Rbs 6 Nations
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RBS 6 NATIONS - ROUND 5 PREVIEWS 2013 FIXTURES 2013 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP Last 5 seasons Rd Date Local KO Fixture Stadium 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 1 Sat 2 Feb 22-30 WALES v IRELAND Millennium Stadium 23-21 19-13 12-27 15-17 16-12 Sat 2 Feb 38-18 ENGLAND v SCOTLAND Twickenham Stadium 13-6 22-16 15-15 26-12 9-15 Sun 3 Feb 23-18 ITALY v FRANCE Stadio Olimpico 12-30 22-21 20-46 8-50 13-25 2 Sat 9 Feb 34-10 SCOTLAND v ITALY Murrayfield 6-13 21-8 12-16 16-6 20-23 Sat 9 Feb 6-16 FRANCE v WALES Stade de France 9-16 28-9 26-20 21-16 12-29 Sun 10 Feb 6-12 IRELAND v ENGLAND Aviva Stadium 9-30 24-8 20-16 14-13 10-33 3 Sat 23 Feb 9-26 ITALY v WALES Stadio Olimpico 3-24 16-24 10-33 15-20 8-47 Sat 23 Feb 23-13 ENGLAND v FRANCE Twickenham Stadium 24-22 17-9 10-12 34-10 24-13 Sun 24 Feb 12-8 SCOTLAND v IRELAND Murrayfield 9-15 18-21 23-20 15-22 13-34 4 Sat 9 Mar 18-28 SCOTLAND v WALES Murrayfield 13-27 6-24 24-31 13-26 15-30 Sat 9 Mar 13-13 IRELAND v FRANCE Aviva Stadium 17-17 22-25 10-33 30-21 21-26 Sun 10 Mar 18-11 ENGLAND v ITALY Twickenham Stadium 19-15 59-13 17-12 36-11 23-19 5 Sat 16 Mar 15:30 ITALY v IRELAND Stadio Olimpico 10-42 11-13 11-29 9-38 11-16 Sat 16 Mar 17:00 WALES v ENGLAND Millennium Stadium 19-12 19-26 17-30 23-15 26-19 Sat 16 Mar 21:00 FRANCE v SCOTLAND Stade de France 23-17 34-21 18-9 22-13 27-6 The curtain comes down on the 2013 RBS 6 Nations Championship with the three remaining matches all taking place on Saturday. First up Ireland visit Rome to face a tough Italian side and hoping to keep their run intact of never having lost to the Azzurri in the history of the RBS 6 Nations. Italy conversely have the chance to record their highest ever finishing position, which currently stands at 4th attained in 2007. The Millennium Stadium hosts a grand slam match for the 5th time with all previous instances a fifth win being obtained by Wales in 2005, 2008 and 2012, and by Ireland in 2009. Just two sides have ever won away from home to take a grand slam in the history of the RBS 6 Nations: England in Dublin in 2003 and Ireland in Cardiff four years ago. Wales of course have a chance to not only defend their title but also deprive England of a coveted grand slam. Stade de France in Paris is the venue for the final match of this year’s tournament with the hosts anxious to avoid the ignominy of a first wooden spoon since 1999. The Scots have already secured their best finish in the competition since 2006 and will be all guns blazing to finish on a high and win in Paris for the first time this century. HOW THEY STAND RBS 6 NATIONS 2013 Attack Defence Pos Nation W D L Pts T C PG DG For T C PG DG Agst PD 1 England 4 0 0 8 5 3 20 0 91 4 2 8 0 48 43 2 Wales 3 0 1 6 7 6 15 0 92 3 3 14 0 63 29 3 Scotland 2 0 2 4 6 5 14 0 82 7 5 13 0 84 -2 4 Ireland 1 1 2 3 5 4 8 0 57 4 3 11 0 59 -2 5 Italy 1 0 3 2 4 3 7 2 53 8 7 14 0 96 -43 6 France 0 1 3 1 4 3 8 0 50 5 4 12 2 75 -25 TOTALS 11 1 11 24 31 24 72 2 425 31 24 72 2 425 Compiled by ROUND 5: MATCH PREVIEW ITALY v IRELAND Where: Stadio Olimpico, Rome When: Saturday 16 March 2013, kick-off 3.30pm (local time) Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU, 11th RBS 6 Nations game) Assistants: Romain Poite (FFR), Glen Jackson (NZRU). TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU) STATS & FACTS . The only previous time that Italy have won two games during an RBS 6 Nations campaign was in 2007, whilst they have won in round five just twice before: both against Scotland in 2008 and 2012. Italy have a won 2, lost 2 record in the RBS 6 Nations at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Ireland are winless in their last three RBS 6 Nations encounters – their worst run in Six Nations history. The Irishmen have won only one of their last ten away test matches over the past two years. Ireland have won all 13 previous fixtures against Italy in the RBS 6 Nations, and have not lost a test match to the Azzurri since they visited Bologna in December 1997. ON THE PITCH Italy have averaged more carries per game (127) than any other side in the tournament so far. Italy have won a competition high 93% of scrums on their own feed after four rounds, Scotland meanwhile have won just 68% of their own scrums, the worst rate. Despite recording just one win so far, Italy have enjoyed more possession (on average) than any other team in the tournament, 19:33 minutes. Alessandro Zanni is the top offloader in the 2013 tournament with nine in the four matches so far. Sean O’Brien is the top ball carrier in the RBS 6 Nations this season with 55 carries in all. Donnacha Ryan has won the most lineouts of any player this campaign with 22. LAST TEN SIDE BY SIDE ITALY IRELAND Date Opponent Venue Result Date Opponent Venue Result 9 Jun Argentina San Juan L 22-37 17 Mar England Twickenham L 9-30 15 Jun Canada Toronto W 25-16 9 Jun New Zealand Auckland L 10-42 23 Jun United States Houston W 30-10 16 Jun New Zealand Christchurch L 19-22 10 Nov Tonga Brescia W 28-23 23 Jun New Zealand Hamilton L 0-60 17 Nov New Zealand Stadio Olimpico L 10-42 10 Nov South Africa Aviva Stadium L 12-16 24 Nov Australia Florence L 19-22 24 Nov Argentina Aviva Stadium W 46-24 3 Feb France Stadio Olimpico W 23-18 2 Feb Wales Millennium Stadium W 30-22 9 Feb Scotland Murrayfield L 10-34 10 Feb England Aviva Stadium L 6-12 23 Feb Wales Stadio Olimpico L 9-26 24 Feb Scotland Murrayfield L 8-12 10 Mar England Twickenham L 11-18 9 Mar France Aviva Stadium D 13-13 Compiled by PREVIOUS RBS 6 NATIONS ENCOUNTERS Italy Match Result Ireland T C PG DG Venue Ita Year Ire Venue T C PG DG 1 1 2 - 13 2000 60 Lansdowne Road 6 6 6 - 3 2 1 - Stadio Flaminio 22 2001 41 5 2 4 - 2 2 - 1 17 2002 32 Lansdowne Road 3 1 5 - 1 1 2 - Stadio Flaminio 13 2003 37 5 3 2 - - - 1 - 3 2004 19 Lansdowne Road 3 2 - - 1 - 4 - Stadio Flaminio 17 2005 28 3 2 3 - 1 1 3 - 16 2006 26 Lansdowne Road 2 2 4 - 2 1 2 2 Stadio Flaminio 24 2007 51 8 4 1 - 1 - 2 - 11 2008 16 Croke Park 1 1 3 - - - 3 - Stadio Flaminio 9 2009 38 5 5 1 - 1 - 2 - 11 2010 29 Croke Park 2 2 5 - 1 - 2 - Stadio Flaminio 11 2011 13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 10 2012 42 Aviva Stadium 5 4 3 - 15 9 25 3 177 Totals 432 49 35 38 1 Win Draw COMPARING THE NATIONS Italy Head to Head Ireland P W D L ItW D IrW P W D L 433 173 14 246 All Tests 3 - 18 All Tests 625 261 31 333 69 10 1 58 RBS 6 Nations - - 13 RBS 6 Nations 69 45 2 22 9 2 1 6 @ Stadio Olimpico - - - @ Stadio Olimpico - - - - LAST YEAR IN DETAIL 25 FEBRUARY 2012 IRELAND (17) 42, ITALY (10) 10 (Aviva Stadium) Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Tommy Bowe(2T), 13 Keith Earls(T), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble(T); 10 Jonathan Sexton(4C/3P), 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross; 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 5 Paul O'Connell (capt); 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip. Bench: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court(T), 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden. Replacements used: Reddan for Murray 54, D.Ryan for O'Callaghan 59, O'Mahony for O'Brien 59, McFadden for Earls 68, Cronin for Best 70, Court for Healy 70, O'Gara for D'Arcy 70. Place Kicking: Jonathan Sexton 7 from 8 (Conv 4/5, Pens 3/3). Italy: 15 Andrea Masi; 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean; 10 Tobias Botes(C/P), 9 Edoardo Gori; 1 Michele Rizzo, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini; 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 5 Marco Bortolami; 6 Alessandro Zanni, 7 Robert Barbieri, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt)(T). Bench: 16 Tommaso d'Apice, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Kris Burton, 22 Gonzalo Canale.