SIX NATIONS AWARDS
OUR SIX NATIONS AWARDS
QUOTE OF THE TOURNAMENT
JAMES HASKELL on his Irish Lions friend Tadhg Furlong: ‘He was a great hugger. I shared a room with him and I was obviously looking a bit tired so he asked if I wanted a hug. I said, “Come on then” and it was just a really nice hug. Then I put my clothes back on…’
SHOT IN A MILLION
IRELAND wouldn’t have claimed a Grand Slam without Johnny Sexton’s miracle drop goal in Paris. The visitors ground their way through 41 phases to set up the chance, but it was too far out. It had to be too far out. It wasn’t too far out. It was a wonder strike by Sexton.
STORM IN A TEACUP
WHEN Scotland and England left the Murrayfield pitch at the same time after their warm-ups, Ryan Wilson tried to unsettle George Ford with some verbals. Owen Farrell dashed over to intervene, there was a push and an elbow. That was it. Move on.
MINDLESS MORONS #1
EDDIE JONES caught a train to Manchester the day after his England side lost at Murrayfield. Big mistake. The Australian was jostled and abused by drunken Scottish fans at the station.
FALSE START
MATTHIEU JALIBERT was acclaimed before the championship as the next sensation of European rugby, the man to do justice to the France No 10 shirt. But the rookie Bordeaux fly-half was smashed out of the tournament in half an hour by Ireland.
CLASS IN ADVERSITY
ITALY full back Matteo Minozzi emerged as a glorious attacking talent, despite playing in an Azzurri team forever on the back foot. He excelled as a quick, nimble, astute runner with a highlights-reel try against Wales that needed a supreme finish.
LAST-MINUTE SCARE
FRANCE had given body and soul against England in Paris and, with 80 minutes up, all Lionel Beauxis had to do was hoof the ball into the stand. He missed and condemned his side to another minute of defensive panic before the whistle went.
MINDLESS MORONS #2
THE Wales fan who threw a pint of beer into the Principality Stadium press box, wrecked a journalist’s laptop and heightened alarm about the Cardiff arena becoming a feral place on international matchdays.
POSITIVE INTERACTION
TEST rugby may be ultra intense, but there are still examples of post- match bonding between rivals. After France v Italy, Mathieu Bastareaud and Sebastian Negri — who had controversially clashed on club duty weeks earlier — swapped shirts and tributes.
OFFICIAL HOWLER #1
KIWI Glenn Newman achieved infamy with his shocking TMO decision to deny Gareth Anscombe combe a try for Wales at Twickenham. It wasn’t just the Welsh who thought he was wrong, because Newman was also publicly admonished by World Rugby.
WARMEST WELCOME
TEST rugby is becoming an increasingly sterile, corporate environment, but there are exceptions. When England’s coach arrived at Murrayfield, they were met by bagpipes and boos by Scottish fans. It was a vivid spectacle.
POETRY IN MOTION
FINN RUSSELL was red hot against England, the Scotland Prize man: this wonder drop goal by Johnny Sexton (above with Triple Crown trophy) set up Ireland’s Grand Slam No 10 producing one act of artistry which defied belief. His daring, looping pass to send Huw Jones clear in the build-up to Scotland’s second try was one of the greatest in living memory.
OFFICIAL HOWLER #2
POOR Marius van Westhuizen was the victim of a shambolic oversight which led to Irish protests. The South African official refereed an England training session last week, as agreed by World Rugby, so lost his appointment as an assistant referee for England v Ireland.
UN PRIZE FOR DIPLOMACY
EDDIE JONES rattled a few cages as usual. First, the England head coach called out Wales flyhalf Rhys Patchell and captain Alun Wyn Jones, then he blasted the media for criticising Mike Brown, before dropping his full back. Then video emerged of Jones mocking the Irish and Wales.
SPOILING THE SHOW #1
THE atmosphere at matches could be improved if spectators were left to generate their own noise. Too many of the arenas are now awash with endless, revolving slogans and hashtag marketing messages, fan-cam pictures and ill-timed music.
OLD-SCHOOL MAYHEM
FRANCE’s night out in Edinburgh was reminiscent of a bygone era. First, there were rumours of a brawl, then police grounded their flight to question players amid claims of sexual assault, before ruling no crime had been committed. Coach Jacques Brunel dropped nine players, some of whom tried to argue that facial wounds were caused by falling into bedside table lamps.
CRUELLEST LANDMARK
SERGIO PARISSE is one of the finest forwards in this or any era, so it seems wrong that the talismanic Italian No 8 reached a century of Test defeats when Conor O’Shea’s side were narrowly beaten by Scotland in Rome on Saturday.
SPOILING THE SHOW #2
TOURNAMENT officials should step up efforts — urgently — to ensure greater support from the train networks and improvement of station access and facilities. Cardiff suffers most from this issue, but Twickenham isn’t much better. These logistical factors are important.
DUBIOUS PAINT JOB
THE RFU arranged for Twickenham’s line-markings to be turned blue for the clash with Ireland due to snow on Saturday. But England also asked for the in-goal areas to be deeper. The up-shot was that Jacob Stockdale had more room to chase a kick and score against them.