|
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| Played | Won | Drawn | Points | |
| France | 5 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Ireland | 5 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Scotland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| England | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Wales | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Italy | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The 2006 Six Nations Championship kicked off on Saturday 4th February 2006. Grand Slam Champions Wales were expected to deliever again with their exciting brand of fast, expansive and exciting rugby onlt to come off second best in their opening encounter with England. A raft of injuries put pay to Wales' chances of repeating last year's Grand Slam success, with Brent Cockbain, Lions hero Ryan Jones, Tom Shanklin and Chris Horsman among those sidelined. Add to that the loss through suspension of Gavin Henson for the opening two games - against England and Scotland - and Mike Ruddock's side were already up against it.
France are the tournament favourites, based on their vast depth of resources and all-round quality, and as their performances in the autumn internationals proved, were hard to stop.
England's rebuilding following the fall-out of their World Cup win in 2003 remained disappointing. Head coach Andy Robinson has had his critics - his side finished a disappointing fourth in the RBS 6 Nations last time round. Andy Robinson has been retained as England head coach following a post-RBS 6 Nations review - but his assistants Phil Larder, Joe Lydon and Dave Alred will all be replaced.
Captain Brian O'Driscoll's return to fitness came at the ideal time for Ireland, whose tenacity and will to win made their Triple Crown achievement something sweet.
Scotland and Italy, were regarded as underdogs but both sides proved they had the talent to cause an upsets. Newly installed head coach Frank Hadden has brought some much-needed organisation to the plucky Scots and the appointment of Sale flanker Jason White as skipper looks to have been a shrewd move.
Italyls new head coach Pierre Berbizier was instrumental in eradicating
the errors that had often hampered their cause. Their forward power has
never been in doubt and they certainly improved on their campaign of last
season.
The Official Six Nations Web Site can be found at www.rbs6nations.com/index_6nations.htm
Six Nations Links
http://www.6nations.net/
http://www.sixnationsrugby.com/
http://www.6nations.co.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm
Six Nations 2006 Results
Saturday 4th February 2006
13:30 GMT Ireland 26-16 Italy
15:30 GMT England 47-13 Wales
Sunday 5th February 2006
15:00 GMT Scotland 20-16 France
Saturday 11th February 2006
13:30 GMT France 43-31 Ireland
16:00 GMT Italy 16-31 England
Sunday 12th February 2006
15:00 GMT Wales 28-18 Scotland
Saturday 25th February 2006
14:00 GMT France 37-12 Italy
17:30 GMT Scotland 18-12 England
Sunday 26th February 2006
15:00 Ireland 31-5 Wales
Saturday 11th March 2006
13:30 GMT Wales 18-18 Italy
15:30 GMT Ireland 15-9 Scotland
Sunday 12th March 2006
15:00 GMT France 31-6 England
Saturday 18th March 2006
13:30 GMT Italy 10-13 Scotland
15:30 GMT Wales 16-21 France
17:30 GMT England 24-28 Ireland