French covidiots, Rees lightning and comical refereeing
BEST GAME
There were plenty of decent contests and it is almost a dead heat between two. england v France was a thunderous, pulsating classic, as was France v Wales on Saturday. The latter probably just about edges it, given the magnitude of the stakes and the significance of the last-play climax.
TOP TRY
AGAIN, lots to choose from — in contrast to the barren wasteland of the Autumn nations Cup. Louis rees-Zammit’s solo effort against Scotland stood out but the team masterpiece was France’s strike move off a long line- out which Damian Penaud finished off at Twickenham.
ODDEST EXPERIENCE
LEAVING the Principality Stadium after Wales thumped england and wandering through a deserted Cardiff city centre was a parallel universe activity. in any other circumstances, there would have been raucous, merry mayhem. This rammed home the utterly bizarre backdrop to Covid-era sport.
PANTOMIME VILLAINS
FRANCE head coach Fabien galthie and a number of his players endangered the whole tournament by failing to adhere to Covid protocols and breaching the team bubble. The fact members of the squad threatened a health emergency to eat waffles in rome was outrageous.
DODGY COVER-UP
EVEN more outrageous was what happened next. Despite their pre-Six nations pomposity, the French government colluded with the rugby federation to sweep a large mess under the carpet and effectively declare ‘nothing to see here’. really? They were lucky to avoid being evicted from the tournament.
WELCOME CHANGE
IT’S a small thing but Wayne Pivac sprang a surprise by opting to name his team early — on a Tuesday — for Wales’s match against italy. it was good to see a coach demonstrating his confidence and lack of paranoia. here’s hoping it catches on.
ILLOGICAL OUTBURST
IT WAS all going so well in the england camp last week — then eddie Jones decided to stir the pot. Perhaps spooked by a sense of contentment in the ranks after their win over France, he let rip about the media filling his players’ heads with rat poison. Bonkers.
COMICAL PERFORMANCE
There was excellent refereeing, aside from the controversies involving Pascal gauzere when Wales beat england. But the stand-out officiating performance came from romain Poite in charge of Scotland v ireland. Falls, collisions, hilarious lectures, a broken whistle, the lot.
EMERGING LIONS
WARREN GATLAND did the rounds and has some new names to consider. ireland’s Tadhg Beirne has gone from nowhere to Test contention, Wales pair Wyn Jones and rees-Zammit have timed their run too and hamish Watson shone even when Scotland struggled.
QUALITY PUNDITS
BOTH BBC AND ITV provided some high- class coverage and viewers were well-informed by former players who have become pundits. Sam Warburton is outstanding, as are David
Flatman and Benjamin Kayser — a Frenchman speaking eloquently in english — to name just a few.
TYPICAL SHAMBLES
RUGBY does not do itself any favours sometimes, when it comes to governance. There was always a danger this championship could be disrupted by Covid, it happened and the officials realised they had no plan for rescheduling or player release. So they winged it — as always.
FALSE HOPE
ITALY took the lead against england with an outstanding try cleverly conjured by their rookie playmakers. Fly- half Paolo garbisi showed good touches and vision, but he couldn’t lift the Azzurri to compete with the rest. Their plight is harming the integrity of the whole event. SPORTS AGENDA BACK IN 2 WEEKS