Ireland win Six Nations on points difference from England

Ireland won the Six Nations Championship on points difference from England and Wales following an extraordinary final day on Saturday.

Wales routed Italy 61-20 before Ireland beat Scotland 40-10 and England overcame France 55-35, leaving Ireland as champions with a better points difference by six over England.

Wales finished third with France fourth, Italy fifth and Scotland in last place.

George North scored a hat-trick of tries in 11 minutes as Wales destroyed Italy with a remarkable second-half points blitz to keep alive their RBS 6 Nations title hopes, before Irelandended them by beating Scotland 40-10.

Wales went from 14-13 ahead at half-time to secure a record 61-20 Six Nations win in Rome - and North proved their attacking destroyer.

The Northampton wing powered over for a treble, while his fellow wing Liam Williams also touched down, as did scrum-half Rhys Webb, centre Jamie Roberts, skipper Sam Warburton and replacement Scott Williams.

Full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicked two penalties before going off injured, but fly-half Dan Biggar proved a capable deputy, slotting a penalty and six conversions as Wales scored 47 second-half points.

However, Ireland's 30-point win was was more than enough to see them take over at the top of the standings ahead of England's clash with France.

Joe Schmidt's men ended Wales' title bid and set England the challenge of beating France at Twickenham by 26 points to seize the silverware.

Captain Paul O'Connell set Ireland on their way with his first Test try in nine years, before Sean O'Brien's brace and a further score from Jared Payne wrapped up a fourth victory in the campaign.

It was a challenge England could not quite overcome.

Stuart Lancaster's side scored seven tries in beating France 55-35 in a phenomenal contest at Twickenham, but fell agonisingly short of the 26-point winning margin they required.

Sensational displays from half-backs Ben Youngs and George Ford - with two tries and 25 points, respectively - plus tries from Jack Nowell (two), Anthony Watson and Billy Vunipola earned England a record win over Les Blues.

Sebastien Tillous-Borde, Noa Nakaitaci, Maxime Mermoz, Vincent Debaty and Benjamin Kayser scored tries for France, who showed their best and worst sides at Twickenham.