RBS 6 Nations: Round 3 Review
We are past the halfway point in the 2017 RBS 6 Nations and three teams are leading the charge for the title – England (13 points), Ireland (10) and Scotland (9). Joe Schmidt’s men are the leading attackers and defenders so far but have ground to make up on the defending champions.
2017 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 25-Sunday, February 26
ROUND 3 REVIEW –
SCOTLAND (9) 29 WALES (13) 13, BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh
SCOTLAND: 15 Stuart Hogg; 14 Tommy Seymour (1 try), 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser (1 try); 10 Finn Russell (2 conversions and 5 penalties), 9 Ali Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay (capt), 7 John Hardie, 8 Ryan Wilson.
Replacements used: Hamish Watson for Hardie (24 mins), Allan Dell for Reid (51), Henry Pyrgos for Price (54), Ross Ford for Brown (70). Not used: Simon Berghan, Tim Swinson, Duncan Weir, Mark Bennett.
Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.
WALES: 15 Leigh Halfpenny (1 conversion and 2 penalties); 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams (1 try); 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 6 Sam Warburton, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Ross Moriarty.
Replacements used: Luke Charteris for Ball (56 mins), Samson Lee for Francis (57), Jamie Roberts for S Williams, Taulupe Faletau for Moriarty (both 62), Scott Baldwin for Owens, Nicky Smith for Evans, Sam Davies for Biggar (all 68). Not used: Gareth Davies.
Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland); Attendance: 67,144; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Finn Russell.
IRELAND (7) 19 FRANCE (6) 9, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
IRELAND: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo; 10 Jonathan Sexton (1 conversion, 2 penalties and 1 drop goal), 9 Conor Murray (1 try); 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best (capt), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Devin Toner, 6 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements used: Andrew Trimble for Kearney (50 mins), Cian Healy for McGrath, Iain Henderson for Ryan (both 59), Peter O’Mahony for O’Brien, Niall Scannell for Best (both 67), Paddy Jackson (1 penalty) for Sexton (68), John Ryan for Furlong (73), Kieran Marmion for Murray (78).
Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.
FRANCE: 15 Scott Spedding; 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Remi Lamerat, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Noa Nakaitaci; 10 Camille Lopez (3 penalties), 9 Baptiste Serin; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Guilhem Guirado (capt), 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Bernard Le Roux, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles.
Replacements used: Julien Ledevedec for Vahaamahina, Eddy Ben Arous for Baille, Uini Atonio for Slimani (all 50 mins), Charles Ollivon for Le Roux, Henry Chavancy for Lamerat (both 59), Christopher Tolofua for Guirado, Maxime Machenaud for Baptiste Serin (both 61), Djibril Camara for Spedding (73).
Test debut: Henry Chavancy; Six Nations debuts: Charles Ollivon, Henry Chavancy.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales); Attendance: 51,700; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Conor Murray.
ENGLAND (5) 36 ITALY (10) 15, Twickenham, London
ENGLAND: 15 Mike Brown; 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te’o (1 try), 12 Owen Farrell (3 penalties), 11 Elliot Daly (1 try); 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care (1 try); 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 3 Dan Cole (1 try), 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 James Haskell, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements used: Ben Youngs for Care (51 mins), Jack Nowell (2 tries) for May, Mako Vunipola for Marler, Jamie George for Hartley (all 55), Kyle Sinckler for Cole, Tom Wood for Haskell, Jack Clifford for Hughes (all 71), Henry Slade for Te’o (75).
Test debuts: None; Six Nations debut: Henry Slade.
ITALY: 15 Edoardo Padovani; 14 Giulio Bisegni, 13 Michele Campagnaro (1 try), 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti (1 try); 10 Tommaso Allan (1 conversion and 1 drop goal), 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Ornel Gega, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 6 Braam Steyn, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt).
Replacements used: Giorgio Bronzini for Gori (35 mins), Tommaso Benvenuti for Bisegni, Pietro Ceccarelli for Cittadini (both 51), Maxime Mbanda for Favaro, Michele Rizzo for Lovotti (both 57), Carlo Canna for Allan (61), George Biagi for Fuser, Tommaso d’Apice for Gega (both 74).
Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.
Referee: Romain Poite (France); Attendance: 81,904; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Joe Launchbury.
TOP POINTS SCORERS:
37 – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (5 conversions and 9 penalties)
37 – Camille Lopez (France) (2 conversions and 11 penalties)
33 – Paddy Jackson (Ireland) (1 try, 11 conversions and 2 penalties)
28 – Owen Farrell (England) (5 conversions and 6 penalties)
25 – Finn Russell (Scotland) (2 conversions and 7 penalties)
TOP TRY SCORERS:
3 – Keith Earls (Ireland), Craig Gilroy (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), CJ Stander (Ireland), Liam Williams (Wales)
2 – Elliot Daly (England), Jack Nowell (England), Ben Te’o (England)
TOP GOAL KICKERS:
100% – Carlo Canna (Italy) (3 successful kicks from 3 attempts), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) (3/3)
92.86% – Paddy Jackson (Ireland) (13/14)
90% – Finn Russell (Scotland) (9/10)
87.50% – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (14/16)
86.67% – Camille Lopez (France) (13/15)
83.33% – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) (5/6)
64.71% – Owen Farrell (England) (11/17)
50% – Elliot Daly (England) (1/2)
25% – Tommaso Allan (Italy) (1/4)
TOP PERFORMERS –
CARRIES:
69 CJ Stander (Ireland)
54 Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
51 Nathan Hughes (England)
43 Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
40 Louis Picamoles (France)
METRES:
266 Mike Brown (England)
235 Louis Picamoles (France)
233 Scott Spedding (France)
207 Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
187 Jonathan Davies (Wales), Simon Zebo (Ireland)
CLEAN BREAKS:
7 Liam Williams (Wales)
6 Elliot Daly (England), Noa Nakaitaci (France)
5 Conor Murray (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Scott Spedding (France), Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
DEFENDERS BEATEN:
13 Louis Picamoles (France)
12 CJ Stander (Ireland), Giovanbattista Venditti (Italy)
10 Rob Kearney (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
OFFLOADS:
9 Louis Picamoles (France)
6 Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
5 Mike Brown (England)
4 Elliot Daly (England), Garry Ringrose (Ireland), Michele Campagnaro (Italy), Noa Nakaitaci (France), Scott Spedding (France), Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
KICKS IN PLAY:
26 Conor Murray (Ireland)
22 Ben Youngs (England)
21 Edoardo Padovani (Italy)
19 Dan Biggar (Wales), Finn Russell (Scotland), George Ford (England)
TACKLES MADE (MISSES):
52(2) Jonny Gray (Scotland)
50(1) Kevin Gourdon (France)
46(6) Maxime Mbanda (Italy)
45(3) Joe Launchbury (England)
45(1) Yoann Maestri (France)
TURNOVERS WON:
7 Alex Dunbar (Scotland)
6 Maro Itoje (England)
5 Sam Warburton (Wales)
3 CJ Stander (Ireland), Hamish Watson (Scotland), John Barclay (Scotland), Keith Earls (Ireland), Kevin Gourdon (France), Paddy Jackson (Ireland), Remi Lamerat (France), Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
LINEOUTS WON (INCLUDING STEALS):
17 Devin Toner (Ireland)
12 Maro Itoje (England), Sam Warburton (Wales)
11 Justin Tipuric (Wales)
10 Courtney Lawes (England)
– Official match data delivered by Accenture. Follow @AccentureRugby on Twitter for all the latest stats and analysis