Wales on Saturday shrugged off the rain, wind and Ireland to win the Rugby Union Six Nations and complete the Grand Slam.
As Storm Gareth battered Cardiff, Gareth Anscombe was swamping Ireland inside the Principality Stadium with six penalties as Wales beat the defending champions 25-7.
The victory earned Wales their first Six Nations title since 2013 and their first Grand Slam since 2012.
Photo: Reuters
Wales produced a try after 69 seconds by Hadleigh Parkes off an expert chip by Anscombe and forced penalties that Anscombe landed from far and wide so that last year’s Grand Slam winners had to settle for third.
Wales harangued Ireland into misfires and forced errors, while the visitors conceded eight penalties in the first half, after which they trailed 16-0 and were too far back to rebound.
Parkes saved Wales when Ireland received a penalty outside their 22m line and Johnny Sexton noticed Wales wing George North was busy receiving treatment on his bandaged left forearm. Sexton crosskicked to Jacob Stockdale, who charged down the touchline, but was caught by Parkes 10m out.
North walked off, Dan Biggar moved to fly-half, Anscombe went to fullback and Liam Williams switched to right wing — and Wales purred on.
ENGLAND VS SCOTLAND
AP, LONDON
From 31-0 behind after 31 minutes to 38-31 ahead in time added on, Scotland just had to repel one more English attack to complete the greatest comeback in the history of international rugby, but could not quite get it done.
In what proved to be the last passage of play in an extraordinary Six Nations match on Saturday, England replacement George Ford darted through a gap in Scotland’s tiring defensive line to dot down between the posts before adding the conversion.
The final score of 38-38 was the highest-scoring draw ever between two tier-one nations.
No team had previously come back from more than 24 points down to win a tier-one game.
Knowing the title was out of reach after events in Cardiff, England seemed intent on having a party. The turnaround for Scotland began with a try that felt at the time like a consolation.
McInally charged down Owen Farrell’s crossfield kick near halfway, collected the ball and managed to sprint all the way to the line — shrugging off May along the way.
After halftime, Scotland scored four tries in 13 minutes, leaving England shell-shocked, but Ford ensured that England avoided that embarrassment.
FRANCE VS ITALY
AP, ROME
Italy’s unwanted record continued as a relieved France came away from Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday with a 25-14 win.
France was ruthless as they carved out rare opportunities, and tries from Antoine Dupont, Yoann Huget and Damian Penaud handed them what was only their second win in this year’s tournament.
“Our Six Nations has been a disappointment,” France coach Jacques Brunel said.
Italy had more bad news as Leonardo Ghiraldini was carted off.
He was in tears as Italy missed a late chance to get their first Six Nations win since 2015.
To add insult to injury, Penaud then scored France’s third and last try in the 79th minute from an offload by Romain Ntamack.
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