England power past Ireland at Twickenham
England finished second in the Six Nations championship following a powerful performance against Ireland at Twickenham. The English forwards dominated up front, resulting in a 30-9 victory against the Irish, on St Patrick’s Day.
The home side were awarded a penalty try by referee Nigel Owens after the Irish pack disintegrated under the persistant pressure. A similar situation occured later in the game, resulting in just a penalty, but a quick tap from Ben Youngs. Owen Farrell kept up his good form by kicking six penalties and a conversion.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney blamed the loss on their scrum weaknesses. “I wasn’t surprised by what happened at the scrum because Mike Ross got a crick on his neck at the first scrum and managed to play for half an hour after that,” he said.
“Tom Court came on and went valiantly, but our balance was off. That was always on the cards because we have guys who don’t have huge tighthead experience playing for Ireland at the moment. It’s something we’ll have to work on and bring more Irish guys through.”
Interim England coach Stuart Lancaster, who took over from Martin Johnson following the Rugby World Cup, looks to have secured his position as being in charge fulltime. His assistant, Graham Rowntree, has backed him fully, as have many of the players.
“We’re reborn as a new team under Stuart. It’s hard to think about the World Cup because it’s such a long time ago. We’re still not the finished article and there’s loads more to come. I’ve never worked with such an energetic group of young players who just want to do well,” he said.
It’s since been reported that Nick Mallett is still the frontrunner for the job though, with his international experience and credentials outweighing that of Lancaster’s. The RFU have said they won’t be swayed by public sentiment, and will reportedly interview both candidates this week.
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Ireland beat Scotland in eventful Six Nations clash in Dublin
Ireland scored four tries as they put Scotland away with a 32-14 Six Nations victory in Dublin on Saturday. The match will be remembered for a few stand out moments, including a horrific head knock to Scotland back Lee Jones.
Jones, who collided with Andrew Trimble as the Irish winger came in to make the tackle, was knocked out cold instantly. He was stretchered off and spent the night in hospital, but appears to be stable after a ‘severe concussion’, and will travel home on Monday.
Tries were scored for Ireland by captain on the day Rory Best, Eoin Reddan, Andrew Trimble and Fergus McFadden, while Scotland’s only try came from the brilliant second rower Richie Gray.
Gray, at 6ft10, galloped through a tackle before throwing a perfectly timed dummy on the way to the tryline. Scotland winger Max Evans was later yellow carded for a tug on Keith Earls that perhaps prevented a try being scored, and star winger Tommy Bowe was penalised over the tryline for a double movement in the second half.
“You can look at the TMO one, you have to release the player in the tackle, but we will take the four tries and move on,” said coach Declan Kidney.
“I think our decision-making is getting better all the time, when to move it, when to play position. We are asking more questions of the opposition. When we’ve lost matches we didn’t get overly despondent; just because we’ve won one, we’re not going to get overly excited.
“We will enjoy tonight but will not get carried away because we know we have to be in Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day,” he added.
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O’Brien recalled to Ireland team
Flanker Sean O’Brien is recalled to the Ireland team for Saturday’s Six Nations game against England at Twickenham.
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
Ireland see off Italy with strong second half in Dublin
Ireland piled on the points in the second half to come out convincing 42-10 victors over Italy in their Six Nations encounter at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. It’s their first win of this year’s championship and their first of four games on the trot.
Tommy Bowe scored twice while Keith Earls, Tom Court, and Andrew Trimble gave Ireland the comfortable win after Italy fought hard in the first half, but failed to take their chances.Â
Jonathan Sexton acknowleged that they will need to up their game ahead of next weekend’s meeting with France. “It wasn’t perfect but we’ll take the win and move on to France next week.”
Coach Declan Kidney commended his side for their ‘courage to play’, but said that they need to find the right balance and make sure they don’t get carried away after scoring a few late tries.
“There was a bit of wearing down that had to be done in the first 50 minutes, as there are in all test matches. We could probably have done a little more of that in their half rather than ours, but I can’t fault the boys for trying to play,” he said.
Captain Paul O’Connell on the other hand said that the scoreline gives them a nice boost in confidence ahead of their trip to Paris.
Highlights and clips from all the weekend’s games will be posted in due course. If you have any particular requests, please get in touch via email or post a request on the forum.
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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
Ireland 42-10 Italy
Tommy Bowe scores two tries as Ireland get their Six Nations campaign back on track with a 42-10 win over Italy in Dublin.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
Ireland to consider World Cup bid
IRFU chief executive Philip Browne has revealed that the board are considering making a bid to host the 2023 World Cup.
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Wales seal victory with late kick in Six Nations thriller against Ireland
Leigh Halfpenny was the man of the hour for Wales on the weekend, slotting a last minute penalty to snatch a thrilling 23-21 win over Ireland in a dramatic Six Nations match in Dublin on Sunday.
In what was a passionate encounter, tempers were clearly at the fore for each side as the home team looked to avenge their defeat to the Welsh in the world cup last year.
Yet Wales played with an energy that Ireland failed to match, and two tries by centre Jonathon Davies and one from George North provided the platform for this impressive result.
Both sides exchanged scores in the first half, but Wales were made to rue fly-half Rhy Priestlandâs wayward goal kicking as he missed several attempts at the sticks, allowing the Irish to go in at half time 10-3 up, courtesy of a try from hooker Rory Best and 5 points from Johnny Sexton.
Wales returned after the interval without their talismanic captain Sam Warburton – who picked up a dead leg â but showed strength and power in attack, typified through the impressive North who set-up another score for Davies.
However, Ireland found some spark of their own through Tommy Bowe who scored in the corner and at 21-15 with five minutes on the clock, looked to have the match; however, the Welsh had other plans and cut the lead to one-point with a try from North.
Stephen Ferris was then sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Ian Evans and Halfpenny held his nerve to slot over the last-gasp penalty and condemn the Irish to their first defeat in the opening game of the Six Nations for eight years.
Following the match, Ireland Coach Declan Kidney was left to rue his sideâs missed chances:
“It is extremely disappointing. We had a lead early in the second half but we did not build on it. When we do press ahead we have to go for the jugular. We are going to have to look at being more ruthless,” he said.
It was a classic match with many talking points, so feel free to discuss below.
Longer highlights will replace these ones shortly
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Ireland 21-23 Wales
Wales stage a late comeback to launch their Six Nations campaign with a stunning 23-21 victory over Ireland in Dublin.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
Earls named at centre for Ireland
Ireland name Keith Earls at centre for their Six Nations opener against Wales, with Andrew Trimble starting on the left wing.
BBC Sport – Rugby Union
O’Connell named Ireland captain
Munster lock Paul O’Connell will be Ireland’s Six Nations captain in the absence of Brian O’Driscoll.
BBC Sport | Rugby Union | UK Edition
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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England beat Ireland in Dublin – Manu Tuilagi and Delon Armitage tries
Earlier in the week we took a look at the Manu Tuilagi tackle on David Wallace that resulted in injury, so today we’ll have a quick look at the tries from the match for those who missed it, or just want to watch them again.
As you may have heard by now, Ireland lost their fourth match in succession as England came up trumps 20-9, with tries from Tuilagi and Delon Armitage, as well as some assured kicking from Jonny Wilkinson, proving the difference between the two sides.
Ireland have now slipped from fourth to eighth on the IRB World Rankings in the space of about a month, and while on paper they’ve still got a team who can do well in New Zealand, their form and injury problems will be a major concern.
England on the other hand…
Read more and view the video by visiting the homepage now, or clicking the post title above.
http://www.rugbydump.com
England beat Ireland in Dublin – Manu Tuilagi and Delon Armitage tries
Earlier in the week we took a look at the Manu Tuilagi tackle on David Wallace that resulted in injury, so today we’ll have a quick look at the tries from the match for those who missed it, or just want to watch them again.
As you may have heard by now, Ireland lost their fourth match in succession as England came up trumps 20-9, with tries from Tuilagi and Delon Armitage, as well as some assured kicking from Jonny Wilkinson, proving the difference between the two sides.
Ireland have now slipped from fourth to eighth on the IRB World Rankings in the space of about a month, and while on paper they’ve still got a team who can do well in New Zealand, their form and injury problems will be a major concern.
England on the other hand…
Read more and view the video by visiting the homepage now, or clicking the post title above.
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