Round up of six nations Rugby

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Guinness Six Nations

Italy 0-33 England

Kyle Sinckler scored and Harry Randall made an impressive Six Nations debut as England thrashed Italy 0-33 in Rome on Sunday.

On what was their first meaningful visit inside the Azzurri 22, Harry Randall provided quick ball to Marcus Smith, who shipped it to Max Malins. The winger rounded Federico Mori, before squaring up the final defender and redistributing to Smith, who went over for a simple score.

Jamie George doubled the visitor's lead nine minutes later, surging over from close range after a series of strong carries from England's forwards, and just like his first conversion, Smith's second was successful, making it 0-14.

Maro Itoje had a try disallowed as half hour passed, lock Nick Isiekwe was deemed to have obstructed an Italian counter maul on England's attacking lineout, but George crossed for his second on the stroke of half time and Smith's extras made it 0-21 at the break.

England's dominance at the half way stage was clear to see, making 55 more carries, 252 more metres and beating 11 more defenders than the hosts.

And they picked up where they left off at the resumption of the Test, as Elliot Daly crossed for a bonus-point fourth try in the 44th minute. It was a Smith assisted score, though the fly half was unable to convert the effort.

Ben Youngs replaced Randall to earn his 114th Test cap, equalling Jason Leonard as England Men's all-time record cap holder, and Ollie Chessum came on to make his first.

Eddie Jones' men notched up their fifth try courtesy of prop Kyle Sinckler, with Smith adding an eighth point from the boot, to make it 0-33.

And despite late spirited Italian attack, the men in blue were unable to penetrate England's staunch defence, as they saw the game out, keeping Italy scoreless.

WALES EDGE SCOTLAND IN CARDIFF THRILLER

Guinness Six Nations

Wales 20-17 Scotland

Callum Sheedy featured off the bench as Wales secured their first win in the 2022 Guinness Six Nations with a hard fought 20-17 win over Scotland, where centurion Dan Biggar kicked a crucial 15 points to guide his side to victory.

Scotland’s 20-year wait for a win in Cardiff continues as they were unable to back up last week’s win over England. Wales got the first points of the game through the reliable boot of the Northampton Saints fly half.

Wales were awarded the penalty after some dominant work in the scrum. Just minutes later, Biggar doubled Wales’ lead with another strike at goal.

But it was Scotland who scored the game’s first try when winger Darcy Graham finished well in the right corner. The visitors went through the phases and created some space out wide to trail 6-5. Almost immediately after their opening try, Scotland edged in front through the boot of Finn Russell.

Twenty minutes in, Scotland were starting to take control of possession and territory and increased their lead to five points thanks to a routine Russell penalty. Wales were penalised for Will Rowlands entering the side of a rolling maul.

Wales then created some pressure deep inside the Scotland half and earnt Biggar the opportunity to kick his third penalty of the game. The theme of kickable penalties soon continued when Russell kicked Scotland into a 14-9 lead.

Wayne Pivac’s side then looked dangerous in attack once again and a great 50:22 kick from Liam Williams allowed Wales attack deep in the Scotland half. Owen Watkin also impressed and played a key role in Wales’ attacking play.

Wales were now feeling confident and were rewarded for kicking to the corner with their first try of the game. Tomas Francis bundled over off the back of a well-executed lineout drive to level the scores at 14 apiece. This then set up a finely balanced second-half.

It was a cagey start to the second-half, there was lots of kicking for territory by both teams and it was clear to see that there was a lot on the line for the two sides. Russell soon kicked Scotland back into the lead, with his fourth penalty of the game, after a strong carry from centre Sione Tuipulotu allowed his side to earn a penalty in an attacking position.

This close encounter continued going into the hour mark, as Biggar kicked his fourth penalty of the afternoon to make it 17-17. Wales were now starting to make some strong carries as they looked to go through the phases in the Scottish half.

The match was now being played at a very slow pace and was turning into a stop start affair which did not help either team in their bid to take control of the match.

With just 13 minutes remaining, Wales came close to taking the lead when a Biggar penalty from the half-way line hit the cross bar and then rebounded back to Wales, who came close to scoring in the corner through Alex Cuthbert.

Wales then started to create some constant pressure, which led to a pinpoint Biggar drop-goal to give Wales a slender 20-17 lead with just 10 minutes to play. Scotland could not find a way through and Wales defended with both courage and intelligence to see the game out to record an important 20-17 victory.