Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
The Italy and Wales game was easily Saturday’s least entertaining game. As soon as it became obvious that Italy didn’t have what it takes to beat Wales in Cardiff, it was easy to predict how it would end. The Welsh came away with a 33-10 victory, largely creating opportunities through Shane Williams and James Hook (despite a poor overall showing, these two are playing well). I must say I was also impressed by the new young Welsh winger, Tom Prydie. He’s 18 years old, making his break through into international rugby remarkable, he gave a confident and threatening performance and I was surprised he didn’t score a try.
However disappointed I might have been about that match, I was soon on the edge of my seat. The next game was Scotland vs. Ireland in Dublin. And with this being the Ireland rugby teams’ last game at Croke Park and their chance to seal the Triple Crown you could tell it was going to a big occasion. Scotland however, made it very clear that they intended to cause an upset. As I mentioned earlier this was my favourite game of the tournament; I love a close rugby match, and this was just that. Scotland secured a 23-20 victory and both sides played fantastically. Man of the Match Dan Parks was truly incredible. The moments that led up to him sending over the kick that secured his teams triumph were some of the most tense that there have been in any Six Nations.
Most of what you’ll hear about the final Six Nations game will be England fans complaining about the referee. Whilst that was a concern it’s not something I wish to make a big deal about. With something like the scrum open to multiple interpretations we can’t really blame to ref too much (although it is worth remembering that England have the lowest error count of all teams in this year’s Six Nations). In this game however, things finally started to work for the English. A very good Northampton combination of Chris Ashton and Ben Foden allowed England to be the scorers of the only try of the game and the overall performance showed more ambition and direction.
Even though England had improved, they hadn’t done enough to see off this particular France side. My player of the tournament has got to be Morgan Parra, his really tremendous displays in the French scrum-half shirt mean he has far surpassed all expectations. The French team have played very confidently all through the tournament and deserved the Grand Slam in their 12-10 victory over England.
As ever, I’ve loved this Six Nations tournament, and I’ve really enjoyed sharing my views here each week. I hope you’ve had fun watching the rugby over the past seven weeks. Now we can look forward to next year, and what will be a very decisive Six Nations before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I can’t wait.
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