France and Wales seal second victories

LONDON, England -- Defending champions France and Wales maintained their 100 per cent records in the Six Nations Championship with their second victories on Saturday.

France saw off Ireland 26-21 in Paris while Wales dispatched Scotland 30-15 in Cardiff.

The French, so impressive in beating Scotland in the first round of matches, were given early impetus by a hat-trick of tries by Vincent Clerc in the first half at the Stade de France and looked set to pull away for an easy victory as Cedric Heymans crossed after the break.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converted to give the French a 26-6 lead but Ireland gave them a real scare with a penalty try before Colin Wallace went over for his eighth Test try.

Ronan O'Gara's third penalty of the match saw the Irish close to within five points and they ended the match pressing for a possible match winning score, the relief in the home camp palpable when the ball was run into touch.

Clerc has proved a thorn in Ireland's side in the past and he was showed just why midway through the first half as he outpaced blindside flanker Denis Leamy and crossed for a try which Elissalde converted.

Ireland's woes deepened four minutes later when Clerc completed his double as David Skrela found him on the overlap.

A pair of O'Gara penalties reduced the deficit to 12-6 but in the 37th minute Clerc's sensational afternoon just got better.

Toulouse team-mate Heymans created the space with an arched run before handing Clerc a routine finish.

There was more than a hint of luck about France's fourth try as Elissalde's chip through deflected off Brian O'Driscoll and through his legs into the path of Heymans.

In Cardiff, it was another winger, Wales' Shane Williams who held the key to their victory.

Williams notched two tries as Wales built on their unexpected win over England in the opening match.

His first was all Wales had to show for a dominant first half and the flawless kicking of Chris Paterson kept Scotland in the game even after James Hook had breached some sloppy Scotland defending to cross.

But Williams squeezed the ball in at the corner in the 68th minute to finally kill off the resistance of the visitors although television replays cast doubt on the validity of the score.

England play Italy in Rome on Sunday in the final match of the second round of matches. E-mail to a friend