over.
While the original instigator appeared to be Benoit Guyot as he struck an Agen forward on the floor, flanker Wenceslas Lauret was shown yellow for what appears to be escalating the fight. Damien Lagrange was also sent to cool down for ten minutes.
Biarritz are already facing all sorts of sanctions for their part in the chaos with Imanol Harinordoquy’s father against Bayonne recently, so you can be sure this won’t be taken lightly, and a few suspensions will follow for both sides.Â
Have a browse through the related posts below the video for more rugby fights from the archive.
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RUGBY: SIX-NATIONS 2011 – France vs Ireland
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RUGBY: SIX-NATIONS 2011 – France vs Ireland ruggachick.com RUGBY: SIX-NATIONS 2011 – France vs Ireland twitter.com My Match Report: The Defending Champs got off to a shaky start and only really launched an attack in the 31st minute but the rest of the 1st half was dominated by the Irish, who had the lead at half-time. The French stepped up their game in the 2nd half and were the 1st to cross the try-line, but the Irish put up a fight when they out run the French late in the 2nd half, a try that brought them back into the game, but luck and time ran out as the French managed to hang in there for the win.
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France fined for encroaching on haka
France have been fined £2500 for advancing on the New Zealand haka before Sunday’s World Cup final, the International Rugby Board have confirmed.
ESPNSTAR.com
Deflated France lick final wounds
France hooker Dimitri Szarzewski claimed his side were “playing 15 against 16″ in their Rugby World Cup final defeat against New Zealand due to the home support.
ESPNSTAR.com
All Blacks win the 2011 Rugby World Cup – France challenge the Haka
The All Blacks put their 24 year nightmare behind them as they beat France 8-7 in the lowest scoring Rugby World Cup final ever. France came to play, and made their intentions clear just before kick off as they challenged the Haka in a unique way.
Wearing their white away strip, France linked arms and formed a ‘flying V’ before marching forwards towards the All Blacks, making it clear they weren’t going to simply make up the numbers in this one, their third RWC final.Â
“I wasn’t alone, I had my teammates with me. I felt them close to me â too close at one stage, because they wanted to go across the field and hug New Zealand,” captain Thierry Dusautoir said.Â
“It was necessary to calm them down. But it’s a great moment we’ll all remember. I felt during the week that the players wanted to do something during the haka, like they did in 2007. Someone came to see us, who I won’t name, who told us this idea. We thought of it this morning.”
Prop Fabien Barcella was one of the Frenchman who continued forward, having to be held back at times. “It was a ‘V’ for victory, quite simply. It’s the chance of a lifetime to play a final at Eden Park, we didn’t want to miss out on it,” Barcella said.
“It came from the heart, and showed that the 30 of us were together tonight.”
Francois Trinh-Duc, the flyhalf who started off the bench, said that the players needed to make an impression on their opponent. “We had to throw down the challenge to them,” Trinh-Duc said.
“It’s a special moment for the All Blacks, so we wanted a special moment for ourselves as well. It was a way of defying them, letting them know we were there. I think they were surprised, they weren’t expecting it, so I think it worked,” he said.Â
What did you think of what France did in response to the Haka?
Highlights from the match can be viewed on the official RWC website. Other clips and coverage will continue on RD over the next few days. Please get in touch if there’s anything you’d like featured.Â
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Kevin The Tipster – New Zealand vs France – The Final
Kevin the Tipster, the results predicting sheep, has had a pretty good run so far in the RWC. A 90% success rate includes correct predictions for both Semi Finals, so today he’s had a go at the final.Â
You can watch the video to see who the Tipster goes for, as he aims to add to his very impressive 35 from 39 correct predictions. We can tell you though that Paddy Power have already paid out over £600,000 in winnings for those who bet on New Zealand to beat France in the final.Â
That’s right, according to them, the tournament is as good as over, so they’re not wasting any time. ”New Zealand has left all of their opposition so far feeling All Black and blue and itâs inevitable us bookies will be taking a hammering from them on Sunday too so punters may as well collect now,” said their head honcho.Â
Last weekend Paddy Power refunded Welsh punters to the value of over £200,000 following the sending off of Sam Warburton. All losing bets were scratched as they felt the call was wrong.Â
The All Blacks were pre-tournament favourites at 4/6 while France were available at 16/1. A final between the two sides was at set at 11/2 and France, heavy underdogs at this stage, are now at 6/1 to pull off another famous upset.Â
You can follow Kevin’s tips and place some bets with our friends at Paddy Power now
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Doussain, Traille make France bench
France coach Marc Lievremont has again named uncapped Toulouse halfback Jean-Marc Doussain among the replacements for Sunday’s Rugby World Cup Final
Rugby World Cup 2011 rugby news from Scrum.com
NZ v France: Ones to watch!
As we edge closer to Sunday’s RWC final between NZ and France, we single out a few players who we think need to be kept in check.
Planet Rugby | Rugby Union News
Thomson confident of facing France
All Blacks back-rower Adam Thomson remains confident he will be fit to face France in Sunday’s World Cup final at Eden Park.
ESPNSTAR.com
France name same team for final
France coach Marc Lievremont insists his team can pull off an upset after he names an unchanged side for Sunday’s World Cup final.
BBC Sport | Rugby Union | UK Edition
Rugby World Cup Daily – France to wear white as Craig Joubert gets final
After another weekend of controversy, the referee for the World Cup final between New Zealand and France has been named as South African Craig Joubert. In other news, France will wear white in the final, so New Zealand can wear their traditional black.
In 2007 France famously beat New Zealand in Cardiff with the All Blacks forced to wear their alternate grey strip that clearly didn’t work out too well for them. This year France won the coin toss to determine the home side, but allowed New Zealand to have the choice of wearing their famous black kit.
“We decided to allow the All Blacks the choice to play in black. For us it is a sign of respect and a way for our team to thank New Zealanders for a remarkable World Cup,” said French team manager Jo Maso.
“It is an honour to play the All Blacks when they play in their black jerseys and it is logical with the World Cup final being held at Eden Park,” he added.
The gesture seemed a little lost of Graham Henry though. “We’re the All Blacks, we’re playing at home and we wear black, so it’s an obvious one. But I do thank him,” he said.
The other big news of the day is that France are now ranked third in the world, having moved into that position following their win over Wales on the weekend. Wales drop to sixth but can make up ground with a third place play off win. Australia remain second despite their loss to New Zealand, while South Africa move out of the top three for the first time in a while.
Craig Joubert will take charge of the final after having had a solid tournament with the whistle. In today’s RWC Daily there’s a bit of a chat with him, some random cooking classes, and New Zealand coach Henry talks about preparing for the World Cup Final.Â
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France thankful for ‘guardian angel’
France coach Marc Lievremont admitted Les Bleus must have a “good guardian angel” following their 9-8 Rugby World Cup semi-final victory over Wales on Saturday.
ESPNSTAR.com
France climb three places in rankings
France are the biggest movers in the latest IRB World Rankings while Wales are now the leading northern hemisphere side.
Planet Rugby | Rugby Union News
France wary of unpopular England
France head coach Marc Lievremont believes everyone is against England ahead of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final at Eden Park.
ESPNSTAR.com
