Youthful France maturing nicely under Galthie
As half-backs Dupont and Ntamack lead the way, a home World Cup in 2023 looks enticing
It might not be the pinnacle of quality rugby, but one thing remains germane to the Six Nations – it is rarely predictable. Who would have predicted that the form half-backs of this tournament so far would be Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack and that Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton would have one of their poorest games since they pulled on the Ireland shirt so many years ago?
We should start with France because they are still on course for their first Grand Slam for 10 years and the way they have played has been refreshing and entertaining, after many years of drudgery. They are by no means the complete article but Fabien Galthie’s commitment to youth has been rewarded by a team who look like they know where they are going and what they want to do. Lest you say we make too much of this, it has not been the case for too many years.
You can moan about the decisions of officials but the final point is this: if you can win in Cardiff when you play for 15 minutes with 14 men and the penalty count goes against you by almost three to one, you have done well.
Despite Wales’s tenacity and dominance in the second half of the game, the French half-backs limited the damage the hosts could do by astute tactical play. Add to that a new desire for doing the dirty work of tackling and hitting breakdowns and you have something to build on. In fact, without this you can have all the flair you want but it will be of limited use. France now appear to have that base and who knows what is possible in the next four years, with a home World Cup to come?
Assessing England is more problematic because of the nature of their three games so far. They could have won the opening game in Paris but an execrable first-half display gave them too much to do. The Scotland game was so badly affected by the weather that neither side could play much rugby, but they should take credit for scrapping out a crucial win. When it comes to the Ireland game yesterday, they were sharp and tenacious, but the visitors were so poor in all but 10 minutes of the second half that it was never much of a contest.
If you are an Ireland supporter, what should disappoint most is not just the poor execution but the incoherence in much of what your team did, or did not, do. Why leave the first four England line-outs unchallenged? Where were the blocking runners to help their back three when England kicked? Why throw so much ball to the front of the line-out and give England’s defence an easier job of defending the driving maul? Why persist with the deep ball to Bundee Aki when it was delivered on the wrong angle of run and with not enough men outside him to give options?
You could continue, but credit England for an 80-minute performance during which their defensive line speed was exemplary and their physical commitment to any contact got the better of their opponents. It was only in the scrum that Ireland gained even a modicum of success and, by the end of the game, England’s stronger bench had reversed that momentum.
That there was an element of luck about the bounce of the ball for England’s first two tries should be balanced by the fact that both were planned moves and the kicks had to be executed properly.
You can also say that England were denied a penalty try when Jonny May was tackled late and, inexplicably, the officials seemed uninterested in even a cursory review of the incident. This is more puzzling given the desire to review, at length, a harmless wrestling match between the forwards earlier in the game.
Perhaps the right assessment of England so far is that they simply started slowly but with that they probably blew their title chances.
They are not too far from their World Cup form and when all their players are available, they should kick on a couple of gears.
On a less positive note, this Six Nations has featured too many delays due to referees not insisting that teams form both line-outs and scrums in good time. There is no reason why any team should be allowed a committee meeting before either set-piece and given referees have succeeded in hurrying up the scrum-half box-kicking, they need to sort this point out quickly. The same goes for the inclination of every player to comment on every decision.
I understand the officials’ desire to have a working relationship with players, but they must understand who is in charge and the example set by constant back chat.
The officials must understand who is in charge and the example set by player back chat