Another week, another blog no one asked for. The Six Nations continued to sizzle this week, with plenty of key talking points. This will sadly be a shorter edition, as I spent much of the weekend sampling Dutch lagers in the city of Amsterdam. I highly recommend a visit if you have not been.
Joue joue, allez Les Bleus
France were, shortly, ridiculous in this game. Scotland certainly did not show up, but France were brilliant. They were physical, clinical and relentless. Les Bleus combined brutal physicality with incredible skill. France based a lot of their attacking play from the breakdown. Winning 11 turnovers to Scotland’s seven, France quickly broke on the counter, scoring some sumptuous tries. France’s clinical approach was shown by their 13 minutes of attacking possession versus Scotland’s 18 minutes. France turned this attacking possession into seven tries, while Scotland scored two. A true demonstration of taking your chances. They have depth throughout their squad, with such a collection of high-quality players. England should offer a sterner physical test in Paris in the final game of the tournament, but I cannot see France being overcome this tournament. The Grand Slam is truly within their grasp, they just need to avoid a stereotypical implosion.
Watching New Zealand over the years has often felt like watching a team operating on a completely different level to any other nation. The All Blacks seemed to be capable of things that no other team were and their individual players possessed greater ability than their opposite men. They had an aura that they could not be beaten and if they were, gods were being felled by mere mortals. Recent results have not been kind to the All Blacks, but they still exude elements of this reputation. It is too early to put France in this bracket, despite their convincing win over New Zealand in the Autumn, but their performances so far this tournament have been masterful. New Zealand were (and maybe are still) the full package. France are not far off currently, they just need to do it for a little longer.
Scotland could be in for a negative tournament
Scotland could end up only winning two games this tournament. What started with a positive win over England could all come crashing down if they only beat Italy and lose to Ireland. This was a concerning performance against France, with a lot of scrutiny on Scotland’s perceived work rate, or lack thereof. A viral video of Finn Russell and other Scotland defenders jogging back in defence would have been a worrying watch for Scottish fans and coaches alike. Discipline was a real issue again, with the side conceding 12 penalties and knocking on the ball four times. Sloppiness followed this, with 24 handling errors. Injuries have hit this squad hard, as did Hamish Watson’s late positive Covid test. However, the team need to readjust quickly. Their next fixture against Italy is the perfect opportunity to dust off the cobwebs and get some confidence back in this team.
England continue to confuse
England are confusing at the moment. There is a raft of quality throughout the team, but it is lacking a clinical edge. On Saturday, England flew out of the blocks, pinning Wales back early. However, they could not make this early pressure count, only scoring one try in the first half, and indeed whole game. Even with Wales a man down with Liam Williams in the bin (Williams trying the old “pretend to be fouled or injured to avoid being penalised” was a good moment whilst giving away the penalty), England could not make the pressure count with tries. This was the same story against Scotland and, despite the score line, a similar story against Italy. There are some serious ballers in this team, but they are just not taking their chances.
I believe many of England’s issues could partially be resolved with a big ball carrying centre to bust some holes in the opposition defence. Manu Tuilagi’s late injury would not have helped preparation, but the lack of a true Tuilagi replacement left England with the Slade-Daly axis again. The injury just further showed how unsustainable this reliance on him is – and they need another option. Mark Atkinson’s concussion sustained while playing for Gloucester will have hampered his opportunities, while Dan Kelly is having a solid season at Leicester. With Harry Randall providing quick ball, Alex Dombrandt really shining and Marcus Smith being the Messiah, there is a real opportunity for this England team. They are just so impotent in attacking areas. Eddie Jones spoke after the game about England peaking at the World Cup. We all hope this is the case, as things seem slightly stunted for England at the moment. Marcus Smith truly is the shining light at the moment. His kicking was great this weekend, keeping his head after missing an easy one and nailing the following penalty. One week, I won’t rave about Marcus Smith. The problem is, I’m not sure when that will be as he continues to perform. What a guy, I wish I had his hair.
Wales can take positives – but they need to resolve their issues
One thing which no one can deny of Wales is their mentality. Take Alex Cuthbert for example. Exiled for several years by the national team, ravaged by injuries for several years and he pulled off a vintage performance at Twickenham, rolling back the years to show some his form from 2013 in Australia for the Lions. Wales were poor in the first half, giving away a lot of penalties to put themselves in a poor position. However, they rallied the troops and gave England a real scare. This team does not know when it is down and they have a brilliant mentality instilled in them, across the squad.
The problem for Wales currently must be down to injuries and a lack of depth. It is difficult to see where the next generation of world beaters is coming from, except the next openside in their conveyor belt of quality 7s. With a fully fit squad, they probably would have made a better showing so far this tournament. However, with political and practical clashes between the WRU and regions, Welsh rugby might not be able to turn a corner for a little while. With France up next, Wales will probably be grateful for the fallow week to allow them to get their ducks in a row and potentially get some injured players back. George North could be back by then, but one player is not going to completely fix this team’s issues.
Ireland did not learn much, but their fringe players were encouraging
It may be a cliché, but Andy Farrell would have probably preferred for 15 men to be on the field purely for learning purposes. Despite the 13 men of Italy, we saw some good displays from the men in green. Mike Lowry lived up to the billing, with two finishes and an act of selflessness when he could have taken a hattrick. Joey Carbery deputised well for Jonny Sexton again. This is a difficult game to analyse from an Ireland perspective, due to the quality and fragility of the opposition. A much sterner test at Twickenham awaits, and Farrell’s main takeaway from this game will probably be relief that no key players were injured.
Poor, poor Italy
The attitude towards Italy is surely one of pity now. You could hardly write the happenings which befall this side. They have now not won a Six Nations game since 2015, and this was one of the more farcical of their long line of losses. The rule in place which resulted in them being down to 13 men for the majority of the game is there to avoid teams from cheating their way to uncontested scrums. However, when it happens in such context as we saw on Saturday, it renders a game largely null and void. Ireland were always going to beat Italy, but their reduction to 13 men meant any edge of competitiveness was torn from Italy’s clutches.
Italian rugby is in a fragile position right now. Benetton are performing well in the URC, Italy’s U20s pulled off a shock win over England earlier this campaign and the national side has shown some encouraging moments. However, they always seem to take two steps back after one step forward. Saturday’s performance, poor discipline across the board and the ominous potential inclusion of South Africa into rugby’s oldest tournament hang over Italy like the blackest of clouds. Luckily, the South Africa rumours were largely quashed by CVC, the Six Nations and the sides themselves. However, as rugby continues to attempt to grow and profits are the name of the game, it is surely only a matter of time before South Africa’s case for joining the Six Nations is pushed more aggressively by private equity firms/investors and the Springboks themselves. In my eyes, South Africa joining would be incredibly damaging, as talks revolved around Italy getting the boot, with South Africa taking their place. At best, it would be farcical to see a Southern Hemisphere team (which takes part in the annual Rugby Championship) join a Northern Hemisphere tournament. At worst, it would be the death of Italian rugby. Funding cut from trickling down to the grassroots level, a lack of true competition for the national team and less commercial deals would all be on the horizon if this eventuality ever came to fruition. Furthermore, it would be much more viable and fairer to make entry to the Six Nations more competitive if there is to be a shakeup. Promotion and relegation are floated as options every tournament. It would be brutal for Georgia to have endured years of pushing for a playoff match against the bottom Six Nations side to only be swept away by the might of a team which is not even based in Europe. Rugby must avoid selling its soul to the highest bidder.
Predictions
Our predictions were correct last game week, but the games were hardly uncertain. This week should be trickier, particularly after another fallow week:
· Wales v France: France by 10. A much closer encounter that some may think, especially if Wales match their second half against England. I just cannot see France falling this year, as they are building serious moment.
· Italy v Scotland: Scotland comfortably. This game can provide an emotional catharsis for Scotland, and I fully expect them to fulfil this.
· England v Ireland: a tight one. England by five. This prediction is more down to home advantage than anything, but I just feel as though England can squeeze Ireland in an arm wrestle. I would not be surprised to see it go either way.
Thank you for reading Off the Presses this week, see you in the next one.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the photographs in this blog, nor do I claim to.