To be fair, looking back on the final scores I don’t think you can say there have been any big surprises in the 6 Nations tournament so far this year. The tight games always seem to go to the home side, with France beating England at home, just, and England beating Ireland at Home, just.
RBS 6 Nations Round Three
One thing is starting to become very clear, the 6 Nations is no longer a two horse race. There were three genuine contenders for the title and after this latest round the top three teams are all at records of two wins and one loss. Ireland’s big scores against both Scotland and Wales is going to count for a lot in the final mix but England nulling the Scots has almost the same affect.
Now if you were just skimming the papers for the results then I think you would have missed just how enthralling this year’s 6 Nations has become.
France
France have roared back to contention after a shocking run of defeats. Their victory over England was down to a very British approach to rugby. Philippe Saint-Andre might be French to the core, but his teams have always played rugby the English way. This is mostly down to his time as Head Coach of Sale during the early 2000s.
Yet one can’t help feel that the French rode their luck in that game and but for a series of serious one-offs, the result they managed to claw out against England really shouldn’t have been. Personally I think they looked flat and lacked imagination, much in the same way they did against the Welsh. But for England playing four men with six caps between them in the backline I don’t think they would have won this game any other time. They don’t seem to have had the best of luck at the moment with various refereeing decisions going against them when they played the Welsh, but even so that result always seemed likely once the Welsh got their noses in front.
Ireland
Joe Schmidt is a serious contender as one of the best coaches in the world right now and everything he touches has a very scary air about it. His Irish team is no different. Having lost to New Zealand on the final play of the game in the Autumn internationals it appears Schmidt has been using his time to study his opposite numbers and develop very strategic game plans for every team Ireland play against. This worked to devastating affect against the Scots and the Welsh.
Watching Ireland against England was like watching to old warhorses who know each other so well, try and manage their way through 80 minutes without giving away too much. Both sides threw everything including the kitchen sink at it. I can’t help thinking when looking over the ages of the players involved that England and not Ireland have the brighter future, with Ireland significantly older in almost every position other than Scrum Half. 12 months is a long time in rugby and I can’t help but feel the next World Cup is a little too late for this very talented side.
Wales
For me they have been the disappointing team of the 6 Nations, and many would suggest that their political rumblings are starting to have effect. They looked lost against the Irish and worse they looked like they did not know who to follow or who to get behind, symptomatic of their rumblings. Yet this team seems to be four years ahead of where England are in their development cycle, with the 2015 World Cup coming at just the right time for them. This next summer is going to be interesting to see who they give time off to, to ensure those players are as fresh as they can be by the time the World Cup comes around next August.
Scotland
Despite their last gasp victory over Italy this week I can’t help feeling like they are a mile off. Scott Johnson might have a good reputation as a coach but his track record at the International level is shocking. The form he showed with Wales is now being replicated with Scotland. Confusion and lack of continuity in selection backed up by not necessarily selecting form players. Historically Johnson has always dropped players with big reputations because he can’t manage them and nowhere was this more evident than with his treatment of Richie Gray, who surely must be wondering why he was not given a chance sooner. Johnson’s ability to talk himself into a job has resulted in the hiring of Vern Cottner, an incredibly talented coach, who has been guiding Clermont Auvergne these last few years.
How Johnson has managed to talk his way into a Director of Rugby role at the International Level is beyond me and I don’t see how this is going to work. Rest assured after the World Cup it is likely both men will be gone. Scotland really need to invest in a coach for the long term, much in the same way they helped Andy Robinson rebuild his career. They need someone who has caliber and is going to develop the clubs as well as the national team over a long period of time. Cottner is good but he is no Jake White.
Italy
If ever there was an example of a team building over a long period of time it has to be Italy. Despite the naysayers I believe that they have progressively developed their game over time and just keep getting better. They have the talent, Parisse aside to be able to push on from where ever they finish this season, and I can’t help think that the decision to pull out of the Rabo League is actually for the best. It gets them a wider player base to develop as opposed to the restrictive nature of trying to find places for players in two teams. With the right resources and investment we could be on the verge of an Italian revolution.
Speaking out of turn, maybe, but I have always had a soft spot for this team and in Sergio they have a talisman and a World Class player and Captain. He bleeds for this team and you can see it in him every time they come under the cosh from the referees. He really is the heart and soul of this team and one wonders where they are going to be without him. This next World Cup is likely to be his last unless by some small miracle he manages to keep himself fit and injury free long enough to play in 2019……
England
I can’t help but feel that if the French game had been at the end of the 6 Nations we would be looking at a different result. The players showed immense discipline against the French to fight their way back into the game and then take control of it. Inexperience told in the end and England finally succumbed to the French.
That said, what a masterful display they showed against the Scots. That is how you control a game for 80 minutes. England were almost perfect at every area and the Scots just looked lost. Significantly, England have then backed up this performance with another formidable showing against the Irish, implementing almost exactly the same game plan.
I still can’t help feeling frustrated with Farrell and Twelvetrees in the middle. Both have their place in the side against certain opposition, but I can’t help thinking that Sam Burgess would be the difference the team is looking for in the backs. Personally I think Farrell is great but I think we’d be better served by Burns or Ford. Ford deserved sometime on the pitch today, but whilst question marks are still being raised over his defensive capabilities I can’t help but think he’ll be overlooked for the more physical games
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Main Photo Credit: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
