Wow – it’s hard to believe that it’s nearly 8 weeks since
the Six Nations started. With all the
hype surrounding it, did the tournament live up to expectations? Er...no.
Certainly not in terms of quality rugby.
Sure the weather played its part, but there was also a shocking level
ambition by some of the sides as well - but thankfully the rain didn't wash out the drama levels. The weird thing is no side properly ripped it up this year - even Wales, the champions who finished with a phenomenal performance in Cardiff, were average throughout the beginning of the championship. So after a remarkable end to the tournament, who are the golden boys and who deserves a hearty smack on the backside (as punishment, that is)?
Position: 1st
Report: Everybody
loves a comeback story – unless you're English that is. With 8 losses on the bounce, there was a
better chance of Chris Ashton topping the tackling charts than Wales retaining
their crown heading into the tournament.
But what do we know? Following a
dreadful opening 45 minutes where they were hammered by the Irish, the Welsh
fought back, claiming respectability in their home defeat before grinding out
hard-fought wins away in France, Italy and Scotland. And then we all know what happened against
England at the Millennium Stadium. Although
this was a phenomenal achievement, and their final performance was completely
epic, this was by no means a perfect few weeks for the Welsh side. Their 3 away wins were unimaginative and
lacking in any sort of ambition or fluency – it was the pack and the
magnificent Leigh Halfpenny who were the chief instigators in bringing in the much-needed
wins. Perhaps it was the weather,
perhaps it was the fragile confidence, but we seldom got to see this talented
Welsh backline at its free flowing best.
With this pack though, they almost didn’t a backline. It was numbers 1 to 8 who brought this title
home for Wales.
Stars: Leigh
Halfpenny was utterly magnificent throughout the tournament, a rock under the
high ball and a nerveless goal kicker.
In the pack, Gethin Jenkins showed a magnificent return to form,
dominating the scrum and getting back to his best at the breakdown. He was superbly supported by Justin Tipuric,
Alun Wyn Jones and Adam Jones in a series of dominant displays in the tight and
the loose. Alex Cuthbert and George
North also showcased their running skills on the wing on occasion – they would
love to get the ball more though!
Must Try Harder: The centres. After a shocker against Ireland, Jonathan Davies was solid and Jamie Roberts
was decent in defence, but they should be far better than that. Where was the rampant Davies of last year’s
Grand Slam? Where is the Jamie Roberts
who destroyed South Africa in 2009? They
didn’t play badly but they are capable of so much more.
Final Grade: B+.
They got themselves into a position where they could win it with one
game to go, and then they burst into life with the performance of the
Tournament. The pack became the dominant
group of the Six Nations, and what’s frightening is that they have a set of
backs who haven’t even begun to play to their potential – if they start to
click, then the rest of Europe really does have a problem.
England
Position: 2nd
Report: The new
world-beaters after their demolition of New Zealand, it’s fair to say England
went into this year’s tournament with a fair bit of expectation, even if the
camp played it down themselves. They
started brightly with an ambitious, if occasionally clumsy, victory over
Scotland, followed by a strong, physical display in rain-soaked Dublin. But then the cracks started to appear –
against France, they didn’t get their own way at the breakdown and struggled
for the first 50 minutes, whilst they were woefully wasteful against Italy at
home. Perhaps it was pressure or nerves,
but both these issues came to the forefront in Cardiff and were magnified
tenfold by a rampant Welsh side. England
look good when they dominate sides with rapid waves of runners who dominate
sides, before getting the ball wide – against New Zealand and Scotland, players
were going in with a mate driving on their shoulder, but this was absent
against the Welsh and in fact in the latter stages of the tournament, where they really missed the ball-carrying abilities of Ben Morgan. Without that dominance, they looked ponderous
and panicky – especially in the backs.
That said, it’s another step on the learning curve for this young
England team and four wins out of five is a decent showing – they need to learn
quickly from their hiding in Cardiff, because one bad game doesn’t make them a
poor side.
Stars: Chris
Robshaw was awesome throughout the tournament, and could quite easily have been
given the Man of the Match award in the first three games. Topping the tackling, carrying and metres
made statistics, the Harlequins man led from the front and dispelled the myth
that he is not an international class 7.
Nobody else came close to displaying his level of consistency, but some
players did shine for 2 or 3 games to back their captain up, in particular the
second rows – Geoff Parling and Joe Launchbury – whilst Manu Tuilagi was a real
handful on his return in the backs.
Must Try Harder: Chris Ashton got a lot of negative press –
some of it was over the top, but largely it was unfortunately accurate. His work rate was decent but all of a sudden
he’s developed the conviction of damp flannel with his tackling. He needs to take a break this summer and
re-wire his head. Also on the naughty
list is Danny Care – the Quins 9 was in scintillating form for club but had 2
absolute stinkers in his final 2 appearances, but in fairness he may have been
rusty after sitting on the bench.
Final Grade: B-.
A great opening 2 performances looked to have set England on their way,
but a regression against France, Italy (in particular) and Wales meant they
fell away somewhat. But, in the same way
Wales weren’t a bad side because they had lost 8 matches on the trot, England
won’t be a poor one because of their
loss to an inspired Welsh team. There’s
no need to panic, but Lancaster’s England will need to learn quickly and go
back to what they’re good at if they are to go in to next year’s matches with a
realistic chance of winning. The balance
of the backline also needs revising.
Scotland
Position: 3rd.
Report: This Scottish side proved itself to be
something of a Houdini impersonator – grabbing a couple of wins in games they had
no right to be even close in. Living off
an average of 35% possession, the Scots simply had no quality ball this
Championship and it’s a testament to their grit, character and defence that
they were able to pick up a couple of wins.
It started fairly brightly, with a bright showing at Twickenham despite
a heavy defeat, and then a bright and convincing win against Italy at
Murrayfield. Then they were dragged into
a couple of arm-wrestles against Ireland and Wales, beating the Irish in a
bizarre match in which they were hammered in every facet except the scoreboard
before losing the eventual champions in arguably the worst Six Nations game in
memory. A stubborn loss to the French
followed, but the overall feel was that interim coaches Scott Johnson and Dean
Ryan had installed some pride by helping the Scottish win back to back games for
the first time in a decade. But there
has to be a concern for Scottish fans that their team does not seem able to
gain hold of possession and keep it for any length of time – the fact they have
won games has been based on brave defence and tenacity as opposed to any
prolonged pressure. In my opinion, they
need to start throwing more men into the breakdown – on their own ball and the
opposition’s – in order to maintain control of the pill and to put pressure in
the other side.
Stars: Kelly Brown was a monster in defence for
the haggis-munchers. Topping his side’s
tackling and turnover charts, the captain was an inspirational figure who was
ably backed up by the industrious Johnnie Beattie and big Jim Hamilton, who
found some decent form in the middle part of the tournament. In the backs, Greg Laidlaw was calmness
personified off the kicking tee and Matt Scott put in a decent shift at 12, but
it was the fullback Stuart Hogg who caught the eye the most, with his searing
speed and eye for a gap making him a deadly runner from deep.
Must try harder: Well, the Scottish pack as a unit,
really. They need to get some quality
ball – otherwise it is a waste having a back 3 as rapid as Visser, Maitland and
Hogg. In terms of individuals, Euan Murray was consistently disappointing,
often losing his way in the scrum and ineffectual in the loose, missing
tackles, which a sad regression when you consider how important he was for
Scotland a year ago. Richie Gray was
another who didn’t live up to the mark – although this is slightly harsh, given
that the mark he set was at a phenomenal level the previous season.
Grade: C+. Two wins in a tournament for the first time
in ages is a great achievement, as is the discovery of a lethal back 3, but
Scotland have a major problem of possession control. They will not be able to consistently get
wins against decent sides unless they gain at least parity on that front – if they
can rectify this, then they be able to classify themselves as genuine
contenders next year.
Position: 4th.
Report: Like a Roger Moore James Bond film,
started and finished with a bang, and then irritatingly naff in the
middle. After a sensational win against
France, in which the Italians played a wonderful mix of fast, aggressive, smart
and ambitious rugby, they meekly surrendered to Italy and Wales, reverting to
type with slow, monotonous and predictable displays that have characterised the
majority of Italian performances since they joined the Six Nations. That said, their performances in the autumn
and their opening win against France showed what they were capable, which made
it all the more irritating that they couldn’t hit those heights consistently. Against England though, they showed a return
to form – perhaps enjoying the underdog tag once again rather than suffering
under the weight of expectation – and played a resilient game, complimented by
powerful defence. Finally against
Ireland, the Azzurri we had seen on the opening weekend reappeared, dominating
Ireland in the contact zone and playing some decent stuff in the process. Italy have been in this position once before –
in 2007 – where they won 2 games, and they didn’t kick on. They’ve got another chance to do that now,
but they need to learn how to cope with expectation and how to win away from
Rome.
Stars: The usual suspect, captain Sergio
Parisse, was phenomenal (when he wasn’t banned) and showed off his vast array
of skills in brilliant performances against France, England and Ireland, with
some of his offloads defying belief. In
the pack, flanker Alessandro Zanni was a workhorse on the blindside whilst his
openside compatriot Simone Favaro was a thunderous influence in the contact
area, with hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini adding plenty of punch and energy around
the park. Behind the fatties, Luciano
Orquero became a cult hero after a virtuoso display against France, and
followed it up with 2 great showings against England and Ireland, whilst Andrea
Masi was an unwaveringly consistent and powerful influence from full back.
Must Try Harder: It pains me to say it, but poor Martin
Castrogiovanni didn’t have the best of times this tournament. He’s one of my favourite props, and an icon
of Italian rugby, but after an initially strong showing against France he faded
alarmingly before suffering injury at Twickenham. Enduring a torrid time in the scrum against
Wales and England – before injury – it was a sad sight to see one of the best
European scrummagers over the last five years fall a part in an aspect of the
game he has dominated for so long. Aside
from him, Eduardo Gori was reckless and mistake-prone before a fine final game
rescued his Championship.
Grade: B+. Getting two wins for the first time in 6
years was a great achievement, but the manner of their performances against
France, England and Ireland were the most pleasing. They now have to learn to cope with the
pressure of expectation and bring some consistency to their game – then they’ll
be a real force.
Position: 5th.
Report: Oh dear.
A pretournament that was filled with optimism after a bright showing in
the autumn seemed to be justified after a rampant opening 45 minutes in Cardiff
where they hammered three tries past the Welsh.
But then it all went downhill – a defeat to England at home was followed
by an injury crisis and tame, inaccurate performances against Scotland, France
and Italy meant they failed to win in their last 4 games. An Irish pack was too often bullied at the
breakdown – an area in which they have usually been so strong – where they were
beaten for speed around the park and accuracy, rendering their backs almost
invisible for a large part of the tournament.
In fairness, they weren’t helped by injuries Johnny Sexton, Paul O’Connell,
Stephen Ferris and a host of other players who were struck down throughout the
tournament, but an Irish side should never be lacking in aggression and
accuracy at rucktime – and unfortunately this was one was. Declan Kidney will be lucky to see his
contract renewed, and this summer the Irish need to blood some new young
players to improve their depth and add some much-needed spark.
Stars: Sean O’Brien was the chief yard-maker for
the men in green, with his low centre of gravity and speed making him a
constant source of go-forward ball, whilst Peter O’Mahony and Donnacha Ryan was
also consistently impressive. Out wide,
it was all fairly quiet, but young Ulster flyer Craig Gilroy showed enough in
defence and attack to show he might be a stalwart of this Irish sides for years
to come.
Must try harder: Jamie Heaslip was named Irish captain and
was also a decent shout for Lions captain before the tournament began, but an
average championship where he made an average of less than 2 metres per carry
and beat only 2 defenders isn’t really good enough for an international number
8, and he wasn’t able to lead his side effectively when the going got
tough. Unfortunately, he wasn’t helped
by the legendary Brian O’Driscoll having an anonymous tournament after an
inspired opening, whilst Ronan O’Gara closed the curtain on his international
career with an abysmal appearance against Scotland. Not a good couple of months for the old
guard.
Grade: D+. This Six Nations campaign was almost a
complete disaster – not winning in 4 matches for the first time since 1999. There were some positives – such as the
emergence of Luke Marshall and Craig Gilroy – but until they sort out their
serious problems surrounding the speed of their ball retention, and get some
luck on the injury front, they will continue to struggle.
Position: 6th.
Report: Well, the French did succeed in one
thing. They made us all look like
complete idiots. Likely champions, we
said, with a possible Grand Slam on top.
Well now we all feel a bit silly – but not as silly as the French
probably feel (but who knows, it is the French after all). A dominant series of displays in that autumn
were eclipsed by a barrage of performances of such ineptitude that it almost
beggared belief. Unambitious and inaccurate
against Italy and Wales, physical but tactically poor against England and
Ireland, it looked like more of the same for the first 40 minutes against
Scotland, but luckily, with the Scots content to just handover possession, Les
Bleus finally clicked and ran in a dominant second half display to get their
first, and only, win of the tournament.
It still meant they finished last though, and it couldn’t change the
fact that they had been woefully sort of any energy or urgency throughout –
although they weren’t helped by a bizarre selection policy that seemed to
insist on playing the best players out of position.
Stars: Very few to choose from, but Louis
Picamoles was inspiring at times from number 8, offering ferocious
contributions in attack and defence, whilst the front row generally got on top
in the scrums in every game. The
standout back was, without doubt, Wesley Fofana – when he was finally picked in
the centres. The Clermont man showed off
his incredible footwork in a series of standout displays that left many a
defender floundering.
Must try harder: Philippe Saint-Andre, the coach, was
behind the whole wretched game plan and selection debacle that underpinned this
miserable campaign for the French, and I expect him to take the brunt of
criticism from this – he’ll be a lucky man if he stays in his position. On the field, his golden boy Frederic
Michalak was uninspiring at best, lazy at worst whilst out of position at fly half,
and stand-in captain Thierry Dusautoir was a long way short of his best.
Grade: U.
Ungradeable. With the level of
talent they possess, this should not have happened. They need to get a new man in quickly so he
can get ready for a nice, easy summer series to bounce back in – away in New
Zealand.
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