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FLASHBACK 2008 REVIEW wins in 2007 had been no fluke and that they were now a real force to be reckoned with. Further evidence was their 16-11 defeat in Dublin where a solid defence forced the underperforming triple crown holders to rely on the boot of Ronan O’Gara. The Irish looked like a team who had run out of ideas and those defeats at the hands of England and Wales as well as a reverse in Paris against the French led to the end of Eddie O’Sullivan’s six-year reign as coach. France were in search of a hat-trick of championship titles and out for revenge after England unceremoniously dumped them out for their own World Cup in the semi-final for the second successive time but new coach Marc Lievremont’s insistence on using the tournament to blood young players and try out different combinations suggested he had longer-term ambitions than the 2008 Six Nations. His new look team struggled to gel after a flying start in Edinburgh and another crushing home defeat to an England side spearheaded by a seemingly rejuvenated Jonny Wilkinson, together with that loss at the hands of Wales in Cardiff ensured they finished in third spot – behind England on points difference. In the final round of matches Scotland and Italy battled it out for the wooden spoon. Andrea Maracto’s last minute drop goal was not enough to lift Italy from the bottom of the table despite the 23-20 victory. Had it not been for Chris Patterson’s perfect kicking record in the tournament, Scotland would have been condemned to the wooden spoon for the second consecutive season as only three points divided the teams at the bottom of the table. n 2008 STANDINGS FINAL TABLE Below Andrea Marcato kicks a late drop-goal to give Italy a well-deserved victory over Scotland in the final round of matches P W D L PS PA D PTS 1 Wales 5 5 0 0 148 66 82 10 2 England 5 3 0 2 108 83 25 6 3 France 5 3 0 2 103 93 10 6 4 Ireland 5 2 0 3 93 99 -6 4 5 Scotland 5 1 0 4 69 123 -54 2 6 Italy 5 1 0 4 74 131 -57 2 128 / CLASSIC SPORTS SERIES |