Wales celebrate Six Nations 2005 – from:sixnationsrugby.com
Article by Giovanni Manenti
Most ancient team tournament never playedhaving seen the first edition staged way back in 1883 under the then name of Home Championship (as it was contested only by the British national teams…), the current “Six Nations” of Rugby took on this format only in 2000, when ad England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France – who had been part of it from 1947 to 1999 – Italy is also added …
This means that, since the beginning of the new Millennium, this annual event has recorded a greater balance in terms of successes compared to the past – which obviously suffers from the pioneering era of this Discipline – given that in the 24 editions held so far, England have won 7, Wales and France 6 and Ireland 5with only Scotland and Italy still at stake.
But if we analyze this data, a curious peculiarity emerges, namely that the XV della Rosa, despite having achieved the greatest number of successes, only on two occasions completed the “Grande Slam” – i.e. having concluded the Tournament with maximum points – against, vice versa, the four teams from France and Wales and the three Irish teams…
And I’m the Transalpines were the first to achieve 5 victories in the new format of the Tournament, achieving such a feat in 2002which sees them return to affirmation four years after the last time in 1998, which the following year England conformedwhich had vice versa imposed itself in 2000 and 2001, and then, after a second French triumph (also in this case complete with a Grand Slam…) in 2004, here returning Wales to prominence after a decade of fasting.
Training, that of “Dragon“, which just two years earlier had been awarded the unpleasant prize of “Wooden Spoon” (that means “wooden spoon” …) due to the national team that only suffers defeats in the Tournament and which had concluded the previous one with a record of two wins against Italy and Scotland a despite two away defeats in Dublin (15-36) and Twickenham (21-31) and a third in Cardiff 22-29 against France…
There are therefore not many expectations with which Wales – entrusted to the new Technical Commissioner Mike Ruddock who had replaced the New Zealander Steve Hansen at the conclusion of the “Six Nations” 2004 – lines up at the starting line of the 2005 edition, considering that in the first six test matches under the new leadership the balance shows two successes (35-20 over Argentina and 98-0 over Japan) against four defeats against Argentina, New Zealand and twice South Africa.
In any case, there can be no better verification of debut race scheduled for Saturday 5 February 2005 atMillennium Stadium” in Cardiff where 74,500 people gather for the match against the reigning World Champions Englandan extremely difficult commitment, given that the home team’s last victory – by a very narrow margin (32-31) – dates back to 11 April 1999 at Wembley and that the English are so far unbeaten in the new Cardiff facility inaugurated precisely in June of that year…
Compared to the last one match of 20 March 2004, won 31-21 by England, Ruddock confirms only 8 of the 15 who played at Twickenham (in addition to Jonathan Thomas and Gareth Cooper used in the second half…), for a match that immediately went well for the home team, who they score in the 11th minute with Shane Williams, a 5-point margin that holds (8-3) at the breakincreased by two respective places from Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones and Charles Hodgson.
In the second half, the English pressure was exploited by the English fly-half Hodgson who, by kicking the oval between the posts, converting two free kicks, sent his team ahead for the first time (9-8) when there are just 5 minutes remaining before the end of the match before, when the game restarts, a similar chance happens to Gavin Henson, who has the burden of converting a place from a tight position about 44 meters from the goal line…
With the entire audience holding their breath, Henson’s kick is perfect and the oval hits the posts for the counter-overtaking which seals the Welsh victory 11-9 and also constitutes the first English defeat in the opening round of the “Six Nations” since its establishment.
The celebration at the end of the race shows the joy for a partly unexpected victory, but which must serve as a stimulus so that it does not remain an isolated episode, while the others two matches on the first day saw France prevail 16-9 over Scotland and Ireland conquer the Flaminio in Rome 28-17the latter plant where, a week later, Wales takes an easy win 38-8 after Orquera’s try at the start had deceived the Azzurri to be able to compete on equal terms…
With also Ireland had an easy time (40-13) in Edinburgh over Scotlanda challenge that could have a major impact on the fate of the Tournament is that of Twickenham, where England, opposite France, scores two tries with Barkley and Lewsey and ends the first half leading 17-6 only to be mocked in the final by the precision of the transalpine scrum half Dimitri Yachvili, who scores six goals (including the last in the 75th minute…) for 18-17 which automatically excludes the World Champions from the fight for the Trophy.
With, in fact, Wales, Ireland and France on 4 points and the others still at zero, the calculations are quickly made and at this point direct comparisons become decisive, the first of which takes place Saturday 26 February 2005 at “Stadium France” di Parigi Saint Denis for a challenge that attracts 80 thousand spectators to the stands…
Compared to the match in London, this time the French team started with their foot on the accelerator Yachvili to deposit the oval in goal after just 4′ and take charge of the related transformation for then, afterwards a second French try by winger Aurelien Rougerie already before the quarter of an hour of play, scoring a free kick for 15-6 with which the two teams went to half-time, with the score reduced by a free kick from Stephen Jones in the 5th minute of added time in the first half.
The latter is a detail which may have had a significant impact on the morale of Ruddock’s Martin Williams to deposit the oval in the goal for the easiest of the transformations by Jones, and then it was Williams himself who took advantage of an uncertainty of the home team’s defense to go and smash in the goal at the height of the flag…
Just 5 minutes have passed since the game resumed and the result is completely (18-15) reversedand then, after the provisional parity achieved by the hosts thanks to a drop from Michalak in the 66th minute, to be Jones again the protagonist, first bringing the margin back to three points with a placed goal and then also scoring a drop 5′ from the end for the 24-16 definitive.
However, there is still an obstacle Ireland to overcome, given that, for its part, the Shamrock national team beats England 19-13 in Dublinalthough Wales expect a relatively easy penultimate round against Scotland in Edinburgh while Ireland and France battle each other…
The latter challenge is scheduled for Saturday 12 March 2005 in Dublinwhile the match of the undefeated Welsh is set for the following day, and the news coming from the island is very comforting, given that the Transalpines made up for the defeat of two weeks earlier by winning 26-19 with winger Christophe Dominici the great protagonist with two triesthe second of which in injury time destroyed the Irish hopes rekindled by an O’Driscoll try 3′ from the end of regulation time.
The only team therefore still with full marks, Wales certainly cannot miss the opportunity to maintain their unbeaten recordcertifying its superiority in the predictions of the day before with a first fraction in which literally “they sweep away” their opponents, going five times in goal and closing the same at 38-3, a score that only needs to be managed in the second half and the final 46-22 determines, one round from the end, a ranking that reads: Wales p.8, France and Ireland p.6, England and Scotland p.2 and Italy 0.
But it is not yet time to celebrate since, taking it for granted the transalpine victory against Italy (what happens with a merciless 56-13) and the England-Scotland match being worth it only for the assignment of the Calcutta Cup (which the English win 43-22…), in the event of an Irish victory on Saturday 19 March atMillennium Stadium“there would be a three-way tie at 8 points…
Hypotheses that are certainly not hoped for the 74 thousand spectators who take their seats in the stands and which becomes less and less popular as the match continueswith the hosts, after the initial Irish advantage with O’Gara’s place at the start, building a comfortable 16-6 margin at half-time thanks to a drop from Henson, a converted try from Gethin Jenkins and two free kicks between the posts again by Henson and Jones.
And then when, halfway through the second half, it’s Kevin Morgan’s turn to score, extending the score to 29-6, here the celebrations can begin, leaving Ireland only the satisfaction of reducing the gap thanks to two converted tries by Horan and Murphy for an honorable defeat of 32-20 which does not change the state of things, i.e. give Wales, in addition to a success in the Tournament that had been missing for 11 years, also a new Grand Slam which, on the contrary, had not occurred since 1978…
A triumph which also opens a significant period of affirmations for the “Dragon”, capable of establish itself again in 2008, the two-year period 2012-’13, 2019 and 2021, completing the “pokerissimo” of victories in 2008, 2012 and 2019.
As if to say that it’s not enough just to win, it’s better to do it well too…!!
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