Six Nations in a bubble: How much of this truly approximates to fun?

Life 'on the inside' for the tournament players and management is what you make of it.

LIFE IS GOOD: Ireland's CJ Stander gives the thumbs up as the squad concludes its preparation with a Captain's Run ahead of Sunday's Six Nations opener against Wales in Cardiff. 

It wasn't just on the field where things went awry for the 2005 British and Irish Lions. The party's official documentary popped up on our screens in recent weeks, its sheer awfulness standing shoulder to shoulder with a side that lost all three tests to the All Blacks.

If John Bentley's dry Yorkshire wit and camera work came to personify the cult 1997 DVD when they beat the Boks, it was the dull-as-dishwater snippets explaining medical charts and urine analysis that remain the most stubborn of stains on the '05 knock-off version.

Though eight years younger than the original of the species, the haircuts, the tracksuits and even the footage somehow look older and looking back at it now, through a Covid lense, only adds to the sense of it capturing a very different time and place.

Clive Woodward had his squad limbering up in city centre parks on the days of games. Players indulged in water sports and took helicopter rides. Donncha O'Callaghan passed some time before the first test by trying to prank a travel agent into selling him a one-way ticket to Dublin.

There's an obvious punchline here given the tourists' subsequent demise but even New Zealand in the depths of winter and in the midst of a series disappearing down the plughole looks like fun against the cloistered and sanitised lives being led by teams in this year's Six Nations.

A full-on, intense two-month period at the best of times, there will be no release valve during this championship. The odd night in the pub down the road from the team hotel, or in a restaurant, is now out of bounds. There will be no jumping into the car to see family or friends on a down day.

Add in the 'payoff', which amounts to five games played at empty, emotionless stadia and there is an obvious question to be asked here. Is any of this anything approximating to fun? Or is it just a duty to be endured so that the TV and sponsorship money can be banked?

“Yes, of course it is fun,” said the French captain Charles Ollivon at last week's tournament launch. “It is a source of pleasure and pleasure is the basis of everything. If you didn't experience pleasure there is no point in being here. We share so much as the French team.” 

Fabien Galthié, his head coach, made the point that this half-life is not new. The Autumn Nations Cup provided a dry run, in more than one sense, for this year's championship with 'les Bleus' riding a wave of momentum and youthful promise through to the final in Twickenham.

Winning tends to cure most ills, of course, and no side has made more progress across 2020 than a French side which could and probably should have won both the Six Nations and the pale imitation of a gig that filled the space left by the absence of the southern hemisphere giants.

Yet even Galthié admits that this life isn't easy.

“We coped ably with this period, which was complicated,” he explained. “It is like living in a bubble, which can be heavy for players and staff. It can impact your psychology because living in that closed community can lead to difficulties.” 

Ollivon and Galthié, who engineered a routine 50-10 opening day win in Rome Saturday, made it very clear that they are priviliged to be doing what they love in the middle of this third wave. There is also the argument that ersatz rugby is more fulfilling than no rugby at all.

Johnny Sexton, who pre-empted the lack of access to a barber this next while by shaving his own head, spoke positively of the atmosphere in camp last time out, the importance of a squad's social committee and how life 'on the inside' is what you make of it.

“It's not an excuse,” he said. “You've got to make an effort.” 

Some have already decided not to try. Joe Marler felt that this next eight weeks or so would be better spent with his family and withdrew from England's squad. Italy's Matteo Minozzi pulled out as well, explaining that he was too physically and mentally tired to handle another bubble.

The Wasps back has claimed eleven tries in just 22 appearances for the Azzurri and will be sorely missed but head coach Franco Smith, like Eddie Jones, has signalled his supoort for his player's choice in stepping away and has left the door ajar for a return.

“I absolutely understand the decision,” said the South African who was only in the job a matter of weeks when Covid narrowed the parameters last year and left players and coaches tip-toeing around health and safety protocols.

“It's tough, You have to live in the bubble in this period to really understand what the players are going through. Being in the room alone for some guys is tough, not being able to do any type of dinner or lunch and follow a certain type of menu.

“Your day consists of training, staying in that same environment. A lot of the players appreciate that at a franchise they can at least go home and take something from the fridge whenever they want. There is a lot of small things that normal supporters don't always take into consideration.” 

The virus has already left its mark on an English coaching staff that, John Mitchell aside, was forced into a lengthy period of isolation while Wales have doubled the volume of Covid tests being carried out in their camp for the duration. They also suffered the not inconsiderable inconvenience of having to suspend winger Josh Adams from their first two game after he breached coronavirus protocols by attending a family gathering last weekend.

Threats remain, both within and without, in the form of numbers, deaths and government responses and in the inner workings of squad collectives which will, as usual, see players enter and exit the bubbles due to injuries, form and rest weeks.

If the thoughts of a few months spent in these gilded cages are unappealing then the prospect of it being cut short, like last year, are even worse.