Jonny Wilkinson becomes a liability for England

On Saturday we had the glory, on Sunday we had the gory. First Wales and Scotland had combined to produce one of the most thrilling games in the history of the Six Nations, and then France swatted aside the challenge of reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland with a performance of southern hemisphere intensity. But when England's turn came to show the world what they could do, they fluffed their lines, stammering and stuttering to a 17-12 win in Rome.

England started the match against Italy as if they had indeed been inspired by events in Cardiff and Paris – two games that between them produced nine tries and 98 points. Flanker Lewis Moody plucked the ball out of the air from the kick-off and the ball was quickly moved left through Riki Flutey to full-back Delon Armitage, whose chip ahead was scrambled away by Tito Tebaldi as England bore down on Italy's try-line.

Thereafter sparks of creative brilliance from England were as rare as a smile on Martin Johnson's face. The England team manager looked on grimly as Italy began to gain in confidence, looking much improved from the team that went down limply to Ireland the week before, and the visitors' pack failed to win the quick ball at the breakdown that their backs craved.

When the ball did arrive in the hands of Jonny Wilkinson, the fly-half sent a series of wayward kicks straight into the arms of the Italian full-back. Delon Armitage, a shadow of the attacking force he was last season, was just as guilty of kicking away possession and both he and Wilkinson bear a heavy responsibility for the stodgy rugby that unfolded in the second half.

Wilkinson even missed two easy penalties, compounding his misery, and Johnson can no longer afford to select the former golden boy of English rugby on past glories. Too slow, too predictable, too conservative, Wilkinson is stifling England and denying its exciting backline the chance to test the opposition. On one of the few occasions when the English three-quarters was allowed to stretch its legs it resulted in a well-worked try for Mathew Tait.

Wing Ugo Moyne, who looked dangerous every time he got his hands on the ball, powered out of a tackle on the halfway line, galloped down the left touchline, flicked the ball inside to Armitage, who fed Tait, who accelerated clear of the last Italian defender for a try that left the travelling English fans wondering why their side can't play like that more often.

Yet a win's a win, and England now stand level on points with France at the top of the championship table with the two sides meeting in Paris on March 20, the last day of the tournament.

France produced rugby of the highest order against Ireland on Saturday night, though the visitors didn't help themselves by a couple of acts of indiscipline that cost them dear. In the old days it was France who threw away points by losing their heads, but these days they profit from their opponents' indiscretions. First prop Cian Healey obstructed scrum-half Morgan Parra as the French worked their way towards the Irish try line, a foul that resulted in a 10-minute stint in the sin bin for Healey and a penalty that France duly kicked for a 3-0 lead.

Ireland had the chance to level the score minutes later when France infringed and gave away a penalty in front of their posts, but the touch judge had spotted a wild kick by hooker Jerry on French wing Alexis Palisson and the penalty was reversed. France cleared the danger and  by half-time had raced to a 17-3 lead thanks to tries from William Servat and Yannick Jauzion. Full-back Clement Poitrenaud added a third try in the second-half and finished 33-10 winners. "On a performance like that, it would take a very good team to beat them," said Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll afterwards.
 
Wales, next in line to face France in Cardiff on Friday week, were very good against Scotland, but only in the final ten minutes of an extraordinary match that coughed up possibly the greatest comeback in the 100-year history of the Six Nations.

Scotland, soundly beaten by France in Edinburgh the previous week, played some of their finest rugby in recent years in the first-half. Flanker John Barclay and wing Max Evans scored tries in the opening 20 minutes and, with Dan Parks controlling the game from fly-half, the Scots looked home and dry leading 24-14 with ten minutes to go.

But then came the fight-back, helped in part by foolish Scottish indiscipline. Hooker Scott Lawson impeded Richie Rees, the Welsh scrum-half, and was shown a yellow card. Three minutes later Wales, exploiting the one-man advantage, found space out wide on the right and Leigh Halfpenny touched down for a try (converted) that narrowed the gap to 24-21. Wales threw everything at Scotland as the clock ran down and their determination was rewarded with a penalty under the posts after Phil Godman obstructed Lee Byrne as he chased his own kick.

Godman joined Lawson in the sin bin and Wales kicked the penalty to level the scores and with time nearly up all Scotland had to do was kick the ball dead from the kick-off to come away with a draw. Instead Scotland kept the ball in play and with only 13 men on the field they weren't able to stem the final Welsh onslaught that ended with wing Shane Williams diving under the posts to seal a remarkable comeback 31-24. ·