Ireland and England off to hot start
Source: Agencies |
February 4, 2013, Monday
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IRELAND and England hit the ground running in an explosive start to the Six Nations on Saturday, clinching impressive victories to set up a potentially title-defining showdown in Dublin this weekend.
The Irish consigned Wales to an unprecedented fifth straight home loss by beating the beleaguered reigning champions 30-22 in Cardiff, with center Brian O'Driscoll scoring one of their three tries in a vintage performance.
England produced a similar display of intensity and energy by running through Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup, helped by a try on debut by center Billy Twelvetrees and an 18-point haul from flyhalf Owen Farrell.
France, which is likely to be the other side challenging for the title, was taking on Italy in Rome yesterday and will have been spurred by the early markers put down by Ireland and England.
While England's result was expected after its remarkable victory over world champion New Zealand in the autumn, the Wales-Ireland match was much harder to call.
As it turned out, the Irish were far superior, dovetailing flair with a ferocious work rate to leave Wales on an eight-game losing run heading to Paris this weekend.
Winger Simon Zebo scored Ireland's first try at Millennium Stadium after collecting a wonderful offload by O'Driscoll and then produced skills of a football player in the lead-up to Cian Healy's 25th-minute try.
Zebo flicked a misdirected pass from Jamie Heaslip up into his hands using the heel of his left foot, in a move rarely seen on a rugby pitch. The ball was recycled and Healy crashed over, making the score 17-0 and leaving Wales up against it.
Behind 23-3 at halftime, Wales conceded a close-range try to O'Driscoll - his 46th in 121 Irish tests and record 26th in the Six Nations - to virtually end the match as a contest.
A late rally resulted in Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny and Craig Mitchell piercing the Irish defensive line but the loss continued Wales' worst run of results in a decade and left its title defense in tatters.
Chris Ashton, Geoff Parling and Danny Care were the other try-scorers for England.
Scotland's tries came through New Zealand-born winger Sean Maitland, on his debut, and Stuart Hogg in either half but Ireland will be a much tougher rival for England at Lansdowne Road this week.
The Irish consigned Wales to an unprecedented fifth straight home loss by beating the beleaguered reigning champions 30-22 in Cardiff, with center Brian O'Driscoll scoring one of their three tries in a vintage performance.
England produced a similar display of intensity and energy by running through Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup, helped by a try on debut by center Billy Twelvetrees and an 18-point haul from flyhalf Owen Farrell.
France, which is likely to be the other side challenging for the title, was taking on Italy in Rome yesterday and will have been spurred by the early markers put down by Ireland and England.
While England's result was expected after its remarkable victory over world champion New Zealand in the autumn, the Wales-Ireland match was much harder to call.
As it turned out, the Irish were far superior, dovetailing flair with a ferocious work rate to leave Wales on an eight-game losing run heading to Paris this weekend.
Winger Simon Zebo scored Ireland's first try at Millennium Stadium after collecting a wonderful offload by O'Driscoll and then produced skills of a football player in the lead-up to Cian Healy's 25th-minute try.
Zebo flicked a misdirected pass from Jamie Heaslip up into his hands using the heel of his left foot, in a move rarely seen on a rugby pitch. The ball was recycled and Healy crashed over, making the score 17-0 and leaving Wales up against it.
Behind 23-3 at halftime, Wales conceded a close-range try to O'Driscoll - his 46th in 121 Irish tests and record 26th in the Six Nations - to virtually end the match as a contest.
A late rally resulted in Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny and Craig Mitchell piercing the Irish defensive line but the loss continued Wales' worst run of results in a decade and left its title defense in tatters.
Chris Ashton, Geoff Parling and Danny Care were the other try-scorers for England.
Scotland's tries came through New Zealand-born winger Sean Maitland, on his debut, and Stuart Hogg in either half but Ireland will be a much tougher rival for England at Lansdowne Road this week.
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