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    Six Nations Army

    Fitzgerald scores in the corner -- but the try is disallowed because of a blatantly forward pass by "Drico".

    Ryan Jones appeared to be trying to go in two-footed on Fitzgerald's shins as he touched the ball down.

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      Six Nations Army

      Stephen Jones opens the scoring with a penalty from the right wing after Denis Leamy did something wrong at a ruck.

      Earlier, Lee Byrne went off injured -- huge blow for Wales.

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        Six Nations Army

        Another Jones penalty, a monumental one from the halfway line, makes it 6-0 just before half-time.

        Ireland have looked very unimaginative going forward -- hard to think of any decent attacks they mounted apart from the Fitzgerald disallowed try and one run by Darcy in the opening minutes -- and gave away a succession of penalties near the end of the half. They're bludgeoning their way along but Wales aren't giving them the room that Scotland and England did.

        George Hook has just said that things are going exactly to plan. Brent Pope replied: "Well, why are they 6-0 down then?"

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          Six Nations Army

          O'Driscoll squirms the ball over the line after about six rucks in quick succession. Bollocks.

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            Six Nations Army

            Now they've got another one. Thanks, Wales, you dozy bastards.

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              Six Nations Army

              Wales by 12 would be perfect.
              So Wales don't win the title by a single point but Ireland don't get the slam.

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                Six Nations Army

                Jones makes it 9-14 with another great penalty from miles out on the wing, in off the post.

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                  Six Nations Army

                  Jones The Boot strikes again with his fourth penalty, after indiscipline by Heaslip during a ruck.

                  12-14.

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                    Six Nations Army

                    God, this is going to get nervy now. Ireland would dearly love to just play out the rest of this game in the Welsh half, but I think they're making too many mistakes to be able to do that. The nerves out there must be immense, it's hard enough watching it and I'm English. Which Irishman would want to be the one that makes an error that costs the Grand Slam?

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                      Six Nations Army

                      I'd happily do it.

                      I'd go on a long holiday to South America immediately afterwards though.

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                        Six Nations Army

                        After five solid minutes of unrelenting pressure and three or four close shaves, Wales work the ball back to Stephen Jones and he drops a goal from about 25 yards. 15-14.

                        Even putting my own bias to one side, Wales deserve to win this, they have definitely been the better team on the day.

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                          Six Nations Army

                          O'Gara you fucking horse-faced wanker.

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                            Six Nations Army

                            Blimey that was a finish and a half, wasn't it? I wonder how many pints of guinness have just been flung in the air in pubs in Limerick watching that last kick?

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                              Six Nations Army

                              Well played and well deserved today, Ireland.

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                                Six Nations Army

                                Ha ha ha, the BBC say they'll have to cut short coverage of Ireland picking up their trophies, to go to "Total Wipeout".

                                Wonder if they'd have done that if England had won it?

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                                  Six Nations Army

                                  I'm forgetting my manners, warm congratulation to OTF's entire Irish contingent who must be brimming over with emotion.

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                                    Six Nations Army

                                    It was relief at the end, but it was the mentality that got Ireland through. This was always going to be a tough game and Wales did not lie down, which makes the victory and the outcome all the more deserved.

                                    To me, taking on France first got the monkey of Ireland's back, and the win gave them the belief that they needed so early in Kidney's first 6 Nations. This was needed in what was a pretty close tournament.

                                    Got my Paddy's day hat on as I type this, looking suitably silly as you can imagine.

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                                      Six Nations Army

                                      It's good for the 6 Nations that Ireland, whose provincial sides have almost begun to become dominant in European Club Rugby, have finally laid the ghost of not winning the championship.

                                      4 of the 6 Nations have now won a Grand Slam in the last 7 seasons, a pretty incredible spread of success that can only help to keep the momentum of the Championship as a spectacle going forward. It would be nice to think that Scotland can find another decent side again soon (and who knows, Wales went from wooden spoon in 2003 to Grand Slam just two years later). Italy have struggled this year though, if they can't start challenging soon, people may start questioning their place in this Championship, as at the moment their main role seems to be as brokers of points difference between the other 5.

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                                        Six Nations Army

                                        Bravo Ireland, bravo O'Driscoll, a fucking legend. Bravo O'Connell, a lock in the proper style. Bravo even Turnstiles O'Gara.

                                        Seemed a bit cruel having lovely old Jack Kyle there - at 83, I thought he might keel over with a heart attack when Paddy Wallace gave that penalty away in the last minute! Talk about monkey off your back. I thought Keith Wood was going to explode with delight at one point.

                                        I AM DE WET BARRY, YES I AM!

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                                          Six Nations Army

                                          4 of the 6 Nations have now won a Grand Slam in the last 7 seasons, a pretty incredible spread of success that can only help to keep the momentum of the Championship as a spectacle going forward.

                                          It's surely more a comment on the visibly mediocre nature of the tournament these days. There were three decent matches out of 15 in the entire competition -- the fixtures between Ireland, Wales and France.

                                          None of these sides are in the same league as South Africa or New Zealand, and you wouldn't bet on most of them against Australia either. France did manage to beat New Zealand two years ago but, given the two teams' respective results since then and Marc Lievremont's ongoing mission to turn the French team into a challenge XV, we can safely write that one off as a singular bad day at the office for NZ.

                                          Ireland work very hard and play the percentages efficiently (skimming over all the howlers they made today, of course), but they're hardly what you'd call a brilliant team -- in five matches, they did not give one opponent a genuine rugby lesson. Even in the win over the feeble Italians, they struggled desperately for some fluency.

                                          The Six Nations desperately needs France to start taking it seriously again. With a bit of luck, they'll get blasted to bits by the southern hemisphere teams in the autumn internationals, Lievremont will be sacked, and a new manager will come in and pick the strongest team available to him rather than treating the 6N like some kind of international Magners League.

                                          Now for a few weeks of diligently avoiding the Irish papers, radio stations and RTE TV -- and if any of this "Our rugby legends are singlehandedly restraining the country from collective suicide" drivel happens to cross my path in work, it will get passed on to somebody else very quickly. I'd rather proofread the technology pages and commercial property listings than read about how O'Driscoll and O'Gara are the sole redemption of our nation as we plummet further into the void of doom.

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                                            Six Nations Army

                                            You didn't really want Ireland to win today, did you, vennegoor? It seems pretty curmudgeonly to point out that winning the Grand Slam for the first time in 60 years doesn't mean much because South Africa or New Zealand don't play in it. They didn't play in it in the 1970s, either, when they would have similarly have wiped the floor with Wales, but you won't find any lads from the valleys with tattooes of JPR on their backs bemoaning the fact that their boys wouldn't have beaten the All Blacks.

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                                              Six Nations Army

                                              Harri Saer wrote:
                                              I'm forgetting my manners, warm congratulation to OTF's entire Irish contingent who must be brimming over with emotion
                                              Iechyd da Harri, and thank you for your grace in defeat. It was was truly a great day for our two proud nations.

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                                                Six Nations Army

                                                Well done Ireland, indeed. I'm not sure it felt like a Six Nations where anyone deserved a Grand Slam, but you can only beat the teams you play each week.

                                                For my sins, I was in an O'Neils pub in Cardiff. All hell broke loose when Jones made his drop-kick to put Wales ahead with a few minutes to go. Punches thrown, beer everywhere, people thrown out. I was caught right in the middle of it on the way back from the toilets. Very strange, but tensions were obviously running high.

                                                Fourth seems a bit harsh for Wales, but it's been a frustrating tournament. I wonder what Henson was thinking as Jones missed that last penalty.

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                                                  Six Nations Army

                                                  "Even my team-mates think I'm a reverse WAG"?

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                                                    Six Nations Army

                                                    btw,
                                                    Punches thrown, beer everywhere, people thrown out
                                                    ?

                                                    Watching Rugby Union ? Surely not, Rugby doesn't attract "hooligan behaviour fans", etc etc ... (chortle)

                                                    I'm heartily sick of the "Rugby fans are all jolly nice blokes, not like that football rabble" cobblers, that gets trotted out ad nauseum by people who've never been near a pub in Wigan when St Helens are in town ...

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