RBS 6 Nations: Round 1 Review

2013 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 2-Sunday, February 3

ROUND 1 REVIEW –

WALES (3) 22 IRELAND (23) 30, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

WALES: 15 Leigh Halfpenny (1 try, 2 conversions and 1 penalty); 14 Alex Cuthbert (1 try), 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North; 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Matthew Rees, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Andrew Coombs, 5 Ian Evans, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 8 Toby Faletau.

Replacements used: Ken Owens for Matthew Rees 13 mins, Matthew Rees for Ken Owens 21, Paul James for Gethin Jenkins 38, Gethin Jenkins for Paul James 40, Justin Tipuric for Aaron Shingler 44, Ken Owens for Matthew Rees 51, Lloyd Williams for Mike Phillips 63, Paul James for Gethin Jenkins 66, Craig Mitchell (1 try) for Adam Jones 73, Ollie Kohn for Ian Evans 73, James Hook for Dan Biggar 73.

Test debuts: Coombs and Kohn; Six Nations debuts: Coombs, Kohn and Biggar.

IRELAND: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (1 try), 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo (1 try); 10 Jonathan Sexton (3 conversions and 3 penalties), 9 Conor Murray (sin-bin, 70-80); 1 Cian Healy (1 try), 2 Rory Best (sin-bin, 58-68), 3 Mike Ross, 4 Mike McCarthy, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip (capt).

Replacements used: Keith Earls for Gordon D’Arcy 44, Chris Henry for Peter O’Mahony 51, Declan Fitzpatrick for Mike Ross 68, Dave Kilcoyne for Cian Healy 73, Donncha O’Callaghan for Mike McCarthy 73, Eoin Reddan for Simon Zebo 79.

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: Fitzpatrick, Gilroy, Henry, Kilcoyne and Zebo.

Referee: Romain Poite (France); Attendance: 73,230; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Brian O’Driscoll.

ENGLAND (19) 38 SCOTLAND (11) 18, Twickenham, London

ENGLAND: 15 Alex Goode; 14 Chris Ashton (1 try), 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (1 try), 11 Mike Brown; 10 Owen Farrell (3 conversions and 4 penalties), 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Geoff Parling (1 try), 6 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 8 Ben Morgan.

Replacements used: James Haskell for Ben Morgan 45, Dylan Hartley for Tom Youngs 53, Danny Care (1 try) for Ben Youngs 57, Mako Vunipola for Joe Marler 57, Courtney Lawes for Joe Launchbury 64, Toby Flood for Billy Twelvetrees 67, David Strettle for Alex Goode 67, Dave Wilson for Dan Cole 73.

Test debuts: Twelvetrees. RBS 6 Nations debuts: Goode, Launchbury, Marler, Twelvetrees, M Vunipola and T Youngs.

SCOTLAND: 15 Stuart Hogg (1 try); 14 Sean Maitland (1 try), 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matthew Scott, 11 Tim Visser; 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw (1 conversion and 2 penalties); 1 Ryan Grant, 2 Dougie Hall, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Richie Gray, 5 James Hamilton, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 8 John Beattie.

Replacements used: Dave Denton for Alasdair Strokosch 13, Ross Ford for Dougie Hall 47, Alastair Kellock for James Hamilton 55, Henry Pyrgos for Greig Laidlaw 73, Max Evans for Stuart Hogg 78.

Test debuts: Maitland; RBS 6 Nations debuts: Grant, Maitland, Pyrgos and Visser.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland); Attendance: 81,347; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Owen Farrell.

ITALY (13) 23 FRANCE (15) 18, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

ITALY: 15 Andrea Masi; 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean; 10 Luciano Orquera (2 conversions, 1 penalty and 1 drop goal), 9 Tobie Botes; 1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (1 try), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 5 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Sergio Parisse (1 try).

Replacements used: Edoardo Gori for Tobie Botes 55, Davide Giazzon (sin-bin, 80), for Leonardo Ghiraldini 55, Alberto de Marchi for Andrea Lo Cicero 55, Lorenzo Cittadini for Martin Castrogiovanni 62, Paul Derbyshire for Simone Favaro 63, Kristopher Burton (1 drop goal) for Luciano Orquera 63, Antonio Pavanello for Quintin Geldenhuys 71, Gonzalo Canale for Tommaso Benvenuti 71, Leonardo Ghiraldini for Kristopher Burton 79.

Test debuts: None; RBS 6 Nations debuts: de Marchi, Giazzon and Minto.

FRANCE: 15 Yoann Huget; 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall; 10 Frederic Michalak (1 conversion and 2 penalties), 9 Maxime Machenaud; 1 Yannick Forestier, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 3 Nicolas Mas, 4 Pascal Pape, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 8 Louis Picamoles (1 try).

Replacements used: Benjamin Kayser for Dimitri Szarzewski 52, Vincent Debaty for Yannick Forestier 52, Romain Taofifenua for Pascal Pape 58, Morgan Parra for Maxime Machenaud 62, Mathieu Bastareaud for Florian Fritz 62, Luc Ducalcon for Nicolas Mas 66, Damien Chouly for Louis Picamoles 68, Francois Trinh-Duc for Yoann Huget 71.

Test debuts: None; RBS 6 Nations debuts: Chouly, Forestier, Machenaud and Taofifenua.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales); Attendance: 57,547; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Luciano Orquera.

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TOP POINTS SCORERS:

18 – Owen Farrell (England) (3 conversions and 4 penalties)

15 – Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) (3 conversions and 3 penalties)

12 – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (1 try, 2 conversions and 1 penalty)

10 – Luciano Orquera (Italy) (2 conversions, 1 penalty and 1 drop goal)

8 – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) (1 conversion and 2 penalties), Frederic Michalak (France) (1 conversion and 2 penalties)

5 – Chris Ashton (England), Danny Care (England), Geoff Parling (England), Billy Twelvetrees (England), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Craig Mitchell (Wales), Cian Healy (Ireland), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Simon Zebo (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Sean Maitland (Scotland), Louis Picamoles (France), Benjamin Fall (France), Sergio Parisse (Italy), Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy) (1 try each)

3 – Kristopher Burton (Italy) (1 drop goal)

TOP TRY SCORERS:

1 – Chris Ashton (England), Danny Care (England), Geoff Parling (England), Billy Twelvetrees (England), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Craig Mitchell (Wales), Cian Healy (Ireland), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Simon Zebo (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Sean Maitland (Scotland), Louis Picamoles (France), Benjamin Fall (France), Sergio Parisse (Italy), Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)

TOP GOAL KICKERS:

100% – Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) (6 successful kicks from 6 attempts), Luciano Orquera (Italy) (3/3)

87.50% – Owen Farrell (England) (7/8)

75 % – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (3/4), Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) (3/4)

60% – Frederic Michalak (France) (3/5)

TOP PERFORMERS –

CARRIES:

20 Toby Faletau (Wales)
17 Chris Robshaw (England)
16 Billy Twelvetrees (England), Andrew Coombs (Wales)
15 Brad Barritt (England), Mike Brown (England)

METRES:

126 Mike Brown (England)
104 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
87 Alex Goode (England)
81 George North (Wales), Stuart Hogg (Scotland)

CLEAN BREAKS:

3 Mike Brown (England), Sergio Parisse (Italy)
2 Giovanbattista Venditti (Italy), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Ben Morgan (England), Simon Zebo (Ireland), Geoff Parling (England)

DEFENDERS BEATEN:

6 George North (Wales)
5 Ben Morgan (England)
4 Mike Brown (England), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Mathieu Bastareaud (France)

PASSES:

73 Mike Phillips (Wales)
67 Ben Youngs (England)
60 Tobie Botes (Italy)
50 Maxime Machenaud (France)
43 Conor Murray (Ireland)

KICKS IN PLAY:

10 Frederic Michalak (France)
9 Ruaridh Jackson (Scotland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
7 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
6 Eight players

OFFLOADS:

5 Alessandro Zanni (Italy), Chris Robshaw (England)
3 Tommaso Benvenuti (Italy), Brad Barritt (England)
2 Twelve players

TACKLES (MISSES):

21 Cian Healy (Ireland)
20 Mike McCarthy (Ireland)
18(3) Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
18(2) Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
17 Donnacha Ryan (Ireland)

TURNOVERS WON:

5 Kelly Brown (Scotland)
4 Thierry Dusautoir (France)
3 Ruaridh Jackson (Scotland), James Haskell (England)
2 Four players

LINEOUTS WON:

5 Donnacha Ryan (Ireland), Andrew Coombs (Wales)
4 Yoann Maestri (France), Ian Evans (Wales), Geoff Parling (England)