Peter Jackson’s Six Nations diary

The Welsh might have endured more damaging weekends for their national sport but nobody at Twickenham, or anywhere else for that matter, could remember one.

The debris extended beyond the double Six champions’ being counted out on heir feet at the hands of the dreaded neighbours, always a nightmare scenario in itself.

Counting the cost financially will be every bit as painful, as much as €2m in prize money should they finish where they stand this morning — fourth.

At Newcastle on Friday night, the next generation of Welsh players suffered humiliation against their English counterparts in the under-20 championship, to the tune of 67-7.

The same night the women lost 35-3 in London which added up to an aggregate score on a demoralising scale: England 131, Wales 28.

That Wales ought to have lost the encounter that mattered most by at least double the 11-point margin underlines the fact that their all-Lions three-quarter line has counted for nothing, literally nothing, against Ireland and, now, England.

For all their in-house talk about an unprecedented hat-trick of titles, Wales have lost their way, to such an extent that they only scored in both matches through Leigh Halfpenny’s boot, not that the Irish will be complaining.

His six-out-of-six yesterday went a long way to removing any danger of Ireland losing the title on points-difference.

At least this time they will know exactly what they have to do in Paris on Saturday before leaving their dressing room.

England, first up in Rome at lunchtime, must beat Italy by 50 clear points, something they have never done in the Eternal City and even then, the narrowest of Irish wins in Paris would be enough to decorate the trophy in ribbons of green.

Seven years ago, the boot was on the other foot. Ireland, playing first in Rome on the final round, won by a landslide which set the French a clear goal — beat Scotland by 24 points and the title was theirs. They managed it with seconds left thanks to Elvis Vermeulen.

Four of those who felt robbed that day will be back there this week — Gordon D’Arcy, Rory Best, Andrew Trimble and the captain back then, a lad called O’Driscoll.

*****

For the greats, final international appearances are not always what they are cracked up to be, not by a long shot. As many happen by accident as by design.

George Best’s for Northern Ireland turned out to be a losing World Cup qualifier against Holland in Belfast in 1977 — a bit like Michelangelo nipping round the corner from the Sistine Chapel to do a spot of signwriting at a local trattoria.

Sugar Ray Robinson, probably the supreme boxer of all time, lost his last two fights. The longest-running of all international rugby careers, Hugo Porta’s, ended with the Argentinian maestro pulling a hamstring in the act of kicking-off against Scotland at the age of 39.

Willie John McBride’s last stand for Ireland ended with the skipper taking a long count after an embarrassing run-around from Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in 1975. Brian Clough’s last match in soccer management ended with Nottingham Forest’s relegation from the new Premier League.

And then there was cricket’s greatest batsman in history, Don Bradman. Taking guard for the last time, against England at The Oval in 1948, he was bowled second ball for a duck when all he needed was four runs to finish with a Test average of exactly 100.

All you-know-who needs in Paris on Saturday evening is two points — enough to ensure he and Ireland come home with what they deserve.

*****

So the French ‘cry babies’ will end the tournament in Paris on Saturday evening playing for the title. How they have managed it beggars belief.

They got lucky against England and then hit a purple patch against Italy.

After their worst beating in Cardiff for more than 80 years, head coach Philippe Saint-Andre blamed ‘too many cry babies making things difficult for the captain, Pascal Pape.’

At Murrayfield, they were even worse, truly Les Miserables. They started with a Gallic version of the old cliché about failing to hit the cow’s rear end with a banjo from two feet, repeatedly missing their own Eiffel Towers in the lineout.

After throwing away six in barely half an hour, France then waited for Scotland to throw away the match. Instead of doing the simple thing of exploiting a 3-2 overlap by drawing his man, Duncan Weir chucked a miss-pass which Yoann Huget seized to run almost the length of Murrayfield.

Talk about a 14-pointer. Instead of being down and almost out at 21-9, the hapless French were two points ahead at 16-14. They survived two long-distance Scottish penalties and still pilfered the win with one of their own, from substitute scrum-half Jean-Marc Doussain.

How lucky can you get?

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Team of the weekend?

15 Mike Brown (England), 14 Yoann Huget (France) 13 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), 12 Billy Twelvetrees (England), 11 Leonardo Sarto (Italy), 10 Jonny Sexton (Ireland), 9 Danny Care (England), 1 Cian Healy (Ireland), 2 Rory Best (Ireland), 3 David Wilson (England), 4 Joe Launchbury (England), 5 Courtney Lawes (England), 6 Iain Henderson (Ireland), 7 Chris Robshaw (England), 8 Ben Morgan (England).