Let’s celebrate a Six Nations with fewer certainties
IT may come down to bonus points, after all. If not for the Six Nations title itself, now odds-on to be scooped up by the allconquering English, then certainly for the minor placings. Fantastic, isn’t it? Remove Italy from the equation — and at least one Roman newspaper has called for their own underperforming nation to be expelled from the championship — and the action so far has been brilliantly frenetic, frantically tight. The average winning margin, without counting Italy’s two resounding losses? Less than five points. Although close contests don’t always equate directly to drama, this year’s tournament is shaping up to be incredibly enjoyable. Of course, it would be nice if England were dragged down into the mud with the rest of us, just to maintain some sense of dramatic tension at the summit. But let’s enjoy what we’ve got. Celebrate the competition too often missing from elite rugby. So, yes, we’re hurting a little bit after yesterday’s defeat in Paris. But we shouldn’t ignore the bigger picture. Our dramatic late win over the Irish, England’s backto-back stunners against France and Wales, they’re all evidence that gaps are being closed, gulfs bridged. It will be hard for the Scots, in particular, to maintain their performances over the course of the Championship. The injury list from yesterday’s war of attrition in Paris alone could knock Vern Cotter’s most ambitious plans for six. If nothing else, however, our current resurgence — their return to respectability, assuming performances don’t drop off — should put a stop to certain of our rivals writing all those highhanded pieces about how the ‘minor nations’ such us Scotland should really be demoted into a secondtier competition. No. We’re here on merit. Here to stay. And proud to be part of a Six Nations with few certainties. Apart from England’s Grand Slam, naturally.