6 Nations Rugby @ Hurleys on St Patrick's Day

With just one day of rugby left in this year's 6 Nations Championship most people (well, I) thought that St Patrick's Day would be France's coronation day as champions of Europe as the last stepping stone to World Cup Glory. Instead they barely have their heads in front of a chasing pack led by Ireland with England just a length behind. Last week I predicted that Ireland would romp home past Scotland, Italy would beat Wales and France would put a cricket score past England - it seems I know more about Italian rugby than the English or Irish game.

Scotland 18 narrowly lost to Ireland 19 in a dour match at Murrayfield and although the victory is welcome the nature of it was uninspiring. Scotland squeezed all of the flare (and in ROG's case the air) out of the opposition and after the first 20 minutes Ireland never regained the happy confidence they showed against England a fortnight earlier. There were various brawls and off the ball incidents to keep hockey fans interested (including, allegedly, an attempt to throttle Ronan O'Gara) but Scotland finish another game without having scored a try. In the end ROG's boot dragged Ireland back in front but they really needed more than a one point victory to feel confident of beating France for the title.

Italy 23 beat Wales 20 to record two wins in the same tournament for the first time. Wales were leading by seven points with less than ten minutes to go but indiscipline from them and determined play from Italy saw the Azzurri take the lead with just three minutes left on the clock. Wales could have equalised with 10 seconds remaining but chose a high stakes gamble by going for the line-out only for the referee to blow his whistle. Whether that was fair or not, any Welshman who thinks his team was beaten in those last few confusing seconds is deluding himself. They were never better than the Italians in this game; the only thing that could have saved them was if the linesman had spotted Bergamasco lay out Stephen Jones which would have had him carded on the day and now has him banned for four weeks.

England 26 beat France 18 in an unlikely encounter that saw the English over-power the French in the pack and run rings round their backs. Evidently dropping eight players can do wonders for team morale. Mike Catt (brought back into the squad as Captain at 35) was involved in both England tries, feeding Toby Flood (1st replacement for Jonny W) for his first England try, then not catching a pass from Shane Geraghty (2nd replacement for Jonny W) which fell for Tindall to run in. The final score not only stopped France from having a chance to win the "Grand Chelem" but has pegged them back on points difference as well: with Ireland just four behind there's all to play for this week.

Super Saintly Saturday

Given that all the games take place one after the other the top of the table position could change three times during the day. Ireland go first and, assuming they win, may have to wait nearly six hours to find out if they are Champions or not. France currently have the advantage at the top but know that a poor performance could leave them open to challenge. England go last and will know what their target is before they start - whether it will help or just add to the nerves we'll see.

Ireland play in Italy at 9:30am. Before the tournament started the bookies would have said this was a definite two points for Ireland but Berbizier's side have proved that they should not be written off till the final whistle (Welsh joke, see). Italy lose Mauro Bergamasco for his thuggish attack on Stephen Jones whilst Ireland will be without Paul O'Connell and his broken thumb. Marcus Horan returns from injury and the rest of the side stays the same. What chance Ireland to win the 6 Nations championship for the first time? Someone told me it's been 22 years since Ireland won the old 5 Nations which seems hardly believable given how many great players they've had since then and their recent run of form in the Triple Crown.

Next up is Scotland in France at 11:30am. The Scots won this fixture last year and only narrowly lost the season before but they been pretty awful this time around and I really can't see them sneaking it for Ireland. France have swapped out some of their underperforming stars and replaced the injured Skrela. Chabal was totally anonymous against England, Yachvili's wayward kicking gave Geraghty the chance to set up Tindall's try and Dominici could do nothing much on the wing, so they've all been chopped though Dominici remains in the squad. Skrela's replacement is Lionel Beauxis.

Finally we have England in Wales at 13:30. England may go into this game tomorrow evening knowing if the Championship is theirs to grab or if it's already out of their reach. They start the weekend with a goal difference of just plus 13, 25 behind Ireland and a further four behind France (in 2001 they finished on plus 150 even though they lost 19-13 to Scotland that year). Wales on the other hand are wallowing in the shame of a winless season and will throw everything at England before conceding this match up. Mathew Tait is back in the opening line-up in place of try-scorer Tindall who is injured. The last time Tait started for England he was blown out of the game by Gavin Henson who went on to kick the winning points for Wales as they began their Grand Slam season. Since then Andy Robinson's shameful treatment of Tait has been swept away with the arrival of Brian Ashton and Henson's injured star is losing it's glitter.

In other news Trevor Brennan, who won 13 caps for Ireland, has been banned from playing rugby for life for entering the stands at Toulouse to beat up an Ulster fan. Brennan was also fined 25,000 Euro and ordered to pay 5,000 Euro compensation.

See you all Saturday
Martin Buckle