It’s that time of year again: a shameful percentage of your weekend spent in front of the television, ROG-Sexton debates which never reach any conclusion, and fantasy teams that make little sense (how does a prop earn points?). Yes, it’s Six Nations opening weekend, and what a weekend it was. Ireland felt the near-fatal loss of several injured first-team players, France illuminated the Stade de France with victory over Scotland, and England plundered the Millennium Stadium on the tournament’s first ever Friday opening fixture.
Now let’s get a bit more into it.
England v Wales
First up was the much-hyped clash between England and Wales. Touted by a few quietly confident and not-so-vocal pundits, you got the sense that Martin Johnson’s side’s Championship hopes were dependent on whatever confidence they could glean from their first game. Win and they would be in with a genuine shout; lose and it was back to the drawing board for a team perpetually burdened by its failure to come anywhere near replicating the dizzy heights of 2003.
Ben Youngs
In the end, they took a big step in overcoming the forces of expectation to produce a strong but by no means flawless performance in a 29-19 win.
The skeleton of Johnson’s plan was sound: Chris Ashton’s brace was supplemented by performances from fellow key players Ben Foden and Toby Flood, allowing England to establish a lead before the vigour of Jonny Wilkinson, Simon Shaw, Joe Worsely and Mike Tindall provided the know-how to get home safely.
But Johnson, never the game’s most optimistic character on a rare good day, will certainly look to address discipline and handling errors which may well have cost his side victory on another day.
For Wales, things look grim; like Ireland, a team that once picked itself is reluctantly entering a period of transition and the former stars are entering the final stages of their respective careers. Warren Gatland would have seen this home clash as a great opportunity to gain momentum in an increasingly-competitive championship frequently verbalising his belief that England were vulnerable in certain areas and even going as far as to name individual players he perceived as potential weak-links.
What came to pass after a period of mildly amusing thrash-talking was in fact the exposure of his own side’s vulnerabilities: a yard off the pace of a not-so-young opposition, lacking the forward thrust to keep up the pressure through the phases and unable to cope with a number of injuries not even sufficient enough to count as a crisis. Gatland better enjoy home-cooking, because that is just about the only aspect of a certain trip to New Zealand in September that he will enjoy.
Ireland v Italy
Next up was Ireland taking on Italy in Rome. Ireland always tend to struggle against the Italians but despite the loss of too many important players to bother listing, Irish fans looked forward to this encounter with optimism.
Hindsight is crystal-clear, but boy were they wrong.
The narrow 13-11 Irish victory can be viewed in two ways: a sign that Italian rugby is continuing to find its feet amongst the big boys in Europe, or as an indication that Irish rugby is in no better shape than it was for the indifferent Autumn International Series.
Keith Earls
There were certainly elements of both in it. Sergio Parisse, who missed the entire 2010 installment due to injury, was at his brilliant best, a towering figure of sheer athleticism who is up there with the best in the business. Front-row dynamo Martin Castrogiovanni embodied everything that is lacking across the board in Irish rugby in his technical and physical scrumming prowess. These two are the major players in what is fast becoming a side capable of, as we saw yesterday, giving the big boys an almighty shock. Now all they need is the know-how to see a game through which I am sure will come in time.
That is not to say that Ireland should be happy with the nature of their win. Despite positive signs, the Italians are still – at the moment at least – the weakest side in the competition and will be duly torn apart by fellow title-challengers England and France.
To speak highly of a new-found Italian maturity and lament a host of injuries would be to make excuses. Time after time, the back division struggled to keep hold of the ball for more than three phases and line-breaks were few and far between. The forwards had their traditional muscle but lacked the dynamism usually offered by the absent Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris.
Thankfully, up popped Ronan O’ Gara to do what he does best and save the blushes. There are unlikely to be many calls for ROG to start ahead of Johnny Sexton as a result of his late drop-goal, but it is assuring to know that Declan Kidney can turn to an experienced player of O’ Gara’s quality in the latter stages of a tight encounter.
Although he may have scored the winning points, O’ Gara was not the match-winner here. In fact, I do not wish to be part of any publication which in any way plays down the all-conquering brilliance of the God-among-us that is Brian O’ Driscoll.
Once again, BOD was at his superlative best and, just as it looked like Keith Earls’ innate ability to spill the ball under zero defensive pressure would cost us one chance too many, up popped the veteran captain to work his way over the line.
While this may sound irritatingly repetitive and cliché, among other disparaging terms, BOD’s importance to Irish rugby cannot be underestimated. He manages the workload of both a world-class centre and a tireless flanker, all with a keen sense of how to win a game and all at the ripe old age of 32. As a now unemployed sexist might once have said, ‘take a bow, son’.
France v Scotland
Which leaves us with just the one more game to discuss, the outcome of which we all feared. That nightmarish, unimaginable fear that we all placed at the back of our minds has been realised.
The French are looking good.
France's Maxime Medard, left, scores a try despite the tackle by Scotland's Nikki Walker.
In fairness, such is the enigma of French rugby that they may well implode upon kick-off in Dublin next week, but it is hard to look beyond just how comprehensively they dismantled Scotland in yesterday’s 34-21 victory.
If there is one thing history has taught is, it is that the French rarely ever surrender anything. Thus it was refreshing to see stubborn coach Marc Lievremont finally oust Damien Traille from out-half and give Francois Trinh-Duc a shot in the number ten shirt. If France are to win the Six Nations and (who knows?) the World Cup, he is the man they need pulling the metaphorical strings.
His pass to create the third try – through his legs in a more slick manner than Carlos Spencer himself – epitomised his suitability for the necessarily creative role of the French number ten. I say necessarily creative because with Parra and Yachvilli charged with place-kicking duties and French sides typically opting for an expansive running game, the main responsibility of whoever plays at ten is to call the attacking shots and release his men into space.
And boy did he release his man into space. Terrifyingly quick finish from Harinordoquy, too.
But it was not just Trinh-Duc who impressed, with the whole team pulling together to produce a slick performance and lacking the rustiness which plagued the other five sides. When a French sports team perform coherently as a unit and look happy to be on the same pitch as each other, you can place a fairly safe bet that you’re in trouble.
Credit to Scotland, however, for crossing the line three times in Paris. Tries come as freely to Scottish rugby teams as modesty does to José Mourinho, so three tries away to the reigning Grand Slam champions is a definite sign of improvement under head coach Andy Robinson.
I think that Robinson’s side will come off the back of this encounter with a lot of confidence and that it will serve them well throughout the rest of the Championship. They are most certainly in with a chance of finishing ahead of Wales and Italy but a third-place finish might just be beyond their reach.
All in all, it was a great weekend, one which saw the consumption of far too many nachos and cider, if such a thing is possible. With one round down it’s advantage France, with next weekend’s encounter with Ireland in Dublin likely to prove decisive in both sides’ title hopes.
Jack Leahy and Matthew Rye
