History will be kind to me because I intend to write it

O'GARA KEEPS IRELAND ON COURSE FOR SIX NATIONS GRAND SLAM

Ireland remain on course for their first ever RBS 6 Nations grand slam with a hard-fought 22-15 victory over a resilient Scotland side at a full-house Murrayfield on Saturday April 14. The visitors, who last won the tournament in 1985, were trailing for 50 minutes but as the Scottish defence tired, Ireland – and in particular Ronan O’Gara – began to show their class. The 32-year-old fly-half kicked 17 points and in the process became the leading scorer in the competition’s history.

“You don’t get to play at this level for 10 years and not have good mental strength,” said captain Brian O’Driscoll of the Munster No10. “He has huge confidence and a great work ethic – those were combined in today’s performance.”

The Scots began with real purpose and after only six minutes full-back Chris Paterson’s trusty right boot kicked its first three points of the evening. O’Gara hit back with a penalty of his own after 11 minutes but Paterson laced two more in the following 10 minutes to take the Scots to 9-3.

But when Scotland were offside yards from their own try line after 25 minutes O’Gara scored his second penalty – taking him to 481 RBS 6 Nations points, bettering Jonny Wilkinson’s championship record of 479.

Paterson restored Scotland’s six point lead 10 minutes before the interval with a penalty. However that gap was narrowed again just four minutes later as O’Gara countered with a kick of his own. And O’Driscoll’s try-saving tackle on Thom Evans kept the score at 12-9 at the break.

In the second-half the Scottish defensive wall started to weaken and mistakes were made as fatigue set in. And the Irish began to exploit gaps – none more so than man-of-the-match Peter Stringer. The Munster scrum-half darted for the try line off a line out after 51 minutes, and shipped on to replacement No8 Jamie Heaslip, who dived over for his second try of the tournament – and Ireland did not look back.

“I’m not sure how Springer found that space,” said disappointed Scottish coach Frank Hadden. "I thought we should have been out of sight at half-time and made too elementary mistakes in the second-half.”

After O’Gara converted Heaslip’s score he drop kicked another three points to take Ireland to 19-12 with just over 20 minutes remaining. Though Paterson scored his fifth penalty in a perfect kicking game, the Irish kept their noses in front thanks to O’Gara. With eight minutes left he had the final say, sealing victory with another penalty.

The win sets up a mouth-watering finale when Ireland head to Cardiff next Saturday to play reigning champions Wales, who will need to win by at least 13 points. “Playing Wales in Wales is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, especially with their track record,” said coach Declan Kidney. “We will celebrate this win and thing about next week later.”

Scotland: Chris Paterson; Simon Danielli, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Thom Evans; Phil Godman, Mike Blair (capt); Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton, Jason White, Alasdair Strokosch, John Barclay , Simon Taylor.

Replacements: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Nathan Hines, Scott Gray, Chris Cusiter, Nick De Luca, Hugo Southwell.

Penalties: Paterson 5 (5)

Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes; Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell; Stephen Ferris, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.

Replacements: Jerry Flannery, Tom Court, Mick O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Tomas O'Leary, Paddy Wallace, Geordan Murphy.

Labels: Ireland, RBS 6 Nations, Ronan O'Gara, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 4:44 pm | Permalink | Comments

EDINBURGH’S FESTIVAL OF RUGBY

Scottish legend Gavin Hastings cannot wait for Edinburgh to open its doors to players and fans of both rugby codes in May for a festival of rugby – as he believe the historic city has “something to offer everyone”.

Scotland’s lively capital boasts one of the most sizable and atmospheric stadiums in European rugby union – but for a weekend in early May all 14 Super League clubs will be gracing Murrayfield’s hallowed turf, before, on May 23, the cream of Europe’s union talent will go head-to-head in the Heineken Cup Final, as they did four years ago when Stade Francais edged out Toulouse after extra time.

The last occasion rugby leaguers ventured north of the border was in 2002 when the 67,800-seater stadium hosted the Challenge Cup Final and Wigan collected their last silverware after defeating St Helens.

Taking over from Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Murrayfield – which had a £50m revamp in 1995 – will welcome over 100,000 Super League fans for the Magic Weekend on May 2 and 3.

And 47-year-old Hastings, who won 61 caps for his country and six caps for the British Lions, believes that Heineken Cup revellers and, in particular, supporters of the 13-man code will fall for the charm of the city.

“Edinburgh is a real party city,” says the former full-back, “and it has something to offer everyone. Not only is Murrayfield a short walk from the city centre but the stadium and its surrounds will be buzzing before, during and after the rugby. Everyone is guaranteed to have a fantastic time.”

St Helens’ England stand-off, Leon Pryce, is looking forward to stepping out at Murrayfield. “It will be great to play in such a fantastic stadium,” believes the 27-year-old. “I know Scottish people are always very welcoming! I am expecting Edinburgh to provide a great atmosphere for the Magic Weekend – it will be a spectacle.”

Labels: Edinburgh, Gavin Hastings, rugby union, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 4:32 pm | Permalink | Comments

ENGLAND v SCOTLAND: PLAYERS' RATINGS

England:

Delon Armitage 8
Another assured performance in defence, especially under the high ball. Has really come of age in this tournament and could have played himself on to the Lions plane.

Mark Cueto 7
The Sale winger bristled with energy but could rarely the ball found him. Was strong in defence and seldom found space in attack.

Mike Tindall 7
Bludgeoned the Scottish backs with strong, hard bullocking runs al afternoon long. The Gloucester centre is forming a promising partnership with the more nimble Flutey.

Riki Flutey 9
His well-taken first-half try was his fourth in the campaign. The Maori-born back sparkled and dazzled the Scots with his fancy footwork. Feels at home in an England shirt now.

Ugo Monye (replaced by Tait 48) 8
The Harlequins wing was having a sensational game before he was withdrawn through injury after the break. A try saving tackle kept was followed by his first score for England.

Toby Flood (replaced by Goode 74) 8
Showed what he is capable of with an impressive all-round performance. Stood flat and gave his backs the chance to shine. Fluffed a penalty in the second-half.

Harry Ellis (replaced by Care 17) 6
Crunched into a tackle in the first half and was carried off on a stretcher after knocking himself out. Had been solid up until then, but Care took his chance.

Andrew Sheridan 7
Had a great game in the loose, putting in a number of shuddering hits on Scottish runners. Scrummaged well, too and looks to have done enough to ensure Lions selection.

Lee Mears (replaced by Hartley 73) 7
The hooker had a solid game and regularly hit his man in the line-out. Made way for Hartley who is the future. But for now he must keep the shirt.

Phil Vickery (replaced by White 14) 4
Only on the pitch for a short time but had already cost England a penalty for not scrummaging properly – something that has been suspect in this campaign.

Steve Borthwick 6
The skipper was less impressive than last week – at one point he was outpaced by opposite man White. But he has grown into his role and rallied his troops well.

Simon Shaw (replaced by Kennedy 58) 6
The old haggard lock did all the usual dirty work but rarely gained yards the few times he had the ball in hand. His last England performance?

Tom Croft (replaced by Haskell 73) 6
The tall, quick Leicester flanker had a tidy game and only really had one chance to show his pace. But he was bundled into touch in the first half.

Joe Worsley 7
Another tough-tackling performance from the Wasps flanker. Was hard in defence and popped up in attack. Covered the ground well – who said he was not an international No7?

Nick Easter 5
Crossed the line in the first-half but was missed by the officials. The No8’s mobility, discipline and work-rate must improve if he is to keep his England jersey.

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (on for Mears 73) 6, Julian White (on for Vickery 14) 7, Nick Kennedy (on for Shaw 58) 6, James Haskell (on for Croft 73) 5, Danny Care (on for Ellis 17) 7, Andy Goode (on for Flood 73) 5, Mathew Tait (on for Monye 48) 7.

Manager: Martin Johnson 7
Pumped up his team well and they weathered the early Scottish storm. Was forced into a number of changes but his team adapted well and played with confidence.

Scotland

Chris Paterson 6
Scotland’s record points scorer laced three penalties and gave his country a chance. But missed Monye for England’s first try and looked suspect in defence.

Simon Danielli 6
Had little chance to get involved but was on Blair’s shoulder when he made a break. Had he been found Scotland would have been certain to score a try.

Max Evans 6
The elder Evans brother tackled well in the midfield but had little chance to stretch his legs in attack.

Graeme Morrison 5
The Glasgow Warriors centre did his best but does not look like an international centre. Was totally dominated by his opposite man Tindall.

Thom Evans (replaced by Southwell 44) 7
Ran 50 metres and would have scored but for a superb Monye tackle before the break. Was forced off through injury early in the second-half.

Phil Godman 5
Not his best game in a Scotland jersey. Had a kick charged down and was generally outclassed by his opposite number Toby Flood.

Mike Blair (replaced by Cussier 68) 6
Captain and scrum half, he had a mixed game. Before the interval he broke through England’s defensive wall but failed to see the man on his inside.


Alasdair Dickinson 6 (replaced by Low 76) 6
The Gloucester prop had the edge over Vickery but found his replacement White harder to deal with. Put in a good defensive shift and tackled well.

Ross Ford (replaced by Hall 57) 5
Threw in well but went missing in the loose on a number of occasions. Hooker remains a problem position for Frank Hadden’s team.

Euan Murray 6
The big Northampton Saints prop, tipped by many to be the Lions loose-head, scrummaged well but did not get involved in the rough stuff as much as he would like.

Jason White (replaced by Hines 57) 6
One good run in the second-half, outpacing his opposite man Borthwick. Did the dirty work well and tackled with passion but he ran out of puff soon after the break.

Jim Hamilton 6
The tall lock was good in the line-out and worked hard in the loose. But he and White were outplayed by the English second-row.

Alasdair Strokosch 6
Gloucester flanker tried his best to disrupt England, but was beaten to the loose ball on a number of occasions. Tackled well though and showed typical Scottish braveheart mentality.

Scott Gray 5
His first start for years but the Australian-born flanker found the pace hard to deal with. The English backrow dominated and Gray looked like a fish out of water.

Simon Taylor (replaced by Brown at half-time) 5
The Stade Francais No8 found it had to get into the game and made little impact in the first-half. Hadden replaced him at the break.

Replacements: Dougie Hall (on for Ford 57) 5, Moray Low (on for Dickinson 76) 5, Nathan Hines (on for White 57) 6, Kelly Brown (on for Taylor h/t) 6, Chris Cusiter (on for Blair 68) 6, Nick De Luca, Hugo Southwell (on for Evans T 44) 5.

Coach: Frank Hadden 6
Under pressure still. Made a change in the backrow at the interval and his team started well. But without the raw materials Scotland are always going to struggle.

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa).

Labels: England, RBS 6 Nations, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 4:16 pm | Permalink | Comments

FLUTEY: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

England rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a flourish, defeating Scotland 26-12 at Twickenham. But despite earning three victories, scoring the most tries (16) and finishing second to grand slam winners Ireland, centre Riki Flutey believes that there is plenty of room for improvement – especially with the team’s fitness.

The 29-year-old, who will move from London Wasps to French club Brive in the summer, crossed for his fourth try of the championship on Saturday and finished as equal top try scorer with Ireland skipper Brian O’Driscoll.

Harlequins wing Ugo Monye notched his first try for England and there was a late score for replacement Mathew (sic) Tait, while fly half Toby Flood kicked eight points and Danny Care laced a drop-goal. Scottish full back Chris Paterson booted four penalties in reply, but it was not enough to hold on to the Calcutta Cup.

And while Maori-born Flutey was pleased, he warned that he and his team-mates must work much harder on their fitness if they are to improve further. “The Six Nations has been fantastic for us,” he said. “In the autumn there was something there and it is really starting to come together now.

“We have definitely kicked on but there are still a lot of things we need to work on. There is a lot of room from improvement in the team right across the board. Our fitness can definitely be improved so we can push on right through and play the way we want to play for 80 minutes.

“You need your fitness, strength and power – there is always room for improvement because I was out on the field against Scotland I got a couple of knocks and the old lungs were pumping a little bit. When you get in that position you wonder: ‘Am I doing a lot of work or is it maybe because I need a bit more fitness under my belt?’”

Labels: England, Martin Johnson, RBS 6 Nations, Riki Flutey, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 4:09 pm | Permalink | Comments

HADDEN SLAMS SCOTLAND PERFORMANCE

Under-pressure Scotland manager Frank Hadden branded his team's display in their RBS 6 Nations opener against reigning champions Wales as their worst for almost three years.

Asked why they were so comprehensively out-manoeuvred up front in the 32-16 loss at Murrayfield, Hadden said: "That's one of the things that we're going to have to look at very closely during the course of the week.

"There could be a number of reasons for that. It could be technical problems. But, for me, it just seemed as if we were too passive.

"I haven't seen us look so passive or tentative. The last time I saw that was South Africa 2006.

"Maybe they're thinking too hard about the shape instead of just getting wired in.

"It's early days in this competition. You can never be sure how you're going to start.

"One thing I do know is that we'll definitely get better."

He added: "We knew we were playing the best side in the northern hemisphere today but we're bitterly disappointed that we allowed them to show it so easily.

"I felt we were outmuscled, especially in the first half an hour.

"But for me, the killer blow was just after half-time. We were always chasing after that.

"It was inevitable we were going to come strong at some stage and, sadly, like too often before, it was too late before we got going."

Labels: Frank Hadden, RBS 6 Nations, Scotland, Wales

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 1:05 pm | Permalink | Comments

GATLAND SATISFIED WITH OPENING WIN

Warren Gatland believes there is much more to come from his Wales team in the Six Nations, after they recorded a 32-16 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

While Wales dominated the game for large periods, the reigning RBS 6 Nations champions failed to really punish the Scots - and fly-half Stephen Jones missed a number of kicks.

But New Zealander Gatland said: "I am happy with the result because Murrayfield is a hard place to come. It is a good position for me to be in because there a number of things that we can work on and improve.

"This week we will work on a little bit of line speed defensively, and look for a bit more accuracy in the line-out.

"I thought we showed some nice touches in periods, we had them under a lot of pressure and the game was there for us to lose, not for us to win.

"Apart from the sun-binning at the end that put us under a little bit of pressure, I thought we controlled the game and were very disciplined."

Defending fly-half Jones's kicking Gatland added: "It was a difficult pitch to kick on - it was a bit slippery and it took it out of the legs. But [the misses] are not something that I am concerned about. Sometimes these things happen."

Labels: RBS 6 Nations, Scotland, Wales, Warren Gatland

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CHAMPIONS WALES KICK-OFF WITH VICTORY OVER SCOTLAND

Warren Gatland's Wales began their defence of the RBS Six Nations Championship with a comfortable 13-26 victory over a battling Scotland side in Edinburgh.

The visitors may have been without centre Gavin Henson due to a calf complaint and blindside flanker and captain Ryan Jones, who also suffered with a similar problem just 90 minutes before kick-off, but last year's grand slam winners comfortably managed without them.

The match got off to a quiet start and the game was 10 minutes old before its first real moment of drama when Scotland winger Simon Webster knocked himself unconscious after tackling Wales' stand-in skipper, Martyn Williams.

He flew at the Welsh captain and forced him to knock on after a chest-high collision but he hit Williams so hard he momentarily did himself more damage. Yet it was a superb indicator of the level of commitment being displayed by Scotland in defence.

A straightforward Stephen Jones penalty soon after finally got Wales on the scoreboard before Scotland were once again involved in a self-inflicted injury crisis when debutant prop Geoff Cross repeated Webster's trick and also knocked himself out following an appalling late tackle on full-back Lee Byrne.

Cross caught the Wales No15 in mid-air and clattered into Byrne's knee and not only was he stretchered off the field he also rightly received a yellow card for his troubles.

Wales immediately took advantage of their extra player as centre Tom Shanklin managed to collect a simple Byrne pass just five metres out to finally get Wales the try they deserved.

It went from bad for worse for Scotland close to the half-hour mark as lock Alun-Wyn Jones then crashed over from just one metre out after an impressive scrummaging effort put Scotland on the defensive.

The Welsh pack completely overwhelmed the opposing pack just inside Scotland's 22, Stephen Jones took the resulting ball forward and almost scored himself before the ball was passed out to Jones who could not fail to score, although Stephen Jones was less successful with his conversion, missing his second of the match.

Webster's replacement Chris Paterson kicked a penalty for the home side as half-time approached and it ignited the Scotland side as they repeatedly went close to scoring.

However they could not quite get past some awesome Welsh defending and their failure to score was made to hurt even more when Jones slotted a penalty on the whistle to extend Wales' lead to 16-3.

That lead became 21-3 just 47 seconds into the second half when young winger Leigh Halfpenny managed to stretch over the Scottish tryline in the right hand corner. But a further penalty from Paterson soon after ensured Scotland were not entirely finished.

However, they continued to offer very little in attack and allowed Wales to completely dominate them, a point underlined when IRB Player of the Year Shane Williams finished off 14 phases of play by crossing for 45th international try with 20 minutes to go.

Williams was then sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and Scotland used his absence to their advantage as substitute Max Evans jinked through the Welsh defence to finally give Murrayfield something to cheer.

Paterson easily kicked the conversion to close the gap to 26-13 but a dramatic comeback was not to be as Wales managed to close the game out without further loss.

Scotland: Southwell, Webster (Paterson 21mins), Cairns (M Evans 52), Morrison, Lamont, Godman, Blair (Cusiter 62), Jackson, Ford (Hall 62) , Cross, White (Dickinson 27), Hamilton, Hogg (Brown 74), Taylor, Barclay (Gray 56)
Scorers: Tries: Evans Pen: Paterson 2 Con: Paterson

Wales: Byrne, Halfpenny, Roberts (Bishop 62mins), Shanklin, S. Williams (Davies 71), S. Jones (Hook 62), Phillips (Peel 60), Jenkins (Yapp 62), Rees (Bennett 62), A. Jones, Gough (Charteris 62), A. Jones, D. Jones, M. Williams, Powell.
Scorers: Tries: Shanklin, A Jones, Halfpenny, S Williams Pen: S Jones 2
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland)

Labels: RBS 6 Nations, Scotland, Wales, Warren Gatland

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VOGTS CROSSES FINGERS FOR SCOTLAND

Berti Vogts has taunted England by insisting his old Scotland team are better than Steve McClaren's side - but is backing both to make it to Euro2008.

Scotland will qualify if they beat world champions Italy at Hamden Park tomorrow and Vogts believes they can cause an upset.

Vogts, who is now in charge of Nigeria, said: "I am keeping my fingers crossed for Scotland and hope that they qualify and they make progress.

"I was with Scotland for two-and-a-half years, so it makes me very proud to see them doing so well.

"They have a good team – they are better than England at the moment, but I think England will still qualify."

Vogts took control of Scotland in 2002 but a series of poor results followed including a 2-2 draw with the Faroe Islands, and while many chose to point the finger at him, he claims there were few established players for him to select from.

"When I took over Scotland James McFadden, Darren Fletcher, Andy Webster and Craig Gordon were all about 18 or 19-years-old," Vogts added.

"They were too young for international football, and I knew that. The Scottish FA knew that too.

"Now they have come through and the team are organised and have a very good team spirit – that’s very important.

"All the compliments must go to Alex McLeish and the young boys. They can beat Italy, and I’m sure they will qualify. Alex has done a great job in bringing the boys another step forward."

Labels: Berti Vogts, football, Italy, Nigeria, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 6:41 pm | Permalink | Comments

WILSON: SCOTLAND CAN BEAT THE WORLD CHAMPIONS

Goalkeeping legend Bob Wilson is positive Scotland can achieve the result they need to gain qualification to Euro 2008 from Group B against Italy at Hampden Park tomorrow. After 11 games in the tough group the Scots are placed second, only one point behind the world champions, but with Arsenal target Craig Gordon between the sticks, the Scots have has enough talent to keep out the tactically-defensive world champions, thinks Wilson.

The 65-year-old, who made over 300 appearances for Arsenal in the sixties and seventies, and won a couple of caps for Scotland, is enthused by the way his countrymen beat world cup finalists France both home and away.

He said: “Scotland have done fantastically well. I think that they might do it against Italy.

“You saw the way Italy won played to win the World Cup – they were ultra defensive.

“And they were good in Germany, but if they play like that against Scotland – defensively – then we stand every chance of getting a result.

Wilson, Arsenal’s goalkeeping coach for 28 years, helped the careers of Pat Jennings and David Seaman, and admitted that Arsène Wenger has been an admirer of Gordon for a number of years.

“The Scottish defence has been superb in this qualifying campaign. And Craig Gordon has been fantastic.

“When I was still goalkeeping coach at Arsenal, a couple of years ago, we were looking at Craig. He is a big lad and he has great goalkeeping qualities.

“Arsène was very interested in Craig, but I just hope he does the job on Saturday. Whatever happens, Scotland have had a great qualifying tournament.”

Labels: Arsenal, Bob Wilson, Craig Gordon, football, Italy, Scotland

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 10:29 am | Permalink | Comments