Wales lead 6N U20

After beating France's, Wales are the only unbeaten side with twice-beaten England and winless Italy to play. They have all to play for and in fact are masters of their own destiny with a Grand Slam beckoning. With two wins each, Scotland and France clearly have a chance to get in but then they would require help from England and Italy.

Results, Round 3

Wales vs France, 16-10

Ireland vs England, 26-20

Scotland vs Italy, 24-14

Results Round 1

Scotland vs England, 24-6

Wales vs Ireland, 35-24

France vs Italy, 40-3

Results Round 2

Wales vs Scotland, 18-15

France vs Ireland, 34-13

England vs Italy, 42-7

England vs Ireland at Kingston Park in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Ireland won 26-20

This was England's second defeat in three matches this season. They are usually better than that. It was for Ireland, the titleholders, the first win of the Six nations which they entered with high hopes. Still beating England in England is a happy experience for the Irish, especially the manner of it.

England looked to be cruising towards victory at half time, leading 17-6 and 20-6 soon after the break. They did not score again in the second half while Ireland rattled up three tries and 20 points.

England opened the score with a try when a penalty became a line-out which became a maul which produced a try credited to flank Sam Smith.

Jack Power came back from injury to fullback but after just eight minutes he was off again. Hugo Keenan moved to fullback and Matthew Byrne came off the bench and onto the wing, the positions that had had against France. Ireland also lost centre Jimmy O'Brien to injury in the first half.

England's second try was outstanding. Flyhalf Mathew Protheroe dummied and broke on the half-way line. Some 30 metres later he passed to right wing George Perkins who raced over under the posts.

Protheroe converted again and added a penalty and then a dropped goal early in the second half to make it 20-6.

But there was fight in the Irish.

First the shunted a maul at the English and captain James Ryan broke off to score a try. Another attacking maul to the Irish and another try as Conor O'Brien broke and sent Byrne over for a try. Suddenly the score was 20-18 with 26 minutes to play. Connon released Byrne to finish superbly in the right corner past two despairing defenders.

England came back on the attack and only a TMO decision ruled out a 'try" by Callum Chick, the captain playing on his home ground.

Ireland came back on the attack and a one-handed pass by Ryan saw prop  Andrew's Porter  crash over in the corner. 23-20  with Ireland in the lead.

With six minutes to play the referee sent off (red card) substitute Stan South. A penalty by Brett Connon ended the scoring and famous Irish victory.

Scorers:

For England:

Tries: Sam Smith, George Perkins

Cons: Mathew Protheroe 2

Pen: Mathew Protheroe

Drop: Mathew Protheroe

For Ireland:

Tries: James Ryan, Matthew Byrne, Andrew Porter

Con: Johnny McPhillips

Pens: Johnny McPhillips 2, Brett Connon

Teams

England: 15 Max Malins, 14 George Perkins, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Charlie Thacker, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Mathew Protheroe, 9 Max Green, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Sam Smith, 6 Archie White, 5 George Nott, 4 Huw Taylor, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Tom West

Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Jake Pope, 18 Billy Keast, 19 Stan South, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Jamie Shillcock, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Paolo Odogwu

Ireland: 15 Jack Power, 14 Hugo Keenan, 13 Shane Daly, 12 Jimmy O'Brien, 11 Conor O'Brien, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Stephen Kerins, 8 Greg Jones, 7 Will Connors, 6 Cillian Gallagher, 5 James Ryan (captain), 4 Peter Claffey, 3 Conan O'Donnell, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Andrew Porter

Replacements: 16 Shane Fenton, 17 James Bollard, 18 Ben Betts, 19 Sean O'Connor, 20 Kelvin Brown, 21 John Poland, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Matthew Byrne

Referee: Tual Trainini (France)

Assistant Referees: Arnaud Blondel (France), Christophe Malterre (France)

Television match official: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Timekeeper: David Hudson (England)

Assessor: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

Italy vs Scotland at Stadio Plebiscito in Padua. Scotland won 24-14.

The Italian forwards stood up well but errors cost them dearly as the Scots, who had beaten England, scored three tries to two.

Italy scored a try in the first couple of minutes but gradually the Scots wore them down and led 17-7 at half-time. A penalty try early in the second half brought them close at 17-14 but substitute left wing scored and Fraser converted. There was no further scoring in the remaining quarter of the match.

Two of the Scots were yellowcarded – Hutchinson who did so much scoring and then Sheldon.

Scorers:

For Italy:

Tries: Luca Sperandio, penalty try

Cons: Leonardo Mantelli

For Scotland:

Tries: Rory Hutchinson, Murray McCallum, Chris Lines

Con: Rory Hutchinson, Hugh Fraser

Pen: Rory Hutchinson

Teams

Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Roberto Dal Zilio, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Leonardo Mantelli, 9 Vincenzo Trussardi, 8 Gabriele Venditti, 7 Davide Ciotoli, 6 Davide Fragnito (captain), 5 Samuele Ortis, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Daniele Rimpelli

Replacements: 16 Nicolò Broglia, 17 Damiano Borean, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Giordano Baldino, 20 Michael De Marco, 21 Matteo Panunzi, 22 Peter Boris Mokom/Mihai Ciju, 23 Antonio Rizzi

Scotland: 15 Ruairi Howarth, 14 Ben Robbins, 13 George Taylor, 12 Tom Galbraith, 11 Darcy Graham,  10 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), 9 Hugh Fraser, 8  Ally Miller, 7 Matt Smith, 6 Scott Burnside, 5 Scott Cummings (captain), 4 Andrew Davidson), 3 Callum Sheldon, 2 Lewis Anderson, 1 Murray McCallum

Replacements: 16  Renwick, 17 George Thornton, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Stephen Ainslie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Chris Lines, 23 Robbie Nairn

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant Referees: Stéphane Boyer (France), Laurent Breil (France)

Television match official: Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)

Wales vs France at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay. Wales won 16-10

This was almost a final. Both sides were unbeaten, which means that victory for Wales has given them a real chance of winning the title for the first time since it started in 2008.

France dominated the early stages but it was Billy McBryde's boot that gave his side a 6-0 lead at half-time. McBryde scored where Anthony Belleau missed. early in the second half centre Alex Arrate scored a try which Belleau converted to put France 7-6 ahead.

A second yellow card for wing Gabriel N'Gandebe added up to a red card and left France with 14 men for the last 24 minutes of the match. At that stage France were leading 7-6, by flyhalf Billy McBryde's third penalty got the home side ahead. This did not last long as flyhalf Anthony Belleau regained the lead for France with a penalty, but then came the decisive score.

With 10 minutes to play McBryde started running near his own posts, Keelan Giles sped out of the 22 and down the left wing. He gave to Harrison Keddie who was tackled some 30 metres from the French line but prop Leon Brown was up to pass to right win George Gasson who raced over for a try, which McBryde converted. It was a try worthy of victory.

Scorers:

For Wales:

Try: George Gasson

Con: Billy McBryde

Pens: Billy McBryde 3

For France:

Try: Alex Arrate

Con: Anthony Belleau

Pen: Anthony Belleau

Teams

Wales: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 George Gasson, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Harri Millard, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Billy McBryde, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Shaun Evans, 6 Tom Phillips (captain), 5 Bryce Morgan, 4 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dafydd Hughes, 1 Corey Domachowski

Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Bryce Morgan, 20 Morgan Sieniawski, 21 Declan Smith, 22 Kieran Williams, 23 Joe Gage

France: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Eliott Roudil, 13 Atila Septar, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Gabriel N'Gandebe, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Judicaël Cancoriet, 6 Baptiste Pesenti, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Florian Verhaegue, 3 Michaël Simutoga, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Clément Castets (captain)

Replacements : 16 Elyes El Ansari, 17 Pierre Bourgarit, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Théo Hannoyer, 20 Matthieu Voisin, 21, Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Damien Penaud, 23 Alexandre Pilati

Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)

Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)