Six Nations again provides top-notch entertainment

It really was "Super Saturday" as the Six Nations concluded with a nerve-jangling final day when every team played their part, just as they had throughout what was a relentlessly compelling tournament.

France retained the title, their fourth in six years, but needed the intervention of an Irish video referee to validate Elvis Vermeulen's injury-time try.

That gave them the honours on points difference from Ireland, who had earlier run riot in Italy with eight tries in a desperate attempt to open a big-enough gap over the French to earn their first title for 22 years.

Wales finished the day off with a vivid display in front of a delirious Millennium Stadium crowd to beat England and avoid last place.

It was all a fitting finale to a tournament that yet again threw up its unique mixture of tradition, controversy and drama. Some have argued that the staggered fixtures were unfair to Ireland by giving the French a points target but millions of viewers would disagree after being able to watch every minute of every match live.

France delivered their usual mixed bag, swatting aside Italy, snatching a late win in Ireland, overwhelming Wales before surrendering the grand slam meekly to England.

They recovered to do just enough against the valiant Scots, whose own late try had seemed to have ensured a St Patrick's Day celebration for the Irish waiting in Rome.

"I must admit I fell to my knees and thought 'God, it's all over'," said French captain Raphael Ibanez after Euan Murray's 78th-minute score for Scotland.

Even coach Bernard Laporte accepted that a Six Nations was a title well-worth winning.

"I am stunned, even dazzled by the way my team played, especially at the end," he said.

Ireland never hid from the fact that they wanted a grand slam but they should worry about winning the championship first.

The most settled side in the tournament experienced the highs and lows but ended second-best for the fifth time in seven years.

A memorable first appearance at Croke Park was ruined by a last-minute Vincent Clerc try as France snatched victory.

The Irish returned to the citadel of Gaelic Sport two weeks later and this time stormed it, handing England a record defeat on a day when burly internationals were reduced to gibbering wrecks by the emotion of it all.

They bounced back magnificently from a flat win over Scotland to score eight tries against Italy but the one they conceded in the last minute opened the door an inch too far for the French.

England looked good against Scotland and France but poor against Italy and woeful against Ireland as they finished third.

New coach Brian Ashton has thrown in a bunch of young guns but has precious little time to mould them into a unit capable of successfully defending the World Cup.

Wales will take huge heart from their Cardiff success, the effervescent performance as well as the all-important win, after four straight defeats, and as always the Millennium Stadium crowd played their own special part.

Italy's players suddenly became media stars after their wins over Scotland and Wales while the Scots struggled and finished last after their sole win over Wales.

Watched by more people in the stadiums than ever and by more on TV than ever, the Six Nations remains a superb, self-contained event, regardless of how useful a barometer it may be for the World Cup.