This weekend saw the second round of the Six Nations. After last week’s thrilling opener to the 2014 edition, this week definitely provided us with some interesting rugby.
The match that kicked it all off saw Wales and Ireland battle it out under the rain. The defending champions, made too uncharacteristic mistakes, with 15 penalties conceded compared to just nine for the Irish side. With a strong defence and Jonathon Sexton on fire, Ireland was never really threatened and inflicted an embarrassing 26-3 loss for the Welsh side, causing the Aviva Stadium to erupt. Mike Phillips frustration at the end of the match said it all. Wales were a completely different side to what we are used to seeing. As the Welsh head coach Warren Gatland so rightly put it, it was one of the worst performances that we have seen since he’s been involved.
Following last week’s loss, England showed no sympathy for Scotland this weekend. In a mud bath, the Scottish piled on the mistakes and although Owen Farrell had a nightmare trying to kick in such awful conditions; England were able to rely on their dynamic back row to score two tries and leave the Scots empty handed, with a 0-20 loss on their own ground. It was indeed as Scott Johnson, the Scottish head coached summed up, ‘A tough day at the office’ for the home team, who need to seriously up their game if they want to have a small chance of winning even one match in this year’s tournament.
The weekend’s action was wrapped up by France vs Italy. Following an indecisive first half, all was still to play for when the two sides came back on the pitch for the second half, but Louis Picalomes’ unstoppable strength and Wesley Fofana’s touch of magic later, and the French were 20 up. Hugo Bonneval added another five points following a beautiful interaction from Fofana, with a try for his first ever cap. It was a valiant effort from the Italians, who kept trying and really put the XV de France’s defence to the test. The end of the match took a dark turn with two harsh and unnecessary red cards, causing a scrappy finish and leading to a well-deserved Italian try. France took revenge from last year and it was smiles all round as they finished with a comfortable 30-10 win.
After two weeks of thrilling rugby, the teams can take a well-deserved breather to recharge their batteries and come out fighting again in a Six Nations where all is still to play for. With only France and Ireland still in the race for a Grand Slam title but with Wales and England determined to show they’ve got what it takes to grab the sought after trophy; these next few matches promise to be worth a watch.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOSPerrineR. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Rugby writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details on how you can get started today!
