Six Nations 2019: A Review of the Final Matches

A Thrilling Final Round Sees Wales Come Home With A Mighty Grand Slam…

As the Rugby Six Nations Championship entered its final week, Wales faced a tough fixture against Ireland, the last obstacle in their quest to achieve a full slate of victories in this year’s tournament. England, only second to Wales by one point, would face a seemingly disadvantaged Scottish squad who suffered multiple injuries throughout the previous several weeks. Meanwhile, France and Italy would conclude the competition with their bottom-table fight, Italy hoping to at last achieve a sorely desired win.

The Wales vs Ireland match proved to be the most decisive of the weekend, as it placed pressure on the Welsh to seal their championship victory. While tries were sparse in number, with Wales and Ireland only scoring one each throughout the entire game, steady Welsh attacks on the Irish defense were rewarded with the excellent tactical kicking of  the Welsh Fly Half, Gareth Anscombe, who scored 20 points throughout, gaining both the try’s conversion and 6 successful penalty kicks. With momentum being firmly on Wales’ side after a try early on in the game ensured dominant control on the pitch, the Irish seemed unable to effectively respond. Despite Ireland gaining points thanks to Winger, Jordan Lamour, the game ended with a resounding 25-7 win for Wales, sealing their position as the 2019 tournament winners and providing coach Warren Gatland with his third Grand Slam success.

Photo [Flickr]
While Wales’ victory was clear, England did not deter from playing their home match against Scotland in dominant fashion. The England vs Scotland match was arguably more dramatic a game than that which previously determined a Welsh victory. The first half of the match saw England produce a seemingly unassailable 31-0 lead within the first 30 minutes. Tries were scored in rapid succession and shared between the usual suspects such as Johnny May and Jack Nowell, and then surprising Forwards in the form of Tom Curry and Joe Launchbury. However, Scotland refused to give up in the face of such odds. They faced England with the tenacity and determination that makes the Six Nations a must-watch sporting competition.

After trimming the lead with a try in the latter stages of the first half by Scottish Flanker, Gary Graham, Scotland’s hope surged and fortunes were further improved in the second half, exploiting an extremely poor, and arguably complacent, English defense to shift the momentum in Scotland’s favor. With Scottish play enhanced by the insertion of Scrum Half, Greg Laidlaw, onto the field, further tries by Magnus Bradbury and Finn Russell led to Scotland drawing even with 20 minutes left in the match. Another Scottish try scored after a lucky interception from Russell, put Scotland 38-31 ahead. Only after a desperate last-minute push from England did Fly Half, George Ford, secure an essential try for England, ending the game in a 38-38 tie which prevented England from suffering a humiliating defeat.

Photo [Wikimedia Commons]
With France beating Italy 25-14 in a tightly fought battle, the 2019 Six Nations Championship concluded on a dramatic note as the Welsh emerged victorious and in high spirits for the upcoming World Cup held in Japan this Autumn. Meanwhile, England and Ireland both face several months in which essential improvements are required in areas of discipline and defense should either side want to succeed against strong southern-hemisphere opponents such as Australia and New Zealand.

Thus, this year’s Six Nations provided an incredible end to an equally wonderful start. The annual championship is not only a demonstration of the power, strength, and dedication required within the sport of Rugby, but also the sportsmanship, heart, and determination it takes to succeed in professional athletics.

Comments

comments

235 thoughts on “Six Nations 2019: A Review of the Final Matches

  1. Pingback: bahis siteleri
  2. Pingback: A片
  3. Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site? My blog site is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would really benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Thanks!

  4. Pingback: Lincoln Georgis
  5. Pingback: Chirurgie Tunisie
  6. I do accept as true with all of the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They are really convincing and will definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for beginners. May just you please prolong them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.

  7. Pingback: Academic programs
  8. Pingback: Data Science
  9. Pingback: fue
  10. Superb site you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed in this
    article? I’d really like to be a part of online community where
    I can get feedback from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest.
    If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
    Thank you!

  11. Admiring the time and energy you put into your site and detailed information you offer. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed information. Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.

  12. I am only writing to let you be aware of of the cool experience my girl went through reading your webblog. She came to find many issues, with the inclusion of how it is like to have an incredible helping mood to have many people smoothly fully understand certain grueling subject areas. You actually exceeded our own expected results. Thank you for rendering those practical, trustworthy, edifying and as well as fun thoughts on this topic to Janet.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

THE STAND