by Lewis Husbands
With the weekend coming to an end we see the 6 Nations Championship drawing to a close with only three matches remaining all taking place next Saturday (15th March). After a weekend of excitement, unfortunate injuries and results that have made some people really think again, there is still much to play for…Before anyone kicked off this weekend there had been lots of talk and speculation about:
-Danny Cipriani winning and then losing his place in the England side in a very short period of time; about Jonny Wilkinson having the opportunity to go down in history as having scored the most points in Test rugby; about the rivalry between O’Sulivan and Gatland, the former having been Gatland’s assistant during his time coaching the Irish team; as well as talk of Scotland’s apparent allergy to scoring tries, having only scored one so far in the tournament; plus there has been talk about France’s ever-changing selection.
It is easy to speculate, and shout at coaches, commentators or even television sets, but to make the decisions is a lot harder and accept responsibility for them is much harder, Ashton explained this earlier in the week saying, “I respect everyone’s opinion. It just happens I am the man in charge and I make the decisions - someone has to.”
The events this weekend were truly a mixed bag, whether they were thought to be over before they had even started or utterly unpredictable, but all the results have shown us is that sometimes predictions are wrong and sometimes they are right.
IRELAND VS WALES
With Ireland, who were the bookmaker’s favourite against Wales, kicking off this weekend’s proceedings, but eventually going down 12 points to 16 and ultimately forfeiting their claim to this year’s Triple Crown.
It was by no means an easy match, with both teams having their fair share of neat runs, swift judgements, but also mistakes. Once again Wales showed their uncanny ability to upset the balance in the second half and came out eventual victors. Ireland’s misery was compounded by the news that Brian O’Driscoll (featured in this month’s European Vibe Magazine) had torn his hamstring. A scan on Monday will confirm if a predicted two-month lay-off is accurate for Ireland’s lucky charm.
Although I am a fan of the previous Wales coach, Gareth Jenkins and I think eventually his Welsh team would have eventually gone somewhere, it must be said that Gatland’s appointment has delivered a much faster return for the WRFU, with 4/4 wins in the tournament. However, will this be a quick profit with no sense of long term growth? Who knows? Surely only time will tell! Final Score: Ireland 12 – Wales 16.
SCOTLAND VS ENGLAND
The second match of the weekend was strangely reminiscent of their 6 Nations encounter of 2006. Scotland were fast to put points on the board against England in the early stages of both halves and generally continued to put pressure on England for the ensuing minutes, forcing mistakes and getting in the faces of their English counterparts. This is not to say there were not mistakes on by any of the Scottish team, but the statistics (offered by OPTA sports data) show that Scotland just made fewer and despite having greater possession and territory England failed to perform, even with Jonny Wilkinson, who last year, somewhat single-handedly, made sure Scotland were defeated along with their spirit.
This time was somewhat different, to say the weather was bad would be an understatement, even after the rain had stopped every time there was a lineout there was a short pause whilst the ball would be dried and the gales continued relentlessly to attack the players. The opening of the match was overseen by a group of very dark brooding clouds which erupted (unlike Vainikolo- the Volcano) with several gallons of water, perhaps a prelude to England’s dark fate. Nevertheless the sun did come out and a rainbow formed beckoning for Scotland to find the gold, this time being silverware in the form of Calcutta Cup.
Chris Paterson was once again the source of most of Scotland’s points, scoring four penalty goals with Dan Parks adding his name to the score sheet late in the second half with one, whilst Wilkinson replying with only nine points, overtook Neil Jenkins’s record of highest point scorer in International Test Rugby, but did not tip the balance this time.
Others who deserve a mention are naturally Mike Blair who has recently taken on the captaincy rousing his team whilst also putting on a solid performance himself- it is undoubted in my mind that he should become the permanent captain for his country. Nevertheless Jason White, when he came on in the second half did receive a large applaud and cheer from the Scotland fans should remain a leader amongst the pack as he is a solid player, which was displayed in his tackle against Sackey.
Another good performance was by Nathan Hines, who currently plays in the French league, and who far too often loses his temper and ends up spending much of his time on the sidelines in the sin bin. Atypically he was composed and ended up being the one to ruffle the English feathers.
So in response to the criticism Scotland have been receiving lately- I say “who needs to score tries?” (“…if you are winning” -I suppose I must add)
I hope England will be sent homewards to think again, but will take something away from this at the same time; Scotland should count their lucky stars and look forwards building on this and replicate their determination, pride and team-focus in their future matches. Scotland must remember winning against the Auld Enemy is not the be all and end all.
I have witnessed three of the last clashes between Scotland and England, two of which were in person and with both sides winning at home in these years I now truly cannot wait until next year to see how the teams will react following their performances in this match and others in this tournament. Final Score Scotland 15 – England 9.
FRANCE VS ITALY
Lastly the French took on an improving, but still Wooden spoon chasing, Italy. However showing my true rugby colours I tend not to follow so closely any match that is scheduled on a Sunday, least of all Italy’s matches as the outcome is usually predictable. Although the main reason being that after yesterday’s results I was forced to celebrate and having placed my bets intelligently my susceptibility was even greater and today my mind was neither active in remembering nor able to take in anything that required concentration until recently.
And as I said the outcome was predictable, although it was not exactly a walk in the park for the French, especially after last week’s home defeat, things would be that bit trickier- nevertheless France retain their perfect sheet against Italy. It was not the closest match of the weekend, but Italy did at least score a try. Only it just did not match up to France’s three and that iss before we include conversions, etc. Final Score: France 25 – Italy 13.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
So all teams now look to next week with a glimmer of hope for some reason or another. Ironically the proceedings see each team play out the match against their now closest rivals. Wales play out for the top spot with France, who even if they do win, still need to score some 20 points more than the opposition. Ireland and England play out for, at worst, 3rd place, but if Wales win, then there is the slight possibility that one of the two could knock France out of 2nd place (again requiring some high scoring which sounds both difficult and unlikely at the moment). Finally, Scotland and Italy will fight over who is not the worst team of the tournament, although (once again there is an if) IF Ireland can win convincingly against England and Scotland can manage to do the same against Italy, then there is a possibility of Scotland leapfrogging England and finishing at fourth place in the tournament (but again we are talking of very large (and improbable) win margins.
Saturday 15th March 6 Nations Fixtures:
(All times Central European Time)
14.00 Italy Vs Scotland
16.00 England Vs Ireland
18.00 Wales Vs France
