Italy (archive)
- Mark Orlovac - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 20 Mar 07, 01:45 PM
London - So after five weekends of thrilling action, the dust has settled on another Six Nations campaign.
Before the tournament started, our team of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Six Nations bloggers sat down to select a combined team of the tournament and we did the same three games in.
Now hostilities have come to an end, the votes have been painstakingly counted and we can exclusively reveal what we think is our definitive starting XV.
Triple crown winners Ireland provide six of the team, with champions France and Italy having four players apiece.
Youngster David Strettle is England's only selection while Wales and Wooden Spoonists Scotland miss out altogether.
Six players from the original team have kept their places, and interestingly five of them are in the pack.
Let us know what you think of our selections, what we've got right, what we've got wrong, and let us know how your Six Nations XV would look.
Continue reading "Team of the Tournament"
- Andrew Cotter - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport commentator
- 18 Mar 07, 02:04 PM
I left Rome on Saturday night. There was a tentative plan to rearrange a flight and stay and experience this intriguing drink you call "Guinness" in the Italian capital with a big, bald former hooker. I'm glad I didn't.
Has a celebration ever fallen so flat?
The Six Nations may have been criticised for a lack of quality. Kiwis will be sleeping soundly in their nests. But I can't remember a more dramatic conclusion to the competition. In fact, it was one of the most dramatic afternoons I can remember in any sport.
Continue reading "Irish party falls flat"
- Rob Hodgetts - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 18 Mar 07, 10:31 AM
London - The 2007 Six Nations ended in controversial, joyous, heartbreaking or infuriating fashion depending on the colour of your shirt.
But there's no doubt it's been a cracker - maybe not for the actual quality of rugby but for the drama and suspense right up until the final match.
France, Ireland and England were all tied at the top of the table going into Saturday's finale, meaning every point scored, for or against, would be crucial in deciding the eventual winners.
Continue reading "Six Nations - the final verdict"
- Phil Harlow, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 13 Mar 07, 11:14 AM
London - As we count down to the , there are still four teams with a chance - mathematically speaking, at any rate - of winning the title.
If, like me, maths in not your strong point, pens, paper, a calculator and a protractor may well be required for what follows....
Continue reading "Our Six Nations permutations guide"
- Jim Stokes - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland Sport
- 13 Mar 07, 10:14 AM
Belfast – Now that my very temporary support of England (for very selfish reasons you understand) has quickly evaporated in the thermals above Twickenham, I can look forward to what should be a thrilling Six Nations finale.
While I didn’t honestly think , I was even less convinced that rolling to a Grand Slam.
But fair play to Brian Ashton’s boys - who took advantage of a French team that looked asleep for most of the game. So much so, they should have worn their pyjamas, particularly out in the three-quarters.
Continue reading "Possession the key on St Paddy's Day"
- Nick Mullins - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport commentator
- 9 Mar 07, 05:04 PM
Rome - There is money at stake for Italians tomorrow.
If they can beat Wales and record their second win of the championship then they will each pick up a bonus of £15,000.
Forget the pride of recording back-to-back victories in the Six Nations for the first time, this is also about pounds and pence, or euros and cents.
No-one is entirely sure why they have that . Andrea Scanavacca might not be Dan Carter but he did the business against Scotland.
Having said that Ramiro Pez was banging them over from his own half in the sunshine at the this lunchtime.
Continue reading "Rome learns to love rugby"
- Sean Davies - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales Sport journalist
- 2 Mar 07, 12:07 PM
Cardiff - The general impression I’ve been getting from around the country this week is that the majority of Welsh fans see their team as the underdogs for next week’s game with Italy at the Stadio Flaminio.
If that’s correct, it’s the first time it’s happened - although I imagine that moods will swing back to the usual ridiculous Welsh optimism as we build towards the fixture!
I don’t have any scientific facts to back up the theory, so I thought I’d throw it open and see what the mood of the nation is.
Continue reading "Who are favourites in Rome?"
- Sean Davies - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales Sport journalist
- 28 Feb 07, 05:59 PM
Cardiff - There can only be one way to go after Super Saturday - the Six Nations must be expanded and taken to Spain.
Now we could have the worthy Argentina side playing from there, or we could allow the Spanish national team in to give Wales the chance of winning a game (I’m sure Scotland would throw the new boys a few tries to get them started).
But the basic plan is the only sober conclusion I can come to after witnessing Saturday’s eight-hour marathon feast from the depths of Finnegan’s genuine Irish bar in Valencia.
Continue reading "Super Saturday from a skewed angle"
- Phil Harlow - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 27 Feb 07, 12:48 PM
After the pivotal third weekend, the is starting to look more settled.
France are the only team who can still achieve the Grand Slam, while Wales, with three straight defeats, are looking up at the rest of the sides.
Ireland are on course for a Triple Crown, but England took a big step backwards with their massive defeat in Dublin.
Italy showed they are a genuine force in the tournament with their first ever away win over a misfiring Scotland.
I've assessed the state of play with two weekends left to go.
Continue reading "Six Nations state of play"
- Bryn Palmer - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 25 Feb 07, 12:30 PM
So the dust is beginning to settle on the Six Nations' "Super Saturday" - three games, 163 points and 16 tries.
A good day to be a rugby union fan (although , and supporters may dispute that), the middle Saturday of the tournament was a real test of endurance.
Continue reading "How was "Super Saturday" for you?"
- Phil Harlow - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 24 Feb 07, 03:28 PM
Scotland self-destructed at Murrayfield on Saturday, gifting Italy three tries in the first seven minutes as the visitors gained their first ever away victory in the Six Nations.
See if you agree with my ratings.
Continue reading "Scotland player ratings"
- Andrew Cotter - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport commentator
- 21 Feb 07, 08:46 AM
Now I could talk about Scotland's team selection for the game against Italy, but it looks fairly settled. which is fair enough and Simon Webster is out for a while which is not fair at all, but there you go.
Instead, I'd like to talk about other people who won't be there on Saturday. At the moment, about 20,000 of them.
At the time of writing (Tuesday afternoon) some 45,200 tickets have been sold. Sales are currently averaging about 1,000 a day.
So that would be fine if we could somehow squeeze a few extra days in before Saturday, but I'm told that may be impossible. A lot of paperwork involved. Special forms to be filled in.
Continue reading "Where are the Murrayfield missing?"
- Rob Hodgetts - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 15 Feb 07, 09:58 AM
London - I can't quite decide how I feel this morning. Not about life in general, though that's got me unusually stumped too, but about whether it's a good thing there's no this weekend.
By this time, we're normally upping the ante and starting to salivate over the weekend's clashes.
The teams have been named, the coaches and captains are in the process of delivering their final news conferences and we, the fans, are easing into our familiar pre-match routine of talking a load of old cobblers at each other until 30 seconds before kick-off.
Continue reading "Breaking the spell"
- Mark Orlovac - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport journalist
- 8 Feb 07, 03:11 PM
It must be pretty difficult being an Italian sports fan at the moment.
is again in chaos following the death of a policeman in last weekend (which followed last year’s massive ) while the rugby team were thumped by France in their opening Six Nations game.
So to judge the Azzurri mood ahead of Saturday’s clash against England at Twickenham, I spoke to the rugby correspondent of , Andrea Buongiovanni.
Continue reading "Crucial times for the Azzurri"
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