A war of words has raged this week with dangerous amounts of Celtic passion passing back and forth. Unfortunately Wales had little platform and no drive to win this. Ireland were solid under pressure and even entertaining in places, this was a low-octane game compared to last years Grand Slam game!
O’Driscoll’s 100th game was a win, but not particularly entertaining!
An early setback for Ireland had us worried when D’Arcy limped off with a leg injury, fortunately in-form Kearney came off the bench. Only for Wales to put themselves down to 14 men with Byrne sin-binned for killing the ball.
Keith Earls cored in the 23rd minute thanks to O’Driscoll’s offload, and O’Leary followed it up with one of his own shortly after on the half hour mark. Earls got a second in the second half to close out Wales who’s entire 12 points were Stephen Jones penalties.
Had it not been for Sexton’s poor kicking form Wales would have lost by a lot more (I know we need to get him ready for the World Cup but this is getting silly!), he missed three of his five first-half attempts including a straightforward conversion. He made up for some it with a late drop-goal.
An improvement, and less of a nightmare than Paris – Ireland remain on course fot he Triple Crown, and maybe even the tournament if France take their eyes of the ball.
In a soggy Twickenham Ireland got it just about right! The line-out fired, and the scrum looked improved. Sexton came off not early enough in our book, never have we screamed so much for O’Gara to enter the field of play, when he did he put a sublime kick in for Tommy Bowe’s try.
Wikinson had just kicked into the lead for England at 16-13 when Bowe again broke the defensive line from the lineout to score his second.
Earls also got try, with Dan Cole getting England’s only try of the game.
Ireland and England both now have 4 points, two behind France
There are four changes to the team, two in the forwards and two in the backs.
Geordan Murphy makes a welcome return after returning from injury and Jonathan Sextion will start at outhalf.
John Hayes wins his 100th cap as part of a front row that contains Rory Best in replacement for Jerry Flannery. Donncha O’Callaghan makes a welcome return alongside Paul O’Connell.
Ireland Team & Replacements (v England, RBS 6 Nations Championship, Twickenham, February 27th, 16:00)
15 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 – Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18 – Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 – Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Jerry Flannery will sit out the rest of the Six Nations after receiving a six-week ban for kicking Alexis Palisson in the France game and being cited afterwards.
Flannery pleaded guilty and can resume training on March 29 (9 days after Irelands final game against Scotland)
Flannery has the right to appeal.
Ireland have dropped to fifth in the IRB World Rankings after their defeat against France, a win would have seen them move third in the world.
France have now beaten Ireland six times in a row at home and move up to fourth in the rankings. England rank sixth.
IRB World Rankings:
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.68 rating points
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 88.60
3(3) AUSTRALIA 85.56
4(5) FRANCE 84.40
5(4) IRELAND 83.33
6(6) ENGLAND 81.77
7(7) ARGENTINA 80.56
8(8) WALES 79.63
9(9) FIJI 75.90
10(10) SCOTLAND 75.51
The Six Nations Grand Slam is off (for Ireland at least), Morgan Parra who had accused Ireland of being cheats masterminded a defeat for the Irish.
Tries in the first half by Servat and Jauzion, and a second half one from Poitrenaud were added to Morgan Parra’s 15 points to see of Ireland who really looked rather flat!
David Wallace grabbed one try at a stadium they’ve not won at since 2000, and O’Gara kicked the rest of the points.
There were positives for Ireland, a strong lineout and an opening try for O’Driscoll was disallowed ruled as a dead ball when it hit the post. Madness ensued after that resulting in Cian Healy heading to the bin for a tackle on Parra (without the ball). Parra slotted the penalty to give France an undeserved lead. Flannery was lucky not to join him soon after after injuring Palisson, who was replaced by Malzieu.
The French made the extra man count taking the score to 10-0 before O’Gara answered with a penalty just before the half hour. The French now proved how up for it they were taking it to 17-0 on 31 minutes. Ireland had had enough and campled on the French line, desperate to break it before half time and failing.
The second half started as the game was to go on, with Trinh-Duc running 30 metres after O’Driscoll missed an intercept, only to knock-on just before the line in a tackle. The pressure was showing and France took full advantage punishing Irish mistakes.
It was purely a consolation try when David Wallace went over and O’Gara converted with just 10 minutes left to go. All it took was tfor Frederic Michalak to drop-goal close to the final whistle to really show Ireland up.
Team:
15-Rob Kearney,
14-Tommy Bowe,
13-Brian O’Driscoll (captain),
12-Gordon D’Arcy,
11-Keith Earls,
10-Ronan O’Gara,
9-Tomas O’Leary;
8-Jamie Heaslip,
7-David Wallace,
6-To be confirmed,
5-Paul O’Connell,
4-Leo Cullen,
3-John Hayes,
2-Jerry Flannery,
1-Cian Healy.
Replacements from:
Rory Best,
Tom Court,
Donnacha Ryan,
Sean O’Brien,
Kevin McLaughlin,
Eoin Reddan,
Jonathan Sexton,
Paddy Wallace,
Andrew Trimble.
Following the opener on Saturday against Italy, Ireland have added 11 players to the squad from those who played at Croke on Saturday for the game against France.
O’Connell came off during the Italy game after taking a blow to the eye, but is expected to train this week. Trimble came off with a tight hamstring and is now a concern for the France game. O’Gara took a knock to the knee and will be monitored.
No players have been ruled out for France as yet, but O’Callaghan and Ferris have been drafted in (despite recovering from knee and leg injuries that kept them out of the Italy game.
Ireland Squad (in addition to Italy match 22):
Tony Buckley
Gavin Duffy
Stephen Ferris
Chris Henry
Marcus Horan
Denis Hurley
Shane Jennings
Johne Murphy
Donncha O’Callaghan
Jonathan Sexton
Dan Tuohy
It was a rusty performance for Ireland in their opening game against Italy after winning all five games last season to complete the Grand Slam.
A win to celebrate John Hayes 100th cap, and 50th successive appearance in the tournament was nice, but it was less than convincing!
O’Gara had been recalled and became the first player to score 500 points in the tournaments landing all of his six kicks on goal – this is likely to be an ongoing competition between Ronan and Johnny Wilkinson for some time we think!
Jamie Heaslip and Tomas O’Leary both got first half tries, and Italy squeezed on over just before half time (despite being down to 14 men with Gonzalo Garcia in the sin-bin) with Kaine Robertson charging down Rob Kearney’s kick.
It was 23-8 by the break.
Italy scored shortly after on the 44th minute and there was no way Ireland were going to let them get another, even with a massive lull in play and a poor kicking session with O’Gara being the main culprit.
Paddy Wallace came on to take over kicking duties and got another penalty to tie up the game 29-11.
O’Driscoll said:
“It’s not easy to click immediately having only been together for two weeks and not having played together since November,”
Much improvement will be needed for the rest of the tournament!
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Italy, 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Croke Park, Saturday, February 6, kick-off 2.30pm):
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 - Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
3 - John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 - Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 - Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
7 - David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 - Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
22 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Unavailable due to injury:
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
