Last weekend, Beijing time, the 2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship ended the third round of competition. Scotland beat England 30-21 at Edinburgh's Murray Field Stadium to win the Calcutta Cup[1] for the first time since 1879 thanks to a hat-trick from winger Dohan van der Merwe. Paolo Garbisi's late kick to the post sent the Italians out of the way to France for the first time in 30 years, 13-13.
1] Kolkata is a city in India that began in 1879 as a match between England and Scotland in Kolkata, and has since become an annual competition between the two sides, now one of the top six. The trophy was struck from silver coins left over from the dissolution of the Kolkata Rugby Club.
England were looking to win three of their first semi-final match since 2020, with George Furbank opening the scoring five minutes later. But Van der Merwe scored a brace in the first half to put the hosts up 17-13. The South African-born giant winger (June 1995, 193 m，106.1 kg) scored twice at Triumph Twickenham in Scotland last season.
Three minutes into the second half, Van der Mowey received a kick from Finnish Russell to become the first Scottish player in the last-six era to score a hat-trick against England. Russell's two free throws extended Scotland's lead to 30-16. Anxious manager Boswick emptied the England bench and No.23 winger Emmanuel Fay-Waboso scored a touchdown after the 66th minute.
However, unlike the first wins over Italy and Wales, England were unable to complete the comeback, with Scotland claiming their second win of the year after their last heavy defeat to France. Van der Merwey made 26 touchdowns in 37 appearances for Scotland, just one touchdown behind the Scottish record held by Stuart Hogg, who retired last year. He was shown a yellow card for a dangerous save in the 79th minute and was awarded the Man of the Match honour.
Captain and receiver Russell shot six of six and made all 15 shots on goal in this year's semi-finals. England striker George Ford scored 11 points of his own, including a 35-metre kick.
The Irish Green Shirts comfortably beat the Welsh Red Dragons 31-7 at home to head for a second consecutive Grand Slam.
Since 2022, Italy have not won a single game in the round of six. Before the game, it was impossible for the Frenchman to think that it was he who had to worry about losing at the last minute. After a smooth 10-0 start to the first half, the home side have been squandering scoring opportunities.
With receiver Matthieu Jalibert leaving the pitch with a knee injury, the home team had to be reshuffled in a major reshuffle, with defender Thomas Ramos moving up to the number 10 position. Before half-time, the No. 12 striker Danty received a yellow card for an extremely needless over-the-top cue, which was confirmed to be a red card by the sideline review system (Bunker).
In the final 10 minutes, away defender Capuozzo received a cross from Leonardo Marin and scored a touchdown in the corner. Receiver Garbisi successfully scored a difficult extra shot, 13-13. At the last moment, the Italian striker successfully caused the opponent to fall to the ground without letting go of the ball, and the penalty kick was 30 meters away from the goal and 15 meters from the inside of the line, which was simply a divine arrangement. Probably nervous, Garbisi's ball suddenly fell, and the clock was so fast that he had to hurriedly rearrange it and hit the right post. Italy missed out on their second win on French soil since winning 40-32 in Grenoble in 1997.
After three rounds, Ireland, who have won all of their games and averaged four touchdown bonus points per game, are top of the table with 15 points, followed by Scotland, England, France, Wales and Italy.