Six Nations: Week 1

This year’s Six Nations feels like a fresh start. With three new coaches are in place, and many of the leading names of tournaments gone by (Wilkinson, O’Driscoll, Shane Williams etc) all either injured or retired it gives the opportunity for a new generation to forge their own reputations in the international cycle leading to England 2015. Here’s a round-up of the opening weekend’s action.

France 30 – 12 Italy
The World Cup finalists come into the tournament looking more like a conventional international side and less like the rebellious and fractious group that managed to totally fall out with the coaching staff on their way to the World Cup Final in October. In Philippe Saint-André they have a coach with a proven track record of success and a man who is respected throughout the country as a French legend. This would seem to be the perfect mix – but lest we forget they are French and therefore don’t function rationally when it comes to rugby, they can be inexplicably good or bad on any given day despite their abundance of talent, and that is why we love them. Fortunately for them on Saturday they were very very good. Louis Picamoles at 8 was nothing short of magnificent which, combined with the relentlessly fantastic Thierry Dusautoir, gave the Italians absolutely no chance. The Clermont connection in the backline worked well with Malzieu scoring a wonderful try and Wesley Fofana making a VERY impressive test debut at inside centre. As for Italy, well what is there to say? They have a new coach in Jaques Brunel. But really, nothing ever changes in Italian rugby. The forwards are hairy. They all cry and shout during their fantastic national anthem. Their coaching staff always look bemused whenever the camera pans to them. Sergio Parisse does everything and Castrogiovanni does unspeakable things in the darkness of the scrum. That said they did look to play with a little more zest at the weekend but in truth they never looked like they believed they could win – which means they are targeting England’s arrival to their new home, the 70,000 capacity Olympic Stadium in Rome to pull off another big scalp.

Scotland 6 – 13 England
A Fantastic start to Stuart Lancaster’s reign with his new-look England side is about all that could be taken from Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash because, if we are honest, it was bloody awful stuff. England made a lively start with new Captain Robshaw even managing to lose his shirt during the obligatory early bust-up, but thereafter their line-out started to falter allowing Scotland to dominate possession. Ordinarily that would be a massive problem, but this Scotland team would struggle to score in a Glaswegian brothel and therefore let the English off the hook. There were almost too many missed chances to mention but the best of the lot was Ross Rennie’s ‘open goal’ miss with Blair just begging to be put through under the posts. Heck, it was so bad that the fly-half Dan Parks hasn’t just been dropped, but he’s retired from international rugby. Bloody hell. The timing is strange to say the least but it will now force Robinson’s hand to have to pick more of the Edinburgh side that have scored tries for fun in their run to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. Their trip to Cardiff this week should allow them to play more freely given the style that Wales will bring with them, but it would seem too big an ask for the Scots to go down and get a result. England? Well there were some excellent backs-to-the-wall performances from Barritt, Robshaw and Botha but we really need to see more before any judgement can be passed on this team. Some more possession and a chance to see what can be done in attack will be required in Rome this weekend.

Ireland 21 – 23 Wales
Wow. That was how international rugby should always be. Fast, ferocious, physical and very skilful it even topped their clash at the World Cup that was widely regarded as the game of the tournament. Ireland yet again were unable to translate the dominant performances given by their provinces in Heineken Cup rugby into their green jerseys. Too often they offered the initiative to the Welsh side who accepted it with great energy and intensity. Their accuracy in attach was superb and reminiscent of some of the stuff the All Blacks offer on a regular basis. In George North they have found a truly world-class prospect who was easily the best player on the pitch with a hand in each of Wales three tries. The ease with which he beat Lions test winger Tommy Bowe on the outside in the lead-up to the first try coupled with his magical bump and flick offload to set up the second showed just how much he is capable of, not to mention his own try that he finished with such power. All that said, the game was slightly over shadowed by Bradley Davies’ indiscretion that should so obviously have led to a red card. It’s hard to describe just how bad it was and a suitable ban will hopefully follow. But, Wales will move on and just start to wonder about their chances of a Grand Sl- not yet they say, not yet. Ireland? They have to go to Paris and unfortunately for them one of the few things that you can rely on with the French is that they always beat Ireland in Paris, in fact Ireland really never come close. Two losses on the bounce to follow their World Cup disappointment would be a massive blow to Declan Kidney, but I personally can’t see any other outcome.

Written by Elliott Dodds, grandstand writer