2018 Six Nations: Ireland secure the Grand Slam

England 15 Ireland 24

Ireland won their third ever Six Nations Grand Slam after completing the 2018 clean sweep with a 24-15 victory against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

First-half tries from Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale gave Ireland a St Patrick’s Day to remember. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt praised his side as they sealed an 11th win in a row and second place in the world rankings behind New Zealand.

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Schmidt told the BBC: “I thought our boys showed they can deliver in the big moments on a number of occasions. They worked incredibly hard and merited the win. We showed a little bit of class where we opened them up and at the other end of the pitch it was pure courage.”

Wales 14 France 13

The narrow victory against France meant that Wales finished second in the Six Nations table. Liam Williams’ try and three Leigh Halfpenny penalties was enough to keep Wales ahead of Scotland in the standings.

Wales coach Warren Gatland said: “It is a tough competition to win or finish second, so we are pleased with where we are. The great thing about this tournament is how close it is and how tough it is to win. That is a huge positive for the Six Nations. We need to talk it up because it’s been a competitive year with some good rugby.

“Congratulations to Ireland, they deserved the Grand Slam and have done brilliantly. They are setting the standard at the moment, something for us all to chase.”

Italy 27 Scotland 29

It took a late Greig Laidlaw penalty to give Scotland victory in Rome and deny Italy a first Six Nations win since 2015.

Tommaso Allan scored 22 points for Italy, including two tries, but it was not enough to stop Scotland, who earned a bonus point thanks to scores from Fraser Brown, John Barclay, Sean Maitland and Stuart Hogg.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said: “We didn’t play our best, but we certainly upped our game and got the win. That’s going to put us in good stead, winning away from home, winning when we’re behind, when we come up against the challenges over the next 12-18 months that we’ll face.”

2018 Six Nations results

Round one results

• Wales 34 Scotland 7
• France 13 Ireland 15
• Italy 15 England 46

Round two results

• Ireland 56 Italy 19
• England 12 Wales 6
• Scotland 32 France 26

Round three results

• France 34 Italy 17
• Ireland 37 Wales 27
• Scotland 23 England 13

Round four

• Ireland 28 Scotland 8
• France 22 England 16
• Wales 38 Italy 14

Round five fixtures

• Italy 27 Scotland 29
• England 15 Ireland 24
• Wales 14 France 13