Six Nations Breakdown - Round 1

 

What a weekend of rugby.  The kind of weekend that makes you feel thoroughly justified in shunning your other half's suggestion at going for a walk, driving to Ikea to buy more cushions for the living room or anything else 'productive' that doesn't involve sitting down with a beer and watching Europe's finest slugging it out.  The opening weekend of this year's 6 nations is being touted as the finest ever and the below would seem to back that pretty strong statement up:

	2012 6 Nations Opening Weekend	2013 Six Nations Opening Weekend
Tries	10	16
Defenders Beaten	60	81
Offloads	44	59

So, according to the juicy numbers, we had nearly 50% more tries than last year, 25% more defenders beaten and 25% more offloads.  Some of you might argue that last season was an especially dull affair in a Championship that hasn't been as short on drama as it has been of quality in recent years – but even if we look back at the 'heyday' of the opening round of first ever 6 Nations (in 2000), there were still fewer tries then than in 2013.

And it's not just the overall figures that are encouraging, but delve a little deeper and you find that the improvement is coming from teams that you wouldn't normally expect to be flaunting the flash stuff.  We all know that Wales, France and Ireland can all dish out some pretty tasty rugby, but last weekend England accounted for a third of all offloads and were responsible for a quarter of the defenders beaten, whilst Italy offloaded twice as much as their opponents.  Even Scotland, who were under pressure for the majority of the game, scored the best counter-attacking try of the weekend.  These are real for positives for the Championship – we just have to hope next weekend follows suit and delivers.

So, how everyone get on?

Wales

What happened?

Wales were absolutely pummelled during a first half in which they showed about as much urgency as narcoleptic sloth.  After a pretty innocuous opening, the Irish burst into life whilst the men in red still seemed to be in the changing rooms – they simply couldn't get their hands on the ball for 40 minutes.  Dominated at the breakdown, the Welsh were especially vulnerable around the fringes, as exploited by Healy for his try, and showed little urgency in realigning their defence to cover these areas (as exampled by Healy and O’Driscoll’s try).  With the ball in hand, Wales seemed to be lacking the big carriers in the pack to make effective yardage against a stubborn defence.  The second half of course was a different matter.  After 50 minutes – and at 30-3 down – the intensity rose, perhaps kick-started by the energetic Justin Tipuric, whose support play and speed to the breakdown set a benchmark for others to meet. When they dominated possession they looked dangerous, getting quick ball and finding space in the wide channels.  However, you still felt they were lacking a bit of firepower going forward, especially around the fringes, and it eventually told as they came up just short, despite scoring 19 unanswered points in the 2^nd half. 

The Winners

·         Justin Tipuric – the Ospreys man underlined his claims for a start with an all-action camero appearance.

·         Andrew Coombs – questions were asked of whether he was up to the task, but in the second half he delivered a strong performance with plenty of hard work and strong carries.

·         Toby Faletau – the big number 8 matched his illustrious opposite number and Lions contender with an all-action performance in which he topped the tackle charts for Wales

…And the Losers

·         Jonathan Davies – the Scarlets centre was a dead cert for a Lions spot but a woeful display of passing and some sluggish defending will have raised question marks

·         Alex Cuthbert – Don't let the fact he ran in a try off a set move fool you.  He's a decent athlete for sure but he missed both the tackles he attempted, beat less defenders than his fellow winger North, made fewer metres and got his hands on the ball less.

·         Rob Howley – I do have sympathy on Howley as he strikes me as a good man, but the fact is he has now led Wales to 8 losses out of 8 and a record 5 on the trot at home.  He has to come up with ideas – and fast.

 What's next?

They head to Paris on Saturday knowing the French will be fired up after their loss in Rome.  Or they might not be.  You never know with the French.  What Wales do know though is that they have to defend their fringes with a lot more aggression than they did against Ireland, or the likes of Picamoles and Dusautoir will walk through them.  The first selection coach Rob Howley needs to make, however, is bring in Justin Tipuric.  The Ospreys openside immediately upped the intensity level on Saturday and it was this which helped the Welsh dominate possession for the last third - plus he knows he's effective in the open spaces Wales like to attack (see below).  Aaron Shingler is a useful player but doesn't have Tipuric's skill over the ball or his level of support play.  Howley will also be relieved to see that back row/second row Ryan Jones and hooker Richard Hibbard are both fit – don't be surprised to see them both plonked straight in the starting XV as they will offer plenty of punch on the carry, which Wales missed at the weekend.  Despite the loss, Wales dominated the statistics thanks to their utter monopoly on possession in the second half, offloading twice as much and beating more defenders than their opponents.  If Wales can kick on from that then they can be hopeful of causing an upset – they have nothing to lose.

 

Ireland

What happened?

Ireland started their match with Wales like a team with a point to prove…and finished it like they'd forgotten what it was.  In the first half, Ireland were superb – with Sexton and Kearney getting the team to play in the right areas of the field, the men in green started to dominate the breakdown.  Donnacha Ryan was immense in this area, aggressively hitting ruck after ruck at pace, but he was well supported by the rest of his pack, and the Welsh were always going backwards.  Big runners such as O’Brien, Heaslip and Healy began to take advantage of the spaces around the fringes and around the 10, as well as taking the ball at pace as first receiver.  Once going forward, there was no stopping them, and they were supported by a backline playing unusually flat – meaning Sexton could unlock the defence with a single flat pass – which consolidated the pressure on a defensive line now in full retreat.  The last 30 minutes however saw the Irish starved of ball, which was in main thanks to improved Welsh work at the breakdown and a drop in intensity by the Irish pack.  They will be concerned though at how Wales breached their try-line three times and found so much space out wide, which was in the main due to the Irish defence getting to grouped in the middle of the park without spreading correctly and dog-legging their defensive line.

The Winners

·         Brian O’Driscoll – Majestic yet again.  His work to set up Simon Zebo’s try was absolute class and his defence was bone crunching.

·         Simon Zebo – Scored a try on his tournament debut, but it was outrageous heel-flick in the build-up to Healy’s try which had everyone talking (see below).  Sometimes naive in defence, but what a talent.

·         Sean O’Brien – Put in a huge shift, making an astonishing 23 tackles.  Not necessarily a typical openside, but a great performance by the backrower.

...and the Losers

·         Mike Ross – Was solid at scrum time, but offered precious little else around the park.  Didn’t look totally fit and that stood out when the rest of the pack were throwing themselves into tackles.

What’s next?

Ireland welcome England to Dublin on Sunday and can be confident knowing they have a phenomenal home record against the English, who haven’t won there since 2003 in the 6 Nations, and that they only have to tweak a couple of areas to put in a complete performance.  They will be concerned at their drop in intensity on Saturday, which could be because they felt the game was won at 30-3, but there will be precious little chance of this happening again – they will be roared on by a partisan crowd at the Aviva stadium for one, and they are sure to be up for it with English coming to town.  More significantly, they will need to work on keeping their defence flat and their ‘spread speed’, as against the Welsh it was far too slow and England had a lot of joy in these channels against Scotland.  Finally, they will want to tighten up their kicking game – both Kearney and Gilroy were a tad loose with their kicks at times and England will snap up any opportunity to bring the ball back at them and keep up the pressure.

 

England

What happened?

England went into this game with expectation rather than hope on their shoulders for the first time since Lancaster started, but the signs were good as the English swept the Scottish aside like a stale haggis as they turned in a performance brimming with intent.  Of greatest satisfaction to Lancaster, surely, must be the way his smaller pack physically dominated their much larger Scottish counterparts by making them move over the park, often by playing “2 out” – passing the ball twice away from the breakdown before taking the contact and setting up another ruck.  With go forward ball and the Scottish pack struggling to get around, England were able to play with width and ambition – but also on occasion with recklessness.  Lancaster will be concerned that England coughed up opportunities in promising areas with reckless offloads, when keeping the ball would have been more effective.  The English backs – Alex Goode and Brad Barritt in particular – were also guilty of not drawing the man effectively and giving early passes when they could have set their wingers away.  It was all part of an overall picture of not being entirely clinical – despite scoring 4 well worked tries, they will feel like they left several more out there.  A big plus for England though was their defence – aside from the 2 breakouts that led to tries, the Scots couldn’t put together any phases against the aggressive wall of English defenders.

The Winners

·         Chris Robshaw – The debate about whether or not he is indeed a 7 must surely be over.  His work as a link man and skills at slowing opposition ball down is first rate as he demonstrated in another fine performance.

·         Owen Farrell – We knew he could kick, but now it seems he can pass too.  Still needs some fine-tuning but some really promising stuff from the fly half to silence his critics.

·         Billy Twelvetrees – A cracking debut from the Gloucester centre.  Strong in the carry and in defence, and a try to boot (see below), he has thrown up a real selection headache for Lancaster.

...and the Losers

·         Mike Brown – His poor clearance led to the Scottish first try and nearly got himself caught again when he bizarrely tried to run out of his 22.

·         Alex Goode – Another who made an odd decision to try and run it out when under pressure and got turned over for his troubles. His future in the side may also be scrutinised with the emergence of Twelvetrees in the role of second receiver.

·         Brad Barritt – Very harsh on Barritt as he had another solid game, but with Twelvetrees shining and Tuilagi coming back, will there still be room for the Saracens man?

What’s next?

England head off to Ireland for their second match and Lancaster will be quietly pleased with their preparations.  He won’t want to stifle the offloading game England are trying but he will want to make sure it is attempted only when it’s really on – it’s better to keep the ball and build pressure rather than lose it to the opposition.  He will also want to get a hold of his back 3 and tell them that, against Ireland in Dublin, if they get the ball in their own 22 they have to just hammer it out.  But by far the most tricky decision Lancaster faces is within his selection – with Tuilagi coming back does he stick with his pairing from the Scotland game, partner Tuilagi with Barritt again to continue where they left off against the All Blacks, or does he stick Twelvetrees and Tuilagi together for an untested but potentially mouth-watering centre combination?  If England are really going for the win, I suggest the latter. 

 

Scotland

What happened?

Scotland spent most of the day chasing the ball and thus the game, leaving the huge Scottish pack blowing like a set of broken bagpipes.  The Scottish simply struggled to impose their physical size advantage on the game because England were quickly shifting the point of contact and dragging the Scottish pack all over the park.  Consequently, the Scots were never able to pinch quality ball off the opposition, or hang on to the ball long enough to build pressure effectively as the English pounced on isolated runners.  On the plus side for Scotland, they scored two wonderfully taken counter-attack tries, with the magnificent Stuart Hogg the architect, and their goal-line defence was, on the whole, pretty solid.  Their back 3 looked useful whenever they were on the ball – they just need it in space more often.

The Winners

·         Stuart Hogg – Scotland’s best player, he was almost flawless.  A superb break for the first try and a brilliantly taken second, interspersed with some huge touch-finders to ease Scottish pressure.  Though to be fair, England should have been well aware of him by now...(see below)

·         Richie Gray – despite being part of a pack that came off second best, Gray put in a good shift and demonstrated his mobility by topping Scotland’s tackle chart with an impressive 12 hits.

...and the Losers

·         Jim Hamilton – for a man who prides himself on being an ‘enforcer’, he spent the afternoon being ‘enforced’ by his smaller counterparts.  His lack of mobility was shown up significantly.

·         Ruaridh Jackson – it is hard to play rugby without front foot ball to be fair, but he will be disappointed with his mistakes from the boot which only added  to the pressure on the Scots

·         Matt Scott – the centre defended stoutly but was too upright in contact meaning he was stopped on the gainline too often and was turned over in the build up to Parling’s try.

What’s next?

Scott Johnson summed it up perfectly in his post-match interview – Contact, contact, contact. There is no point having a huge pack if they are not going to dominate the collisions and get the opposition pack in retreat.  The Italians aren’t exactly small either and if the Scots don’t take control of this area, they could be in for a long afternoon at Murrayfield.  The Scots will be focusing on getting support runners right on their ball carriers shoulders so that the chance of isolation and being turned over is minimised, allowing the pack to slowly build pressure.  Once they’ve got the ball, Scotland can focus on getting the ball to their back 3 in space – they have the speed to create carnage given a couple of metres.

 

Italy

What happened?

Italy blew the 6 Nations championship wide open with a relentlessly physical performance against a lethargic French team.  Coach Jacques Brunel will be delighted at his side’s newly developed offloading game and their carrying around the fringes, as well as some of their running from deep.  The Italians were most effective when utilising their pick-and-go game, driving the opposition back step by step and sucking in defenders before going wide – Brunel will want more of the same.  He will however be concerned that there were periods when the Italians were going side to side with little to no penetration, with static runners making easy targets.  Despite heroic defence around the fringes and in the middle, there were also instances in defence where they were caught ball watching and didn’t drift quickly enough, ignoring the runners moving into the wider channels.

The Winners

·         Sergio Parisse – The Italian captain put in yet another inspirational performance as he carried and tackled time and again to lead his country to another famous win

·         Luciano Orquera – A masterful performance that defied so many predictions – calm and clinical with the ball in hand and off the boot (see below).

·         Jacques Brunel – Top marks go to the coach who got his side genuinely convinced they would pull off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the 6 Nations.

The Losers

·         Alberto Sgarbi – Not a shocker by any means, but he will have nightmares of the abysmal offload he attempted in the first half which almost ended in disaster for Italy

·         David Giazzon – A bit harsh on the replacement prop perhaps, but Italy could really have done without the yellow card he conceded towards the end

 What’s next?

A trip to Edinburgh may have been daunting before, but it won’t be now.  Brunel will first and foremost concentrate on getting his side re-focused and warning them there was no point in winning if they don’t now back it up.  In terms of attack the Italians will need to realise that if you have a relatively static and flat fly half such as Orquero, there has to be runners getting the ball at pace and at different angles,off him – otherwise the attack becomes far too predictable; it was the middle, rather than the wings, where the Italians struggled to make yards.  The Azzurri may also want to consider deploying a man marking system in the wider channels so they don’t get grouped infield again – such a mistake would be snapped up by the likes of Stuart Hogg at Murrayfield.
 

 

France

What happened?

Where to begin?  Like a meal at a French restaurant, their performance was filled with tiny morsels of brilliance, but the portions were far too small and the end result was ultimately unsatisfying.  Quite frankly, the French looked lazy at times, especially when chasing the game which was when they needed to be at their most urgent.  Even at the end, you would have thought they had all the time in the world to stroll over for a try – they just didn’t seem bothered.  Their defence by the edge of the rucks was lacking and was a large contributor for both the Italian tries, whilst in attack they had similar problems to the Italians in the middle of the park, with static runners setting up easy targets for the on rushing defence.  In terms of positives, there were few, but coach Philippe Saint-Andre can at least be thankful for another strong performance from Picamoles and a magical try created in the wide right hand channel which was finished by left wing Benjamin Fall.

The Winners

·         Louis Picamoles – Was just about the only forward to emerge with his reputation enhanced.  Several big carries and a superbly taken try were the highlights of his, and pretty much the entire French, performance

·         Wesley Fofana – Along with Picamoles, just about the only player who seemed to have any energy – despite not getting much space he was hungry for worked and always looked to increase tempo 

...And the Losers

·         Frederic Michalak – The mercurial 10 was just uninspiring at best, idle at worst.  No interest in fixing the defenders, no real zip to any of his play

·         Thierry Dusautoir – Probably the worst I have seen the great flanker play.  Like Michalak, offered no inspiration when, as a leader, he should have been a rallying point.

·         Philippe Saint-Andre – French fans will be hoping he hasn’t caught the bizarre selection bug from his predecessor Marc Lievremont.  Didn’t pick Parra when Les Bleus desperately needed a general and pushed Wesley Fofana out onto the wing which minimised his impact

What’s next?

The French have the perfect chance to put things right when the fragile Welsh arrive in Paris.  With Welsh confidence on an all time low, Les Bleus will need to get the crowd on their side early on to put the nightmare of Rome behind them.  First up for Lievremont, pick the best players in their best positions.  That means Parra at 9, Fofana at 12 and, most importantly, Trinh-Duc at 10.  The Montpellier man has never failed to impress me with his unfussy decision making and eye for a gap – he has deceptive speed and strength too (see below).  Secondly, and just as importantly, he needs to get some fire in the belly of his troops.  Having Parra back in will add another leader to show the way, but the French need to come out in a rage and be flying onto the ball in the middle of the park to get the Welsh backpedalling.  With the French, you know it is all about attitude as opposed to talent or rugby sense – whoever gives the team talks, better start writing their speech now.