By Tournament / Six Nations

Resignation: 'the acceptance of something that is undesirable but inevitable.'

Ever since Eddie O'Sullivan signed a four-year extension as Ireland coach before the World Cup, his shelf life was rocky at best.

Not the kind of man who would jump unless he was given a rather forceful nudge, especially with a rather lucrative and very generous contract still paying the bills, O'Sullivan had seemingly dug himself so deep into the mire that the only way out was to escape via a tunnel underneath Lansdowne Road.

After leading Ireland through a disastrous World Cup campaign, whimpering out at the group stage, he guided a poor class of 2008 to their worst ever Six Nations finish since 1999.

O'Sullivan showed far too much faith in players who were clearly out of form such as Ronan O'Gara, leading to serious doubts cast over his management style.

His lack of a ruthless streak gave the wrong impression of an unwillingness to experiment with new talent, which in fact was a policy dictated by people at the top table of Irish rugby.

The critics have been harsh with O'Sullivan receiving more complaints than OFCOM over the ITV telephone saga.

In an Ireland career that lasted six years O'Sullivan had overseen Ireland's most successful rugby era, but still hadn't won anything apart from a trio of Triple Crowns.

The IRFU will have enviously peered over at their Welsh neighbours, scratching their heads at how such an unglamorous squad can boast two Grand Slams in the past four years - a period blessed with Ireland’s most talented group of players.

Declan Kidney and Jake White are the favourites to take over but Pat Howard’s complete ignorance for conservatism would be a preferred option with the supporters.

Eddie O'Sullivan, coach, was appointed November 28 2001. He was found unemployed on March 20, 2008.

France's backs + Dan Parks' passing + Ireland's forwards = The worst team of the weekend. But who will be packing boxes at Lidl instead of wearing those skin tight shirts cum next year's tournament...

15. Hugo Southwell (Scotland): Never really got into the game and his kicking was wayward.
14. Vincent Clerc (France): Stalled throughout and couldn't get his usual penetrative running out of first gear.
13. Andrew Trimble (Ireland): Tries hard, but the execution isn't often good enough
12. Damien Traille (France): His cheap shot on Lee Byrne was about as good as it got
11. Lesley Vainikolo (England): Arguably his best game but you can't be praised as a dummy runner all the time.
10. Dan Parks (Scotland): Can't pass, couldn't kick and even weaker tackling.
9. Eoin Reddan (Ireland): His form has fallen dramatically since a sizzling opening weekend display.
8. Julien Bonnaire (France): France were after more and great man just couldn't deliver due to the ferocity of the Welsh tackling.
7. David Wallace (Ireland): Didn't mediate between forwards and backs and failed to get his hands on the ball.
6. Thierry Dusautoir (France): Was always second best at the breakdown although his endeavour couldn't be faulted.
5. Paul O'Connell (Ireland): Mistake after mistake, it was a shame his teammates weren't there to help.
4. Nathan Hines (Scotland): A lot of handling errors and failed with his customary scare tactics.
3. Nicolas Mas (France): Another French no show in the scrum and didn't offer anything going forward
2. Fergus Thomson (Scotland): Probably slightly unlucky but definitely the worst of the six
1. Marcus Horan (Ireland): His worst day by a long shot evident by his substitution for Tony Buckley.

Italy 23-20 Scotland

Italy: Tries: Penalty G Canale Cons: A Marcato (2) Pens: A Marcato (2) Drops: A Marcato
Scotland: Tries: A Hogg M Blair Cons: C Paterson (2) Pens: C Paterson D Parks

It may not have been the championship or the aversion of the wooden spoon, but from the rapturous reception that celebrated Andrea Marcato’s match-winning drop-goal you could’ve been forgiven for thinking different.

The full-back’s last minute boot secured a teary Nick Mallett’s first Italian triumph since taking the reigns in 2008 while prop Salvatore Perugini decided the best way to display his emotion would be to strip down to his pants.

The draw would’ve probably been a fair result to a fiercely contested yet error strewn tussle, but no one could doubt Italy’s commitment and endeavour in this year’s tournament as if there was an award for biggest effort, then the Azzurri would have won themselves a first trophy by some distance.

Had it not been for Dan Parks wild and wayward skills with ball in hand then Scotland would’ve had the match wrapped up by 60 minutes, but the one-trick kicking pony may as well have been wearing white given the clinical distribution of the fly-half that assisted both of Italy’s tries.

Parks fizzed a hazy miss-pass into midfield that led to the penalty try after first some tidy work from Kaine Robertson and enforcing power from the Italian scrum.

Allister Hogg got on the end of a stunning string of passes to double Scotland’s tournament try tally and when Mike Blair skipped through a gaping hole in Italy’s tiring defence on the stroke of half-time, the tartan-army found themselves seven points ahead at the break.

But with Scotland in control and seemingly on the brink of recording back-to-back wins, Parks again showed Scotland’s fragility in attack as Sergio Parisse galloped onto his second interception. The Italian No.8 powered his way into Scottish territory and with Chris Paterson desperately trying to close him down, Parisse intelligently passed infield for Gonzalo Canale to gather and run in under the posts.

Paterson and Marcato traded penalties and with time running out the shaggy haired replacement prop Carlos Nieto burst up the middle leaving Italy deep in the Scotland twenty-two and Marcato the simplest of chances for his crowning moment as Italy’s most improved player.

The sobering thought is, Italy still finished bottom of the table and cursed wooden spoonists, not that Mallett or his squad will care because they have progressed since their awful September in France.

England 33-10 Ireland

England: Tries: P Sackey M Tait J Noon Cons: D Cipriani (3) Pens: D Cipriani (4)
Ireland: Tries: R Kearney Cons: R O'Gara Pens: R O'Gara

So it wasn’t the championship winning performance all of those associated with English rugby expected prior to the tournament but there were signs that England may have a bright future after all.

Seven days ago, a spineless group of warriors were outmuscled, outthought and out played by a one-dimensional Scotland side, but on happier home turfs at Twickenham England produced their most complete performance of the RBS 6 Nations that players, coach and fans would’ve wished for six weeks ago.

Barring his little post-match faux pas, Danny Cipriani had a flawless afternoon. Cipriani’s kicking out of hand was sublime while he also brought some much needed dynamism and invention to a back-line that has been devoid of imagination.

Suddenly England had a new attitude and swagger and the new fly-half was leading his orchestra with confidence and maturity way beyond his 20 years of age. It may have taken a while but the excitement he drummed up every time the ball reached his hands was reminiscent of another fly-half who had to warm the bench and could do so for some time if he wishes to prolong his international career.

Cipriani did not miss a kick at goal and even when the ball lost its balance he remained poised and arrogantly slotted over the sundries.

Ireland may have led through Rob Kearney’s muscular switch inside a sleeping English drift defence but once Paul Sackey started and finished a fine sweeping move England didn’t look back.

As ever, the 'f***ing' forwards laid the platform for more scoring opportunities, and this time some speedy straight handling gave blood replacement Matt Tait a yard on Kearney and he duly took the opportunity to race in for England’s second before his outstanding Newcastle teammate Jamie Noon barged through Shane Horgan to complete matters.

While the euphoria around England’s new star masked another trophiless winter, those of us not getting too carried away were left to think what might have been had Brian Ashton not shown too much faith in his World Cup heroes.