Danielli and White had been injury doubts, but will now face Ireland at Murrayfield.

“This is justified reward for the positive effort from all who were involved in Paris.

“We said before the France game that a brave loss was not acceptable and the players haven’t accepted it – there was a lot of emotion in the changing room after the match.

“Those feelings are combined with the fact that we can mix it with the best teams in the world. But, at the end of the day, we didn’t get the points.

“Whether you win, lose or draw, by Monday night the players have put the game behind them and they are fully focused on the next task. That task is Ireland here at Murrayfield on Saturday.”

The Scotland coach was critical of touch-judge Simon McDowell and referee Nigel Williams for decisions made in the Stade de France. But the Australian maintains he has no concerns about French official Joel Jutge, who will take charge for the visit of the Irish.

A laughing Williams stressed: “I support all officials – as always.”

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His replacement will be named after training on Friday morning.

Gordon D’Arcy is also struggling with a hamstring injury and will take a fitness test on Friday.

Replacements?

Kevin Maggs is the most obvious replacement at centre, and Shane Horgan could also be moved from wing. Wing Tommy Bowe (Ulster) could also be asked to travel with the squad to Scotland as a precautionary measure.

The only other change to the Ireland side sees Wasps flanker Johnny O’Connor replacing Denis Leamy. O’Connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over South Africa last November.

Ireland:
Murphy, Horgan, TBC, D’Arcy, Hickie, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Connell, S Easterby, O’Connor, Foley. Replacements: Sheahan, Horan, O’Callaghan, Miller, G Easterby, Humphreys, Dempsey.

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Italy led 9-8 early in the second half but Stringer’s try gave Ireland a lead they never lost The hosts cut the gap to 18-12 with 10 minutes left and nearly scored through Ludovico Nitoglia, but Denis Hickie’s try ensured an Irish victory.

Italy cam out with a flying start and quickly took a penalty lead after seven minutes through Luciano Orquera. The Italians were pounding the Irish defence and, for the first quarter, the Irish pack struggled to secure any ball for their backs.

Just before the half-hour mark, O’Driscoll created a sparkling try for Murphy. The Ireland captain ran a dummy scissors and made a magical outside break before drawing the full-back and putting the diving Murphy in at the corner. O’Gara missed the twice-taken conversion and the visitors found themselves trailing once again.

Roland de Marigny took over the kicking duties for Italy from the hapless Orquera, and landed a penalty either side of the break to put Italy into a 9-8 lead.

The only Ireland player offering a real threat was O’Driscoll, and it was his break that set up the second try for the visitors. Shane Horgan threw an overhead pass as he was about to be forced into touch and Stringer scooted over, with O’Gara landing the tricky conversion.

A penalty apiece saw Ireland leading 18-12 as the game entered the final quarter, but they were lucky to survive when Italy launched a series of attacks. Winger Nitoglia dropped the ball as he reached for the line and Italy nearly rumbled over from a driving maul.

An O’Gara penalty put Ireland more than a converted try ahead and they made the game safe when Hickie latched onto an inside pass from Murphy and crossed for a converted try.

O’Driscoll limped off late on, joining centre partner Gordon D’Arcy on the sidelines, and the final word went to Italy.

Prop Martin Castrogiovanni powered over for a try which was fitting reward for an Italian pack which had kept the Irish under pressure throughout.

Italy:
De Marigny; Mi Bergamasco, Canale, Masi, Nitoglia; Orquera, Troncon; Lo Cicero, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni; Dellape, Bortolami; Persico, Ma Bergamasco, Parisse.
Replacements: Perugini, Intoppa, Del Fava, Dal Maso, Griffen, Pozzebon, Robertson.

Ireland:
Murphy, Horgan, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Hickie, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Connell, S Easterby, Leamy, Foley.
Replacements: Sheahan, Horan, O’Callaghan, Miller, G Easterby, Humphreys, Dempsey.

Referee: P O’Brien (New Zealand)

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The Six Natons ‘A’ series was discontinued last season when Scotland and Wales pulled out due to financial constraints.

Their first game will be against France A at Donnybrook on 11th March.

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Playing into a strong wind and rain, Ireland came second best in tight situations. O’Gara’s boot kept them in touch rather than any running plays.

Ireland showed great composure to get themselves into a position to allow O’Gara to thump over a massive drop goal to complete a tremendous, if fortuitous, comeback.

Ireland: G Dempsey; G Murphy, B O’Driscoll (capt), S Horgan, D Hickie; R O’Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes, M O’Kelly, P O’Connell, S Easterby, J O’Connor, A Foley.
Replacements: F Sheahan, M Horan or E Byrne, D O’Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, K Maggs.

Argentina: JM Hernández; L Borges, FM Aramburu, M Contepomi, H Senillosa; F Contepomi, A Pichot (capt); R Roncero, M Ledesma, O Hasan, R Alvarez, P Albacete, M Durand, L Ostiglia, G Longo.
Replacements: F Mendez, E Guiñazu, P Bouza, A Petrilli, NF Miranda, JF Miranda, GP Tiesi.

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England).

Ireland: (6) 21
Pen: O’Gara 5
Dg: O’Gara 2

Argentina: (16) 19
Try: Aramburu
Con: Contepomi
Pens: Contepomi 4

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Both sides struggled in the very windy conditions but Ireland’s superior class saw them home.

They ran in three tries through Malcolm O’Kelly, Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan, while Italy’s only points came from a Roland de Marigny penalty.

Ireland could still win the title, but they have a much worse points difference than England or France.

O’Driscoll’s try was his 24th for Ireland and saw him reclaim the Irish try-scoring record from Denis Hickie.

The match started in unusual fashion as Italy deliberately failed to send the kick-off the required 10 yards.

That gave Ireland, who had the wind at their backs in the first half, the put-in at the scrum, and when Italy collapsed O’Gara tried his luck with a penalty from halfway.

The ball drifted wide in the blustery conditions and it set the tone for a frustrating 20 minutes for the Irish.

They dominated territory and possession but could not get any points on the board as a combination of gritty Italian defence and Irish mistakes kept them at bay.

But just as Ireland began to grow frustrated Italy handed them the first score.

Replacement hooker Carlo Festuccia took a low throw-in at a line-out when his fellow forwards were not expecting it.

Unfortunately for Italy O’Kelly was and he pounced to open the Irish account after 26 minutes.

Seven minutes later O’Driscoll edged Ireland further ahead with his 24th try for Ireland.

When he received the ball there looked to be little on but the Irish captain cut back to the blind side and dummied his way over for a fine score.

O’Gara kicked an excellent conversion to make it 12-0 but before half-time the fly-half missed a very kickable penalty.

However, O’Gara redeemed himself 10 minutes into the second half, firing a flat pass across the Italy defence to send Horgan over by the posts. O’Gara’s conversion made it 19-0.

Italy spurned a glorious chance to hit back after 56 minutes when Denis Dallan dropped a pass a couple of yards from the tryline.

But with the wind at their backs Italy were looking more threatening and their hopes were boosted when O’Driscoll was sin-binned for a high tackle.

They finally got on the scoreboard after 67 minutes when Roland De Marigny slotted a penalty but that was that for the visitors.

They pounded away but could not break the Irish line, and it was the hosts who looked more incisive when they had the ball.

They launched a couple of long-range attacks but the strong wind meant they rarely got close enough to the Italian line to add to their tally.

Teams

Ireland
Dempsey, Horgan, D’Arcy, O’Driscoll (capt), Murphy, O’Gara, Stringer; Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Callaghan, Easterby, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements
Sheahan, Horan, Longwell, Costello, Humphreys, Easterby, Maggs.

Italy

Canale, Mazzucato, Stoica, Barbini, D Dallan; de Marigny, Griffen; Lo Cicero, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Checchinato, Bortolami, de Rossi (capt), Persico, Palmer.

Replacements
Festuccia, Perugini, Dellape, Mandelli, Picone, Masi, Mi Bergamasco.

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The home side scored the only try of the first half through Matt Dawson but four penalties from Ronan O’Gara gave Ireland a 12-10 lead at the break.

Full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed in the corner to put Ireland further in front although Paul Grayson kept England in the match with a 66th-minute penalty.

England pressurised late on but could not come back despite a frantic finish.

The tension of the occasion was felt by both sides as they walked out at Twickenham, and the opening exchanges were nervy and scrappy.

England, playing their first competitive game at home since winning the World Cup, were under pressure at the set pieces from the off and were therefore unable to get their backs in play.

The line-out was the biggest problem and it allowed the visitors to dominate much of the opening period.

reland should have taken the lead after just five minutes but fly-half Ronan O’Gara missed a simple penalty from in front of the posts although he made up for his error with four penalties before the break.

England, whose attacking force was blunted by Ireland’s forwards, got on the scoreboard after superb work at an Ireland scrum.

Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer was hassled and with the ball loose, the impressive Paul Grayson fed to Matt Dawson, who touched down under the posts.

After what was probably a dressing down from coach Sir Clive Woodward at the break, England came out firing in the second half and Ben Cohen went over only for the video referee to rule out the try for a double movement.

The let-off seemed to inspire Ireland and Brian O’Driscoll made a superb break, the ball was spread wide and Leinster full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed over in the corner.

Although England’s line-out remained poor, they never gave up and substitute Mark Regan thought he crossed but he was pushed out of bounds before he could ground the ball.

Grayson added a penalty to make the score 19-13 and despite some late pressure, England could not break down the stubborn Irish.

Teams

England
Balshaw (Bath), Lewsey (Wasps), Robinson (Sale), Greenwood (Harlequins), Cohen (Northampton), Grayson (Northampton), Dawson (Northampton); Woodman (Gloucester), Steve Thompson (Northampton), Vickery (Gloucester), Borthwick (Bath ), Kay (Leicester), Worsley (Wasps), Hill (Saracens), Dallaglio (Wasps, capt).
Replacements

Regan (Leeds Tykes), Stevens (Bath), Jones (Sale), Back (Leicester), Gomarsall (Gloucester), Barkley (Bath), Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester).

Ireland
Dempsey (Leinster), Horgan (Leinster), D’Arcy (Leinster), O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Howe (Ulster), O’Gara (Munster), Stringer (Munster); Corrigan (Leinster), Byrne (Leinster), Hayes (Munster), O’Kelly (Leinster), O’Connell (Munster), Easterby (Llanelli), Gleeson (Leinster), Foley (Munster).

Replacements
Sheahan (Munster), Best (Ulster), Longwell (Ulster), Costello (Leinster), Humphreys (Ulster), Easterby (Rotherham), Maggs (Bath).

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In the Red Corner.
England: World Champions and Grand Slam holders, unbeaten and unbeatable in twenty two games; unbeaten by Ireland at Twickenham since ’94; favourites to win this season’s RBS Six Nations championship; supplier of the coach to the 2005 B&I Lions; and favourites to supply the bulk of the 2005 B&I Lions;

and in the Green Corner
Ireland, Grand Slam runners-up (and by a long way); World Cup also rans; unbeaten since the last game v Wales 9 a fortnight ago); and 8/1 with the bookmakers to beat Sir Clive’s Knights in White Satin.

“We were aware they had a great record here but we felt it had to go at some stage so why not let it be ourselves. Belief was the big thing this week.” was how Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll explained how his side punctured the wheels of the sweet chariot, to bring about perhaps the biggest upset in the history of this tournament.

Remember that those who know, scheduled this year’s competition so that the final game would see England take on France in the very last game.

That game was never meant to be the Grand Slam decider.- Not at all.

Well it certainly won’t be now, because the Irish turned the form book, the bookmaker book and any other book you care to read, totally on it’s head and produced a performance that, had the Aussies done it back in November 03, they’d be world champs.

The story of Twickenham March 2004 is simply told. Ireland came with, as O’Driscoll said, belief. Belief in their own ability and belief that England were vulnerable.

And after an iffy start when he missed a tap-over penalty, Ronan O’Gara ran the show.

He was aided and abetted by Peter Stringer who did so much so well but will be remembered particularly for that finger-tap tackle on Jason Robinson in the first half.

The half-backs in turn were aided by a superb pack, who to a man, worked their socks off. Unfair though it is to the rest, to single out individuals, Paul O’Connell and Malcolm O’Kelly destroyed the English line-out, Simon Easterby knocked the socks off anything that came in his vision, Shane Byrne’s darts were pure 180.

Out wide, the captain wasn’t his mecurial self but his presence is enough. Beside him, Darce !! – a Lions place beckons.

And the much maligned Girvan Dempsey? How Woodward would have loved to have the Terenure man in his last line of defence.

And least anyone be under any illusion. There was no element of luck about this victory. Yes, England had their chances a la Ben Cohen and Trevor Woodman but on the day they weren’t good enough against an Irish side who had – belief.

Credit for that to the squad and the lads who prepared them, Eddie O’Sullivan, Declan Kidney, Niall O’Donovan and defence coach, Mike Ford.

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The anticipated close contest never materialised as the Irish blitzed the visitors by six tries to two.

Shane Byrne and Brian O’Driscoll both grabbed a brace, with further scores from Ronan O’Gara and Anthony Foley, O’Gara adding six points with the boot.

Replacement Tom Shanklin grabbed two late tries but it was scant consolation for an outclassed Welsh side.

With the wind at their backs, Ireland scored four tries before half time, a combination of their attacking spark and the visitors’ defensive frailty.

Wales, buoyant after an opening win over Scotland, were deflated within 58 seconds of the kick-off after some woeful defending at an Irish line-out.

The home pack set up a driving maul from a clean catch and Byrne darted through a glaring hole with not so much as a hand laid on him.

O’Gara converted but Wales responded with a Jones penalty after five minutes to restore their composure.

The visitors were applying pressure to the Irish scrummage, but the home side continued to threaten in attack, Gareth Thomas doing superbly to reach a chip ahead of O’Driscoll.

The Ireland hero could not be denied moments later though when he burst onto a short pass and surged through three Welsh tackles to force his way over.

O’Gara’s conversion made it 14-3, but the stand-off was off target with a penalty attempt shortly afterwards.

A third Irish try might have followed in the 23rd minute after a scything break from Gordon D’Arcy, preferred in the centre to Kevin Maggs.

Wales were grateful for a despairing ankle tap from Martyn Williams on Tyrone Howe on that occasion, but their defensive flaws were again exposed on the half-hour.

Iestyn Harris dallied with a clearing kick, O’Gara charged it down and ran on to score with ease.

Wales should have scored before the interval when number eight Dafydd Jones dithered with three men on his outside, and were promptly made to rue their profligacy.

Another simple catch and drive allowed Byrne to brush off Gareth Cooper’s weak tackle for his second, giving Ireland a commanding 24-3 half-time lead.

The carnage continued on the resumption, number eight Anthony Foley taking Peter Stringer’s inside pass to barge over, following another O’Driscoll break.

The Lions centre then equalled Denis Hickie’s Irish record with his 23rd Test try after a counter attack from Girvan Dempsey.

D’Arcy confirmed his potential with a mesmeric break before limping off with a pulled muscle.

Wales finally put together a flowing attack after an hour, yielding a try for Shanklin in the left corner.

The replacement grabbed a second score late on, converted by Jones, but Ireland were full value for a fifth successive win against Wales.

Teams

Ireland
G Dempsey (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), G D’Arcy (Leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), T Howe (Ulster); R O’Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); R Corrigan (Leinster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), K Gleeson (Leinster), A Foley (Munster).
Replacements
F Sheahan (Munster), S Best (Ulster), M O’Kelly (Leinster), V Costello (Leinster), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Easterby (Rotherham), K Maggs (Bath).

Wales

G Thomas (Warriors); R Williams (Blues), S Parker (Warriors), I Harris (Blues), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), G Cooper (Warriors); I Thomas (Scarlets), R McBryde (Scarlets), A Jones (Ospreys), B Cockbain (Warriors), R Sidoli (Warriors), J Thomas (Ospreys), M Williams (Blues, capt), D Jones (Scarlets).

Replacements
M Davies (Warriors), G Jenkins (Warriors), M Owen (Dragons), A Popham (Leeds Tykes), D Peel (Scarlets), C Sweeney (Warriors), T Shanklin (Blues).

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The Irish were only 11-10 down five minutes into the second half but France then produced a devastating 14-point burst to stretch clear.

Vincent Clerc, Pascal Pape, Yannick Jauzion and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde scored the hosts’ tries, with Frederic Michalak kicking 15 points.

Ireland’s tries came from Anthony Foley and Tyrone Howe, with Ronan O’Gara kicking their other points.

When the two sides met in the World Cup France destroyed Ireland’s hopes within the first 20 minutes and the visitors came out determined not to let the same happen again.

The fired-up Irish dominated territory for the opening quarter, but all they had to show for their efforts was a fifth-minute O’Gara penalty as they produced a series of threatening attacks but could not break the French defence.

France finally got on the board after 20 minutes when Michalak succeeded with his second penalty attempt and five minutes later Les Bleus scored the first try of the game.

Damien Traille splintered the Irish midfield with a slashing break and Toulouse flyer Clerc crossed in the corner.

Michalak, whose kicking game fell apart against England in the World Cup semi-final, made a total mess of the conversion, but he added a penalty after half an hour to give France an 11-3 lead at the break.

To their credit Ireland hit back four minutes into the second half as Foley profited from good work by O’Gara to rumble over for a converted try but the score only succeeded in sparking France into life.

They stretched away again as the debutant second row Pape scored under the posts after a searing Nicolas Brusque counter-attack and within minutes they had their third try as Jauzion sauntered over.

With Michalak converting both tries and adding a penalty France were home and dry at 28-10 with 20 minutes to play.

It looked ominous for the Irish but they once again lifted their game and scored their second try when Howe wriggled over, with O’Gara converting.

But the final word went to France as Michalak converted Elissalde’s try after the French had produced a trademark counter-attack.

Teams

France
N Brusque (Biarritz); V Clerc (Toulouse), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), D Traille (Pau), C Dominici (Stade Francais); F Michalak (Toulouse), J Elissalde (Toulouse); S Marconnet (Stade Francais), W Servat (Toulouse), P De Villiers (Stade Francais), F Pelous (Toulouse, capt), P Pape (Bourgoin), S Betsen (Biarritz), O Magne (Montferrand), I Harinordoquy (Pau).
Replacements
Y Bru (Toulouse), J Crenca (Agen), D Auradou (Stade Francais), T Lievremont (Biarritz), D Yachvili (Biarritz), B Liebenberg (Stade Francais), P Elhorga (Agen).

Ireland
G Dempsey (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster); K Maggs (Bath); G D’Arcy (Leinster), T Howe (Ulster); R O’Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); R Corrigan (Leinster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), M O’Kelly (Leinster), P O’Connell (Leinster) capt, S Easterby (Llanelli), K Gleeson (Leinster), A Foley (Munster).
Replacements
F Sheahan (Munster), S Best (Ulster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), V Costello (Leinster), G Easterby (Rotherham), D Humphreys (Ulster), A Horgan (Munster).

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