Wales beat England 19-12 to win the Triple Crown, and to stay on course for a third Grand Slam in eight years. England's defeat - their first under new head coach Stuart Lancaster - ends their hopes of winning the Grand Slam.
Scott Williams' late try earned Wales a 19-12 victory over England at Twickenham as they won the Triple Crown, claiming it at the home of English rugby for the first time.
Williams, who came on as a second-half replacement for Jamie Roberts, scored five minutes from the end to put Wales in front for the first time in the match. The conversion from Leigh Halfpenny - who earlier landed four penalties - gave the Welsh a seven-point lead.
There was more drama when England winger David Strettle thought he'd scored a try with the last play of the game. A successful conversion would have earned England a draw - but the video ref ruled that the grounding was "inconclusive", and a try was ruled out.
England had led three times in the match, with Owen Farrell scoring four penalties - but each time they were pegged back thanks to a flawless kicking display from Halfpenny.
Wales' 19-12 victory means they remain on course for a possible Grand Slam decider against France in the final round of games on 17th March.
Ireland re-ignited their Six Nations campaign by thrashing Italy in Dublin. They ran in five tries, and Jonny Sexton kicked 17 points, as they won 42-10 at the Aviva Stadium.
In their first encounter since meeting in the pool stage of last year's World Cup, Ireland and Italy traded early penalties at Lansdowne Road before the home side's dominance led to the opening try of the game.
Conor Murray supplied the short pass for centre Keith Earls who dived over from close range to score his 12th international try.
The Italians then enjoyed a period of pressure which led to Ireland being penned back into their own half, and the visitors were rewarded with try of their own from the veteran Sergio Parisse who was playing in his 86th Test - and a record 38th as captain.
Ireland responded almost immediately with a second try just before half-time as Tommy Bowe finished off a fine passing move before going over in the corner, and that helped the Irish into a 17-10 lead at the break.
As they did in their World Cup match in Dunedin, Ireland dominated a one-sided second-half in which the Italians failed to score a singe point
Two Sexton penalties stretched the home side's lead, before Bowe's second try of the match - and his 22nd for Ireland - put the result beyond doubt.
Ten minutes from time, Ronan O'Gara came off the bench to win a record 118th cap for Ireland, while fellow replacements Tom Court and Andrew Trimble added further tries in the last four minutes as Ireland completed a 42-10 victory to keep alive their hopes of the Championship.
Ireland's next match is their re-arranged game against France next Sunday.
7 comments