Category News

France moved two points clear at the top of the table before next week’s final round of fixtures with a ruthless 42-27 victory over the holders.

The second France try – scored by Paul Boudehent – put the visitors 15-13 ahead after Dan Sheehan’s score early in the second half briefly gave Ireland the lead.

Ireland were angered that Boudehent’s try was allowed to stand by referee Angus Gardner after Thibaud Flament cleared Peter O’Mahony out of a ruck in the build-up.

“We didn’t defend well enough in our 22 but there are certain things that happen in a game, in instances like that, which are going to prevent someone]O’Mahony in this case] making a tackle, or be in a position to try and stop that”, said Easterby.

“All teams try and create a bit of space through the ruck and that allows the next player to pick, but it’s the judgement over whether that contact on Pete]was] close enough to the ruck to know if it was legal.

With a mix of power and counter-attacking speed, France blew Ireland away in the second half, scoring 34 unanswered points to avenge last year’s 38-17 loss in Marseille.

And while Easterby conceded the French are a” hard team to stop when they have momentum”, he bemoaned Ireland’s inability to turn pressure into points when they had possession inside France’s 22.

” We certainly felt we didn’t take our opportunities or put them under enough pressure, “said Easterby.

” When we did it wasn’t until the last 10 minutes of the game when we could score a decent number of points. But the game was gone. “

Easterby, who suffered the first defeat of his interim spell, added:” We felt that going in at 8-6 down at half-time we were still well in the game.

“We were confident if we started well, which we did, that we could kick on and make them pay in terms of our fitness and our ability to go well in second halves, which we have done in previous games in the tournament.

Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who was denied an early try when he was held up by Gregory Alldritt, rued his side’s ill-discipline with Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash both sin-binned.

” We thought we were in contention at half-time, we felt confident, “said Doris, who was making his 50th cap.

” We started well and thought we could go on to do it but that 25-minute period in the middle of the second half was where we just weren’t good enough – our collisions, our discipline.

Guinness Men’s Six Nations: Scotland v Wales

Scotland (28) 35

Tries: Kinghorn 2, Jordan 2, Graham Cons: Russell 5

Wales (8) 29

Five-try Scotland overcame a hugely spirited Wales in a frenetic Six Nations contest at Murrayfield, condemning the visitors to a 16th defeat in a row.

The Scots looked at ease for large parts of the game, only for Wales to threaten a jaw-dropping comeback late on and ensure they at least left with some reward.

In the last 18 minutes, the visitors scored three unanswered tries – all converted – to turn a cakewalk into a struggle for the Scots, whose edge blunted incredibly in the second half.

The big comeback never materialised, though, and Scotland won a third Six Nations game in a row against Wales for the first time since 1991.

Gareth Anscombe opened the scoring for them with an early penalty, but Gregor Townsend’s Scotland had the bonus point in the bank by the break with tries from Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and a double from Tom Jordan.

The excellent Finn Russell converted all four.

Blair Murray scored in the midst of the Scotland try-fest but the hosts had a 20-point lead at half-time and it became a 27-point lead early in the new half when Kinghorn scored his second.

With Scotland seemingly cruising, Wales hit them with them two tries around the hour, first through Ben Thomas and then Teddy Williams. That made it a 13-point game.

Remarkably, Taulupe Faletau scored soon after but the try was ruled out.

Scotland are built to go wide. Wales would have known that but knowing it and stopping it are two different things.

At their first attempt, the Scots scored, working the visitors left and right through a dozen and more punishing phases before hitting the accelerator.

Graham sped away and found Kinghorn, who went over despite Anscombe’s desperate efforts to halt him.

Russell, who missed three kicks out of three at Twickenham last time out, banged over the conversion from close to the touchline. You got the sense he enjoyed it.

Wales then lost Tom Rogers through injury that sparked a backline reshuffle. Centre Joe Roberts appeared off the bench on the left wing, with Ellis Mee switching to the right.

Within seconds, Scotland scored again. Once more it was on the edge where Scotland made merry, this after Wales made a mess of an exit.

Duhan van der Merwe fended off Mee and played in Huw Jones. Wales, ripped to shreds, could do nothing to stop Jones hitting Jordan running free outside him.

Russell made it 14-3 with the conversion. Only 11 minutes had been played.

Three minutes later, Scotland conjured a third. Jordan won ball in the air to start it and Russell’s brilliance was there at the finish.

Deep in the Welsh 22 and with Anscombe in his road, the fly-half dummied, stepped and then found Graham, who roared in.

Another conversion and Scotland were already in dreamland.

Wales ‘ nightmare only grew darker. WillGriff John got binned for a cynical foul play. Then, they lost a fourth try. A totally self-inflicted nonsense score, too.

Thomas tried a kick-pass to Murray on the right wing, which was a poor decision. Murray acrobatically kept the ball in play, but when Thomas fumbled trying to gather, Jordan was all over him, hacked on and scored.

Wales were all over the place in defence and much better in what little attacking ball they had. A 20-point game in half an hour and they were fortunate it was still only 20 at the break.

It was 27 before too long. Russell put a penalty to touch and Scotland attacked off it, Russell popping Kinghorn in under the posts. So classy, so ruthless.

The fly-half has had a rough few weeks post-Twickenham – unfair in the extreme – but his response was terrific. He bossed it out there, banged over the conversion of Kinghorn’s try with ease, and exited just after the hour with the job done.

Scotland’s issues late on started just before Russell went off.

Wales mustered a second score of their own, getting in behind before Ben Thomas went over. Back to a 20–point game with the extras.

Then, with Russell off the pitch, Williams blasted over, and after that came the Faletau moment, the score disallowed for Murray hurdling a tackle in the preamble.

Wales hadn’t done with the jumpy Scots, though.

Scotland: 15-Kinghorn, 14-Graham, 13-Jones, 12-Jordan, 11-Van der Merwe, 10- Russell (co-capt), 9-White, 1-Schoeman, 2-Cherry, 3-Z. Fagerson, 4-Gray, 5-Gilchrist, 6-Ritchie, 7-Darge (co-capt), 8-Dempsey.

Replacements: 16-Ashman, 17-Sutherland, 18-Hurd, 19-Brown, 20-M Fagerson, 21-Horne, 22-McDowall, 23-Rowe

Wales: 15-Murray, 14- Rogers, 13-Llewellyn, 12-B Thomas, 11-Mee, 10-Anscombe, 9-T Williams, 1-N Smith, 2-Dee, 3-John, 4-Rowlands, 5-Jenkins, 6-Morgan (capt), 7-Reffell, 8-Faletau.

“The first of three finals” is how Arne Slot described Liverpool’s 3-1 comeback win over Southampton to go 16 points clear in the Premier League.

The Reds now face a Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain and the Carabao Cup final with Newcastle before they are in league action again.

Liverpool’s dream of achieving the Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup was ended last month by Plymouth – but they remain firmly in the hunt for three trophies.

“It’s a sign of a good team that you can win in different ways”, Slot told BBC Match of the Day after the latest victory.

“It was a poor performance first half – not only because of the way we played but also because of the energy we brought”.

He added in his post-match news conference: “This was the most important game of the week. The first of three finals. I hope in the next finals we play a bit better than the first one”.

Mohamed Salah netted two penalties at Anfield, with Darwin Nunez scoring the other goal as the hosts came back from 1-0 down.

A mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson had allowed Will Smallbone to give the Premier League’s bottom side a half-time lead.

Slot’s side have had to fight for two wins in a week as he bids for a trophy-laden first season since replacing club icon Jurgen Klopp.

“I don’t think we played good today”, said Salah, who has 32 goals in all competitions.

Salah has been involved in 44 Premier League goals this season (27 goals, 17 assists), the joint-most by a player in a 38-game season.

“If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League you have to win these games like that”, Salah added.

On Tuesday the Reds host Paris St-Germain in the Champions League last 16 second leg, leading 1-0 from their smash and grab at the Parc des Princes.

“The only good thing in the first 45 minutes was that they saved their energy]for PSG] and didn’t run at all”, quipped Slot.

“It was maybe the first time this season I saw this tempo.

” We have to go one step up in terms of intensity against PSG. Compared to the game today we have to go three, four, five, six, seven times up in terms of intensity if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round. “

Next Sunday, Liverpool will meet Newcastle at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final – with a chance to win a first trophy under their Dutch manager.

” The last two games have been very tough – it is not about me, it’s about the whole team, “Harvey Elliott, a half-time substitute on Saturday and goalscorer in Paris, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

” We need to keep winning games – it’s as simple as that.

Only five English teams – well, three clubs – have won three regular trophies in a season before.

That is not counting those you have to qualify for such as the Community Shield, Uefa Super Cup or Club World Cup.

Two have completed the recognised Treble of European Cup, league title and FA Cup – Manchester United in 1998-99 and Manchester City in 2022-23.

Liverpool have managed to win three in a season twice before.

In 1983-84, they won the three they could manage this season – the old First Division title, League Cup and European Cup.

A good omen? They lost to a second-tier club in the FA Cup fourth round that season too – Brighton.

The Reds also won a hat-trick of cups in 2000-01 – the FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup.

One team have won the domestic treble – Manchester City in 2018-19 when they won the league, FA Cup and League Cup.

Plenty of teams have managed to win two trophies in one season.

Because most countries do not have a league cup, Celtic are the only team to win a quadruple of the European Cup plus three domestic trophies in 1966-67.

The Premier League is practically a foregone conclusion now with Liverpool so far clear of the chasing pack.

Statisticians Opta give Liverpool a 98.9% chance of winning the title. Arsenal, 16 points behind, have two games in hand – including Sunday’s match with Manchester United.

The Reds need 18 points out of a possible 27 to guarantee the title, with Arsenal only able to obtain a maximum of 87 points.

The earliest possible date the Reds could wrap up the title would be on 5 April, though Arsenal would need to lose all four of their games before then while Liverpool win all three of theirs.

But if the Gunners win their games in hand – and match their other results, Liverpool would seal the title against Chelsea on 4 May.

Slot said: “It’s 16 for now but that can be down to seven by the time we play Everton in a few weeks”.

Arsenal have three league games before the Reds ‘ next top-flight match with Everton on 2 April.

In the Champions League, Liverpool are the favourites too following their first-leg win at PSG.

They are given a 26% probability of winning the competition by Opta.