The North bit back in Japan – but every side have a point to prove
This Six Nations could be the most volatile in years, after a World Cup which threw up far more questions than answers, writes Gavin Mairs
Four years ago, in the wake of the 2015 World Cup, northern-hemisphere rugby appeared to be in a state of disarray. England, as tournament hosts, had endured the humiliation of failing to qualify from the pool stage, while Ireland and France were heavily beaten by Argentina and New Zealand respectively in the quarter-finals. Scotland and Wales were more competitive in their games against Australia and South Africa, but also exited in the last-eight stage.
If the Rugby Football Union were widely praised for hosting the greatest tournament yet, Europe were nowhere to be seen as the southern hemisphere dominated its business end.
That desperation was a potent force, as England, with most to prove from their World Cup campaign, immediately eased their pain with a Grand Slam in Eddie Jones’s first campaign as head coach in 2016. They would not lose another game until defeat in the final match of their Six Nations campaign the following year, against Ireland.
Four years on, the dynamic ahead of this Six Nations is much-changed, and it has the potential to make the championship the most unpredictable in years.
Since 2004, every Six Nations campaign immediately following a World Cup has ended with a team winning the Grand Slam: France in 2004, Wales in 2008 and 2012, and then England four years ago.
The experience of the northernhemisphere sides at the World Cup in Japan, however, would seem to suggest there is little guarantee of a similar outcome this year.
This time England find themselves in an emotional no-man’s land. Their World Cup campaign was a hugely positive one but still ended in the searing disappointment of the World Cup final defeat by South Africa. Jones is still in place, but currently only with a contract to midway through this four-year World Cup cycle. In 2016, he could inspire the players with the carrot of a mission to win the World Cup in Japan and the stick of making amends for their pool-stage exit a few months earlier. Not now.
England are also coming to terms with the aftermath of Saracens’ salary-cap controversy and attempting to eliminate any friction within the squad.
Jones has already sought to reinvigorate his players and fire their ambition again, by stating his grandiose goal of producing “the greatest team the world has ever seen”. It is a smart move because it is a subjective definition that does not necessarily require waiting four more years for another crack at the World Cup.
He has also infused some new faces into the squad to ensure there is a sense of evolution, and the new voices in his coaching team, the former England Sevens coach Simon Amor, and the Springboks’ scrum coach Matt Proudfoot, will also freshen up their approach.
Of all the Six Nations sides, England have the most continuity and are bolstered with the experience and confidence of reaching a World Cup final.
“I think you have to use it as a positive,” said Anthony Watson, a veteran of that defeat by the Springboks. “I don’t know what other option there is.
“Obviously there is disappointment, but you can’t let that get to you. What’s it going to do apart from make you play worse? It doesn’t make sense to me. I want to take what I can from it and move forward.”
Of all the tournament’s teams, England have the most continuity and are bolstered by experience
It is a line endorsed by John Mitchell, England’s assistant coach. “There’s a lot more to come from us,” Mitchell said. “We’re looking for little gains and a side that can cope with anything chucked at it. The game is demanding a lot of change very quickly, so it’s about our ability to adapt to those situations quickly. The sport is getting quicker and we’re very much in a defence cycle and that’s presenting attack with a really big challenge of finding ways to open up defences.”
Yet the reality is, until they run out at the Stade de France tomorrow, we just do not know whether Jones’s World Cup makeover has been effective. And England’s hopes of going through the championship unbeaten are also lengthened by the fact that this time it is Scotland and Ireland who have returned from the World Cup with a burning desire to right the wrongs of their disappointing campaign in Japan, which both included surprise defeats by the host nation.
Ireland, much like England four years ago, have a new head coach in Andy Farrell, who one senses will harness the best of the Joe Schmidt regime but infuse it by developing Ireland’s phase attack and allowing his players more control. There is huge excitement in Ireland, too, about the impact No 8 debutant Caelan Doris will have on the championship, with seasoned Irish critics likening him to Kieran Read.
Wales, too, are building from a position of strength after reaching the semi-finals in Japan, but under the new direction of Wayne Pivac following the depature of Warren Gatland. Jones has already joked about how Pivac will feel walking through the newlyinstalled ‘Gatland Gate’ at the Principality Stadium but Pivac does not seem daunted and will look to develop Wales’s attacking game in a similar way that he did at the Scarlets.
And finally there is France. The most enigmatic side of the Six Nations would have reached the World Cup semi-finals had Sebastien Vahaamahina not been sent off against Wales. Yet their rebuilding process has been even more extreme than it was for England under Jones four years ago.
They have not won the championship since their Grand Slam in 2010, but there is great expectation ahead of this campaign, with new head coach Fabien Galthie turning to France’s Under-20s side, who have just won back-to-back world championships.
“Every Six Nations game is different,” said Jones, now in charge of his fifth Six Nations campaign. “There’s a different narrative around each game. It’s a young French team that’s won the Under 20s and is building towards the World Cup [on home soil] in 2023.
“There are a couple of ways you can go. When I took over the England team in 2016 I kept experienced players and brought young players in. Test match rugby requires experience and France have decided not to take experience in, they’ve gone with youth. They might be wrong, they might be right.”
And there it is – the beauty of this championship.