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Monday, March 23, 2009


Brian O'Driscoll: Player of the Tournament...


RBS 6 Nations number ten is done and dusted with Ireland standing out, shoulder to shoulder, as Grand Slammers. 61 years of pain endured, it is fair to say, even those fans old enough to remember Jackie Kyle and Karl Mullen's 1948 band of brothers weren't shirking away from rounds at the bar on Saturday night.

The mean green XV claimed the medals but how many of their glory boys made the ScrumoftheEarth.com side? There's also the small matter of a Lions tour in the summer, so we've added our starting line-up for the first Test at the bottom for you too. Do you agree? Let us know...

Monday, February 16, 2009


Luke Fitzgerald: 'This one's for Louis Walsh'

Italy 9-38 Ireland

Ireland's aspirations of a Grand Slam were kept firmly alive after a flattering 38-9 victory in Rome, a score-line that reflected little of Italy's dogged performance.

The resurgent Italians were light-years better than their Twickenham no-show but Nick Mallett was still left to rue the same lapses in concentration and persistent ticking over of the penalty count that potentially cost them a shock victory against England.

While it was far from picture perfect for Ireland, there is a growing belief that 2009 could well be their year, especially if the inspired youngsters Jamie Heaslip, Stephen Ferris and two-try hero Luke Fitzgerald continue to follow their seniors, Paul O'Connell and captain Brian O'Driscoll's lead.

Man of the match, Fitzgerald epitomised that self-confidence but insisted the greater challenge England will present their sternest test so far. "There's a certain amount of self confidence but we known England are always a tough challenge- they're such a physical side."

Captain O'Driscoll echoed his Leinster teammates thoughts, adding, "There's still a lot of graft to put in before the England game."

Can Ireland shell their tag as Six Nations nearly-men? A dominant performance against England should turn the perennial dreamers into believers.

Thursday, February 12, 2009


Denis Hickie: 'Last man to the gelate buys the ice-cream'

Could it be 10th time lucky for Italy? Who cares? Surely, a spring-trip to Rome should be enough for the traveling barmy Irish folk. Seriously though, Ireland enjoy their visits to the Italian capital like kids rejoice over invitations to the sweetie shop. Hungry for facts? Here's some tasty tit-bits of Six Nations trivia...


Luke McLean: Playground games at Twickers...


Italy boss Nick Mallett has made eight changes to the team that lost to England at Twickenham.

Mauro Bergamasco returns to familiar surroundings at openside with Sergio Parisse reverting back to No. 8.

Andrea Marcato and Marco Bortolami are both injured, so Luke McLean and Tommaso Reato are promoted from the bench with Paul Giffen starting at scrum-half.

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi (Biarritz Olympique), 14 Kaine Robertson (MPS Viadana), 13 Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), 12 Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), 11 Matteo Pratichetti (Cammi Calvisano), 10 Luke Mclean (Cammi Calvisano), 9 Paul Griffen (Cammi Calvisano) ,8 Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais)(c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), 6 Alessandro Zanni (Cammi Calvisano), 5 Tommaso Reato (Femi CZ Rovigo), 4 Santiago Dellape' (Toulon RC), 3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), 2 Fabio Ongaro (Saracens), 1 Salvatore Perugini (Stade Toulousain),

Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia (Racing Metro Paris), 17 Carlos Nieto (Gloucester RFC), 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Ulster), 19 Josh Sole (MPS Viadana), 20 Giulio Toniolatti (AlmavivA UR Capitolina), 21 Gonzalo Garcia (Cammi Calvisano), 22 Andrea Bacchetti (Femi CZ Rovigo).

Saturday, February 07, 2009


Harry Ellis: 'Can I have another six weeks off?'

Maximum points, five tries – job done – if only. The sobering result only told half of the story as Italy gift-wrapped a morale-boosting win for Martin Johnson’s cohorts and pointed towards a brighter spring following a dull, dreary and altogether dreadful autumn.

A win’s a win and it would be very English to be ungrateful for the belated present but the nervous cobwebs from hosting a record-breaking southern hemisphere festival clearly still lingers inside the stitches of every English jersey.

The Six Nations will teach Johnson a lot about the state of English rugby and his bright young things but the examinations and real tests will start in Cardiff in round two.

If these unimaginative laws persuade teams that death by territory is less painful than a valiant defeat in effort, then we might be onto something.

The mismatched clash became instantly dominated by long aimless punting with England happy to donate Italy possession, who were awaiting their punishment like a child caught stealing. If this was England’s blueprint for success, then it was spot on.

This was meant to be an Italian side arriving with serious ambitions of a first English Six Nations scalp. It played out more like 22 schoolboys dressed in blue just here to make up the numbers.

Italy resembled the basic skills and tactical nous of the local Richmond U8s at times and utilised the ball as if it were infested with a life-threatening disease.

Chief culprit was Mauro Bergamasco. Nick Mallett accepted full responsibility for his scrum-halves shocker but for such a player of outstanding quality, it must’ve felt like his limbs had all gone into meltdown. It was soul-destroying.

Equally as confusing as Mallett’s post-match press conference, perhaps M. Bergamasco’s position on the team-sheet was also misinterpreted by the Italian players.

How Mallett could do with one or two more Sergio Parisse’s? The outstanding skipper, like the bravest roman gladiators of the ancient era, would live and die for his team-mates and his public.

Parisse is the heartbeat of Italian rugby and although his passion and endeavour is only matched on occasions by his team-mates, there is unparalleled distinctions in quality.

Johnson reckons England "don't have a problem with indiscipline." Yeah, and Rob Andrew's found a cure for cancer?! Ten penalties in the first half suggests it’s more than just a petit addiction.

The positives? Man-of-the-match Harry Ellis, playing only his second game in eight weeks, twice kicked his heels to dive over, while Mark Cueto’s comeback was capped by polishing off some sweeping hands.

James Haskell managed to tarnish his best game in an England shirt with more evidence of his childish knack for a yellow-card.

Solid if unspectacular, Andy Goode got off to a dream start but unfortunately the next 79 minutes illustrated the seismic gap between a domestic kingpin and international lightweight.

This flawed one-sided contest won't live long in the memory, just like it won’t do much to inspire hours of meticulous video analysis but putting his pragmatists cap on, Johnson will be extremely satisfied for a first Test win.

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