RBS 6 Nations: Round 5 Review

England made it back-to-back RBS 6 Nations titles in a dramatic 2017 Championship which concluded on ‘Super Saturday’ with a fond farewell in Edinburgh, a frantic finish in Paris and then a Dublin denouement.

2017 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 18

ROUND 5 REVIEW –

SCOTLAND (15) 29 ITALY (0) 0, BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

SCOTLAND: 15 Stuart Hogg (1 penalty); 14 Tommy Seymour (1 try), 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser (1 try); 10 Finn Russell (1 try and 3 conversions), 9 Ali Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay (capt), 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Ryan Wilson.

Replacements used: Matt Scott (1 try) for Jones (26 mins), Cornell du Preez for Wilson (48), Henry Pyrgos for Price (53), Allan Dell for Reid (55), Tim Swinson for Gilchrist (56), Fraser Brown for Ford, Simon Berghan for Fagerson (both 65), Duncan Weir for Scott (74).

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.

ITALY: 15 Edoardo Padovani; 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti; 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Ornel Gega, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 George Biagi, 6 Braam Steyn, 7 Maxime Mbanda, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt).

Replacements used: Dario Chistolini for Cittadini, Leonardo Ghiraldini for Gega (both half-time), Dries van Schalkwyk for Fuser, Francesco Minto for Mbanda, Marcello Violi for Gori (all 52 mins), Sami Panico for Lovotti, Luca Sperandio for Canna (both 62), Federico Ruzza for Biagi (74).

Test debut: Federico Ruzza; Six Nations debuts: Federico Ruzza and Marcello Violi.

Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France); Attendance: 67,144; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Finn Russell.

FRANCE (10) 20 WALES (9) 18, Stade de France, Paris

FRANCE: 15 Brice Dulin; 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Remi Lamerat (1 try), 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa; 10 Camille Lopez (2 conversions and 2 penalties), 9 Baptiste Serin; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Guilhem Guirado (capt), 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles.

Replacements used: Antoine Dupont for Serin (18-24 mins), Francois Trinh-Duc for Lopez (32-39), Yoann Huget for Vakatawa (53), Damien Chouly (1 try) for Sanconnie, Eddy Ben Arous for Baille, Uini Atonio for Slimani (all 54), Trinh-Duc for Lamerat (65), Camille Chat for Guirado (71), Dupont for Serin (71), Julien Ledevedec for Vahaamahina (77), Slimani for Atonio (80).

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.

WALES: 15 Leigh Halfpenny (6 penalties); 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams; 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 AW Jones (51 mins), Taulupe Faletau for Moriarty (53), Jamie Roberts for S Williams (53), Samson Lee for Francis, Scott Baldwin for Ball (both 59), Moriarty for Baldwin (71), Francis for Halfpenny (80+5-80+12), Nicky Smith for Evans (80+16). Not used: Gareth Davies, Sam Davies.

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England); Attendance: 78,688; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Guilhem Guirado.

IRELAND (10) 13 ENGLAND (3) 9, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

IRELAND: 15 Jared Payne; 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo; 10 Jonathan Sexton (1 conversion and 2 penalties), 9 Kieran Marmion; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best (capt), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Iain Henderson (1 try), 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 CJ Stander.

Test debut: Andrew Conway; Six Nations debuts: Andrew Conway, Luke McGrath and Dan Leavy.

Replacements used: Niall Scannell for Best (9-17 mins), Andrew Conway for Earls (half-time), Cian Healy for J McGrath (59), Devin Toner for Ryan (64), Dan Leavy for O’Brien (65), Luke McGrath for Marmion (68), Scannell for Best (72), John Ryan for Furlong (75). Not used: Paddy Jackson.

ENGLAND: 15 Mike Brown; 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell (3 penalties), 11 Elliot Daly; 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 James Haskell, 8 Billy Vunipola.

Replacements used: Mako Vunipola for Marler (half-time), Jamie George for Hartley (54 mins), Tom Wood for Haskell (59), Nathan Hughes for B Vunipola, Danny Care for Youngs, Te’o for Ford (all 62), Jack Nowell for Joseph (67), George Ford for Te’o (69), Kyle Sinckler for Cole (77).

Test debuts: None; Six Nations debuts: None.

Referee: Jerome Garces (France); Attendance: 51,700; RBS 6 Nations man-of-the-match: Peter O’Mahony.

TOP POINTS SCORERS:

67 – Camille Lopez (France) (8 conversions and 17 penalties)
63 – Owen Farrell (England) (12 conversions and 13 penalties)
62 – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (7 conversions and 16 penalties)
42 – Finn Russell (Scotland) (1 try, 8 conversions and 7 penalties)
36 – Paddy Jackson (Ireland) (1 try, 11 conversions and 3 penalties)
25 – Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) (2 conversions, 6 penalties and 1 drop goal)
18 – Stuart Hogg (Scotland) (3 tries and 1 penalty goal)

TOP TRY SCORERS:

3 – Danny Care (England), Keith Earls (Ireland), Craig Gilroy (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), George North (Wales), CJ Stander (Ireland), Liam Williams (Wales)

TOP GOAL KICKERS:

100% – Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) (8 successful kicks from 8 attempts)
93.33% – Paddy Jackson (Ireland) (14/15)
89.29% – Camille Lopez (France) (25/28)
88.46% – Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) (23/26)
88.24% – Finn Russell (Scotland) (15/17)
83.33% – Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) 5/6)
78.13% – Owen Farrell (England) (25/32)
60% – Carlo Canna (Italy) (6/10)
50% – Stuart Hogg (Scotland) (1/2), Elliot Daly (England) (1/2)
25% – Tommaso Allan (Italy) (1/4)

TOP PERFORMERS –

CARRIES:

104 CJ Stander (Ireland)
71 Louise Picamoles (France)
70 Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
67 Sean O’Brien (Ireland)
64 Nathan Hughes (England)

METRES:

432 Mike Brown (England)
362 Louis Picamoles (France)
349 Noa Nakaitaci (France)
335 Simon Zebo (Ireland)
306 Virimi Vakatawa (France)

CLEAN BREAKS:

9 Liam Williams (Wales), Noa Nakaitaci (France)
8 Keith Earls (Ireland), Simon Zebo (Ireland), Virimi Vakatawa (France)

DEFENDERS BEATEN:

24 Louis Picamoles (France)
15 Mike Brown (England)
14 CJ Stander (Ireland), Virimi Vakatawa (France)
13 Giovanbattista Venditti (Italy), Keith Earls (Ireland), Kevin Gourdon (France)

OFFLOADS:

18 Louis Picamoles (France)
11 Noa Nakaitaci (France)
7 Kevin Gourdon (France)
6 Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales)

KICKS IN PLAY:

38 Ben Youngs (England)
36 Dan Biggar (Wales)
35 Finn Russell (Scotland)
33 Edoardo Padovani (Italy)
31 Conor Murray (Ireland)

TACKLES MADE (MISSES):

85(4) Joe Launchbury (England)
84(4) Justin Tipuric (Wales)
78(4) Sam Warburton (Wales)
73(4) Jonny Gray (Scotland)
73(3) Maro Itoje (England)

TURNOVERS WON:

9 Maro Itoje (England)
8 Alex Dunbar (Scotland)
7 Sam Warburton (Wales)
5 Remi Lamerat (France)
4 Joe Launchbury (England)

LINEOUTS WON (INCLUDING STEALS):

24 Justin Tipuric (Wales)
22 Devin Toner (Ireland)
19 Maro Itoje (England)
18 Courtney Lawes (England)
15 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)

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