The first round of the 2012 Six Nations tournament has been completed, with Wales, France and England (particularly the first two rugby nations) claiming impressive victories.
While England are gamely trying to put together a new team from last year’s shambolic squad, Wales and France are consolidating on their strong performances in the 2011 RWC and setting themselves up for the next tournament in 2015.
Both England and Wales won away from their home grounds.
This is an important consideration when trying to work out how impressive their victories were. It has to be said, though, that England’s task was easier than that of Wales.
Poor old Scotland has not scored a try at Murrayfield in a Six Nations tournament for four years.
And sticking with the Scotland-England match for a bit longer, England never really looked like scoring a try from a series of plays or from a back movement. Their sole try, which came right after half-time, was the result of a sort of Scottish own goal.
Scotland’s Australian born and bred number 10, Dan Parks, had a kick charged down. The ball bounced kindly for Charlie Hodgson. This fluke try was enough for England to scrape home.
England blooded 8 uncapped players, which provides an explanation, in part at least, for some of the incoherency and lack of clarity and skill in much of the team’s play.
Scotland, on the other hand, squandered chance after chance.
As Paul Ackford noted in his UK Daily Telegraph report: “Yes, Scotland were awful, unable for the umpteenth time to fashion a try from a bucket load of chances.”
The atmosphere at Murrayfield for the traditional fixture between the ‘auld’ enemies for the Calcutta Cup was marvellous. There was an edge about the play, sharpened by historical atrocities and territorial resonances, that used to be part of England-Scotland football matches when the Hampden Park roar could be heard almost around the British Isles.
The fact that this Six Nations match has replaced the traditional football contest gave the contest a ferocity which, for those of us who like our rugby played passionately, provided a certain pleasure. But the actual skill levels, physical and mental, shown by players in both teams was below the usual standard expected of Test sides.
As the late John Reason, the acerbic rugby writer for the UK Telegraph, used to say, especially when decrying a performance by the All Blacks or Wallabies (two teams he despised for some reason): “This was a match played between two poor teams playing poorly.”
Still, England won.
And given the state of rugby in England, this victory has to be put in the category of “a win is a win is a win.”
I would say, though, that England’s back play won’t improve until someone coaching in England begins to understand that the number 10 must stand flat, especially when turnovers are achieved. For decades, England five-eights, with only a couple of exceptions, have stood deep, rather like a gridiron kicker, and then booted the ball from this safe haven.
Someone should rush Geoff Mould or Mark Ella across to England to teach them the theory and practice of the flat backline.
Meanwhile, terrific attackers, potentially, like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden, hardly get their hands on the ball to run with it. But under the way rugby is being played and refereed in 2011, with a tolerance given (and rightly so) to sides that run the ball, England can’t hope to be a dominant team in the world again, as they were btween 2000 and 2003, until they can get a backline to work as a cohesive and dangerous unit.
This brings us to Wales and France, two teams that do employ a flattish backline.
As a consequence, their backlines are often lethal.
France scored four tries against Italy and did enough under their new coach Philipe Saint-Andre to suggest that a fifth Six Nations crown in the last 11 years is on the cards.
Wales, despite the fact that they had to kick a penalty to win with seconds remaining in their match, were even more impressive.
Warren Gatland is probably the best coach in Europe right now. He has got the pack doing what a pack should do and that is challenging the rucks and mauls and securing clean and quick ball for the backline.
The only real weakness in the forwards is the lineouts, where a number of Welsh throws were won by Ireland.
But the real strength of the side is an exciting, young and punishing backline.
There is great size in this backline, especially in the massive frame of 19 year-old George North, who played like a young Jonah Lomu literally smashing through tacklers. North frequently made breaks, two of them in the phases leading up to the last try scored by Wales.
He also showed a flick pass on one occasion to put a runner through a gap that SBW himself would have been proud of.
As a schoolboy, I had the pleasure of watching Bleddyn Williams playing for the British Lions, with his Cardiff and Wales team-mate Dr Jack Matthews. Both these players were chunky battering-ram runners, with plenty of pace.
It is the highest praise that can be made of a centre, especially a Welsh centre, to say, as I do about Davies, that he reminds me of these Welsh greats.
One further point should be made about the opening rounds of the 2012 Six Nations tournament: all the games were intense, often exciting and despite the inept play on occasions (especially from Italy and Scotland), the ball was in play for long periods of time, the driving play was tough and uncompromising, and from time to time (especially from Wales and France) there was some wonderful running play from the outside backs.
Rugby played with this spirit and skill and intelligently refereed (and, yes, Wayne Barnes in the Ireland-Wales fixture was a stand-out) is a prince of games.
Bring on the second round next week.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Well I certainly agree there are more important things in life than discussing the value of dolly-birds as rugby presenters, so I'll concede the last word to you. That looks like the best match indeed, and so long as the match is reasonably close it should be a triumph for rugby. It will be interesting to see the atmosphere in the Stadio Olimpico, though I do worry about Italy's backs. And if you ever happen to watch Italian TV coverage of the Six Nations as I did for some time, you'll see dolly-birds presenting who are not only empty-headed and ignorant of rugby, but genuinely good-looking too!
HardcorePrawn
Guest
I can't believe that I'm getting into a slanging match defending Gabby Logan, but here goes: She actually never worked for Sky, she was only ever on ITV and BBC (& possibly Channel 5 as well for a brief time if memory serves). I'll admit that Sky have a reputation for employing female presenters that are easy on the eye too, but even they usually have a certain degree of knowledge regarding their respective sports. Besides, if Gabby didn't know anything about rugby you would think that her husband might take her to one side and quietly 'have a word' about her career choices wouldn't you? How about we agree to disagree and move on to the more important matters: this weekend's fixtures? I'm particularly looking forward to the Italy-England game: Italy growing in confidence, against a re-built, not-quite-gelled-yet England, a capacity crowd at the Stadio Olimpico, Italy's worst weather for decades to possibly provide a leveller between the two sides... and maybe the BBC will call upon the talents of Laura Esposto to cover the game too... ;)
Marcel Proust
Guest
You may rate Dan Parks, but he is gone. Perhaps he has retired because of the massive slaughtering he got in the papers these last few days.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
She actually made her name presenting soccer on sky, which is where she belongs and should have stayed: she's the page three girl type for that kind of thing.
HardcorePrawn
Guest
'The Sound of Music': I think Ten showed that last weekend, besides, it has its fans. Nein would probably show a film no-one had heard of instead, perhaps an Australian or NZ-made flop which would contribute to their quota of local content.
HardcorePrawn
Guest
"... a non-rugby presenter who in any case was only a presenter in the first place on the questionable basis of her looks, which have long vanished anyway." *KPM lights blue touch paper, before retiring to a safe distance.*
King of the Gorgonites
Roar Guru
"Parks retires" - a week to late champ.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
It's not really about having played or not, it's that Inverdale is a professional rugby presenter and knows an enormous amount about the sport, and Logan is a shipped-in Bimbo who probably knows plenty about football and could present football matches reasonably, but just reads off pre-prepared material when presenting rugby. I watch rugby matches and the discussions in the programmes out of interest in the sport so I would like to see a rugby expert like Inverdale presenting rugby matches, not a non-rugby presenter who in any case was only a presenter in the first place on the questionable basis of her looks, which have long vanished anyway. So she neither satisfies the demands of a rugby presenter who is an expert on rugby, nor even high grade eye candy, which was supposedly why she was a presenter of any sport in the first place. But it seems that you all have fallen for her so I wish you well and commend the manly bravery of defending her.
HardcorePrawn
Guest
KPM, What make you so sure that Gabby Logan knows nothing about rugby? She always seems pretty well-informed to me. And, as far as I know, John Inverdale, the BBC's main rugby presenter, never played either, do you think that he must have a better ingrained idea of how to play the sport because he's a bloke?
Marcel Proust
Guest
Well, KPM, I probably am more "desperate" than you. I rather like Gabby Logan, though she perhaps isn't as nice as she used to be: in the late 90s, she was the best thing on British TV. Better, even that Prime Minister's Question Time. I am 14 years older than 15. Maybe that's a bad thing. One current criticism of BBC Radio ( and, I suppose, TV ) is that there are too few women. So I am all in favour of her being there.
Ben S
Roar Guru
'That may all be true, but she actually doesnt know anything about rugby, only football, if that, or indeed, if anything except pouting.' We can now add sexism to your long list of talents. Brilliant.
Johnno
Guest
the scots have found a great new No 8. Number 8. He is apparently from Zimbabwe born too like our own Dave Pocock. Dan Parkes i still rate, but the other 5.8 whow as injured in world cup is better, I still can't believe why the wallabies ignored dan parkes, for Giteau or Quade cooper , or Berrick barnes.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
That may all be true, but she actually doesnt know anything about rugby, only football, if that, or indeed, if anything except pouting. Besides surely it wouldn't be impossible to get a real rugby presenter? Besides there are other ways to get closer to women beyond watching them presenting rugby matches.
Ben S
Roar Guru
I think the jury is still out on Gatland, VC. Let's not forget how staggeringly average they were in the previous 6N. Wales have only looked good as an attacking unit when Priestland came to the fore, and we know how that happened...
Dublin Dave
Guest
That's it kingplaymaker. You've gone too far. Pistols or swords?
Dublin Dave
Guest
His dad. JR, now gone to the great press box in the sky, was an irascible chauvinistic supercilious git who knew how to wind up those he considered to be from lesser nations (everybody outside of England and South Africa) and did so repeatedly and successfully. His attitudes were nostalgia for empire and the English class system and sympathy for the blatant naked racism of apartheid. He had also copped on quite early to the reliable hack's trick of blaming the referee for the outcome of nearly every match and just when you thought it was safe to credit a rumbling forward drive or an incisive back line move for a stirring winning try, old JR would point out that it would never have happened were it not for the referee's idiosyncratic interpretation of the laws regarding binding in the maul or blocking in the lineout. That said, he was a funny and lucid writer and once you filtered out all the xenophobia and class snobbery (he wrote for the Daily Telegraph after all) he was one of the more knowledgeable and enlightening journalists both on the history of the game and its finer points. Here's one example from his book about the 1980 Lions tour to South Africa. Decrying the fact that in the 1970s, the Lions had managed to achieve first parity and then superiority in forward play over the southern hemisphere teams but at the expense of neglecting their own back play he wrote: " For the last 10 years, British rugby has been obsessed with forward play, and it has now become the most efficient in the world...but it is now time to recognise that as the end of the see-saw holding the forwards has soared into the skies, the end with the backs sitting on it has gone down with such a bang that they have all fallen off." He was right that time, which only goes to show that he could occasionally provoke thought among his audience, as well as an urgent desire to catch up with him and plant one on his nose.
Doug
Guest
"2 and a half men" that's a bit popular. Don't you mean something that no one is interested in like a re-run of "The Sound of Music" just to ram home how much they hate rugby.
Number 8
Guest
In defence of the Scots (although I don't know why I am....it was the most frustrating experience watching them butcher try after try) they have scored a Six Nations try at Murrayfield in the last four years - against Italy (twice in 2011 and 2009) and Wales (2009). The stat should be they haven't scored a try against England at Murrayfield since 2004 - and in that time have beaten England twice without scoring a try! That's a long time between whiskies for the poor old Scots!
King of the Gorgonites
Roar Guru
Barnes was very quick to give short arms penalties- which i liked. I agree that kick should have time limits and the clock should be stopped. kicks are often taken because teams are fatigued. if the clock is stop and all of a suddent teams are actually playing for 10-15 mins longer, watch the holes open up as players become fatigued. will add to the entertainment factor.
HardcorePrawn
Guest
The competition did start as just the 'Home Nations', back in the 1880s, before France joined in 1910 (and Italy only joined in 2000). I reckon that 4 could make quite a decent comp for the southern hemisphere.