Guinness Six Nations 2023 | Recap Round 4

Italy loses to Wales 17:29

Wales secured their first victory in the Six Nations tournament with a 29-17 win against Italy in Rome.

The Welsh team took a surprising 22-3 lead at halftime thanks to tries from Rio Dyer and Liam Williams, as well as a penalty try awarded for a collapsed rolling maul.

Italy struggled with handling errors in the first half, missing several opportunities to score. Sebastian Negri’s try early in the second half gave Italy hope for a comeback, but Pierre Bruno’s sin-binning for dangerous play left them with only 14 players for the second time in the game.

Taulupe Faletau scored after a break from Rhys Webb in the 50th minute, earning Wales a bonus point. Juan Ignacio Brex’s try in the 68th minute renewed Italy’s hopes of a comeback, but their efforts were hampered by continued poor handling near the try line. In the end, it was a disappointing day for the Azzurri.

Highlights

Line-ups:

Italy:
15-Tommaso Allan, 14-Edoardo Padovani, 13-Juan Ignacio Brex, 12-Tommaso Menoncello, 11-Pierre Bruno, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Stephen Varney, 1-Danilo Fischetti, 2-Giacomo Nicotera, 3-Simone Ferrari, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 5-Federico Ruzza, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Michele Lamaro, 8-Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: 16-Luca Bigi, 17-Federico Zani, 18-Marco Riccioni, 19-Edoardo Iachizzi, 20-Giovanni Pettinelli, 21-Manuel Zuliani, 22-Alessandro Fusco, 23-Luca Morisi

Wales:
15-Liam Williams, 14-Josh Adams, 13-Mason Grady, 12-Joe Hawkins, 11-Rio Dyer, 10-Owen Williams, 9-Rhys Webb, 1-Wyn Jones, 2-Ken Owens, 3-Tomas Francis, 4-Adam Beard, 5-Dafydd Jenkins, 6-Jac Morgan, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: 16-Scott Baldwin, 17-Gareth Thomas, 18-Dillon Lewis, 19-Rhys Davies, 20-Tommy Reffell, 21-Tomos Williams, 22-George North, 23-Louis Rees-Zammit

Referee: Damon Murphy (Australia)

Man of the Mach: Rhys Webb (Wales)

Stats:

Italy (3) 17
Try: Negri (43′), Brex (68′)
Conversion: Allan (44′, 68′)
Penalty: Allan (16′)
Wales (22) 29
Try: Dyer (9′), L Williams (18′), Penalty Try (34′), Faletau (50′)
Conversion: O Williams (10′, 51′)
Penalty: O Williams (5′)

France triumphed over England with an impressive 53-10 victory at Twickenham, marking England’s largest-ever defeat on home soil.

A series of mistakes in the first half left England trailing behind with a score of 27-3. France demonstrated their offensive prowess from the beginning, with Thomas Ramos scoring a try in just the 2nd minute.

Thibaud Flament and Charles Ollivon also contributed to France’s dominant first half performance by scoring tries. In the second half, Freddie Steward managed to score England’s only try during their strongest period of play.

However, France quickly regained control when Flament scored his second try in the 57th minute and increased their lead to 24 points. Shortly after, Ollivon scored his second try and things continued to deteriorate for England when Damian Penaud scored two rapid tries in the final quarter, securing a memorable victory for France.

Highlights

Line-ups:

England:
15-Freddie Steward, 14-Max Malins, 13-Henry Slade, 12-Ollie Lawrence, 11-Anthony Watson, 10-Marcus Smith, 9-Jack van Poortvliet, 1-Ellis Genge, 2-Jamie George, 3-Kyle Sinckler, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-Ollie Chessum, 6-Lewis Ludlam, 7-Jack Willis, 8-Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16-Jack Walker, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Dan Cole, 19-David Ribbans, 20-Ben Curry, 21-Alex Mitchell, 22-Owen Farrell, 23-Henry Arundell

France:
15-Thomas Ramos, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Jonathan Danty, 11-Ethan Dumortier, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont, 1-Cyril Baille, 2-Julien Marchand, 3-Dorian Aldegheri, 4-Thibaud Flament, 5-Paul Willemse, 6-Francois Cros, 7-Charles Ollivon, 8-Gregory Alldritt
Replacements: 16-Peato Mauvaka, 17-Reda Wardi, 18-Sipili Falatea, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Sekou Macalou, 21-Maxime Lucu, 22-Yoram Moefana, 23-Melvyn Jaminet

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe

Man of the Mach: Freddie Steward (England)

Stats:

England (3) 10
Try: Steward (48′)
Conversion: Smith (49′)
Penalty: Smith (34′)

France (27) 53
Try: Ramos (2′), Flament (26′, 57′), Ollivon (41′, 60′), Penaud (72′, 75′)
Conversion: Ramos (4′, 27′, 41’+2, 58′, 61′, 73′)
Penalty: Ramos (7′, 36′)

Man of the match: Thomas Ramos (France)

Ireland is one step closer to achieving a Grand Slam after defeating Scotland 22-7 at Murrayfield.

The first half was action-packed with both teams scoring a try each.

Huw Jones scored for Scotland while Mack Hansen scored for Ireland, bringing the score to 8-7 in favor of the visitors. The fast pace continued in the second half with both teams creating opportunities. James Lowe broke through for Ireland in the 57th minute followed by Jack Conan five minutes later, giving Ireland a strong lead.

Despite dominating the last quarter and searching for a fourth try, Ireland was unable to secure the bonus point. The victory came at a cost as five Irish players were injured during the match including Garry Ringrose who suffered a head injury during a tackle.

Highlights

Line-ups:

Scotland:
15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Kyle Steyn, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Sione Tuipulotu, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ben White, 1-Pierre Schoeman, 2-George Turner, 3-Zander Fagerson, 4-Richie Gray, 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Matt Fagerson, 7-Jamie Ritchie, 8-Jack Dempsey
Replacements: 16-Fraser Brown, 17-Jamie Bhatti, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Scott Cummings, 20-Hamish Watson, 21-Ali Price, 22-Blair Kinghorn, 23-Chris Harris

Ireland:
15-Hugo Keenan, 14-Mack Hansen, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-James Lowe, 10-Johnny Sexton, 9-Conor Murray, 1-Andrew Porter, 2-Dan Sheehan, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-James Ryan, 6-Peter O’Mahony, 7-Josh van der Flier, 8-Caelan Doris
Replacements: 16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Cian Healy, 18-Tom O’Toole, 19-Ryan Baird, 20-Jack Conan, 21-Jamison Gibson-Park, 22-Ross Byrne, 23-Robbie Henshaw

Referee: Luke Pearce

Man of the Mach: Mack Hansen (IRE)