RBS 6 NATIONS - ROUND 3 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 14:30 SCOTLAND v WALES Murrayfield 13-27 6-24 24-31 13-26 15-30 Sat 9 Mar 17:00 IRELAND v FRANCE Aviva Stadium 17-17 22-25 10-33 30-21 21-26 Sun 10 Mar 15:00 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 Round Four of the 2013 RBS 6 Nations Championship resumes on Saturday when Scotland host Wales at Murrayfield, both sides boasting identical won 2, lost 1 records so far. Later that afternoon in Dublin, France are the visitors to Aviva Stadium anxious to end their longest winless streak in 55 years of the Five/Six Nations. Twickenham Stadium concludes the round on Sunday afternoon with England entertaining Italy. England will be attempting to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive and the Azzurri hoping to spring an upset to secure a first ever win over England. 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 3 0 0 6 5 3 14 0 73 3 2 6 0 37 36 2 Wales 2 0 1 4 6 5 8 0 64 3 3 8 0 45 19 3 Scotland 2 0 1 4 6 5 8 0 64 6 4 6 0 56 8 4 Ireland 1 0 2 2 4 3 6 0 44 3 2 9 0 46 -2 5 Italy 1 0 2 2 3 3 5 2 42 8 7 8 0 78 -36 6 France 0 0 3 0 3 2 6 0 37 4 3 10 2 62 -25 TOTALS 9 0 9 18 27 21 47 2 324 27 21 47 2 324 Compiled by ROUND 4: MATCH PREVIEW SCOTLAND v WALES Where: Murrayfield, Edinburgh When: Saturday 9 March 2013, kick-off 2.30pm Referee: Craig Joubert (SARU, 10th RBS 6 Nations game) Assistants: Glen Jackson (NZRU), Lourens van der Merwe (SARU). TMO: Giulio de Santis (FIR) STATS & FACTS . Scotland have won their last two RBS 6 Nations matches, against Italy and Ireland, a feat they had not previously managed since 2001, when they also beat the Italians and Irish (though the Ireland game was not played until September due to the foot and mouth crisis). They have not won three in a row in the tournament since 1996. The Scots have won just one round four encounter since 2001: in 2008 against England. Wales have lost just one of their last eight RBS 6 Nations fixtures: versus Ireland on 2 February. Scotland’s only win in their last ten contests with Wales: 21-9 in a tryless encounter at Murrayfield in 2007. In four of the last five Tests between these nations, the Welsh have won by margins of 13 points or more and have averaged 28 points scored per game. Wales have won on three of their last four visits to Murrayfield. Wales’ biggest ever victory over Scotland came at Murrayfield in 2005, when they scored six tries in a 46-22 win. ON THE PITCH Scotland’s average of under 61 per carries per match after three rounds of the RBS 6 Nations is the lowest in the tournament and way below the average of 103 per game. Scotland have also spent the least time in possession, an average of 12 mins, 31 secs per game. Wales boast the best ball retention at rucks and mauls so far, recycling the ball in 97% of breakdowns. Scotland’s Kelly Brown is the top tackler in the tournament after three rounds, completing 43 of 46 attempts. Richie Gray and Ryan Grant are joint-third amongst tacklers in the tournament with 34 apiece. Stuart Hogg is the RBS 6 Nations’ top metre-maker with 225m gained in three matches, though he made just 24m in his side’s victory over Ireland. Adam Jones has conceded seven penalties so far, a joint-high in the championship. LAST TEN SIDE BY SIDE SCOTLAND WALES Date Opponent Venue Result Date Opponent Venue Result 17 Mar Italy Stadio Olimpico L 6-13 9 Jun Australia Brisbane L 19-27 5 Jun Australia Newcastle W 9-6 16 Jun Australia Melbourne L 23-25 16 Jun Fiji Lautoka W 37-25 23 Jun Australia Sydney L 19-20 23 Jun Samoa Apia W 17-16 10 Nov Argentina Millennium Stadium L 12-26 11 Nov New Zealand Murrayfield L 22-51 16 Nov Samoa Millennium Stadium L 19-26 17 Nov South Africa Murrayfield L 10-21 24 Nov New Zealand Millennium Stadium L 10-33 24 Nov Tonga Aberdeen L 15-21 1 Dec Australia Millennium Stadium L 12-14 2 Feb England Twickenham L 18-38 2 Feb Ireland Millennium Stadium L 22-30 9 Feb Italy Murrayfield W 34-10 9 Feb France Stade de France W 16-6 24 Feb Ireland Murrayfield W 12-8 9 Feb Italy Stadio Olimpico W 26-9 Compiled by PREVIOUS RBS 6 NATIONS ENCOUNTERS Scotland Match Result Wales T C PG DG Venue Sco Year Wal Venue T C PG DG 2 1 2 - 18 2000 26 Millennium Stadium 2 2 4 - 3 2 3 - Murrayfield 28 2001 28 1 1 4 3 2 1 5 - 27 2002 22 Millennium Stadium 1 1 5 - 3 3 3 - Murrayfield 30 2003 22 3 2 1 - 1 1 - 1 10 2004 23 Millennium Stadium 3 1 2 - 3 2 1 - Murrayfield 22 2005 46 6 5 2 - 2 1 2 - 18 2006 28 Millennium Stadium 4 4 - - - - 7 - Murrayfield 21 2007 9 - - 3 - - - 5 - 15 2008 30 Millennium Stadium 3 3 3 - 1 1 2 - Murrayfield 13 2009 26 4 - 2 - 2 1 2 2 24 2010 31 Millennium Stadium 3 2 4 - - - 2 - Murrayfield 6 2011 24 2 1 4 - 1 1 2 - 13 2012 27 Millennium Stadium 3 3 2 - 20 14 36 3 245 Totals 342 35 25 36 3 Win Draw COMPARING THE NATIONS Scotland Head to Head Wales P W D L ScW D WaW P W D L 620 263 32 325 All Tests 48 3 66 All Tests 649 333 28 288 68 18 2 48 RBS 6 Nations 3 1 9 RBS 6 Nations 68 35 2 31 249 126 10 113 @ Murrayfield 21 1 18 @ Murrayfield 40 18 1 21 LAST YEAR IN DETAIL 12 FEBRUARY 2012 WALES (3) 27, SCOTLAND (3) 13 (Millennium Stadium) Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny(2T/3C/2P); 14 Alex Cuthbert(T), 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North; 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips; 1 Gethin Jenkins (sin bin 77), 2 Huw Bennett, 3 Adam Jones; 4 Ryan Jones (capt), 5 Ian Evans; 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Aaron Shingler, 8 Toby Faletau. Bench: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Lou Reed, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams. Replacements used: Owens for Bennett 10, Bennett for Owens 19, Hook for North 40, Owens for Bennett 41, James for A.Jones 73, Powell for Lydiate 73, Reed for Ry.Jones 74, Ll.Williams for Phillips 74, S.Williams for Roberts 78. Place Kicking: Leigh Halfpenny 5 from 6 (Conv 3/3, Pens 2/3). Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont (sin bin 54-64); 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick de Luca (sin bin 45-55), 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans; 10 Greig Laidlaw(T/C/2P), 9 Chris Cusiter; 1 Allan Jacobsen, 2 Ross Ford (capt), 3 Geoff Cross; 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jim Hamilton; 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 7 Ross Rennie, 8 David Denton. Bench: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 John Barclay, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Stuart Hogg. Replacements used: Hogg for Evans 16, Barclay for Strokosch 43, Blair for Cusiter 49, Kalman for Cross 57, Kellock for Hamilton 58, S.Lawson for Ford 71. Place Kicking: Greig Laidlaw 3 from 4 (Conv 1/1, Pens 2/3).