Weekend two of the Six Nations Championship is over already; where on earth has the time gone? After an opening weekend which was generally meek and thus in-keeping with typical competition etiquette for the first round, the sides certainly brought some life to proceedings this weekend.
ENGLAND 59-13 ITALY
Where to start with this one?
For England, everything came up smelling of roses – no emblem-related pun intended. While the perpetually glum Martin Johnson will play down his side’s performance, he must surely have let slip a brief smile at some stage over his celebratory glass of sparkling water.
Having written in a Six Nations preview for this very publication that England had to opt for Jonny Wilkinson’s reliability at out-half to stand a reasonable chance of taking the championship title, it would now appear that I was wrong, and very wrong at that.
With his superb passing, defensive, kicking, and running abilities orchestrating this huge win, Toby Flood has well and truly made the number ten shirt his own. The sight of Chris Ashton running off his inside shoulder is sure to illuminate Twickenham for years to come, with Wilkinson permanently relegated to the O’ Gara-like role of ‘calm old head’ to come off the bench and see the game home.
England run rampant in Twickenham
Prior to the match, much was made of the inexperience of Johnson’s front-row selection, with Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley and Alex Corbisiero (continuing the proud English tradition of filling sports teams with foreign-born players) having only amassed 36 international caps between them and the Italians traditionally overpowering up front.
With hindsight, all that needs to be said is that any front row that can make the wrecking-ball that is Martin Castrogiovanni look painfully average is good enough for me.
With five paragraphs written on this game and only a minor allusion yet managed, we must now turn to Chris Ashton. With four tries, the Northampton winger equaled the record for tries in a single Championship after only the second round, an impressive achievement in any regard but even more so when you consider that he now shares the record with try-scoring machine Shane Williams.
Ashton’s pace, support play and unstoppable finishing prowess are the qualities of a top-class winger, the likes of which the game is missing since Rupeni Caucaunibuca stopped caring and Bryan Habana went on a long-standing depression in form. He may not have had the most resolute opposition in this hole-filled Italian defense, but his heroics will instill much-needed confidence in the England camp.
As for the celebration – I cannot imagine that Johnson’s camp is a laugh-a-minute affair, so why should he not have a bit of fun when he tears up the opposition?
He will have to share the plaudits with Flood and James Haskell, of course. Haskell’s powerful ball-carrying and deceptive pace gave England even more of an edge up front, and once Tom Croft returns from injury the pair are likely to break defenses, bodies, and hearts alike.
It will be interesting to see what Haskell does career-wise on the back of this performance. The Stade Francais flanker is in danger of becoming excommunicated by England as they prepare to implement their post-World Cup policy of selecting only domestically-based players.
I think any Italians reading this will be grateful for my paucity of mention of anyone in an azzuro shirt. To put it simply, while last week’s battling performance was a step forward for the Italians in terms of competitiveness, yesterday was 10 years worth of steps back and they will need to forget this promptly lest mamma have to stir in her pasta sauce with a wooden spoon once again.
Jack Leahy, Sports Editor
SCOTLAND 6-24 WALES
The Welsh side ended their horrific run of form, with a first victory in eight games against a stubborn Scottish side on Saturday afternoon at Murrayfield. The Scots undoubtedly came into the encounter the stronger after running in three tries but coming up winless against the French, whereas out-of-form doesn’t really do justice to Warren Gatland’s men who hadn’t won a match since last year’s campaign.
The under-fire Welsh coach Warren Gatland received an official backing of confidence from the Welsh Rugby Union midweek, although his future still doesn’t seem concrete. Critics of Gatland’s regime can’t have had their nerves settled before kick-off, as James Hook was preferred to Stephen Jones at out-half, having not played there since 2009.
They needn’t have been nervous. Hook looked very capable at the Welsh number 10 position during the large periods of Welsh dominance, using his vision to bring the likes of Jamie Roberts and Lee Byrne into play. His goal kicking was faultless, something which perhaps Jones lacks. Aside from a few shaky moments in defense, it looked like an inspired decision from Gatland.
Although the game started brightly, it never really produced many moments of inspiration, save the two Welsh tries. Hook fended off Scottish prop Allen Jacobsen and offloaded to Shane Williams for the first, capping off a good start to the game from Wales. Jonathon Davies showed his growing experience as he caught the Scottish defense napping with a well-executed kick ahead. Shane Williams then proceeded to poach his second try of the match.
Throughout the game, the Scottish seemed to dominate possession, but they lacked the cutting-edge potency which leads to try scoring opportunities. Nothing seemed to spawn from the good ball retention of the Scottish pack, and Sean Lamont was the only Scot to make a line break in the entire match. They didn’t manage to score a single point during a period of two-man advantage, where both Bradley Davis and Lee Byrne were sin-binned for foul play.
However, something must be said for the welsh defense which, under the guidance of Shaun Edwards, contained Scotland well. Flankers Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate tackled and rucked tirelessly, with captain Matthew Rees holding together an injury-riddled scrum.
Williams try sets Wales on way to victory
Scotland did their very best to slow the tempo down, a tactic which has been employed well by Andy Robinson against Wales in the past. The game passed at a frustratingly lethargic pace, mostly due to the up-and-under ping pong which seems to have regained its stranglehold in the game. The Welsh three-quarter line never really produced anything from the scraps they had, and their Scottish counterparts never had the belief they could either, despite large quantities of possession.
Where Robinson’s side progress from here must raise doubts in the minds of Scottish fans. That solid performance in France had many people singing their praises, but after a disappointing display at Murrayfield, they remain second from bottom with a tough challenge in the Aviva in two weeks.Williams try sets Wales on way to victory
Wales on the other hands may flourish under the steady hands of James Hook, as the Welsh welcome Italy to the Millennium stadium in the next series of matches. This could prove an opportunity for the Welsh to showcase their attacking talent against an Italian side who didn’t turn up against England.
IRELAND 22-25 FRANCE
The first RBS Six Nations match at the new Aviva Stadium was surely the pick of the weekend’s matches for sheer entertainment value. Although to the Irish rugby fan, 80 minutes of nail-biting, heart-in-your-mouth, edge-of-your-seat nervousness might not be deemed enjoyable. It was, after all the day the French came to town.
The Irish players will surely be disappointed with the result, considering they played the better rugby for the most part. The boys in green outscored Les Bleus three tries to one, but still finished on the wrong side of a 22-25 defeat. Needless penalties plagued the Irish for the majority of the evening, with Morgan Parra slotting 15 points in total to ensure French victory.
Coach Marc Lievremont decided to cast aside tradition and chose the same fly-half for the second week running, as Francois Trihn-Duc was chosen in a backline which, unsurprisingly had not played together before in the Lievremont era. Jamie Heaslip returned to an Irish side which still looked lacking in the experience department outside the scrum.
It was truly a blistering start for the Irish as Fergus McFadden crawled over from 2 yards for his first international try 4 minutes after kick-off. Tomas O’ Leary followed in similar fashion later in the half after brushing aside both Nicolas Mas and Thomas Domingo. Both of these were preceded by quality patterns of play by the Irish three-quarter line.
However for all the patience and maturity of the play leading to the Irish tries, the knockout power the French backline displayed in their single score was just as commendable. Aurelie Rougerie brushed the seemingly non-existent Gordan D’Arcy tackle to offload to Maxime Medard who ran in for a French lead ten minutes after half time.
France continued to control the possession for the majority of the second half, with Dimitri Yachvili and Trinh-Duc now running the show, although they still looked like shadows of their former selves. The French continue to showcase their inability to close a game out, as Jamie Heaslip lept over the line to ensure an interesting finale. However it was not to be for Ireland, as Sean Cronin dropped the ball on the line after a quick break by the Irish three-quarter line.
Maxime Medard scores France's all important try
Although they’ve lost to a poor French side at home, many positives can still be taken out of this game for Ireland. They built on last week performance, with the new-look backline appearing to blossom nicely. The defense was, for the most part, relatively solid and the scrum looked less fragile than normal.
However, Ireland won’t get near the Webb-Ellis trophy if they continue to give away easy penalties. For a team in a transitional period, they seem to be developing quite well under Declan Kidney’s guidance.
The French remain far too inconsistent for them to be considered serious about winning the World Cup anytime soon. They lack direction under Marc Lievremont and the constant reshuffling of the backline won’t get the best out of a group of very talented individuals. Thierry Dusatoir, Imanol Harinordoquy and Morgan Parra remain the standout players which the rest of the team seems to be built around. They may be able to score tries on a whim, but if this French side turns up against the English, then they may well have a much tougher test on their hands.
Matthew Rye, Deputy Sports Editor
