Down to the wire: Six Nations nailbiting

March 14, 2007

This past weekends' Six Nations saw some incredibly tight matches and surprising results that have turned the tournament on its head.

On Saturday morning Ireland scraped by a plucky Scotland by a point, winning 19-18 at Murrayfield.

Later that day Italy claimed another scalp in what has shaped up to be their best 6N season to date, beating Wales 23-20 in Rome. (Unfortunately I didn't get to hear the post-match phone calls to BBC 606, but I'm guessing it was unvarnished and nasty ~ especially the comments directed at English referee Chris White.)

And on Sunday, the weekends' biggest surprise saw an England team in turmoil defeat table-leaders France 26-18 at Twickenham.

The Six Nations tournament concludes this Saturday. The log-jam atop the table sees three teams (Ireland, France, England) tied for the lead with 6 points, and all three facing opponents they should theoretically beat (Italy, Scotland and Wales, respectively). But of those three leaders only France will play their final match at home. That should assist them since it appears likely the tournament victors will come down to a points +/- tie-breaker. Wales will be desperate to avoid the wooden spoon (and might just pull off the trick).

Click here to view the current 6N standings.

France sits atop the table with a +42 point differential; Ireland are snapping at their heels with a +38 point differential; England have a lot to claw back with only a +13 point differential, and will be needing a lot of help to take the title. Back with previews later in the week...