Bowe double ends England Grand Slam hopes

A fine brace of tries from Ireland wing Tommy Bowe ended England's Grand Slam hopes at Twickenham on Saturday as Ireland defeated England 20-16.

Ireland took the lead through Bowe's early try and a penalty from Jonny Sexton, to two from Jonny Wilkinson, gave the Irish an 8-6 half-time lead.

A Keith Earls try gave Ireland a seven-point lead before Wilkinson converted Dan Cole's try to make it 13-13.

Wilkinson then put England ahead with a drop-goal but Bowe's late try and Ronan O'Gara's conversion saw Ireland home.

It was a thrilling end to a match which for long periods looked like it might never really catch alight due to the extremely poor conditions.

England will have dominated the possession and territory when you read the statistics but it was Ireland’s greater experience, cutting edge and ability to convert their opportunities which brought victory to the visiting side.

Heading into this game both teams had been coming under some serious scrutiny. Ireland following their defeat to France and England after their lacklustre display in Rome.

Declan Kidney responded to the criticism by dropping Ronan O’Gara and giving Jonny Sexton his Six Nations debut aswell as recalling Geordan Murphy, Donnacha O’Callaghan and Rory Best. Whereas England coach, Martin Johnson, stuck by his stubborn nature and kept faith with the same XV which beat Italy two weeks earlier.

Johnson wanted his England team to up their game and if words were to be believed then Ireland were going to be in for a lesson in Rugby Union. But Wilkinson fluffed his lines twice in the opening 20 seconds with a poor kick-off and losing a hanging kick to the oncoming Tommy Bowe, handing the initiative to Ireland.

It was an inauspicious start for the all-time leading scorer in test rugby as he attempted to put a few shaky performances behind him.

He did find his feet in the next couple of minutes but once again handed the initiative to Ireland when his ball was turned over in the lead up to Bowe’s opening try.

Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris made some ground before releasing Sexton who immediately vindicated Kidney’s decision to throw him into the lions den with a beautiful dummy before threading a pin-point kick for Bowe to chase and convert.

The score was against the run of play and after re-establishing control of both territory and possession England finally got on the board when Wilkinson, who had earlier hit the post with a penalty, made no mistake with his second attempt.

One penalty each from Sexton and Wilkinson saw the sides head into half-time at 8-6 in Ireland’s favour. Both out-halves were off target in the opening minutes of the second half before Ireland scored their second try after some great play by the Irish back line.

Having been penalised at the scrum, Tomas O’Leary was attacked for the ball by Danny Care and the referee then penalised the English scrum-half, reversing the penalty.

A crisp kick from Jonny Sexton right into the corner led to a five meter line-out for Ireland. After the ensuing drive was held up a brilliant pass from Sexton led to Earls diving over the line for his first Six Nations try.

On a day of few chances it looked as though it would be the crucial score but England hit back to level things on the hour when tight-head prop Cole burrowed over from close range.

Wilkinson made it 13-13 with the conversion before disaster struck for Ireland when Brian O’Driscoll was stretcher off.

After getting a touch to a chip and chase from Wilkinson, O’Driscoll’s head was caught on the ground by the knee of the oncoming Paul O’Connell. O’Driscoll attempted to continue but after standing up for a few seconds he then collapsed before the medical team helped him off the pitch with suspected concussion.

With O’Driscoll off the field the Irish team had to reshuffle the defence with Earls coming into the centre and Andrew Trimble coming on to the wing. Gordan D’Arcy was also only half fit at this stage as he had originally been coming off with injury before O’Driscoll went down.

With 10 minutes left this reshuffle left Ireland slightly exposed at the back and Wilkinson grabbed his chance to punish this. With all their possession it was only a matter of time before England made a real mark on the scoreboard and Wilkinson put them in the lead for the first time with a right-footed drop goal, 16-13 to England.

But Ireland did not win last years Grand Slam with a lack of heart. Following good ball from a line-out deep into English territory Bowe received the ball and cut a superb line past Wilkinson before rounding Ben Foden and crossing the line for his second try which was converted by Ronan O’Gara.

That conversion put Ireland four points ahead and meant England had to score a try to win the game. But Ireland were able to hold out before stealing the ball and putting it into touch to extend their record over England to six wins from the last seven matches, all coming since England won the World Cup in 2003.

Some great performances from the Irish team helped them to put the disappointment of Paris behind them. Jamie Heaslip, Stephen Ferris and Tommy Bowe will be extremely happy with their days work. As will Jonny Sexton who, despite missing some very difficult kicks at goal, kept Ireland ticking over in midfield and was able to control the game much easier than his more illustrious opposite number.

Man Of The Match: Tommy Bowe

Sexton & Murphy get their chance

This weekend will see Ireland play England in one of the most important ties between the teams since the 2003 Grand Slam decider in Lansdowne road. Win and Ireland are right back in the race for the Six Nations championship. Lose and they are possibly looking at a complete implosion and months of rebuilding.

Now many of you may think that I am overstating it when I say I could be an implosion but an Irish team losing two games in succession is a rarity over the past few years and may of the current crop of players are not used to it. Winning is a habit but so is losing.

If Ireland go into the games against Wales and Scotland with two defeats behind them they could struggle. Even if the games are being played in Croke Park it is possible that defeat could be on the cards if the worst comes to pass.

However, if the Irish team go to Twickenham this Saturday and win for the 6th time in 7 matches against England then they can go on and claim the Six Nations title. And win in Twickenham is what I expect the Irish team to do.

Declan Kidney had to make a number of tough decisions when selecting his team for this match. Out go Ronan O’Gara and Leo Cullen, replaced by Jonny Sexton and Donncha O’Callaghan. Geordan Murphy and Rory Best also come in for the injured Rob Kearney and suspended Jerry Flannery.

Replacing O’Gara with Sexton is the best decision Kidney has made since taking over the Irish team as it shows he is willing to build towards the World Cup in New Zealand in 18 months time and proves he is picking most players based on current form. I say most because he has dropped Leo Cullen which is something I cannot understand at all. Cullen has been Ireland’s best player over the first two matches and O’Callaghan is only coming back from injury.

But that is not the important change, bringing Sexton into the team is. If Sexton performs well then Ireland will win but if he has his first off day in an Irish shirt then Ireland will struggle and Twickenham could begin to look like the fortress it once was.

The biggest surprise, for me, was that Eoin Reddan was not selected to start alongside Sexton. I am a firm believer of keeping a half-back partnership together and with Sexton & Reddan doing so well together for Leinster it makes sense that they should play together for Ireland aswell.

Reddan is capable of bringing the best out of Sexton due to his quick hands and smart decisions whereas O’Leary is quite a slow scrumhalf and kicks the ball far too much for my liking. My fear is that Sexton will not get the ball in hand as much as he would like.

Sexton, however, is a much bigger player than O’Gara and a far superior defender than him also and also possesses a youthful ignorance which means the occasion should not get to him. Making your first Six Nations start in Twickenham is not the easiest of debuts but it is one that Sexton should make it through without problem.
Offensively against France, Ireland did not look high on confidence, and that is where Sexton comes in, because he is also quicker than O'Gara and he will mix the game up a bit more, mainly because he does not know any better.

Much is also being made of Rob Kearney’s absence from the team this weekend. Kearney has not had as good a season as he did last year and it was beginning to show in his confidence, (The attempted catch from the kick-off against France was a sign of things to come).

But bringing in Geordan Murphy is an inspired piece of coaching by Declan Kidney. Nobody expected Murphy to start but, much like Kearney, he comes from a Gaelic Football background and will be able to catch high ball in his sleep. It is also an advantage that he probably knows Twickenham better than half the current English team from his years at Leicester.

This brings up the question of how England will play. Are we going to see a more adventurous English team than that which played in Rome two weeks ago or are we going to see the same gutless and lacklustre display from that day?

England need to win this game just as much as Ireland do because they are at a crossroads. Win the game and they could kick on and even win a Grand Slam. But lose the game and they could fall backwards very quickly.

With a World Cup coming up in 18 months time it is now that England will feel they should be beginning to play well with an eye on winning in New Zealand.

England also cannot rely on Wilkinson to kick them to victory in this game as the Irish discipline has been fantastic over under Kidney (Cian Healy was the first Irish player to be yellow carded in 12 months). England will need to score tries and as good as Wilkinson is when it comes to goal kicking, he just is not the player he used to be in open play.

Like Ronan O’Gara, Wilkinson has seen his place come under scrutiny over the past few weeks. A good opening game against Wales was followed by a poor display, both in open play and goal kicking, against the Italians. However, unlike O’Gara, Wilkinson has managed to keep his place. It probably helps his cause that England does not have a viable alternative at out-half in the squad. The second best English out-half being Danny Cipriani and he is so far from getting a look in that he is moving to Australia. But even at that this could be Wilkinson’s last chance.

Wales coach Warren Gatland said he didn't think France were that good last week and insisted that Ireland were very bad, but that is not entirely true.

Ireland did not play at their best, but France, when they are playing with that kind of confidence, are peerless. England simply are not as good as France so a lot of the problems that Ireland encountered in Paris will not exist at Twickenham.

Ireland will have learned an awful lot about contact in Paris, because France were fantastic at the contact area. Ireland needs to win the collisions in the forwards against England and need to be running on to the ball.

That was the difference between the France game and any other game Ireland has played recently and as a result Ireland's ball was poor. Against England, if Ireland get any ball of note, I think they can do damage.

England at home are usually very difficult to beat. But the truth is the idea of fortress Twickenham does not really exist anymore and I think Ireland will win. There is too much class in the team and they will not want to feel that negative feeling of defeat again anytime soon.

Verdict: England 12-28 Ireland

Time to give youth a chance

Another Six Nations campaign, another defeat in Paris. Is it just me or is this becoming an all too familiar bi-annual event?

This Irish team was supposed to be different, they were supposed to be able to travel to Paris on valentine’s weekend and break French hearts. But alas, it was not meant to be. The Grand Slam will not be defended successfully this year.

But the players, in general, cannot be faulted. They came up against an extremely good French team who had a point to prove playing at home. They tackled, ran and fought much harder than their Irish counterparts and it showed in the final result.

Following an inept display against the All-Blacks last November the French team were under serious pressure from the home crowd to deliver a win. Especially because they were playing the reigning Grand Slam champions on home soil, and the French have become particularly good at beating the reigning Grand Slam champions over the years.

There are, however, a few things which need to be addressed within the Irish camp after such a comprehensive beating. Clearly we are not sitting at the top table of rugby as we thought we were. France, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa are all ahead of us in terms of experience and preparation when it comes to the big games.

Until this is looked at in detail by the Irish management then we will always be lagging behind the top tier teams.

Changes also need to be made to the team. After England won the World Cup in 2003 they went downhill rapidly due to the age of their squad, they may have still had good players in the squad but the lack of youth coming through coupled with the ageing squad led to the rapid decline. Currently I fear that this Ireland team could go the same way.

While there is much more youth coming through this Irish squad then there was with the English squad, it is not being used correctly. Ronan O’Gara, John Hayes and Tomas O’Leary are no longer able to cut it at the very top in international rugby.
O’Gara and Hayes are getting on in years and while they may hold some valuable experience, which cannot be discounted, their years are catching up on them on the field of play. While O’Leary just is not a good enough Scrum-Half at this level. Personally I have never seen a Scrum-Half to needlessly kick the ball straight to the opposition as much as he does.

Players like Leinster’s Jonathon Sexton, Eoin Reddan and Tom Court of Ulster need to be guaranteed starters for the remainder of the Six Nations if Ireland is going to have any chance of doing well in the World Cup in 2011.

These players need serious game time between now and then. And as good as test matches against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in June/November can be, they are no substitute for a competitive outing like they will get against France, England or Wales.

The more competitive games these players get, the more prepared they will be for the World Cup and the better chance Ireland has of being successful. Remember, if Ireland beat Australia in the group stages then they should top the group, thus avoiding New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

So Declan Kidney and his coaching team need to look at the upcoming games against England, Wales and Scotland and introduce youth if he wants to salvage this Six Nations campaign. Victory against England will breed great confidence and could lead to victories at home against Wales and Scotland.

Defeat, however, could be detrimental to the 2010 Six Nations campaign, but in the long run it will become a learning curve for younger players. Remember, like losing to France in Paris, there is no shame in being beaten by England in Twickenham. Most teams come away from there beaten and broken.

So I call on Declan Kidney to give youth a chance, let’s see what they can do in a competitive test match. For the sake of doing well in 18 months, let’s start now!

France-Ireland preview

It’s not too often that the Six Nations can be decided on only the second weekend of the tournament, but that is the reality facing the tournament this year. One of France or Ireland is going to go on and win this competition, by Saturday night we will know which one.

That is of no disrespect to England, Wales or Scotland who will all still be harbouring hopes of winning the championship, particularly England following last weekend’s good win over Wales.

But Ireland-France is the big one and it is the one we have all been looking forward to since that great day in Cardiff (what is it about that stadium and great days in Irish rugby?) last March. It’s the one we all said was going to decide Ireland’s fate this year.

Granted, our record against France in Paris is abysmal, but if there is one year when Ireland can travel to Paris and come away with a win it is 2010.France may have returned to a more natural style of play and finally look like a good team under Lievremont, but Ireland are undefeated for over a year and will no doubt go into the game high on confidence. They will also be looking to hit back at allegations of cheating and biased refereeing that have been emanating from France all week.

How much of that confidence can be justified, however? No doubt the scrum will be strongly tested. It is probably the weakest part of the Irish team and the French showed against Scotland that they are more than up for a fight.

It is in the backs, however, that the game will be won or lost with Ireland holding the most potent strike-force in the Six Nations, and with the French defence playing as terrible as ever, Brian O’Driscoll et al should have plenty of space to expose.

From the Irish perspective, I'm not worried about Matthieu Bastareaud or Yannick Jauzion and I don't see the French backline as a huge threat. If they do manage to function well then it will be because the Irish scrum has been tossed about and not because the backline is any better than Ireland’s.

The French problems at half back, with Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc both unconvincing against Scotland, is also a problem area for France which Ireland should be able to exploit.

If there is one place in the Six Nations which can make or break a player it is Paris. And the fear this weekend is that one of the Irish backs could be broken during the game. If even one of the Irish backline plays below par then Ireland cannot win. Every player needs to be at their 100% best and for that to happen Rob Kearney needs to return to his 2009 best, and fast!

Against Italy he gave probably his worst display in an Irish jersey at either Full-Back or on the Wing. But if one thing is to help Kearney get back on track it is the fact that the French Full-Back, Clement Poitrenaud, is even shakier at the moment and Kearney is more than capable of taking advantage of that.

The return of Keith Earls to the starting line up is more than welcome, as good as Trimble was last weekend, because Earls can conjure up a moment of magic which Trimble is not capable of. The French team are notorious for leaving space on the wing and Earls will no doubt punish that.

Leo Cullen in the Second-Row is also a good selection by Kidney, not only did he have a great game against Italy but having Cullen and O’Connell in the pack affords Ireland two on-field leaders up front. Both have captained teams to Heineken Cup titles in the last two years and with a shaky front row, their strength and leadership is needed.

The return of Ferris is also very important as the French Back-Row is their strongest unit. Ferris can match their physicality and aggressiveness, something that Kevin McLaughlin, for all his talent, just would not have been able to do.

As I said at the beginning, this match is going to decide where the Six Nations championship resides for the coming 12 months. And I am going to call on all Irish fans to get behind the team and will them to a famous victory in Paris.

Verdict: Ireland 22-18 France

Leeds United players attacked on field

Leeds United are today planning to report Carlisle United to the Football Association following reports that a number of their players were attacked by Carlisle fans during a pitch invasion following the Northern Area Final of the Johnston’s Paint Trophy between the two sides.

Leeds United claim that Robert Snodgrass, Shane Lowry and one other player were struck after Carlisle had won the Johnston’s Paint Trophy Northern Area Final on penalties. Leeds are blaming poor security arrangements for the post-match incidents. However, both Carlisle United and the Cumbria Police insist the stewarding of the game was "restrained and professional".

Tuesday's match at Brunton was settled by penalties after the two-legged semi-final finished 4-4 on aggregate with Carlisle eventually clinching a place in the final against Southampton by winning the shoot-out 6-5. The result sparked a pitch invasion, during which Leeds claim the players were attacked.

"I can understand the exuberance of the fans coming on, but there has to be something done to get my players off," said Leeds manager Simon Grayson in the immediate aftermath. "Three of them have been hit from behind and anything could've happened."

There are also reports that a blue laser pen was shone in the eyes of the Leeds players as they took their penalties, while Grayson says his goalkeeper, Casper Ankergren, had objects thrown at him during the shoot-out.

The Chief Inspector, Mark Pannone, who led the policing operation at the match, said the situation was dealt with "swiftly and robustly". He said: "We are disappointed by Mr Grayson's comments. The policing and the stewarding of the match was conducted in a restrained and professional manner"

He added that, "The job of the police is to support the stewards, to prevent disorder and respond to incidents as they occur, which is exactly what we did.As soon as the pitch invasion commenced we began working with the stewards to clear the pitch and protect the away fans."

Carlisle managing director John Nixon also issued a robust defence of his club's stewards. "We believe that the policing and stewarding at Tuesday's Johnston’s Paint Trophy area final was conducted in textbook fashion, to bring the pitch invasion under control as quickly as possible," he said.

Today Leeds announced on their website that they would be making an official complaint to the Football Association. "It is our current intention to make a formal complaint to the football authorities about the apparent lack of security arrangements in relation to the safety of our players at Carlisle," confirmed Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey.

"It is also our intention to supplement the evidence we already have by having further conversations with both Carlisle United Football Club and the Cumbria Police Force." Harvey added: "We'd like to offer our congratulations to Carlisle United on reaching the final of the Johnston’s Paint Trophy and we will turn our attentions on the field to our remaining 18 league games and our quest for promotion."
Grayson added: "I'm still very unhappy at the lack of protection afforded to my players and I'm pleased that the club will be taking the matter further with the relevant authorities."

It is not the first time in recent years that there have been reports of trouble between the two sides. During the 2007/2008 season the teams met in the play-off semi finals with Leeds clinching victory 3-2 on aggregate. During both games there were claims of violence and abuse towards the away fans.

Ireland 29-11 Italy

Perfect O’Gara Leads Champions to Opening Victory

Ronan O'Gara turned in a perfect kicking display as Ireland brushed aside Italy 29-11 in the opening fixture of the RBS 6 Nations at Croke Park.

It was a far from vintage performance from last year’s Grand Slam winners, but O’Gara – back in the No.10 shirt due to an injury to Leinster’s Jonathon Sexton – contributed 16 points while lock Leo Cullen will have Donnacha O’Callaghan sweating on his place as he destroyed the Italian lineout.

Tries from No.8 Jamie Heaslip and scrum-half Tomas O’Leary in the first half helped put Ireland in the driving seat but Declan Kidney will be worried both by his team’s lack of a cutting edge throughout the game.

After an Italian offence at the scrum, O’Gara made no mistake with a tenth-minute penalty to become the first player to break the 500 point barrier in Six Nations history.

Worse was to follow for the visitors as O’Gara demonstrated his gifts with the ball in hand whipping a perfect flat pass for Andrew Trimble to run onto.

The Ulster winger broke down the line and the ball was superbly worked through the backs for Heaslip to run over with O’Gara adding the extras.

Neither side were really able to find their feet and on 26 minutes the Azzurri scrum exacted a measure of revenge by forcing Ireland into conceding a penalty and Six Nations debutant Craig Gower stepped up to land a huge 45m penalty.

But immediately from the restart Italian lock Carlo Del Falva was penalised for holding on and O’Gara duly restored Ireland’s ten-point lead.

Things went from bad to worse for the Italians on 33 minutes when centre Gonzalo Garcia was sin binned for a dubious spear tackle on Brian O’Driscoll. The referee was adamant he committed the foul but on seeing the replays it could be deemed a very harsh decision against the unfortunate Italian.

Leo Cullen, making his first Six Nations start in seven years, once again stole Italy lineout ball and from the resulting attack O’Leary needed no second invitation to dive over with O’Gara’s conversion giving them a commanding 23-3 lead.

But Ireland’s first half was blotted when Rob Kearney gathered a difficult bouncing ball only to fire his clearance straight at Kaine Robertson who gleefully dived over. Mirco Bergamasco took over the kicking duties from Gower but was off target with the conversion.

Bergamasco did, however, split the posts with a penalty just after halftime but just like they did in the first half Ireland responded immediate through O’Gara to make it 26-11.

There were no fireworks in a turgid second half which only saw one more score, a penalty from the highly impressive Paddy Wallace, and the result will give both coaches plenty to ponder.

Declan Kidney, however, will still be the happier of the two coaches. Especially at the displays of Leo Cullen and Six Nations debutant Kevin McLaughlin in the pack and Gordan D’arcy aswell as substitutes Keith Earls and Paddy Wallace in the backs.

Wallace, in particular, showed exactly why Kidney chose him at Fly-Half for the Irish Wolfhounds match against England Saxons last week. Finally Ireland seems to have a decent 3^rd choice Fly-Half should the unthinkable happen and both Sexton and O’Gara become injured.

France next Saturday will provide a much sterner test than Italy did today and if Ireland continue to play in the manner they did today then they can forget about a second Grand Slam.

Man of the Match: Leo Cullen

Superbowl XLIV preview

SUPERBOWL XLIV TO BE ONE TO SAVOUR!

This Sunday the biggest event, sporting or otherwise, in America will take place in Miami, Florida. Superbowl XLIV (44) will feature the Indianapolis Colts taking on the New Orleans Saints in a game that the American people, and NFL fans worldwide, have been looking forward to with baited breath since the AFC & NFC Championship games 11 days ago.

The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints are the two top teams in their respective conference. Both teams have all-star quarterbacks in Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. It appears that this game will be a high scoring affair. However, the Colts will walk away from this game as Super Bowl Champions, and here is why:

Colts Have the Experience

The Colts have made the playoffs every year since 2002. However, they have only made it to the AFC Championship game twice since that year (not including this season).

Peyton Manning has been openly criticized for never being able to win the big game. However, he proved us all wrong in the 2006 season when he finally got the monkey off his back and captured that elusive Super Bowl ring against the Chicago Bears.

Now, with one Super Bowl under his belt, Manning is even more prepared to win his second ring. He’s been through it before and he will be ready for the emotional roller coaster ride that is a Superbowl against his home town team.

Even some of his team-mates, including Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark and Gary Brackett, were there for the 2006 Super Bowl win.

Drew Brees, along with many of his team-mates such as Reggie Bush, Marques Colston and Jonathan Vilma, have never experienced a Super Bowl. They will no doubt be hyped-up at the beginning of the game, but that intensity will fade as the game goes on and Manning will be more than capable of taking advantage of that.

Colts Have the Better Defence

Everyone knows Manning and Brees are capable of putting up some massive numbers. However, defence will ultimately decide the winner of this game. According to NFL.com, the Colts outranked the Saints during the 2009 regular season in yards allowed per game, passing yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. The Saints did beat the Colts in rushing yards allowed per game.

However, NFL.com is also reporting that Dwight Freeney may not be able to play in the Super Bowl due to a torn ligament suffered in the AFC Championship game. Without Freeney on the field, Brees would have a much easier time in the pocket and could carve up the Colts defence.

Indianapolis Colts: Super Bowl XLIV Champions

The Colts have it all, high-powered offence, experience and the talent to go all the way. The Saints are a very talented team, but the lack of experience will hurt them in this contest. The Saints could easily make a run next year, but this year belongs to the Colts, no matter how much people may want to see a New Orleans Superbowl victory after everything the city has been through in the last five years.

Wouldn’t it have been great, though, if neither team rested players in the regular season and we had two teams with 18-0 records going into this game? Then we really would be looking forward to a Superbowl for the ages.

Colts win 37-30