France won its third Six Nations title in five years Saturday, even though it had to wait for Ireland's result before it could lift the trophy.
A try by center Florian Fritz in the 73rd minute gave France the lead after it had trailed 13-3, and the visitors held on to beat Wales 21-16 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Ireland beat England 28-24 at Twickenham.
France won the title on point difference. The Irish, however, won the Triple Crown -- by defeating England, Scotland and Wales -- and drew level with eight points.
PHOTO: AFP
Scotland was third with six points, two ahead of England and three in front of last year's champion Wales. Italy was last with one point.
"The trophy is coming back to France so I am very happy about that," France captain Fabien Pelous said. "The Irish win their Triple Crown so it's a good day for rugby."
The loss to the Irish means more trouble for England coach Andy Robinson, however. It was the third defeat in a row after his team had beaten Wales and Italy and appeared on course for a Grand Slam.
"We're doing a review and I'll be meeting with [RFU chief executive] Francis Baron to discuss everything," Robinson said. "But I've got total belief in myself and I'm not expecting to go anywhere."
France trailed 16-11 under a closed roof at the Millennium Stadium with seven minutes to go when Fritz caught a chip through from flyhalf Frederic Michalak to touch down. Reserve scrumhalf Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converted and kicked a late penalty goal.
Wales center Hal Luscombe's converted try and two penalties from flyhalf Stephen Jones had put the defending champions in front 13-3.
The Welsh led 13-6 at halftime and replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski began the fightback for France with a converted try early in the second half to narrow Wales' lead to two points.
"At the beginning of the tournament we didn't think we would win the trophy. But we worked a lot but we are bringing the trophy to France and I am very proud of my players," Pelous said.
After losses to France, England and Ireland, the Welsh finished next-to-last with the defending Grand Slam champions winning one match, against Scotland. Mike Ruddock's decision to quit after only two games appeared to disrupt the team, but it played well for most of the match against the French.
"We played really well but we couldn't hang on and couldn't finish them off," Wales scrumhalf Mike Phillips said. "We played some good stuff but I'm gutted we didn't win at the end. But hopefully we salvaged some pride and can take it on tour.
"It was hard to do the stuff we did last year," Phillips said in reference to the Grand Slam. "There are a lot of new faces on the team."
After the French victory, the Irish went to Twickenham needing to beat England by 34 points to win the title.
In a seesaw game, Jamie Noon scored a try for England in the second minute. But Shane Horgan leveled and also scored the game-winning try with two minutes to go when England was leading 24-21.
The Irish led 14-8 early in the second half only for England to hit back and the hosts appeared on course for victory after Steve Borthwick's try gave his team an 18-14 lead. But Denis Leamy caught the ball from an English lineout to score Ireland's second try and Horgan's late score gave the Triple Crown to Ireland.
"This is a stepping stone to bigger things hopefully. We'll celebrate it tonight," Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll said. "We needed the performance we've been talking about this week for the whole of the Six Nations and to put it in to win the Triple Crown feels good."
Last place in the championship again went to Italy despite taking a 7-0 lead against the Scots in Rome with a stunning piece of brilliance from Ramiro Pez.
The flyhalf deftly chipped the ball ahead with the outside of his left foot for center Mirco Bergamasco to run through, take the catch and score the try.
Paterson replied with a try and contributed 10 points, while flyhalf Gordon Ross' drop goal at Stadio Flaminio also ensured Scotland's first away win in the championship in the last four years.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden, whose team also beat France and England, said he was pleased that his team had gone from perennial losers to potential champions.
"I'm confident where we are," Hadden said. "We have laid some very important foundation stones. We were never going to make dramatic progress in one season. I never thought we would win the championship this year, but we have done enough to make people believe we are a good side."
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
RSS