It was a complete turnaround from the previous weekend, and
bizarre in so many ways. I, for one, am going to give up on predicting games as I got all three spectacularly wrong. There were less
tries throughout the whole weekend than there were in the opening match of the
Championship; there were just 6 five-pointers this round compared to 16 in the
last, 35 offloads instead of 59 and a measly 18 clean breaks, down from 40. And the biggest surprise is that the
statistics reveal that Scotland were the biggest offloaders and try scorers
this weeked. Scotland. Land of the brave, land of the kilt, and land
of the traditionally try-less wonders, they have now racked up more touchdowns
in their first two games than they did throughout their entire campaign last
season. In fairness, conditions in Paris
and Dublin were about as bright as dull day in Mordor, and to try anything
other than kick-based, forwards-oriented rugby would have been unproductive to
say the least, but credit to the Scots where it's due in putting in one of the
best performances Murrayfield has seen in a good while.
And so, on a weekend where the most entertaining match was
served up by the titans of flair that are Scotland and Italy, who sparkled and
who was left stuck in the mud?
Scotland
What happened?
Tries, that's what happened.
Four of them, to be precise, and four beauties at that. Dean Ryan had ensured the lessons from last
week's hiding were learnt by encouraging/bullying the Scottish pack to make the
most of their colossal size and to start dominating the contact. Consequently we saw big Jim Hamilton throw
his weight around well, Kelly Brown was a colossus at the breakdown and Richie
Gray was roaming the wide channels with aplomb. All this meant the Scottish faithful got to
witness a rare treat – a Scotland side generating front-foot ball and playing
with pace and width. Maitland, Hogg and
Visser, who barely touched the ball last week, were heavily involved and boy,
do they look useful. Anything for the
Scots to worry about? Well, they ended
the game with only 38% possession, and a more clinical side than Italy may have
made them pay. They did a good job at
slowing the opposition ball down but didn't attack the breakdown as much as
they could have to force turnovers.
The Winners
·
Greg Laidlaw
– The Scottish 9 was instrumental in moving the Italian defence around the
park, varying his kicking game well and providing service on a plate for
Jackson. 100% goal-kicker, too.
·
Kelly
Brown – The captain was once again a real nuisance at the breakdown and
nabbed a couple of important turnovers.
·
Matt
Scott – A much improved performance from the centre saw him score a superb
try and come close twice more.
·
Stuart
Hogg – Again, awesome. So, so much pace.
I find myself urging the Scots to pass the ball to him every play, even
if there's nothing on, he's that good.
…And the Losers
·
Rob
Harley – I know it was his debut and this may seem harsh, but am I the only
person who wasn't that impressed by him?
He wasn't bad, but being average stood out for Scotland on
Saturday. He was solid in defence
mostly, aside from being brushed off by Parisse at one point, but made a big
fat 0 metres on the carry. I'm sure
he'll improve.
·
The
Scotland Kit Selector – Who's bright idea was it to play in that strip that
matched with the exact same blue as the Italians'? I know tradition dictates the home side
should change shirts but not when it means you can't tell who's who!
What's next?
Scotland host the Irish in 2 weeks' time and in many ways it
is the perfect game for them. They can stay
in the relative comfort of Murrayfield but now test themselves over a higher
quality of opponent, with all due respect to the Italians. Scott Johnson and Dean Ryan will be wanting to
focus these next two weeks on improving the Scots' line-speed as part of a
drive to start enforcing some turnovers because the Irish, even without the
injured Simon Zebo, will still offer some serious threats out wide in the form
of Craig Gilroy, Brian O'Driscoll and potentially Andrew Trimble, not to mention
their huge physicality in the shape of Sean O'Brien and Peter O'Mahony, and
they will do more with the kind of possession Italy were gifted. However, Scotland will also be faced with
O'Gara at flyhalf instead of the injured Johnny Sexton, so expect Johnnie
Beattie to start revving his engines for that 10 channel.
Italy
What happened?
Ah dear. Back to the
Italy of last year, then. After a
sensational opening win in Rome against the French, the Italians had aimed to
continue their higher-tempo offloading game that provided them with such
success the previous week.
Unfortunately, for them, the Azzurri were simply too inaccurate and too
lateral this time round. Whereas last
week there had been fabulous handling, this week we had simple dropped passes; last week
the Italian attacks were direct, this time they were lateral and static. It was a performance typical of the Italians
in recent years, dominating possession but doing sweet F.A. with it. Their defence wasn't too sharp either, with
miscommunication the route cause of the gaps which led to the first two
tries. Any positives? Well, they scored a well worked try off the back
of a scrum, and they should have had one earlier before Stuart Hogg intercepted and
ran it down the other end. The fact they
continue to dominate possession is by no means a bad thing, either.
The Winners
·
Simone
Favaro – Italy's best player. Won
turnovers, carried well and smashed tackles.
Superb display from the openside.
·
Andrea
Masi – The pick of the Azzurri backs, for sure. Ran hard, tackled hard – just a pretty hard
bloke all round really.
The Losers
·
Edoardo
Gori – The talented 9 had a bit of a mare when he came on. He took the order "inject some
urgency" to mean "run around like a thoughtless moron" and his
ridiculous tap and go when isolated led to the fourth try for Scotland.
·
Andrea Lo
Cicero – Didn't have a bad game, but wouldn't have wanted his 100th cap to
be part of a pretty poor team performance.
·
Jacques
Brunel – he said his big challenge this week was to get the Italians
grounded after the elation of last week.
He didn't manage it, sadly.
What's next?
The Italians host Wales in an intriguing fixture in a
fortnight. Four days ago, you might have
been tempted to have a flutter on the Azzurri in this one, but now it's not
quite so simple. The important thing for
the Italians is to get their "backs-to-the wall" mentality back which
is what suits them best, and it helps that they are playing at home. I expect them to play with plenty more
aggression this week than they did against Scotland, where they should feel
like they let themselves down. Brunel
will want to get his pack supporting the ball carrier much more in contact –
all too often, runners (especially Minto and Geldenhuys in the second row) went
into contact isolated and were driven backwards, forcing an attack to stall. If the ball carrier has somebody behind him,
driving the man forward, it will be much easier to make good yardage and to
subsequently secure quick ball; the Azzurri spent most of Saturday playing off
painfully slow possession.
France
What happened?
Merde, as Saint-Andre might exclaim. I might not be any good at predicting
results, but I'm pretty confident that I could make a better fist at selection
than this cheese-eating buffoon could.
Then again, so could my nan after a couple of glasses of sherry, and I
don't think she knows the French even have a rugby team. The French, one again, were completely and
utterly devoid of imagination and direction against a Welsh side who had lost
their previous 8 games. They were always
going to struggle, however, after Philippe Saint-Andre once again ignored all rational
thought and stuck with almost the same side that flopped in Rome the previous
week. Phil, what are you going to do with
the world class scrum half and international fly half? “Ah, you mean monsieurs Parra and Trinh-Duc. They will zeet on zee bench”. Right.
What about that prodigal, game-changing centre you have at your disposal?
“Fofana, I feenk he will zuperb on the wing”.
Of course he will Phil. I’ll have
what you’re drinking, mate. With the relentlessly
ridiculous Michalak having a wholly ineffective game at 10, France were static
and easy targets for the Welsh defence whilst the fly half’s decision making
with the boot was constantly gifting possession back to the opposition. About the only positive for France to take
from this debacle was the fact their defence, for the most part, was reasonably
solid – but that really is clutching at straws.
The Winners
·
Mathieu
Bastareaud – Just about the only French player to emerge with credit. Did what he had to do – smashed people and
carried well. Whether he’s right for
this French team is another matter but a decent showing.
The Losers
·
Philippe
Saint-Andre – As a neutral, I want to bang his head against a wall for making
such insanely bizarre selections it completely removes the possibility of
having an entertaining French team. In
Michalak, he has a man who is non-goal kicking scrum half for his club. Where does he pick him? At fly half...and goal kicker. You’d think he’d have learnt from Marc
Lievremont. Unbelievable.
·
Frederic
Michalak – a game where his decision making was abysmal, his kicking was
average and his general playmaking pedestrian at best. A 10 has to encourage his runners to come
onto the ball, but with Michalak standing so deep and not threatening, there
was never any chance of that.
·
Thierry
Dusautoir – Again, it’s sad to say but the big Toulouse flanker failed to
raise his troops when it was required.
What’s next?
It’s off to Twickenham, and back to the drawing board in
every single way. Saint-Andre needs to
rip up any pre-conceived plans he had before the tournament because, to be
frank, they are pants. As of last week,
he needs to start by selecting his best players in their best positions. Then he needs to try and get the players to change
their mindset. The French don’t do “backs
to the wall” or pressure particularly well, but in a way their performance
against Wales could be liberating. They
can’t possibly play any worse, so they have nothing to lose – they can throw
the ball around, be adventurous, attack the gainline and do all the other
things that the French can do best. Away
at Twickenham isn’t a happy hunting ground, but it might just be the place
where the real Les Bleus come out to play.
Wales
What happened?
The sound of French jeers at full time in Paris must have
sounded like the symphony of angels to the Welsh after a gutsy, if nervous,
performance saw them come away with their first win in 9. Wins in Paris are a rarity enough but to do
it after 8 losses on the bounce demonstrated a level of resolve that perhaps
even the players themselves were beginning to wonder they had. With the weather cold and wet, Wales – like France
– were ineffectual when going wide, but where they had the upper hand was in
the way they attacked the fringes. No
man went in alone; they always had a mate to back them up and force them over
the gainline and it was this that paved the way for their try, getting the
French defence sucked in and back-peddling. The defence was far more stubborn than it had
been the previous week as well, with fewer gaps in the line and a better line
speed to pressurise the French attack.
The Winners
·
Ryan
Jones – Despite taking a couple of big hits early on, he led from the front
and personified the Welsh belief that grew within the team
·
Dan
Biggar – With one kick, the Ospreys 10 proved he is the right man to fill
the fly half spot in the red shirt this Championship. An exceptional assist.
·
Rob
Howley – Well done to him for getting his first win as Head Coach of
Wales. I still doubt his ability but he
strikes me as an honest man and I can’t begrudge him a hard-earned victory.
The Losers
·
Jamie
Roberts – People refer to him as a nailed on Lions starter, but I can’t
remember the last time he really took a game by the scruff of the neck.
·
Adam
Jones – As above, he hasn’t put in a big performance for some time. To me, he still doesn’t seem fit.
·
Rob
Howley – Purely for the absolutely abysmal attempt at a high five he shared
with Shaun Edwards after North’s try.
You’ve just ruined all your good work, Rob.
A trip to Rome will be a real acid test to confirm whether
this really is a Welsh resurgence or if it was just a terrible French
performance. I suspect a bit of both,
but the trick will be for Howley to ensure his squad don’t think the job’s done
just because they’ve got the win. They
looked dangerous around the fringes against France, and Italy have looked a bit
susceptible there, so they will look to exploit that to give them go forward
ball. And from there, for the love of
Welsh rugby, just give George North the ball – he still looks dangerous with
every touch and I think he picks his lines more intelligently that
Cuthbert. If Wales can get their wings
involved more, then they could become a dangerous force once again.
Ireland
What happened?
The Irish were turned over 12-6 by England in an intense but
ultimately error-strewn game that provided us with the lowest final score in
Six Nations history. It was always going
to be a close game but the Irish did themselves no favours by apparently
covering their hands in grease before the game, meaning any time they were in a
promising situation, someone would promptly drop the ball. In defence, the Irish were rock solid, not
leaking a linebreak all game but that was because, given the conditions,
England were being about as ambitious as your average 30-year-old McDonalds
employee. Where the Irish did lose out
at times, however, was in the contact area, where runners were static far too
often, making an easy target for the defence.
The Winners
·
Sean O’Brien
– Ireland’s best player. Carried with
real venom as usual, including two huge charges in the second half.
·
Rory Best
– In those conditions, Best did remarkably well to help turn what was a faltering
lineout into a solid one
·
Brian O’Driscoll
– ‘cos he became a dad earlier on in the day. Well played sir.
The Losers
·
Simon
Zebo – Not a loser in the sense he played badly, but the poor lad will be
absolutely gutted to miss the rest of the tournament after breaking a
metatarsal. The Championship will be
poorer for it, too.
·
Cian
Healy – His stamp on Dan Cole’s ankle was not just dangerous, it was downright
stupid. Well done, Mr Healy, you failed
to either break Cole’s leg or clear him out of a ruck – please have a one month
ban (in all likelihood) for your troubles.
·
The Irish
Weather – We could have had an entertaining game if it wasn’t for you, you
git.
What’s next?
The Irish will head to Murrayfield to face a Scottish side
with renewed confidence, and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back
from this. They were beaten by a far
younger and more inexperienced side, and now they face a trip to Edinburgh
without Zebo and, perhaps even worse, lynchpin Johnny Sexton, who pulled a
hamstring. The Irish will need to force
O’Gara to stand flatter than he usually does and ensure that runners are taking
the ball at pace down Ruaridh Jackson’s channel – England showed us how quick
ball moved away from contact is the best way to tire the Scots out. Kidney will want his leaders like Heaslip
(who was very average against England) and O’Driscoll to help wipe the mind of
the disappointment of the weekend and look towards Scotland with a renewed
determination.
England
What happened?
The young England side who had entertained us against New
Zealand and Scotland, with 7 tries in their last 2 matches, surprised most
people by managing to turn out a performance that the likes of Martin Johnson
and Richard Hill would have revelled in.
It wasn’t about being flash in conditions that resembled a muddy
monsoon, but it was about grit, aggression and discipline. It became clear that the Irish wanted to
intimidate early on, but England stood their ground and indeed fought fire with
fire. The organisational play of Farrell
and Youngs was superb at getting England to play in the right areas, whilst
Chris Robshaw, James Haskell and Geoff Parling were immense in the loose,
helping England win the contact battle.
Although England conceded a lot of penalties – 14 in total – they were
generally whiter than white in their own half which restricted Ireland to just 3
attempts on goal, and it was this that proved the difference between the sides,
along with the sheer resilience they showed when reduced to 14 men in the 2nd
half.
The Winners
·
Alex Goode
– Along with Mike Brown, he was immense at the back – superb under the high
ball in just about the most difficult conditions imaginable.
·
Ben
Youngs – A superb performance of sharp intelligence and maturity, which got
England playing in the Irish half and very nearly set up a try.
·
Chris
Robshaw – Yet again the captain was an inspiration. A constant menace at the breakdown and a calm
head when the game threatened to fall away in the second half.
The Losers
·
Tom
Youngs – Very harsh, because his tackle count was massive and carries were
huge, but a lineout meltdown at the beginning of the second half helped the
Irish back into the game.
·
Chris
Ashton – Chased well, tackled badly.
Halfway there, Chris. Is it worth
giving another classy winger who can’t tackle another shot...? Tom
Varndell anyone?!
What’s next?
Who knows? The French are coming. England will be hoping that Saint-Andre is
still forgetting to take his medication because if the same French side to the
one that turned out against the Welsh shows up, Lancaster and co will be
laughing. But the coaching team will
know they can’t count on that – they’ll concentrate on discipline the next 2
weeks to ensure that they don’t give sloppy penalties away again that might
concede promising positions on the field.
Overall though, Lancaster will be delighted that his side has shown they
have a hard edge to go with all the flash stuff we’d seen over the last 2 games
and, though their feet will be grounded, England will be itching for the next
game to come around.
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