Rugby: Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship

There were two games in the Lloyd's TSB Six Nations Championship today. There were victories for England and Wales that leave the English only a game away from the Grand Slam and their next opponents firmly fixed to the bottom of the table. Italy kicked-off against England at 2.00pm in Rome and provided quite a shock to the visitors by scoring an early try for the lead. England eventually totally took over however and ran in numerous tries to win out 59-12. In the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales defeated Scotland 26-18 in a disappointing game that only stood out for two well taken Welsh tries. Meanwhile, Keiron Dawson has been passed fit to take his place in the Ireland team to take on France in Paris tomorrow. That game kicks-off at 2.00pm.

Wales coach Graham Henry reflected on the events of the last seven days yesterday. With just 24 hours to go to the crucial Lloyds TSB Six Nations international with Scotland at the Millennium Stadium, Henry briefly managed to talk about rugby. He was keen to stress his respect for the visitors and his hopes for the new players in his starting line-up, but the scandals which have engulfed the Welsh camp this week were never far away. Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson will not be part of the official party but welcome guests at the ground today, even though the row rumbles on over their Welsh ancestors.

Scotland chose the eve of their Six Nations clash with Wales in Cardiff today to ensure they are not hit by the same hammer blow suffered by their opponents. After recent claims that established internationals Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson were not qualified to play for Wales, the Scottish Rugby Union have today provided documentary evidence that their own `foreign' players are genuine.

"The Scottish Rugby Union has today sent documentation to the chief executive of the International Rugby Board and the Six Nations championship to verify the current crop of Scotland players who have arrived in recent years from overseas," said the SRU in a statement. These players include John Leslie, Martin Leslie, Glenn Metcalfe and Cameron Mather all of whom are in the Scotland squad for the match against Wales, as well as others such as Robert Russell, Gordon Simpson and Matthew Proudfoot. In each instance birth certificates were obtained before the players were involved in the Scotland set-up.

But Scotland coach Ian McGeechan has laughed off suggestions that his side will start as favourites in what has been dubbed "The clash of the crisis countries" with Wales in Cardiff. After three successive defeats, the visitors are hardly in the best of moods. But Wales are also without a quartet of British Lions through a combination of injury and coach Graham Henry's brutal selection policy. A repeat of Scotland's 16-14 triumph on their last visit to Cardiff four years ago could see Henry's tenure be placed under a considerable shadow. McGeechan is not convinced that is enough to merit a crisis.

"I do not see them having any problems," he said. "I have never had the experience of Wales being underdogs for an international in Cardiff before and that is not the case now."