Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - England v Ireland

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - England v Ireland

John Inverdale is at Twickenham, where England host current Six Nations champions Ireland.

The Irish have triumphed in five of the last six meetings between these sides, including a hard-fought 14-13 win in Dublin last year. England paid for their indiscipline that day, and Martin Johnson's furious reaction to the sin-binning of Danny Care was one of the abiding images of the 2009 championship.
With match commentary from Eddie Butler and Brian Moore.

Broadcast on: BBC One, 3:30pm Saturday 27th February 2010

Duration: 150 minutes

Available until: 5:59pm Saturday 6th March 2010

via bbc.co.uk

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Italy v Scotland

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Italy v Scotland

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Italy v Scotland

Gabby Logan presents coverage of the 2010 Six Nations clash between Italy and Scotland.

Italian fans will be hoping for a repeat of their famous win a decade ago, when the Azzurri marked their entrance into the tournament with a 34-20 victory over reigning champions Scotland.

Italy also won when the Scots last visited Rome two years ago, so Andy Robinson's side will be prepared for an almighty battle in the eternal city.

With match commentary from Andrew Cotter and Andy Nicol.

Broadcast on: BBC One, 1:00pm Saturday 27th February 2010

Duration: 150 minutes

Available until: 3:29pm Saturday 6th March 2010

via bbc.co.uk

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Wales v France

John Inverdale presents coverage of Wales v France as the 2010 Six Nations reaches its halfway point.

These two teams met in Paris in 2009 for the first-ever Friday night match in the Six Nations, and the experiment is being repeated at the Millennium Stadium this year.

Wales are hoping for a different result, having gone down 21-16 to the French in 2009, but neutrals will be hoping the match is just as exciting as the thrilling and atmospheric encounter at the Stade de France.
Raphael Ibanez and Jeremy Guscott offer their expert analysis in the studio, with match commentary coming from Nick Mullins and Jonathan Davies.

Broadcast on: BBC One, 7:55pm Friday 26th February 2010

Duration: 125 minutes

Available until: 9:59pm Friday 5th March 2010

Watch the Video Here

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Six Nations Rugby 2010 - Italy 12 - 17 England

Italy 12-17 England

Italy (6) 12
Pens: Mi Bergamasco 4
England (6) 17
Tries: Tait Pens: Wilkinson 3 Drop-goals: Wilkinson

Highlights - Italy 12-17 England

By James Standley

England made it two wins out of two in the Six Nations but they had to survive a brave Italian fightback before securing a nervy victory in Rome.

A brace of penalties apiece from Jonny Wilkinson - who missed three kicks in all - and Mirco Bergamasco made it 6-6.
Mathew Tait's fine try early in the second half put England ahead before Wilkinson slotted his third penalty.
Italy trimmed the lead through two Bergamasco penalties, but Wilkinson's drop-goal soothed England nerves.
The victory is England's first away from home under manager Martin Johnson and it means the visitors have now won all 16 of their games against Italy.

Johnson happy after difficult win

The Italians build their game around a gnarled pack of forwards and some siege-gun kicking, and it always threatened to be a difficult afternoon for the visitors.
Despite their opening win over Wales, England are still lacking in confidence and struggling to find the right balance between their conservative instincts and the need to play with pace and width against limited opponents who can match their traditional strength up front.
It looked as though those doubts might be misplaced as England made a superb start and almost scored when Delon Armitage chipped ahead but just failed to win the race to touch down after only 33 seconds.

BEN DIRS' BLOG Is there any situation Steve Borthwick wouldn't take "lots of positives" from? Getting mugged? Having his car keyed? Losing his house in a game of cards?

But Italy, frequently so limited in both ambition and execution, had come out with positive intent of their own and when Alessandro Zanni claimed Craig Gower's cross-kick, Italy came close to the first try of the match, but the final pass did not go to hand.
England captain Steve Borthwick has been the target of much criticism over the past 18 months but his line-out expertise has never been in doubt.
And he claimed two Italy throw-ins in quick succession to halt the hosts' momentum and help set up the platform for Wilkinson to open the scoring with a penalty.
Italy hit back in similar fashion through Bergamasco - not regarded as a front-line Test goalkicker - straight after the restart when Nick Easter was penalised for not releasing after making a tackle, before a remarkable Wilkinson run came to an end.

Flutey takes confidence from win

He had not missed a penalty for England in games he had started since 2003, but the Toulon player made a poor connection with a long-range kick and it fell short.
Worse was to come for the iconic England fly-half just after the 20-minute mark when he missed a far simpler effort, to gasps of disbelief from the massed ranks of travelling England fans at the Stadio Flaminio.
The visitors had a let off as Bergamasco's radar also went awry but after some bright moments in attack England had begun to lose their way and after they came off worst in the latest of a series of increasingly tedious kicking duels, the Italy wing landed his second penalty to give the Azzurri a 6-3 lead.

Monye made the initial break to set up Tait's try for England

With half-time looming Armitage and Riki Flutey decided they had had enough of aimlessly putting boot to ball in their own half and they launched a superb counter-attack from deep which ended with Wilkinson levelling the scores with his second penalty.
With Italy's strength lying in their forwards, England's clearest advantage was out wide but their fear of running the ball from their own half - surely under orders from the England coaching staff - was hampering their efforts to develop any attacking momentum.
But soon after the restart England cut loose with a cracking try as Easter, Ugo Monye and Armitage combined to send Tait racing over.
Wilkinson's struggles with the Mitre brand of ball continued as he missed the conversion but England were looking much more positive when they had possession.
Just before the hour mark Italy lost prop Martin Castrogiovanni to the sin-bin after he infringed with England five yards out and Wilkinson edged them into a 14-6 lead with a simple kick.

Mallett proud of Italy display

But England could not take advantage of the Leicester tight-head's absence and Italy even managed to reduce the lead as Bergamasco landed his third penalty.
Any signs of life from England had by now disappeared. Their line-out had fallen apart, losing five of their own throws after the break, and the game had turned into a real dog fight, with the hosts on top.
They cut the gap to just two points with 10 minutes remaining with a fourth penalty from Bergamasco and for a moment it looked as though they would reel England in to claim their first ever win over the visitors.
But England managed to establish one final attacking position and Wilkinson slotted a right-foot drop-goal to give them some much-needed breathing space.

---

Italy: McLean; Masi, Canale, Garcia, Mi Bergamasco; Gower, Tebaldi; Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Geldenhuys, Bortolami, Sole, Ma Bergamasco, Zanni.
Replacements: Robertson for Masi (55), Canavosio for Tebaldi (53), Aguero for Perugini (55), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (75).
Not Used: Bernabo, Derbyshire, Bocchino.
Sin Bin: Castrogiovanni (58).
England: D Armitage; Cueto, Tait, Flutey, Monye; Wilkinson, Care; Payne, Hartley, Cole, Shaw, Borthwick, Haskell, Moody, Easter.
Replacements: Hodgson for Care (75), Mullan for Payne (59), Thompson for Hartley (69), Wilson for Cole (64), Deacon for Shaw (64), S. Armitage for Moody (72).
Not Used: Flood.
Att: 31,876
Ref: Christophe Berdos (France).

Tait's try helps England to win in Rome

via news.bbc.co.uk

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Wales v Scotland Video

Six Nations Rugby - 2010 - Wales v Scotland

via bbc.co.uk
John Inverdale introduces coverage as Wales host Scotland in the second weekend of the 2010 Six Nations.

It is Wales' first home game of the tournament and the Millennium Stadium will be buzzing for the occasion, especially if the home side beat the Scots for the third time in a row and the fifth consecutive time on home territory.

Match commentary is by Andrew Cotter and Jonathan Davies.

Broadcast on: BBC One, 1:10pm Saturday 13th February 2010

Duration: 150 minutes

Available until: 3:54pm Saturday 20th February 2010

Six Nations Rugby 2010 - France Vs Ireland Video

via bbc.co.uk

Gabby Logan is at the Stade de France in Paris to present coverage of the second of the day's two matches from the 2010 Six Nations, which pits France against Ireland.

The Irish won 30-21 when the sides met at Croke Park in 2009 and it was a victory that set them on course for their historic Grand Slam win. However, Ireland haven't won in the French capital since 2000 and are bound to face another strong Gallic challenge.

Match commentary is by Eddie Butler and Philip Matthews.

Broadcast on: BBC One, 4:05pm Saturday 13th February 2010

Duration: 160 minutes

Available until: 6:44pm Saturday 20th February 2010