Leigh Halfpenny was the man of the hour for Wales on the weekend, slotting a last minute penalty to snatch a thrilling 23-21 win over Ireland in a dramatic Six Nations match in Dublin on Sunday.

In what was a passionate encounter, tempers were clearly at the fore for each side as the home team looked to avenge their defeat to the Welsh in the world cup last year.

Yet Wales played with an energy that Ireland failed to match, and two tries by centre Jonathon Davies and one from George North provided the platform for this impressive result.

Both sides exchanged scores in the first half, but Wales were made to rue fly-half Rhy Priestland’s wayward goal kicking as he missed several attempts at the sticks, allowing the Irish to go in at half time 10-3 up, courtesy of a try from hooker Rory Best and 5 points from Johnny Sexton.

Wales returned after the interval without their talismanic captain Sam Warburton - who picked up a dead leg – but showed strength and power in attack, typified through the impressive North who set-up another score for Davies.

However, Ireland found some spark of their own through Tommy Bowe who scored in the corner and at 21-15 with five minutes on the clock, looked to have the match; however, the Welsh had other plans and cut the lead to one-point with a try from North.

Stephen Ferris was then sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Ian Evans and Halfpenny held his nerve to slot over the last-gasp penalty and condemn the Irish to their first defeat in the opening game of the Six Nations for eight years.

Following the match, Ireland Coach Declan Kidney was left to rue his side’s missed chances:

"It is extremely disappointing. We had a lead early in the second half but we did not build on it. When we do press ahead we have to go for the jugular. We are going to have to look at being more ruthless," he said.

It was a classic match with many talking points, so feel free to discuss below.

Longer highlights will replace these ones shortly

Posted at 10:20 am | 10 comments

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Eight points from debutant Owen Farrell and a Charlie Hodgson try proved to be the difference as England saw off a sloppy Scotland side 13-6 at Murrayfield this weekend. England were under the pump in the second half but escaped with the win.

In what was England’s first win in the Scottish capital since 2004, the visitors managed to keep an aggressive Scottish attack at bay, although were massively assisted by the abundance of errors from the home side.

The Scottish dominated the territory and possession stats but aimless kicking, repeat infringements and too many basic errors meant they were unable to convert their chances into points; as typified by clear blown scoring chances from Ross Rennie and Greig Laidlaw.

Meanwhile England captain Chris Robshaw led from the front for “the auld enemy”, putting his body on the line as Scotland threw everything but the kitchen sink at the red rose defence.

But the men in blue were unable to convert their chances into points and gifted England the perfect start to their 2012 Six Nations campaign.

Interim England coach Stuart Lancaster was pleased with his side’s strong defence and strict discipline: "[Murrayfield] is a tough place to come and win, so that was a great result," he said.

"We got a lot of things right, especially in defence where we showed great spirit and willingness to work. We always had an inner confidence in those new players and we're delighted to get off the mark but it's only step one."

Meanwhile, Scotland coach Andy Robinson stated that his side’s failure to convert chances into points cost them the win: "We created enough chances, but we’re not taking them," Robinson said.

"It's important that we stay together. Everybody is very frustrated by the loss."

With so much possesion in the second half but failing to score, what are Scotland doing wrong?

Posted at 07:48 am | 7 comments

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France opened their 2012 Six Nations campaign with a convincing 30-12 win over Italy at the Stade de France on Saturday. One of the highlights of the game was a fantastic try scored by winger Julien Malzieu, while debutant Wesley Fofana also crossed.

New France head coach Philippe Saint-André saw his side score four tries past their continental cousins, although the Italians performed valiantly in the tight – dominating possession and territory for most of the match.

The French backs proved too difficult for the Azzurri to contain, with tries scored by centres Fofana and Aurélien Rougerie, as well as wingers Malzieu and Vincent Clerc. Scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili added 10 points from the boot.

Whereas Les Bleus capitalised on all of their opportunities, the Italians were unable to finish off a series of promising attacks and will have to improve before next week’s fixture against Scotland.

Despite his side’s convincing performance, Saint-André said that there was room for improvement:

"It's good to win but there is a lot of room for improvement; the glass is half full and half-empty," the former France winger said.

"We should gain more possession, we lacked aggression, especially at the beginning. As a coach, you seek perfection but today you saw great defence, good discipline and we even scored four tries.

"Up front we could have performed better. We lacked aggressiveness at the start of match in clearing out and as for taking the game to them, we did some things of quality but we were often guilty of failing to finish them off well.

"But It's a first victory, so you have to have a smile," he said.

What, or who, impressed you most in this match? Leave a comment below to let us know.

Posted at 07:35 am | 5 comments

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Catch up on highlights from the latest round of the IRB World Series Sevens as New Zealand took the Cup in front of their home crowd in Wellington. Some brilliant tries were scored on both days, with the cup semi final in particular, between England and NZ, proving to be a classic.

Highlights of Day One are featured first, then Day Two follows in this official highlights package. 

Posted at 13:10 pm | 0 comments

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As we head into Six Nations weekend O2 Inside returns with previews for tomorrow's Calcutta Cup match between England and Scotland, and a look behind the scenes with the England camp at Pennyhill Park.

During the Rugby World Cup Haskell Cam was a popular feature that gave us all a look at what goes on while on tour with the England team. This year O2 Inside Line is back with it's usualy variety, and no doubt a few others controlling that infamous handycam.

Austin Healey and Abi Griffiths are joined by debutant Owen Farrell, who it seems will take control of the kicking duties, and fullback Mike Brown. Farrell will be joined in midfield by Brad Barritt, another debutant who has come a long way since making his debut for the Sharks in Super Rugby aged 19 many moons ago.

"It’s what you play rugby for, to enjoy those moments," said Farrell, himself still only 20. "It doesn’t change for me whether I’m playing in front of 80,000 or 6,000. Once you step over that whitewash it is the same as every other game. I've heard bagpipes before."

Interim coach Stuart Lancaster has selected a changed side, handing debuts to three players in total, with Phil Dowson another who, at the age of 30, will get his first taste of Test rugby. Just six players remain from the World Cup quarter final defeat by France.

Kick off at Murrayfield is at 17:00 GMT

England team:
Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, David Strettle, Charlie Hodgson, Ben Youngs, Alex Corbisiero, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Mouritz Botha, Tom Palmer, Tom Croft, Chris Robshaw (captain), Phil Dowson.
Replacements: Rob Webber, Matt Stevens, Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Jordan Turner-Hall, Mike Brown.

Scotland team: Rory Lamont, Lee Jones, Nick De Luca, Sean Lamont, Max Evans, Dan Parks, Chris Cusiter, David Denton, Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch, Jim Hamilton, Richie Gray, Euan Murray, Ross Ford (captain), Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: Scott Lawson, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, John Barclay, Mike Blair, Greig Laidlaw, Graeme Morrison.

Below is the first episode of this years O2 Inside Line, where you can see behind the scenes footage of England in the gym, coaching junior rugby, and some of the players have a chat.

To get the inside scoop on the squad, as well as fun features, match analysis and up to the minute player interviews with presenters Austin Healey and Abi Griffiths, sign up for alerts and watch O2 Inside Line on RFU TV at O2InsideLine.com / #O2InsideLine

Posted at 11:04 am | 3 comments

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All Black World Cup winner Stephen Donald played a large part in Bath's convincing win over a weakened Northampton Saints team in the LV= Cup on the weekend. He did however take a bit of a knock in the second half, which apparently needs to be shared.

As with in other sports, when a player takes a knock below the belt, it's usually absolutely hilarious for those around him. That sounds a bit sick and twisted, but we all know it's true.

It's definitely something to do with having experienced the pain oneself before, therefore finding amusement in someone else suffering from it, albeit temporarily. There were actually a few requests from RD users to see this again believe it or not, so here it is.

Saints flyhalf Stephen Myler booted the loose ball down field after the whistle, except that Donald and his groin area happened to be in the way. While it's difficult to be an expert on such matters, it appears as though it didn't hit him square in the jewels, luckily.

Ironically, as with the twisted nature of male sports, if it had been more damaging, we no doubt would have got a bigger laugh out of this. Karma is a tricky thing.

Check out the related video that features Stirling Mortlock taking a serious blow down under

Posted at 09:22 am | 9 comments

Check out these related posts

  Highlights from Round Three of the Anglo-Welsh Cup
  Friday Funnies - Stirling Mortlock low blow

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At the end of last year we ran a competition to give away two copies of the excellent Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. Today we're extending the comp by another week, so you still have one last chance to enter.

The good people at Alternative Software sent a copy of the game RD's way and it's definitely a winner. While there are admittedly a few ares that could do with improving on in the future, there's no doubt that all the hype surrounding the game is justified.

If you haven't played it yet, there's a few things that might convince you to either enter the comp (why not?) or just go out at get it. For the first time in a rugby game there are a huge number of licenses for competitions all over the world.

Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is really content rich with some 98 teams and 31 stadia featured, including the official team and competition licenses for the Aviva Premiership, RaboDirect PRO12, the French Orange Top 14, all the Australian and NZ Super Rugby clubs, plus the All Blacks, and other international teams.

Whilst not every team in the World is included, allowance has been made for customising players & teams so that you get the most out of the experience. If you want to play a once off match between Leinster & the Crusaders, for example, you can. Customisation in this game is great.

The game also gives you the chance to create a player or an entire team so you and your club mates can appear in the game. You can also manage your own team and international squad throughout 13 full seasons. There are even 'Game Play Sliders' that allow you to further tweak the game, if you wish, to suit your particular style of game-play.

The competition aspect of it is one of the best features as you can take part in whatever is local to you, whether that's the Aviva Premiership, RaboDirect PRO12, ITM Cup, or French Top 14, etc.

Gameplay is smooth and accurate and there's a detailed tutorial that sets you on your way at the beginning. Single Match, Competition Mode, or Career Mode are also available.

One of the best draw cards for serious gamers is it's online multiplayer feature (4v4 is possible). Lifelike graphics, atmosphere, and commentary from Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall add to the experience.

While we're all searching for the perfect rugby game due to some other sports being ahead of their time, there's no doubt that Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge is setting the standard for Rugby, and will provide you with hours and hours of fun.

To enter the giveaway simply answer the following question:

Which country did Jonah Lomu make his Test debut against?

Send your answer to [email protected]. Entries must include your name, address, contact number and which format of the game you would like (Xbox, PS3, or PC).
The closing date for entries is Friday 10th February 2012.

Posted at 08:40 am | 0 comments

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