Scotlands Richie Gray Photo from: http://bit.ly/eeWplJ
RBS Six Nations
Friday , February 4
Wales 19 - 26 England
Saturday , February 5
Italy 11 - 13 Ireland
France 34 - 21 Scotland
Wales 19 - 26 England
The tournament kicked off on Friday night, with Wales hoping to extend their 8 year unbeaten home run against England, but was not to be as England came out on top in a match played in slippery conditions. Both teams had been rejigged due to injuries and it showed, with lots of fumbles and mistakes. Wales defended stoutly, players like lock Bradley Davis stood up to be counted, but they looked pretty pedestrian in attack, apart from one moment of magic when they opened up the English defense to score. Their discipline wasn’t great either, and they seemed to kick away a lot of possession, not well followed up, straight into the grateful hands of try machines Ashton and Fodden, which wasn't their smartest tactic.
England looked a little rusty, their scrum didn’t dominate as expected, but you can see the confidence in the team, and the leaps and bounds that players like Flood and Palmer have made. The common consensus seems to be that neither side played well, but I think that’s unfair, both teams defended well, and wouldn’t allow the other team the time or space to attack. England could well be the team to beat this year, and Wales may look back and think they did well to lose by one try.
Italy 11 - 13 Ireland
Ireland’s prosecco didn’t bubble much on Saturday as the boys in green stumbled past a determined Italian side. Injuries meant that this was far from Ireland’s first choice team, which made for unfamiliar combinations, lots of mistakes, and a lack of composure too as they butchered a few golden opportunities to score and put the game beyond doubt. Ireland put their fans through the wringer, 5 minutes go, down a man, losing 10-11. I suspect they have already played their get out jail card for this tournament, with Ronan O’Gara’s last gasp drop goal saving Ireland’s bacon and sparing their blushes. I didn’t really see them losing though. Sean O’Brien had a decent 6 Nations debut, the hand of BOD scored a typical try, and that was about it really on the plus side. The front row struggled, D’Arcy had a shocker, their discipline could have cost them the match but all in all, a win is a win. Let’s hope we get Heaslip, Ferris and Bowe back soon.
Italy for their part were tough, defended uncompromisingly, and showed more flair in attack than ever before. Their front row is going to cause nightmares and backache for any team in the world now, their line out is slick and teams going to Rome looking for an easy win is going to be sorely (and I repeat emphasise sorely) disappointed.
France 34 - 21 Scotland
First of all we had Flower of Scotland and Le Marsellaise back to back setting exactly the right tone of passion and determination for the match. Then within a few minutes the corks were popping as the French brought out their champagne rugby, dazzling skill and pace, threatening to score at will. Their scrum was absolutely merciless, and the Scottish scrum must have felt like they were in a cement mixer. But the Scots hung in there and then went in for a try of their own, and the game ebbed and flowed like that for the rest of the match, extravagant effective rugby from the French, and doughty determination from the Scots keeping them in the match. The Scottish scrum showed a marked improvement in the second half and whatever was said to them at half time (‘We have your wives and children’) certainly seemed to work. If they French sort out their defense they will be just about unstoppable., and if the Scots keep that never say die attitude going they are going to cause more than one major headache this year.
Style watch – take a bow Richie Gray, whose flowing locks make him a stand out player, when he plays well or fluffs it. (drops the ball etc)
The no-look pass by Trinh-Duc that set up Haridnordiquy's try was the play of the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThat whole move was sublime
ReplyDelete