Biggar ready to inspire smash and grab visit to Dublin

FRANCE secured their first victory of the 2018 NatWest Six Nations campaign, beating Italy 3417 in Marseille.

Paul Gabrillagues, Hugo Bonneval and Mathieu Bastareaud scored the hosts’ three tries as they won for the first time in nine matches.

A first-half penalty try and a late score from Matteo Minozzi put Italy on the board but they rarely looked like mounting a serious challenge as the hosts dominated throughout.

France settled early nerves in the Stade Velodrome when Gabrillagues scored his first international try in the sixth minute.

Italy were given a penalty three minutes later and, after opting to kick for touch, they drove over the line and referee Wayne Barnes gave the visitors a penalty try for a collapsed maul.

A Maxime Machenaud penalty handed France an 8-7 lead in the 29th minute, and he made it 11-7 with another before half-time.

France started the second half brightly and after Beauxis missed a drop goal, Machenaud scored yet another penalty to put France 14-7 in front.

Italy reduced the deficit in the 50th minute when Tommaso Allan slotted over a straightforward penalty after Sergio Parisse had been tackled off the ball.

The visitors went on the attack, with Sebastian Negri bursting towards France’s 22, but they conceded a penalty and the hosts were then able to come forward.

A well-worked try gave France breathing space in the 60th minute as Bonneval went over after good work by Bastareaud and Grosso in the build-up.

After converting the try, Racing 92’s Machenaud then kicked two further penalties to put France 27-10 ahead.

Bastareaud powered over with a French try in the 73rd minute, and Francois Trinh-Duc converted to send France 34-10 in front.

Italy hit back with a late try through Matteo Minozzi in the 79th minute, with Carlo Canna adding the extras. Last night: France 34-17 Italy Today: Ireland v Wales (2.15pm, Aviva Stadium), Scotland v England (4.45pm, Murrayfield) Kiwi Glen Jackson will be the man in charge in Dublin today. He took to refereeing after retiring from playing in 2010, and made his Six Nations bow five years later in Wales’ win over Scotland. For all the talk that this is a young Ireland XV, the starting side has an average age just three days shy of 28-years-old. IT had all been rather quiet for the week that was in it with no obvious sabre-rattling from Warren Gatland and Ken Owens trotting out some love-bomb quotes Rory Best’s way.

Not what you would expect from Wales ahead of a hugely significant must-win clash for Gatland’s squad but then, midweek, it all changed somewhat and scrum-half Gareth Davies

BY the end of this afternoon, there will be only two men who have pulled on the green jersey of Ireland more times than Rory Best. The Ulster hooker will be winning his 109th cap when he leads the side out against Wales in this middle round of the 2018 Six Nations, breaking a tie with Paul O’Connell and leaving him behind only Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll on the all-time list.

Since his debut all the way back against New Zealand almost 13 years ago, the Poyntzpass man has seen it all in international rugby, quite unlike the youngster who will be packing down alongside him come scrum time.

Ireland’s front-row is Joe Schmidt’s team in a microcosm.

Along with Best, loosehead Cian Healy is another massively experienced campaigner with 75 Test caps already behind him, but injury to Tadhg Furlong has meant the No.3 jersey going to Leinster’s Andrew Porter.

A man who not so long ago was a specialised loosehead, he has appeared at this level just four times before, and as impressive as he was against Italy when pressed into early action, Wales will obviously be a step up in quality.

For Furlong and Porter, read Iain Henderson and James Ryan, or indeed even Sean O’Brien and Dan Leavy.

Injuries have also deprived Schmidt of his centre pairing of Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, with Garry Ringrose absent too, meaning Chris Farrell and Bundee Aki, with just the six caps between them, will be in the midfield.

Ireland’s experience is certainly top heavy with the six least experienced players in the starting side accounting for just 27 of the 604 total caps.

“We’re short on experience, we’re up against a team welcoming back three Lions,” said Joe Schmidt earlier this week. “It’s not ideal, but there’s no better place to learn than in that white-hot atmosphere.”

Best, who has had the likes upped the ante by declaring that he and his team-mates are coming to Dublin in search of a bonus point win.

To be fair, Davies was only being direct in what really must be on Wales’s wish-list but to actually say as much was still undiplomatic, even if it was all rather tame when compared to some of the pre-match utterings that have come before in this fixture.

And just to ramp it up a tad more, Davies threw in that the returning Dan Biggar, Leigh of John Hayes, Mike Ross and now Furlong alongside him for the majority of his Test career, believes that Porter is ready for his toughest challenge yet.

“He doesn’t look overly young for the size of him,” said Best of Porter (right), who will be going head-to-head with Rob Evans, a loosehead who is often also prominent in the loose.

“He’s taken to tighthead and to international rugby really well. He’s always learning, he’s inseparable from Cian Healy here at the minute, and it’s the same at Leinster.

“He’s a young, enthusiastic kid who just wants to learn, and he keeps getting better and Halfpenny and Liam Williams will ensure that the visitors can get exactly what they want from this game.

Last summer’s Lions tour also got a predictable airing with Davies also mentioning that Gatland has a specific plan to nullify Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton by utilising his close-up knowledge about their strengths and weaknesses.

Mind you, Gatland had already mentioned the Ireland half-backs in the sense that he requires a better. The way he prepares and goes to training, he’s ready to take this step.

“Having Tadhg (Furlong) there was a lovely buffer to let Andrew come on and just get used to the level, but sometimes your chance comes through someone else’s misfortune.

“But the last five minutes was arguably his best five minutes, which is exciting and says a lot about his conditioning.” replication of last year’s notable Welsh win in Cardiff — they convincingly won 22-9 and, actually, including two World Cup warmups, the Welsh have won three of the last five meetings — when Murray and Sexton were essentially marginalised from having their usual impact on the game.

After the swatting aside of the miserable Scots and the controversial, but deserved, defeat to England, Wales have to produce something of substance in Dublin to stay in the title hunt.

As well as his lack of experience on this stage, it has also been noted that Porter has never played against PRO12 champions the Scarlets, with the premier Welsh region supplying the national side’s entire front-row.

While the lesser known quantity of Porter is sure to have been the focus of plenty of Wales scrum coach Robin McBryde’s analysis this week, Best foresees no problem in

And with Biggar back earlier than expected from his shoulder injury — courtesy of 90 minute shifts in an oxygen chamber over a 10-day period — Wales have just the man to go head-to-head with Sexton in terms of tactical importance to their cause.

Whether the Northampton-bound out-half is quite ready to hit the ground running in the intensity of a Six Nations encounter remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that if on-form he is the player Gatland