SIX NATIONS: Scotland thrash Italians & Wales give France les Bleus

SCOTLAND    34  -  10   ITALY

Scotland got their 1st Six-Nations victory in 2 years as the Scots beat Italy at Murrayfield as they moved to 3rd in the table. Scotland were a side on fire as they came out guns blazing and the hosts took the lead with a Penalty from the boot of Greig Laidlaw


Tim Visser got a try for Scotland and Laidlaw kicked the conversion for a 13-0 lead, Luciano Orquera kicked a penalty for the Italians to put them on the scoreboard for 13-3 as the half time whistle blew.

Second half saw Scotland go mad in the scoring as the Scots scored 2 tries in 3 mins, As firstly Matt Scott went over for a try after a quick lineout which was played across the middle of the pitch to Kiwi born-Maitland, Who drew the Italian defence towards him and offloading to Scott who ran into space and go over making it 20-3 with the conversion added.

Stuart Hogg then scored the try of the game as he intercepted a pass from Masi that looked like a would be try for Italy was switched round as Hogg dashed 80 metres to run it back for a try and make the score 27 with the added kick.


Scotland thought they had another try, But was ruled "No Try" by the video ref for a forward pass. Sean Lamont then got their 4th try as Lamont jumped on a ball that was loose as the Italians weren`t paying attention and he poked it forward picked it up and run it under the posts for another try as Scotland were running riot over the opponents.

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The Azzuri did get a try late on as Alessandro Zanni got a pass from Parisse who picked it up from the base of the Scrum and Zanni barged over.



Overall a convincing win for Scotland as they hope to build on this victory against the Irish in a couple weeks time.

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FRANCE    6 -  16   WALES

The evening game on Saturday saw a "War of Attrition" type game between the French  & Welsh in front of a huge crowd at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The teams weren`t just battling each other they were up against the pitch too.


The turf was atrocious as it was cutting up terribly and making the game very slow and killing the match due to the amount of scrums that collapsed & were moved across the pitch by the referee, as the pitch was having the biggest say as the play was constantly moved across due the players losing footing from the farcical nature of the grass there.

Many times groundsmen  came onto to the field making running repairs to badly damaged pitch, neither side could gain momentum as the pitch wasn`t helping as this game is always entertaining between the 2 sides. But this time is was far from a classic.


On the game, France took the lead through a penalty awarded after the Welsh scrum collapsed due to the conditions, The ref knew the conditions was bad for both sides however the Scrum collapsed and resulted in Frederic Michalak kicking the penalty over for a 3-0 advantage.

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Leigh Halfpenny responded for Wales as he kicked a penalty from halfway to make it 3-3 and that's how the score remained at half time.



Second Half both teams remained cagey and Leigh Halfpenny put the Welsh in front for 6-3. However Michalak drew the game level when Wales collapse in the scrum leading to him kicking the penalty over for 6-6.

Both teams were in the words of BBC Jonathon Davies "Not playing to win, but Playing more not to lose" which summed up the game fantastically. Then a moment of genius as the Welsh forwards drove the play switched left, Where Biggar chipped a little over the French defence and was collected by George North on the wing and did well to stay in field after a hit and get the try which put the Visitors ahead along with the conversion to make it 13-6.


Wales forced France into errors which led to them conceding a penalty late on which gave Wales the chance to close out the game and give them victory. Leigh Halfpenny then kicked just close to the the halfway line and as he stepped up to kick to it, His long strike at goal went between the uprights and made the Welsh contingent in Paris delirious with joy.

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As the French struggled and couldn`t make any possession tell, the home fan let their voices heard especially come full time. As the final whistle was just about heard as the home fans in the Parc des Princes vented their anger & fury as they showed their displeasure as boos and whistles got louder and louder as Les Bleus were well & truly booed off the pitch.

Good news for the French is they don`t play in France and can avoid the wrath of their fans, However they next face unbeaten England at Twickenham next. The Welsh next face the Italians in Rome too.