LONDON — This year's Six Nations opened with a spectacular weekend of action, lurched into tepid mediocrity amid foul weather but finished back on a high as Wales hammered England to retain the title amid a spine-tingling atmosphere in Cardiff. Wales was worthy champion after its record 30-3 demolition of grand-slam chasing England in the title decider, having bounced back from its opening defeat by Ireland with three successive away wins. There was joy too for Italy after it beat France and Ireland to notch two wins for only the second time since it joined in 2000, leaving England, which it pushed all the way at Twickenham, as the only team it has yet to beat. France won its final game at home to Scotland but it was not enough to prevent it finishing last for the first time since 1999. Overall, the quality of rugby on show will not have caused any undue concern in the Southern Hemisphere, while the feeble total try count of 37 was nine down on the previous lowest since the competition expanded to six teams. It did not look that way seven weeks ago when pre-tournament talk of an open competition proved well-founded on the first weekend when Italy stunned France, Ireland beat holder Wales in Cardiff in a classic game of two halves and England turned on the style to thrash Scotland. Italy coach Jacques Brunel's bid to encourage more running rugby, seen in glimpses during an encouraging November series, was there for all to see in a well-deserved 23-18 victory and it finished the tournament on a high too with another worthy victory over Ireland. In Cardiff, Wales, coming into the tournament on the back of a seven-game losing streak, found itself 30-3 down to Ireland five minutes into the second half. Its stirring fightback had the Millennium Stadium rocking and though it fell short as it lost 30-22, it set it on course for the four successive victories that took it to the retention of its title. “Behind closed doors we talked about how we were going to build ourselves back and those three games away from home built our team spirit,” said captain Gethin Jenkins in the wake of the title-winning win. “I think a lot of people would have perhaps written us off because of the form England have been in and we just stuck tight. To get that win against England, to stop them winning the grand slam as well, the boys are ecstatic in the changing rooms.” — Reuters
