>> Gallagher: How the title was won and lost
BRENDAN GALLAGHER looks back at the defining moments that swung the tournament Ireland’s way
Round One Wales 34 Scotland 7
The Scots arrived in Cardiff with high hopes, Finn Russell was laughing and smiling throughout the anthems and all seemed set fair. And then reality set in. An early interception try for Gareth Davies and another converted try by Leigh Halfpenny and the game was virtually over after 12 minutes. Wales kept a firm grip cleverly kicking long and organising the chase perfectly to corral Scotland’s dangerous counter-attackers and defend on their terms. After the break Halfpenny scored a second, Steff Evans secured the BP and Peter Horne scored a consolation effort for the Scots.
France 13 Ireland 15
A middling untidy game but an utterly unforgettable finish with Ireland, trailing by a point, ruthlessly going through 41 phases before Johnny Sexton, who had already landed four penalties, launched a 42metre dropped goal to secure the win. Ireland and Sexton were both out on their feet, it was a case of now or never. Prior to that it had seemed a breathtaking individual try by Teddy Thomas, completely at odds with the rest of the game in terms of quality, was just about going to earn a much needed victory for Les Blues.
Italy 15 England 46:
On a sunny winter’s afternoon all seemed good with England’s seven tries coming at regular intervals and few alarms although an early and serious knee injury to Ben Youngs was to have big repercussions for their tournament. Exeter Chiefs No.8 Sam Simmonds was probably the headline player showing startling pace to score two second half tries while Anthony Watson was another to cross twice. Although outclassed generally and outmuscled up front, Italy did construct two very decent tries themselves from Mattia Bellini and Tomasso Benvenuti.
Round Two Ireland 56 Italy 19
Ireland dodged a bullet in Paris and were determined to engage top gear from the off against Italy who produced sporadic moments of quality amid a generally disappointing display. Ireland ran in eight tries at regular intervals with Robbie Henshaw catching the eye with a brace before departing injured. Ulster try-scoring machine Jacob Stockdale also opened his account with two well-taken scores. Italy scored three second half tries of their own, the best being from Matteo Minozzi, their best player, courtesy of a superb long pass from Tomasso Allen.
England 12 Wales 6
Eddie Jones stoked the fires pre-match with pointed comments on inexperienced Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell and skipper Alun Wyn Jones and his side certainly flew out of the blocks with two superbly taken tries by Jonny May – but they huffed and puffed for the remaining hour. Wales should probably have been awarded a try when Gareth Anscome appeared to touch down although that debate rages, later slo-mo suggests Steff Rogers might have knocked on in the build up. England survived, just, courtesy of a remarkable Sam Underhill tackle on Scott Williams.
Scotland 32 France 26
Scotland bounced back from the disappointments of Paris mainly through the boot of Greig Laidlaw who landed six second half penalties to beat a French team that flattered to deceive. France had just edged an entertaining first half 20-14 with two fine tries by the gifted Teddy Thomas to a try apiece from Sean Maitland and Huw Jones. After the break though Les Blues totally lost they plot, as indeed they did at an Edinburgh nightclub later that night which saw eight players dropped from the squad entirely.
Round Three France 34 Italy 17
The first new Championship venue since 1954 and a Friday night fixture to boot at the Velodrome in Marseilles where France, minus the banned party boys from Edinburgh, ground out a much needed win. Mathieu Bastareud, returning after his ban for homophobic comments, was France’s stand-out along with a steadier than usual Francois Trinh-Duc who kicked five penalties. There were three French tries – Gabrillagues, Bonneval and Basta – while Italy worked a penalty try and the outstanding Minozzi claimed another try.
Scotland 25 England 13
A fired-up Scotland unleashed their full armoury against England with three outstanding first half tries. Huw Jones struck first pouncing on Finn Russell’s grubber and the centre then ran onto a wondrous midfield miss pass from Russell to make acres of ground to establishthe position for Sean Maitland to score. Finally as half time approached he burst through Nathan Hughes and Owen Farrell and then Mike Brown and Antony Watson for a stunning individual score. England could manage only a second half try from Farrell in reply.
Ireland 37 Wales 27
These two nations have dominated the Championship recently winning seven of the last 11 titles and this was always going to be a pivotal clash. Initially it was all a bit one sided with Wales’ pack, having gone very well in the opening two games, suddenly hitting the wall. Ireland had a try bonus inside 53 minutes before Wales finally secured just enough pill to come roaring back, scoring fine tries by Aaron Shingler and Steff Evans. That’s before try machine Jacob Stockdale decided the issue with a last minute interception try.
Round Four Ireland 28 Scotland 6:
Ireland took the title with a well constructed win over a Scotland side who were competitive in every phase but were undone by a chronic lack of precision in the red zone. Two, arguably three, gilt edged chances went begging and Scotland really should have been much closer. Stockdale claimed his third brace of the tournament with Ireland’s other tries coming from Conor Murray and Sean Cronin. For Scotland young wing Blair Kinghorn capped a promising first Six Nations start with a superbly taken try.
France 22 England 16
Another substandard performance from England who again failed to adapt to the referee. Against the Scots they failed to understand that Nigel Owens was going to allow a free for all at the breakdown and then in Paris they struggled with Jaco Peyper’s much stricter interpretation of the law. France were distinctly average but still deserved to win, their penalty try in the 49th minute being a big moment when Watson went in high on Benjamin Fall – if he had gone in low Fall would simply have taken the tackle and stretched out to score.
Wales 38 Italy 14
With the Championship already decided and everybody expecting a procession against Italy there was a subdued atmosphere even though two early Wales tries, both coming from Italy mistakes, hinted at a cricket score. Italy hit back with a strong half hour leading into halftime which should have garnered more than Minozzi’s brilliantly taken try. Italy were still very much in contention at half time but it fell apart disappointingly in the second half as they leaked another three tries before a well taken late consola- tion effort by Bellini.
Round Five Italy 27 Scotland 29
Italy saved their best for last and still lost but this was a defeat that really does hint at better times ahead. Italy scored three tries – two for Tomasso Allen who enjoyed his best ever performance for Italy – and another from Matteo Minozzi to make it four for the full-back in the tournament. They should have scored more and victory should have been theirs but Scotland hung in tenaciously, rode their luck a little and showed composure at key times. They scored two tries in the first half and broke Italian hearts after the break with further scores by Sean Maitland and Stuart Hogg.
England 15 Ireland 24
There were 17 wins for the Irish at Cheltenham in the week but this was a victory the entire nation roared on with only Ireland’s third Grand Slam in history coming rather more easily than the scoreline suggests. Ireland did the hard work in the first half with tries for Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and a brilliantly taken effort from Jacob Stockdale, his seventh of the tournament. Elliott Daly scored twice for England and Jonny May grabbed a late consolation.
Wales 14 France 13
Both sides badly needed the win to add a certain gloss to their season with second place behind champions Ireland up for grabs. The result was a dog fight that was anybody’s game until the final whistle. France took an early lead through a Trinh Duc drop-goal but made a horrible mess of the restart and allowed Liam Williams to steal in for a try. Halfpenny also kicked three penalties for Wales before half-time with France hitting back with a Gael Fickou try converted by Machenaud who also added a penalty in a cagey second half. Wales survived, just, to finish Championship runners up.