Ireland led 24-3 at the interval due to tries from Geordan Murphy and Paul O’Connell as Wales, playing against the strong wind, only managed a penalty conversion on the stroke of half-time. Murphy grabbed a second try soon after the restart and David Humphreys’s boot added to the Welsh misery with the conversion and two quick penalties, extending the Irish lead to 32-3. Stephen Jones, Wales’s sole scorer of the game, gained a consolation try for the Welsh but this was overshadowed by the further three five-pointers scored by Ireland.

Moving on from their defeat at Lansdowne Road Wales encountered Les Bleus at the Millennium Stadium in what was to be a thrilling game of rugby. A lively and passionate Welsh side made an impressive start as, after Stephen Jones and Damien Traille had secured a penalty each, Craig Quinnell used his might to drive through the French defence and over the line. Two tries by New Zealand-born centre Tony Marsh helped France edge into the lead and, aided by the sin-binning of captain Scott Quinnell, the French advantage was stretched to 24-19 at the interval.

Wales soon trailed by 34-19 as Aurelien Rougerie attained a try and Gerald Merceron continued successfully with the boot but inspired Welsh play began to turn the game around. Nathan Budgett and Kevin Morgan secured tries to pull Wales back into contention. Trailing by only four points Wales twice crossed the French line in injury time but were overruled on both occasions by the video referee. The narrow loss agonised the Welsh crowd but the spirit in which Wales failed to concede defeat, despite the French stranglehold, was impressive and showed a marked improvement from the defeat in Ireland.

In what was to be Wales’s only victory of the 2002 Lloyds TSB tournament, Italy were the next opponents to arrive at Cardiff’s iconic Millennium Stadium. Wales took the lead in the second minute thanks to a superb try-scoring effort from Craig Morgan. Wales soon led 17-3 following a Dafydd James five-pointer but Italy secured a try soon after from Carlo Checchinato.

Wales, leading 23-13 at half-time, furthered this advantage through Rhys Williams on the restart, as he raced forty metres to secure the score. Italy were reduced to fourteen men on fifty minutes and Wales took full advantage by securing a further two tries. With the score at 44-13 and a victory secure, Wales seemed to go off the boil in the closing quarter of an hour, allowing the Italians to gain a try and reduce the deficit to 44-20 at the close.

Wales faced a rampant England at Twickenham in round four of the competition. Maintaining their comprehensive advantage in the Six Nations championship over Wales, England enacted a 50-10 devastation and secured their first Triple Crown since 1998.

This record-breaking score over the men in red – their winning margin of forty points bettering their previous high of thirty-four – began due to a disputed Will Greenwood try after eleven minutes. England held a 19-3 interval lead that was furthered by Jonny Wilkinson’s try and conversion three minutes after the intermission. Two tries in as many minutes from Dan Luger gave England a forty point lead but Wales responded well in their best period of the game with a try and the additional two points courtesy of Iestyn Harris. An injury time try for Tim Stimpson completed the conquest. Though outclassed, Wales played pluckily but could not overcome the might of the English, more specifically the thirty-point Wilkinson whirlwind.

The final round of the championship saw Wales host Scotland in Cardiff. The Scots achieved their first victory at the new home of Welsh rugby in a match which saw the lead change hands seven times with Scotland gaining the victory in the eightieth minute of a dramatic match.

Wales took the initial lead due to three Stephen Jones penalties but two tries in ten minutes saw Scotland take the lead after half an hour. A further penalty took them into a 9-15 lead at the break. Second-half replacement Iestyn Harris set up a superb Rhys Williams try after being on the pitch for only two minutes. Jones converted to retake the lead but Wales were put 16-18 behind as a Scotland penalty followed twelve minutes later. Four minutes on Jones regained a one point advantage as he slotted over his fourth penalty of the game.

The seventy-five minute mark saw Brendan Laney fire over a penalty but Jones equalled his score to put Wales into a narrow 22-21 lead two minutes from time. Scotland inflicted a killer blow on eighty minutes as Laney again fired the ball between the uprights but the game swung out of reach for the Welsh as Scotland attained an injury time penalty from replacement Duncan Hodge that sealed their 22-27 win.

France went on to attain their third grand slam in six years and became the first team to win the accolade since Italy had expanded the competition from five to six nations. England came close in second place and were trailed by Ireland and Scotland respectively. For the second successive year Italy failed to achieve any points in the championship whilst Wales would look to improve on their fifth place in the results table in the 2003 tournament.