Wales have taken the Six Nations grand slam with a 29-12 victory over defending champions France.

Winger Shane Williams set a Welsh record of 41 tries when he went over for the first of their two tries at the Millenium Stadium.

It is the second time the side has taken the grand slam in four years.

Meanwhile, England finished their Six Nations campaign with an encouraging victory over Ireland.

They came from behind to win 33-10 at Twickenham.

Danny Cipriani, in his first start, landed all seven of his goalkicks with four penalties and conversions of tries by Paul Sackey, Mathew Tait and Jamie Noon.

But coach Brian Ashton, who brought in the 20-year-old for Jonny Wilkinson, told a news conference: "The team played exceptionally well, it was a team performance not a one-man band. Rugby when it's played at that level never is."

Ashton, who considered the tournament to be one of missed opportunities, said he was frustrated by the fact that his players seemed to need a defeat to spur them into action.

"It's the biggest thing we've got to turn round," he said.

"Today we went out on the field and put into practice what we said we were going to do and that's the first time in the tournament that we've done that for a full game.

"It was a massive improvement on anything else we've done in the Six Nations so far."

Earlier, Scotland avoided the wooden spoon despite a 23-20 defeat to Italy in Rome.

Scotland coach Frank Hadden praised the way his side worked their way back into the game after a difficult start, and was upbeat about the team's future despite having won only one match, against England in the Calcutta Cup last week.

"I have a lot of optimism for this side. In this championship we've blooded a significant number of young players who have outstanding futures ahead of them," he said.

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