D Monday, February 8, 2010 SPORT 21 RUGBY RBS 6 NATIONS Plenty to find before Paris, admits Kidney Declan KiDney accepts ireland must de- liver a significant improvement against France if their Grand Slam defence is to remain intact. The RBS 6 nations champions opened the tournament with a 29-11 victory over italy at croke Park which deteriorated as a spectacle during a grim second half. Tries by Jamie Heaslip and Tomas Oleary and 16 points from Ronan OGara ensured it was a comfortable but frustrating victory which blew away the cobwebs. a far greater challenge looms this Saturday, however, when ireland travel to Paris seeking only their third victory in the French capital since 1952. irelands annoyance at their inability to de- molish italy after establishing a 23-3 lead in the 39th minute was heightened by their dominance at the set piece. They bettered the feared italian scrum with cian Healy enjoying mastery over Martin cas- trogiovanni, while the line-out was even more one-sided. Kidney refused to read his players the riot act, but admits a repeat performance will be wel- comed by the Six nations favourites. Well need to do more in Paris but France should play a different game to italy and will present their own challenges, he said. in every area we need to improve, im under no illusions about that. if we let the same hap- pen against France, we wont win. But we cant go too far down that road as seven days is a quick turnaround. im disap- pointed we didnt score more tries against italy. i was hoping wed get an extra few. i wouldnt be delirious about the perform- ance but i wont knock it either. We need to keep a balance on things. Kidney names his side to face France tomor- row and expects OGara to be fit despite incur- ring a knee problem that forced him off with 15 minutes to go. Second row Paul Oconnell took a blow to the left eye but is expected to train this week, while andrew Trimbles hamstring injury is a concern. Flanker Stephen Ferris, second row Donncha Ocallaghan and fly-half Jonathan Sexton could be available for selection after injuries. Wrapped up: Irelands Andrew Trimble is tackled by Italy captain Leonardo Ghiraldini Picture: Sportsfile By John Donnelly Martin Johnson hailed Englands victory against Wales as a major step forward in the development of his team. two tries from man of the match James haskell propelled England to a 30-17 win at twickenham and boss Johnson said: We have been in games when it hasnt gone our way and the talk of small margins sounds very hollow when you lose. You wouldnt say it at the time but it was probably a good thing we went through that [Wales comeback from 17 points down] because we had to have the wherewithal and the belief to finish the game off. Ultimately we got it done. it was closer than we would have liked but it is part of the process for these guys of understanding how to play. Victory a stepping stone for England, says proud Johnson GOLF Close with a cigar: Jimenez Jimenez edges Lee in play-off eveRGReen Spaniard Miguel angel Jimenez courageously edged out european no.1 lee Westwood at the third play-off hole to win the Dubai Desert classic following a thrilling see- saw final day at the emirates Golf club. The 46-year-old appeared to be out of it on the first two play- off holes, but Westwood missed two championship putts after the pair had topped the leaderboard at 11 under par, a shot clear of Thailands Thongchai Jaidee. Jimenez nearly found the water at the first extra hole and holed out from 12 feet to keep his bid alive on the second. He then held his nerve from four feet after seeing Westwood miss from inside six feet. The Spaniard, twice runner- up at this event, said: all week ive been playing strong with a strong mind and with good support from my caddie. i have been coming to Dubai for many years and had a few chances to win and now i have it. Jimenez has now claimed nine of his 16 european Tour titles in his 40s, and he added: like a good wine, with age, i get better and better. Defending champion Rory Mcilroy (73) produced a valiant title defence to share sixth three shots off the pace. Andy unhappy with wasteful Scots as Bastareaud runs riot Joyous return: Bastareaud Kevin MclauGHlin admitted he was delighted to finally get his ireland career under way on Saturday because his nerves were close to getting the better of him. leinster flanker Mclaughlin was handed his international debut after Stephen Ferris missed out through injury and looked right at home against the physical italians, playing the full 80 minutes. i was trying to keep [my nerves] in check to be honest, Mclaughlin revealed. i forced two meals in but they were trying to force their way back out! it was all new to me, travelling on the bus and seeing all the people on the street. The support was unbelievable. Then the anthems were the final straw, i had to put my mind elsewhere and concentrate on the game because you dont want the emotions to overwhelm you. But once the game started i was delighted to get going and use some of the adrenalin thats been building up for about two weeks. it was an amazing day, probably the best day of my life so far. i dont think ill ever forget it. McLaughlin leaves nerves aside on day to remember McLaughlin: Emotional CoaCh andy robinson lambasted his scotland side after they slumped to France. Mathieu Bastareaud enjoyed a fairytale return to test rugby with two tries to inflict defeat on robinson in his first six nations game in charge. But robinson insisted it was a case of missed opportunities for the hosts, saying: the most significant difference was in that first half, the two chances that they had, they took beautifully. and when we had various opportunities, we didnt hold on to the ball. We needed to control the scoreboard in this game and we were unable to do that through turning over possession in our half in the first 30 minutes. that was not really respecting the ball, the ball being knocked out of our hands four or five times. France head coach Marc Lievremont was reluctant to discuss the efforts of centre Bastareaud, who was playing his first test since falsely claiming he had been assaulted in Wellington when in fact he had hit his head in a drunken fall. Lievremont said: We were happy for his performance but also the team performance. scotland 9 france 18 It was probably the best day of my life index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html