Having reviewed the Six Nations campaigns of Ireland, England and France in part 1, today I will run the rule over Wales, Italy and Scotland in terms of their performance in the tournament and their prospects in the lead up to the 2015 World Cup.
Wales
A tough tournament for the reigning champions. A slow start against a fired-up Italian side was not altogether unexpected, especially as they came out on top in the end, being thoroughly outplayed by Ireland was more of a surprise.
Warren Gatland’s men seemed to have no answer to the aggressive Irish defence, or their use of the rolling maul and kicking game in attack.
After a severe rebuke from the coach they came back well to trounce a dire French outfit, but suffered a similar fate against England as they did against Ireland. Only English indiscipline and the metronomic Leigh Halfpenny kept the game as close as the scoreboard showed.
The Welsh Jekyll and Hyde season finished with a one-sided mauling of 14-man Scotland.
Is it possible to read anything into this? Perhaps the Lions tour took more out of the players than they will admit, or perhaps, more worryingly, England and Ireland have sussed out how to combat Warrenball and their lack of alternative strategy was exposed.
Looking forward, there is a lot to be positive about – in the back row and the back line they are blessed with countless world class performers (Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Halfpenny, George North, Jon Davies, Jamie Roberts et al), but they do have some areas of serious concern.
Both Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones are approaching the end of their careers, will they make it to the World Cup – and if they do, will they be worth their place? Jones, in particular, has seen his influence on the game tail off since the new scrum laws have been introduced.
10 is also a worry. Part of the reason the Lions were successful in Australia using Gatland’s tactics was the influence of Irishman Jonny Sexton at 10. His all-round game provided more options in attack and gave defences more to worry about than either Rhys Priestland or Dan Biggar do for Wales.
Perhaps Biggar will develop his game, but I would be tempted to give James Hook a go – hugely gifted and with the solidarity of Roberts and Davies outside, he could be the missing link.
Scotland
It was always going to be a tough season for Scotland, being an interim phase before Vern Cotter takes on the coaching duties, but Scott Johnson hardly made it any easier for fans with his scatter-gun approach to selections and dropping his captain midway through.
The Scottish set-up is clearly hampered by structural issues and let’s hope Johnson can fix that area up better in his capacity as Scotland’s Director of Rugby than he managed as coach of the national side.
Their performances away in Ireland and Wales and at home to England, where had the pitch been anywhere near international standard they may have shipped 60, were abysmal.
The win in Italy was deserved, if only for showing the mettle to come back at the death and the quality of the drop goal, and they will feel that they let one slip against France.
Vern Cotter has some talent to work with, but the game in Scotland needs work from the roots, and that will take time.
Looking forward, nobody is expecting the Scots to be a threat at the World Cup, and why would they?
In the front five there is room for optimism and Dave Denton, when selected, had a strong tournament with ball in hand. Behind the scrum, Matt Scott and Alex Dunbar could be a good partnership in years to come.
One major priority for Vern Cotter must be to work out how best to harness the talent of Stuart Hogg – head and shoulders above his backline colleagues in terms of game-breaking ability, but wasted if he doesn’t get his hands on the ball (or gets sent off).
Tough times for Scotland, but there is talent to work with and a good coach coming in to try his hand.
Italy
A marked change in style has made the Italians a much better side to watch, with more to their attacking game, and a move away from their forward-dominated approach of the past. Arguably however, this has been detrimental to their defence as they shipped tries left right and centre in this Six Nations.
An impressive start against Wales and a game against Scotland they will feel they ought to have won does not hide the gulf in class exposed in their games against Ireland and England.
Looking forward, Italy have, as usual, a lot to think about. They have some impressive youngsters in Joshua Furno upfront and Tommaso Allan, Michele Campagnaro, Leonardo Sarto and Angelo Esposito out wide, but with Sergio Parisse off the boil and stalwarts such as Martin Castrogiovanni approaching the end of their careers, they need to a few more cogs in the forward machine.
If they can get Parisse back to his best and play without fear they shouldn’t be taken lightly at the World Cup, but they lack depth and will need to develop the young talent carefully if they are going to move away from the cellar any time soon.
Check back soon for my team of the tournament and some awards.
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