Independent.ie - Six Nations RSS Feed

Sting in the tail as revved-up visitors salvage some pride

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Sometimes you come up against a team who are winless from four games and they go into their last assignment looking for it all to end as quickly as possible.

Wales give hint of true potential

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

If only Wales had finished the Six Nations in a similar shape and style to how they ended it. As it was, they have finished in fourth place for the second year in succession. Final position aside, though, the two campaigns could hardly have differed more.

England find extra gear to test French nerves

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

To France, a Grand Slam, their fifth in 13 years but first since 2004, -- oh, and a strong dose of sedatives to calm their shot nerves. To England, who came up so fast on the rails when they'd looked out of it at half time, a simple question: why the hell couldn't you play like this for the entire season?

Ireland's wake-up call

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Ireland's tenancy at Croke Park ended with a certain symmetry yesterday, with a defeat that cost them silverware.

Hope and history don't always rhyme at Croker

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

IT was a wise old head who once said that no one in life could write their autobiography in advance. The course of life was far too unpredictable. And so it has been for Irish rugby. This team has arrived at a place that no one in their right mind could have foreseen a decade ago. Five years ago, maybe, you could detect signs that hinted at a certain direction. Nothing more clear-cut than that.

Script for final act torn up

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

It was goodbye to the Hill. And to the Hogan and the Cusack and Jones Road in general for that matter.

O'Connell admits Irish have only themselves to blame

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Paul O'Connell wasn't making excuses after Ireland's shock defeat to Scotland at Croke Park yesterday. He admitted that when so many errors are made, games can't be won.

Triple Crown dream dies

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Ireland saw their dream of a fifth Triple Crown in seven years dashed following a woeful performance which saw them slump to a 23-20 defeat to Scotland.

Kidney must learn lesson as set piece failure proves undoing

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

IT was hard to understand the accepted wisdom that Scotland would roll over to present Ireland with its fifth Triple Crown in seven years.

Slack Ireland simply didn't display hunger for the fight

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The final championship table certainly doesn't read as we might have wished. It has not been a successful couple of months for Declan Kidney and his management team; and that's nothing at all to do with it being a post-Grand Slam year.

Green machine is upwardly mobile

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Even allowing for the fact that there has been a lot right with Irish rugby since the turn of the century, a return of nine wins from 12 starts against Wales is more comprehensive than you could have imagined when the tournament expanded to become the Six Nations.

Flood spurns big chance in dogged affair

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Andy Robinson's only Calcutta Cup match as a player ended in a draw and his first as Scotland's coach also finished in a stalemate.

Triple Crown beckons

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:27:35 +0000

Ireland celebrated captain Brian O'Driscoll's century of caps by cruising to a victory which leaves them one win away from claiming their fifth Triple Crown in seven seasons.

Canavosio sinks Scots as Italy's defence holds firm

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Italy 16

Bowe sinks England

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:54:03 +0000

Tommy Bowe scored the decisive try as Ireland resurrected their RBS 6 Nations title ambitions with a dramatic late 20-16 victory over England.

Brave Welsh comeback falls just shy

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000

FRANCE finally made it three wins in a row for the first time under coach Marc Lievremont, but they suffered a thousand agonies as Wales staged one of their trademark comebacks.

Green giants stand on another level

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

AN Irish victory today is as predictable as the 'what's under your kilt?' question that Scotland supporters will trade on in Temple Bar this weekend.

O'Driscoll pays his respects to Croke Park and departing coach Cheika

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

THERE was a double farewell for Brian O'Driscoll yesterday as Ireland's captain paid tribute to Croke Park ahead of this evening's final rugby international against Scotland and offered his best wishes to the departing Leinster coach, Michael Cheika, who has completed a deal for a three-year move to French powerhouses Stade Francais.

Legend Rutherford believes brave Scots can pose real threat

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

IRISH rugby fans aged 30 and older should have little problem recalling the name and exploits of former Scotland out-half John Rutherford.

Ireland boosted by D'Arcy green light for Scots

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy was given the green light to take his place alongside Brian O'Driscoll as the Leinster pair chase their fifth Triple Crown against Scotland in tomorrow's Croke Park farewell.

Kiss switched on to reality of numbers game

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

As someone, somewhere, some time ago said: "Statistics are like mini skirts. They give you good ideas, but hide the most important parts."

Good news expected over D'Arcy

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

GORDON D'ARCY is the major injury concern for Ireland ahead of their Triple Crown-chasing clash with Scotland at Croke Park on Saturday.

England dazed and confused

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

You may fool all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

Gatland keen to end on high

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Thoughts of walking through the match-day throng in Cardiff tonight with a wooden spoon nailed to their backs should inspire Wales to wind up their pitiful Six Nations championship season with a winning performance of note against Italy.

Bastareaud returns for France

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

France coach Marc Lievremont has made just one change to his side to face England on Saturday with Mathieu Bastareaud returning at centre in place of David Marty.

Prydie gets Wales call

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Ospreys teenager Tom Prydie has won a shock call-up to the Wales team for Saturday's Six Nations finale against Italy in Cardiff.

Ruthless Les Bleus warm up for Slam

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

England will have found little encouragement as they attempt to gatecrash France's Grand Slam party in this ruthless demolition of an abject Italy side in the Stade de France sunshine.

Johnson wary of Paris pain

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Paris in the springtime is a prospect that might make lovers swoon with delight and Englishmen collapse with dread. Even Martin Johnson acknowledges that there will be a "different dynamic" to next Saturday's rendezvous at the Stade de France, an appointment laced with anxiety.

Bigger challenges looming

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Six years ago in the decaying surrounds of Lansdowne Road a Scotland side with the newly installed Matt Williams at the controls came in search of trouble.

Eddie O'Sullivan: Triple Crown triumph should never be taken for granted

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

There's a bit of a Celtic Tiger feel to Ireland's pursuit of a fifth Triple Crown in seven seasons today. Just the faintest sense of good times washing away a little perspective in people. It's quite extraordinary to think that, prior to 2004, Ireland had won only six Triple Crowns in 121 years. Yet, now we take it almost as a birth right.

O'Brien and Co's edicts not helping state of Nations

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Who is responsible for plunging the Six Nations into ludicrous controversy and giving only a couple of days notice on the new interpretations of rugby's playing laws?

Generosity of GAA hosts will never be forgotten

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

No sooner had Geordan Murphy walloped the ball high into the Cardiff stand and referee Wayne Barnes blown his final whistle to confirm a first Six Nations Grand Slam for Ireland, were we all asking ourselves the question: how do you follow this?

Vincent Hogan: Sad farewell to rugby's emotional Croker union

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

It was a pity that the final, memorable acoustic of rugby in Croke Park should be a cacophony of jeers for a visiting goal-kicker. Dan Parks may or may not have noticed. His winning strike was such a brazen read of the wind, chances are he heard nothing at that moment beyond some inner voice preaching cold procedure.

Billy Keane: The good times just aren't to be sniffed at

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Our first TV was a 15-inch Bush black and white and all the kids on the street piled into our sitting room for Rin Tin Tin.