Sexing up the Six Nations

As the head coaches of the main Six Nations contenders addressed how they were going to bridge the gulf that exists between northern and southern hemisphere rugby it seemed they were speaking with one voice.

Well, almost — Eddie Jones’ Australian drawl is rather different to the clipped Kiwi accents belonging to Warren Gatland, Joe Schmidt and Vern Cotter.

But there was still something amusing in listening to these rugby brains from the southern hemisphere discussing how best to haul in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and even Argentina after the most disastrous of World Cups from a European point of view.

There may be an element of poacher turned gamekeeper in each of those four men, and Gatland, Schmidt and Cotter may all end up as All Blacks coaches one day.

But their views are clear: northern hemisphere teams are constrained by fear and pressure, and our teams are still some way off the standards set by those south of the equator.

Of course, no-one who sat through the latter stages of the World Cup — and in particular the exhilarating final between New Zealand and Australia — would argue that the northern hemisphere sides are anywhere close to the standards being set elsewhere.

This, though, is nothing new. Just one of the eight World Cups has been won by a northern hemisphere side, while on individual scales the statistics are startling.

Ireland and Scotland have never beaten New Zealand, while Wales have not done so since 1953. Wales have won just two of their 30 matches against the southern hemisphere’s big three during Warren Gatland’s tenure, while England won three of 15 under Stuart Lancaster.

In short, we are used to being second best — and the question is how we close the gap.

Well to start with, says Gatland, play without fear — and think for a time about performances rather than results.

“Everyone is desperate to get a result, and it is all about winning rather than the way we play,” explains the Wales head coach.

“Conversely we saw last year, that last weekend when the shackles came off and teams had to go and get points, what we are all capable of doing.

“We saw some brilliant rugby that final weekend. If we were able to produce that on a more consistent basis then we would compete more with the southern hemisphere.”

The weekend Gatland is referring to, of course, is the final day of last year’s Six Nations when the title became a three-way points shoot-out between Wales, Ireland and England. A total of 221 points and 27 tries were scored in the three matches as tactically conservative sides threw caution to the wind.

It showed what these sides are truly capable of, and reignited the debate over bonus points to encourage attacking rugby.

You sense Gatland would not be against that idea; for him, a period where style beats substance would benefit all concerned.

“Maybe long term the best thing for northern hemisphere rugby is to forget about the pressure of winning,” he added. “Sometimes you can have a great game of rugby and one team has to lose. It doesn’t mean that you have had a terrible championship or a terrible campaign. If we can be more positive and play more positive rugby that would have a good impact on the game in the northern hemisphere.”

As simple as it sounds to play positive rugby, that is far from the only issue facing northern hemisphere sides.

Changing the calendar to make rugby is a summer sport is advocated by some, while Steve Hansen, New Zealand’s World Cup winning coach, believes the strength of the domestic leagues hampers the national sides.

“You need to have the same goals and the same vision,” Hansen says.

“There are a lot of foreign players in the Top 14 and that means there are a lot of French players who are not getting the chance to grow and develop.

“You only have to look at the soccer model that rugby up here follows. England haven’t won anything for years, yet they have the best Premier League in the world. Most of the best players are playing in that league, but it doesn’t reflect on the international team.

“I think we have got our model right. We are all on the same page and we want to support international rugby and all head in the same direction.

I am not sure up here, if that’s the case.”

In terms of the Aviva Premiership, there are currently around 280 players available to new head coach Jones — a number that may fall as the salary cap is increased and big-name foreign signings become more commonplace.

There are understandably far fewer available to Schmidt, but it is interesting to hear Jones say he believes we are overstating the gap between the northern hemisphere has to bridge. To him it’s not about the talent available, but rather the mindset they are sent out with.

“At the moment the southern hemisphere teams are maybe three to five per cent better than the northern hemisphere teams,” says Jones, whose Japan side pulled off that stunning win over South Africa in the World Cup.

“That can change in eight weeks. You can turn that around in eight weeks. There are areas of our game that are deficient. We have to make sure we get the skill and knowledge of these areas to improve.

“You are always doing a gap analysis between where the top sides are, and where you are. Then you look at where the game is going, because if you want to be the top team in the world you need to be playing the type of rugby everyone is playing 12 months later.

“You want the rest of the world to be copying you. We have an idea of what those gaps are and where we need to go.”

At present, those gaps would appear to be at the set piece, skills with ball in hand, depth of talent, imagination and in developing homegrown coaches to take charge of our countries. There is no simple solution.

“After the World Cup everyone got quite down on northern hemisphere rugby and said we’re in trouble, that there’s not enough quality — especially with England — but I think that was misplaced,” says England flanker James Haskell.

“There’s a lot of talent, but that’s one thing and getting it to turn into results is another.” Indeed. Six Nations bonus points, home and away Six Nations fixtures, changing the sport to a summer game – all have been considered to counter the hemisphere disparity.

But there is still one area in which we are superior.

“Nothing rivals the Six Nations, not just as a rugby game but an event,” says Gatland.

“What is brilliant about the Six Nations is that the southern hemisphere can’t replicate the amount of away fans. That creates the atmosphere in the stadiums and that’s special.”

So we have the atmosphere, while the southern hemisphere has the rugby. Those involved are confident it can change, but no-one quite seems sure how to make that happen.

The Six Nations will be a wonderful show, and a grand event. But there is a fear that come 2019 the World Cup semi-finals will once again be dominated by antipodean accents lauding it over the north.