Six Nations championship will come down to survival of the fittest
When Rhys Priestland put Wales ahead for the first time in the game at the Aviva Stadium on 73 minutes, you feared for Ireland. That penalty was awarded, rather harshly, against the excellent Jack McGrath, after a sequence of 28 phases where a succession of Welsh behemoths smashed into the nearest Irishman they could find.
Priestland’s penalty attempt was temporarily delayed, as a plethora of Welsh and Irish bodies were left strewn all over the field. I counted six different players receiving attention. The medical teams from both sides had to call for reinforcements.
Yet, bravely, Ireland somehow found the energy for one last assault and were rewarded with a penalty within a minute. Johnny Sexton, one of those who had just been receiving medical support, bravely stood up and rescued the draw that Ireland’s Herculean efforts deserved. After that, he could give no more and departed the scene, in visible discomfort.
On the flip side, Wales lost a key figure in Dan Biggar early in the game, while the excellent Alun Wyn-Jones also appeared to me to be carrying an injury from the mid point of the opening half.
Given Biggar was already gone at that stage, Wyn-Jones continued to the bitter end. His importance to Wales was highlighted by the fact that, despite that knock, Warren Gatland withdrew Luke Charteris from the second row when introducing Bradley Davies off the bench in the second-half.
It said everything about the bravery and attitude of both sides that, with the match clock in injury-time, neither was prepared to accept the draw. I often speak of the emotional energy required to win big games, and both teams brought that to this cracking contest, even if Ireland were out of the blocks quicker in that respect.
All the talk of the injuries that had impacted on selection put Ireland on notice that they had to carry the game to Wales from the outset, which they did. The biggest challenge heading to Paris this Saturday is how quickly their reserves of physical and emotional energy can be replenished.
Even Warren Gatland accepted, with some disappointment, that “emotionally, Ireland were probably a little bit better than Wales in those first 20 minutes”. No coincidence that was the period Ireland raced into a sizeable lead.
Immediately after the game, Joe Schmidt hinted that changes would have to be made — possibly as many as three or four — for Paris due to injury but also to add some fresh energy to the mix. As always, France are a basket case at this level and last Saturday’s opening salvo under new head coach Guy Noves proved more of the same.
At times, the French team of old appeared as if it was finally going to reemerge from the shackles that stifled all attempts at fluid rugby under Phillipe Saint-Andre. From an attacking perspective, there was good structure with two lines, one flat and one deep, to attract the attention of the Italian defenders.
Conscious of the threat posed by Sevens star Virimi Vakatawa on the wing, France’s number one priority appeared to be to get the ball to him as early and often as was possible and with good reason. He looks sensational and Andrew Trimble, who made two crucial, try-saving, tackles last Sunday, will have his hands full once again against him.
Defensively, however, France were all over the place and if they display the same attitude in that key element of the game against Ireland, they will be punished. Their lack of urgency without the ball was striking and forced Noves, in a typically frank French way, into an admission that “we did not play fast enough. Our players aged between 20-29 were actually 35 so we will have to talk about this.”
Unless the French address this issue next weekend they will, once again, be disputing the bottom half of the table with Scotland and Italy where they spent the last four seasons, finishing 4th, 4th, 6th, and 4th under Saint-Andre. French rugby should be capable of much more than that. Maybe they will deliver on Saturday but to do so will require much attention to their defensive organisation this week in training.
If France fail to show improvement in that area, then this year’s championship will be a straight shoot-out between Wales, England, and Ireland. Therefore the next three weeks are crucial for Joe Schmidt. We got a first glimpse of what the English will bring to the table under Eddie Jones in their well merited win over Scotland and, by and large, first impressions were quite positive. Never afraid to say what he thinks, Jones came out immediately after that win in Edinburgh and declared he has already told his players they must go to Rome and give Italy a good hiding.
Good man Eddie, no beating around the bush there, or any attempt at delivering false platitudes to the opposition. That is what makes him such an interesting character to follow. He will always shoot straight from the hip where his predecessor, Stuart Lancaster, was always conscious of minding his Ps and Qs.
Eddie doesn’t give a rashers and will attempt to imbue his English side with a similar brashness. As first outings go, I thought they were impressive against a Scottish side who went into the contest with a lot of confidence only to display the same old brittleness of yore.
The twin axis of Owen Farrell and George Ford worked quite well, even if Ford is still struggling to find the form that made him such an influential character for England in last season’s championship.
The frightening thing about England is they have a number of good young players coming through and Jones might just prove the one to not only get the best out of them, but also get the key selections right. While the vast majority of their World Cup squad are still in situ, I expect to see some new faces and a more expansive style emerge between now and when they complete their season with a three-test tour of Australia next June. The big question is, will they be travelling down under as Six Nations champions?
