THRILLS & SPILLS
HIGHS AND LOWS OF AN EPIC SIX NATIONS THAT SIMPLY TOOK THE BREATH AWAY
SO that’s another six Nations over and, despite the glaring absence of fans, no one can deny it’s been a thrilling tournament this year.
From Wales emerging from the shadows to win the title — with more than a little help from scotland in Paris — to the near collapse of England under Eddie Jones, there has been no shortage of talking points.
here are my highs and lows from an enthralling few weeks.
BEST GAME
scOtlaNd’s dramatic win in Paris for the first time since 1999 was something special, but it still wasn’t a patch on our first victory over England at twickenham in 38 years. the way the French rallied to beat Wales with a last-minute try capped another epic encounter in a tournament full of great matches.
TOP TRY
duhaN van der Merwe’s score in the corner in the last play of the game in Paris was a magical match-winning moment that scotland fans will never forget. It also deserves to be remembered as the best touchdown of the six Nations.
under massive pressure with the clock in the red, scotland kept their discipline through 19 phases of attacking play before adam hastings threw the vital pass out to Van der Merwe. the big winger still had work to do and cut inside superbly to score. surely one of the finest-ever scotland team tries.
BEST SCOTLAND PERFORMER
scOtlaNd captain stuart hogg ran him a close second but hamish Watson takes that honour. he was magnificent in every game, especially in Friday night’s thriller with France. Nicknamed ‘Pinball’, he bounced defenders out of his way throughout the tournament and was magnificent at the breakdown. he can now be looked on as truly world-class.
BEST PLAYER OVERALL
WatsON was in the mix, as was Welsh winger louis-Rees Zammit and Ireland’s Robbie henshaw, but Wales captain alun Wyn Jones deserves top honour. Before the tournament, he was being written off in some quarters as yesterday’s man. he proved everybody wrong by playing superbly well and finishing the tournament as a six Nations title winner and the clear favourite to captain the British and Irish lions against south africa.
SCOTLAND’S UNSUNG HERO
cENtRE chris harris has been a rock defensively for scotland in the big six Nations games but doesn’t get the credit he deserves. he may not have the attacking flair of fans’ favourite huw Jones but is a far better all-round player. has played himself into contention for the British and Irish lions.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
thE way Eddie Jones’ England went from tournament favourites to also-rans. scotland put them in their place in the first game and they never recovered from that comprehensive beating. Jones was lucky to keep his job after such a dismal display by his team.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
I sOuNd like a broken record here but it has to be the Italians. again. It’s time the six Nations introduced promotion and relegation because they’re bringing nothing to the tournament other than the fact that Rome is a beautiful place for fans to visit every other year.
STANDARD OF REFEREEING
MIxEd to say the least, albeit occasionally that went in scotland’s favour. duhan van der Merwe looked guilty of a double movement before going over for scotland’s first try against France but Wayne Barnes still awarded it. Barnes was right to send off Finn Russell in the same game while scotland can have no complaints when Russell was yellow-carded against England.
ODDEST MOMENT
BEINg able to hear the scotland players’ celebrations at the final whistle after their win at an empty twickenham. there were only 11 scots outside the team bubble allowed inside the home of English rugby for the behindclosed-doors game and this correspondent was privileged to be one of them. For the record, stuart hogg made the loudest celebratory scream at the final whistle, closely followed by david cherry.
BIGGEST MISS
thE fans of course. scotland won three out of their five matches but they lost two by small margins — to Wales and Ireland at home — and you wonder how much influence a packed Bt Murrayfield might have had. Yes, Zander Fagerson’s red card contributed to the defeat against the Welsh and the line-out was an absolute mess against Ireland.
Even so, you get the impression that, with a capacity home crowd roaring them on, scotland could have won both matches and could have been looking at a grand slam.
MOST BLATANT DISREGARD FOR RULES
thE French tried to treat the news that their players headed out for waffles after the game in Rome as one big joke, even though it led to a covid outbreak in their camp. they showed no remorse over a further outbreak that led to their game against scotland being postponed for a month. their blatant disregard of coronavirus rules made scotland’s victory in Paris all the sweeter.
MONEY TALKS
It was shameful that English Premiership Rugby limited refused to release more than five scottish internationals to play against France because they hadn’t received enough compensation. how ridiculous and unfair that the likes of sean Maitland and Jamie Bhatti were forced to stay with their clubs. scotland may have won without them but the English clubs held our national team to ransom. that can’t be allowed to happen again.
SOCIAL MEDIA DISGRACE
ENglaNd prop Ellis genge received death threats on social media after a video of him not clapping Wales off the field emerged. On top of that, the comments aimed on social media towards BBc trackside reporter sonja Mclaughlan for her excellent line of questioning after the Welsh win over England were outrageous.
she revealed she had been left in tears after some of the ‘toxic’ abuse directed her way for her legitimate questioning of Owen Farrell and some of the Welsh senior squad members. the abuse of sportsmen and women and those involved in covering the game is happening far too often and has to be stopped.