Saturday, March 13, 2010

Live Six Nations - Scotland v England

1628: Right - let's clamber aboard the Metaphorical Express and shoot over the Irish Sea from Dublin to Edinburgh. Wasn't the best of games in Ireland - can Scotland and England surprise us and produce something better?
From BBC Sport's Jonathan Davies: "Wales have had no platform, the pace has gone from their game and they've got real problems in their line-out. It's been a really disappointing Six Nations for them."
From BBC Sport's Keith Wood: "At least Ireland managed to rack up some points and they've a decent chance for the Triple Crown. But they are back on track."
1624: Just seen the Lee Byrne yellow card again - fair shout, in retrospect, because he slapped the ball away off the deck as O'Leary tried to spin it. If Scotland hadn't panicked in the last 10 minutes at the Millennium Stadium, Wales would be staring at a wooden spoon decider next weekend.
From BBC Sport's Jonathan Davies: "I thought Ireland were very flat and didn't create much at all - but they were very clinical and took their opportunities when they came."
FULL TIME: Ireland 27-12 Wales There we go - Ireland march on towards the Triple Crown, Wales sink lower down the table. Solid and professional from the hosts, sloppy and very disappointing from the visitors.
78 mins: Shane goes again with a grubber down the left, but the ball goes into touch. Ireland closing this one out clinically.
76 mins: DROP-GOAL Sexton, Ireland 27-12 Lovely strike from the youngster, and that will help his confidence.
74 mins: Wales have passed the ball over 180 times, Ireland less than half that - but look at the scoreboard.
72 mins: Ireland penalised again - Hayes turning in at the scrum - and Jones will kick to the corner. Wales gather and plough on, but Delve gets isolated and Ireland will clear. 15 pens conceded by Ireland, but as at Twickenham, they've used their smaller slice of possession far more effectively than their opponents.
70 mins: Huw Bennett on for Matthew Rees. Hook comes dashing on on the angle but Shane's pass to him is forward. Sloppy.
68 mins: Ghastly period of play, Wales going sideways, Hook coughing up the ball, O'Leary booting the ball out on the full. Game is drifting to an obvious conclusion.
65 mins: Lots of perspiration from Wales, but it's all a bit sideways. BOD wraps up Roberts, Halfpenny has no room out on the left and Ireland will have the line-out. Warburton on for Martyn Williams.
62 mins: PEN S Jones Ireland 24-12 Wales Dwayne Peel on for Richie Rees. Ireland penalised again for off-feet nonsense, but they're quite happy shipping three points. Andrew Bishop on for Lee Byrne, who looks injured to me.
59 mins: TRY Earls Ireland 24-9 Wales Lovely pick-up from BOD, O'Leary batters through like a centre and Earls is there again, handing off one man and rolling through Shane's tacle to touch down in the left-hand corner. Game over. Sexton misses the conversion.
57 mins: Sexton struggling with his kicking from hand today. Jamie Roberts starting to make in-roads, but Charteris is penalised for holding on. Wales guilty of wasting a big possession and territorial advantage in this half. Ian Gough on for Bradley Davies.
54 mins: PEN S Jones Ireland 19-9 Wales Ref Joubert is being very, very tight at the breakdown - both BOD and David Wallace repeatedly in trouble. Easy slot, and Wales stay alive.
53 mins: Welsh pen 30m out, and Jones will kick to the corner as Wales look for big points.
50 mins: PEN Sexton Ireland 19-6 Wales Earls kicks deep, and Byrne is struggling here - he gathers and takes the ball into touch, but is then penalised for throwing the ball away - penalty, right out wide. What can Sexton do this time... straight through the middle, and Wales will be kicking themselves.
48 mins: Massive shove from Ireland, and they rumble Wales off the ball. Sexton will kick clear, and Wales come away without a bean. Key moment?
47 mins: Another penalty for collapsing the scrum. Wales will ask for the scrum again. Big pressure.
46 mins: Good shove on the scrum, Richie Rees goes for the line - pen given, but Wales opt for the scrum 5m out.
44 mins: Better from Wales. They bash and burrow to within 10, but have Ireland turned that over? Scrum to Wales, decent attacking position.
42 mins: Kick follows kick follows kick. Who wants it?
41 mins: Ireland knock-on from the re-start.
1532: Big problems for Wales at the line-out, big holes in the defensive line. Shorten the first, fill the second. Rog for Sexton if it gets tight with 20 to go?
BBC Sport pundit Jonathan Davies: "This is exactly where we want to be - only 10 points behind!"
"When are Wales going to learn that you can't play Test matches with 14 men - especially against a side as confident as Ireland?" Former Wales skipper Colin Charvis
40 mins: HALF-TIME Ireland 16-6 Wales Great work from Earls this time, hacking through and almost gathering in the corner. Ireland's half.
37 mins: PEN S Jones, Ireland 16-6 Wales Wales with their best few minutes of the match - nice off-loading, the back row burrow and rumble. Shane has a dart, Roberts is held up just short and Keith Earls is penalised for handling. Three points from Jones, but Wales wanted more there.
34 mins: Ireland 16-3 Wales Hook in trouble at stand-in full-back - the kick goes deep, Hook chances his luck against BOD and gets very lucky as referee Craig Joubert penalises the Ireland skipper for going off his feet. Lee Byrne back on.
30 mins: TRY O'Leary, Ireland 16-3 WalesDear oh dear - O'Connell off-loads to his scrum-half 20m out, and where's the Welsh defence? Richie Rees nowhere, huge gap, and that was all too easy. Sexton fades the conversion wide - if he wasn't having such a place-kicking nightmare, Wales would be in even more bother. Another big old hill to climb, all the same...
29 mins: Wallace down clutching his face after a stiff-arm hand-off from Matthew Rees.
26 mins: TRY Earls, Ireland 11-3 Wales Quick pen from Ireland with Wales in disarray - O'Connell, BOD, Earls crashing through on the angle, and he rolls over to touch down. Wales half asleep there, and quick thinking from Ireland has brought them another priceless try. Ooof - terrible attempted conversion from Sexton - he's hit the post and missed from bang in front.
24 mins: Hook half through, but Wallace turns over Byrne - the full-back holds on too long, and he's been yellow-carded. Harsh.
22 mins: PEN Sexton Ireland 6-3 Wales Ah, lovely - inside pass from Sexton to Bowe, galloping through on a dreamy angle - Bowe needs support, but someone's been hauled back illegally. Pen in slottable position, Sexton does the honours. Kearney on for D'Arcy - Earls to centre?
20 mins: Sloppy from both sides, Sexton clattering his garryowen straight into touch. D'Arcy getting some treatment for a bang.
16 mins: PEN Sexton Ireland 3-3 Wales Ireland put the ball through hands out wide, find Cian Healy and then work it the other way - Jonathan Thomas off his feet now, and Sexton has another chance to break his duck, 35m out and off to the left - yup, curled over with sweet contact.
13 mins: Better from Wales, Delve taking the line-out and rumbling on, Bradley Davies bashing on - BOD is penalised for going off his feet, but Jones pushes his kick across the nose of the posts. As you were.
12 mins: Spot of directionless kicking, and it goes a little quiet at the Park.
9 mins: PEN S Jones Ireland 0-3 Wales Better line-out from Wales, and S Jones will barrel through - Sexton is pinged, and that's a simple three-pointer to take the lead.
7 mins: Nice kick through from Lee Byrne, but O'Connell bags the line-out with consummate ease.
5 mins: Half-break from Sexton, but D'Arcy knocks on. Ireland on top in the opening exchanges.

3 mins: Fleet of foot from David Wallace, and Wales go offside in midfield. Sexton has a sinkable chance straight down the middle from 35m, but drags it to the left of the posts. Murmurs of consternation around Croke.
2 mins: Cheeky kick-ahead by Jones, but Ireland steal the first Welsh line-out. Ominous.
1 min: Stephen Jones gets us underway; Geordan Murphy bags the catch.
1441: There we go. Hairs on backsid... I mean, hairs on back of neck stand up. super scenes. All set?
1435: We'll have the anthems. Sing-song and silence as appropriate, please.
1431: The incomparable Brian O'Driscoll leads his men out on the occasion of his 100th cap for Ireland. Best player in Six Nations history (note Six not Five)?
1430: Here comes the Welsh team, walking slowly out through the tunnel. The delay will be a short one.
1426: Breaking news from Dublin: kick-off has been delayed. Lots of traffic problems around the ground. I'll keep you posted.
1423: Decent old atmos building at Croker. Flags being waved, refrescos being quaffed, lips being licked.
From BBC Sport expert Jonathan Davies: "Previous games have had a lot on them for both sides: Grand Slams and so on. Today, I don't think either side are going to win the championship now so hopefully they'll think 'let's throw it about a bit'."
1415: Reasons to be cheerful for Ireland: they've only lost five times at home in 26 matches since 2000. Fearful: Wales have got to play for 80 minutes at some point, haven't they?
1410: Reasons to be fearful for Wales: that Irish back row. Reasons to be cheerful: they've scored a try on every visit to Dublin since 1970. And Ireland conceded 14 penalties last time out at Twickenham.

From RKW Bred on 606: "Ireland to win by 6, Scotland to snatch a late win by 3."
From BBC Sport's Bryn Palmer in Dublin: ""Leprechauns, leeks +daffodils in abundance@Croker. grey skies+gentle breeze, but all set 4 a craicer.""

1353: A sprinkling of stats to whet the appetites: Ireland have beaten Wales in eight of their last ten meetings. On one side, BOD with his 100th cap; on the other Martyn Williams with his 95th. Scotland (cover your eyes, wearers of the kilt) have won just one of their last nine Six Nations matches, and have lost four matches in a row. On the other hand (uncover eyes, kilters) they've beaten England in their last two meetings at Murrayfield.
1345: Now then. This is what I call a Saturday. Ireland v Wales up first (prelim thoughts: easy on eye, plenty of fun) followed by Scotland v England at 1700 (prelims: dour yet compelling).

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