RBS 6 Nations: Round 1 Review

Defending champions Ireland, England and France all recorded opening round wins in the 2015 RBS 6 Nations over the weekend. The 23-point winning margin in Rome sees Joe Schmidt’s men sitting top of the table ahead of France’s visit to Dublin.

2015 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Friday, February 6-Saturday, February 7

ROUND 1 REVIEW –

WALES (16) 16 ENGLAND (8) 21, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

WALES: 15 Leigh Halfpenny (1 conversion and 2 penalties); 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North; 10 Dan Biggar (1 drop goal), 9 Rhys Webb (1 try); 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 8 Toby Faletau.

Replacements used: Liam Williams for George North (30 mins), North for Williams (38), Paul James for Jenkins (59), Luke Charteris for Ball, Mike Phillips for Webb (both 68), Aaron Jarvis for Lee (71). Not used: Scott Baldwin, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Priestland.

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: Aaron Jarvis, Samson Lee.

ENGLAND: 15 Mike Brown; 14 Anthony Watson (1 try), 13 Jonathan Joseph (1 try), 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jonny May; 10 George Ford (1 conversion and 3 penalties), 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 George Kruis, 6 James Haskell, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 8 Billy Vunipola.

Replacements used: Tom Youngs for Hartley, Mako Vunipola for Marler (both 54 mins), Kieran Brookes for Cole (61), Richard Wigglesworth for B Youngs (68), Nick Easter for Kruis (71), Billy Twelvetrees for Burrell (75). Not used: Tom Croft, Danny Cipriani.

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: Anthony Watson, George Kruis, Kieran Brookes, Jonathan Joseph.

Referee: Jerome Garces (France); Attendance: 73,815; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: George Ford.

ITALY (3) 3 IRELAND (9) 26, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

ITALY: 15 Andrea Masi; 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Luke McLean; 10 Kelly Haimona (1 penalty), 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Matias Aguero, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 George Biagi, 5 Josh Furno, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt).

Replacements used: Marco Barbini for Zanni (46 mins), Alberto de Marchi for Aguero (52), Tommaso Allan for Campagnaro (63), Marco Fuser for Barbini (67), Dario Chistolini for Castrogiovanni, Andrea Manici for Minto (both 68), Francesco Minto for Ghiraldini, Marco Barbini for Biagi (both 74), Giovanbattista Venditti for Masi (76).

Test debut: Marco Barbini; Six Nations debuts: Andrea Manici, Kelly Haimona, Marco Fuser, Dario Chistolini, Marco Barbini.

IRELAND: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo; 10 Ian Keatley (4 penalties and 1 conversion), 9 Conor Murray (1 try); 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Paul O’Connell (capt), 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Tommy O’Donnell (1 try), 8 Jordi Murphy.

Replacements used: Sean Cronin for Best (46 mins), Martin Moore for Ross (51), Iain Henderson for O’Mahony, Ian Madigan for Keatley (both 65), James Cronin for McGrath, Felix Jones for Payne (both 67), Isaac Boss for Conor Murray (68). Not used: Robbie Diack.

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: Jared Payne, Ian Keatley, Felix Jones, Robbie Henshaw, James Cronin.

Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France); Attendance: 57,770; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Conor Murray.

FRANCE (9) 15 SCOTLAND (8) 8, Stade de France, Paris

FRANCE: 15 Scott Spedding; 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Teddy Thomas; 10 Camille Lopez (5 penalties), 9 Rory Kockott; 1 Alexandre Menini, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Pascal Papé, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (capt), 7 Bernard le Roux, 8 Damien Chouly.

Replacements used: Eddy Ben Arous for Menini (half-time), Benjamin Kayser for Guirado (47 mins), Morgan Parra for Kockott, Uini Atonio for Slimani (both 54), Romain Taofifenua for Papé (60), Remy Lamerat for Bastareaud (71), Loan Goujon for Dusautoir (79). Not used: Romain Taofifenua.

Test debut: Loan Goujon; Six Nations debuts: Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Loan Goujon, Rory Kockott, Remy Lamerat, Camille Lopez, Alexandre Menini, Scott Spedding, Teddy Thomas.

SCOTLAND: 15 Stuart Hogg; 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (capt) (1 penalty); 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 John Beattie.

Replacements used: Dougie Fife (1 try) for Seymour (16 mins), Alasdair Strokosch for Harley (52), Harley for Cowan (54), Cowan for Harley (61), Jim Hamilton for R Gray, Geoff Cross for Murray, Gordon Reid for Dickinson (all 64), Peter Horne for Dunbar, Fraser Brown for Ford (both 67), Sam Hidalgo-Clyne for Laidlaw (78).

Test debut: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Six Nations debuts: Mark Bennett, Fraser Brown, Blair Cowan, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Peter Horne, Gordon Reid, Finn Russell.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales); Attendance: 80,000; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Camille Lopez.

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TOP POINTS SCORERS:

15 – Camille Lopez (France) (5 penalties)
14 – Ian Keatley (Ireland) (4 penalties and 1 conversion)
11 – George Ford (England) (1 conversion and 3 penalties)
8 – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (1 conversion and 2 penalties)
5 – Dougie Fife (Scotland) (1 try), Jonathan Joseph (England) (1 try), Conor Murray (Ireland) (1 try), Tommy O’Donnell (Ireland) (1 try), Anthony Watson (England) (1 try), Rhys Webb (Wales) (1 try)
3 – Dan Biggar (Wales) (1 drop goal), Kelly Haimona (Italy) (1 penalty), Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) (1 penalty)
2 – Ian Madigan (1 conversion)

TOP TRY SCORERS:

1 – Dougie Fife (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), Conor Murray (Ireland), Tommy O’Donnell (Ireland), Anthony Watson (England), Rhys Webb (Wales)

TOP GOAL KICKERS:

100% – Ian Keatley (Ireland) (5 successful kicks from 5 attempts), Kelly Haimona (Italy) (1/1), Ian Madigan (Ireland) (1/1)
83.33% – Camille Lopez (France) (5/6)
75% – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (3/4)
66.67% – George Ford (England) (4/6)
50% – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) (1/2)

TOP PERFORMERS –

CARRIES:

17 Mike Brown (England)
16 Jordi Murphy (Ireland)
15 Peter O’Mahony (Ireland), George Ford (England)
14 Billy Vunipola (England), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Sergio Parisse (Italy)

METRES:

93 Mike Brown (England)
91 Scott Spedding (France)
88 Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
70 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
60 Teddy Thomas (France)

CLEAN BREAKS:

2 Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Tim Visser (Scotland)
1 17 players

DEFENDERS BEATEN:

4 Yoann Huget (France), Jonathan Joseph (England), Mike Brown (England), Mathieu Bastareaud (France)
3 Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), James Haskell (England), Jordi Murphy (Ireland), Peter O’Mahony (Ireland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland)

OFFLOADS:

4 Mathieu Bastareaud (France), Mark Bennett (Scotland), Sergio Parisse (Italy)
3 Yoann Huget (France), Teddy Thomas (France)

PASSES:

110 Conor Murray (Ireland)
77 Edoardo Gori (Italy)
64 Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
61 Ben Youngs (England)
51 Rory Kockott (France)

KICKS IN PLAY:

16 Dan Biggar (Wales)
14 Camille Lopez (France), George Ford (England)
12 Ian Keatley (Ireland)
10 Conor Murray (Ireland), Ben Youngs (England), Rhys Webb (Wales), Stuart Hogg (Scotland)

TACKLES MADE (MISSES):

26(0) Chris Robshaw (England)
24(0) Francesco Minto (Italy)
20(1) George Biagi (Italy)
19(0) Jonny Gray (Scotland)
17(2) Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy), Bernard le Roux (France), Josh Furno (Italy)

TURNOVERS WON:

3 Blair Cowan (Scotland)
2 Dave Attwood (England), Bernard le Roux (France), John Beattie (Scotland), Damien Chouly (France), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Finn Russell (Scotland), Wesley Fofana (France), Mathieu Bastareaud (France), Eddy Ben Arous (France)

LINEOUTS WON:

6 Josh Furno (Italy), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
5 Dave Attwood (England)
4 Devin Toner (Ireland), Jonny Gray (Scotland), Yoann Maestri (France), Pascal Papé (France), Jim Hamilton (Scotland)

– Official match data delivered by Accenture. Follow @AccentureRugby on Twitter for all the latest stats and analysis