So the dust has settled on this year’s Six Nations tournament, and Wales saved their best for last, crushing England to retain their title as champions. On to the Lions!

ITALY 22 vs 15 IRELAND
Saturday, March 16, 14:30 GMT, Rome

Indiscipline and injury cost Ireland yet again as they lost to Italy for the first time in a Six Nations tournament. Keith Earls was lost early to a shoulder injury and replaced by Luke Fitzgerald, who was in turn replaced by Iain Henderson, shoving Peter O’Mahony out to the wing. Luke Marshall also came off concussed, calling into question whether he should have been playing at all given that he suffered the same only a week ago. Compounding that were needless yellow cards to Brian O’Driscoll and Donnacha Ryan that left them a man down for more than a quarter of the match.

The Italian forwards were fired up for Andrea Lo Cicero’s final test match and comprehensively outplayed their Irish counterparts. The lineouts, scrums, and mauls were all in Italy’s favour and with two backs out Ireland were never going to find victory out wide. Surely this signals the end of Declan Kidney’s tenure as coach after missing the bottom of the table by points differential.

SCORING
Italy – L. Orquera 1c 4p, G. Garcia 1p, G. Venditti 1t
Ireland – P. Jackson 5p

CARDS
Italy – S. Parisse yellow
Ireland – B. O’Driscoll yellow, D. Ryan yellow, C. Murray yellow

ITALY
A. Masi (T. Benvenuti 66); G. Venditti, G. Canale, G. Garcia, L. McLean; L. Orquera, E. Gori (T. Botes 74); A. Lo Cicero (M. Rizzo 64), L. Ghiraldini (D. Giazzon 74), L. Cittadini (A. de Marchi 74); Q. Geldenhuys (A. Pavanello 64), J. Furno (F. Minto 57); A. Zanni, S. Favaro (P. Derbyshire 57), S. Parisse (capt.).

IRELAND
R. Kearney; C. Gilroy, B. O’Driscoll, L. Marshall (I. Madigan 27), K. Earls (L. Fitzgerald 25 {I. Henderson 36}); P. Jackson, C. Murray; C. Healy (D. Kilcoyne 70), R. Best (S. Cronin 70), M. Ross (S. Archer 66); M. McCarthy (D. Toner 64), D. Ryan; P. O’Mahony, S. O’Brien, J. Heaslip (capt.).

WALES 30 vs 3 ENGLAND
Saturday, March 16, 17:00 GMT, Cardiff

An exciting match at the Millenium Stadium had Wales up by 9-3 at the half, but they simply outclassed England to run away with 21 unanswered points in the second forty minutes. The Welsh forwards adopted a pick-and-go strategy to combat England’s spread defense, and it paid dividends as they wore down their less committed pack and opened space in the final quarter.

In a sometimes hectic, wide open battle, the speed of flankers Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric ensured quick ball and constant pressure at the breakdown. The English scrum was penalised repeatedly, and twice the outside defense was found wanting, allowing Alex Cuthbert to finish two well-worked tries. The win sees Wales retain the championship, and ensures a strong Welsh contingent on the upcoming Lions tour.

SCORING
Wales – L. Halfpenny 4p, D. Biggar 1c 1p 1d, A. Cuthbert 2t
England – O. Farrell 1p

WALES
L. Halfpenny; A. Cuthbert, J. Davies, J. Roberts (S. Williams 75), G. North; D. Biggar (J. Hook 75); M. Phillips (L. Williams 75); G. Jenkins (capt.) (P. James 62), R. Hibbard (K. Owens 52), A. Jones (S. Andrews 73); A.W. Jones, I. Evans (A. Coombs 71); S. Warburton (A. Shingler 75), J. Tipuric, T. Faletau.

ENGLAND
A. Goode (B. Twelvetrees 65); C. Ashton, M. Tuilagi, B. Barritt, M. Brown; O. Farrell (T. Flood 67), B. Youngs (D. Care 65); J. Marler (M. Vunipola 44), T. Youngs (D. Hartley 52), D. Cole (D Wilson 72); J. Launchbury (C. Lawes 52), G. Parling; T. Croft, C. Robshaw (capt.), T. Wood (J. Haskell 67).

FRANCE 23 vs 16 SCOTLAND
Saturday, March 16, 20:00 GMT, Paris

The game began in poor conditions which meant the first half was played with the boot rather than the hand, but the rain cleared early in the second half and allowed the game to flow more freely. After trailing by six at the intermission France at last found their groove and Freddie Michalak kicked them ahead with penalties before Wesley Fofana scored his second outstanding individual try of the tournament.

Shortly thereafter Maxime Medard crossed after a fine offload from Maxime Machenaud and it appeared Scotland was dead and buried, but a late Tim Visser try meant that the match was still in the balance until the final whistle. Despite the victory France still finish bottom of the table, while Scotland somehow manage third with a losing record.

SCORING
France – F. Michalak 1c 3p, M. Machenaud 1c, W. Fofana 1t, M. Medard 1t
Scotland – G. Laidlaw 3p, R. Jackson 1c, T. Visser 1t

FRANCE
Y. Huget; V. Clerc, M. Bastareaud (G. Fickou 74), W. Fofana, M. Medard; F. Michalak (F. Trinh-Duc 70), M. Parra (M. Machenaud HT); T. Domingo (V. Debaty 54), B. Kayser (G. Guirado 54), N. Mas (L. Ducalcon 63); S. Vaha’amahina (C. Samson 70), Y. Maestri; A. Claassen (Y. Nyanga 67), T. Dusautoir (capt.) (Y. Nyanga 63-67), L. Picamoles.

SCOTLAND
S. Hogg; S. Maitland (M. Evans 30), S. Lamont, M. Scott, T. Visser; D. Weir (R. Jackson 67), G. Laidlaw (H. Pyrgos 75); R. Grant (M. Low 63), R. Ford (D. Hall 75), E. Murray (G. Cross 63); G. Gilchrist (A. Kellock 54), J. Hamilton; A. Strokosch, K. Brown (capt.), J. Beattie (R. Wilson 70).