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Six Nations: After two rounds, who's worth your money?

Ireland put an end to England's unbeaten streak in the Six Nations. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
Roar Guru
20th February, 2018
26

480 minutes after the start of the biggest annual rugby tournament, and we’re not much closer to knowing who will win it as we pause for a gap weekend.

Let’s try to make head and tail of it.

Ireland
These guys started off with a post-siren win over France, getting the job done 15-13 over the Frenchmen in Paris.

Against a team that has struggled of late, (winning only seven games in the last three tournaments) Ireland should’ve put France away or at least have done better than requiring an 83rd-minute drop kick to win.

Against the perennial strugglers Italy – the last place in three of the last four tournaments – Ireland romped out to a 56-19 win. While this might sneak the Irish into first place (over England by two differential points), the men in green could’ve and possibly should’ve won by a bigger margin at home.

The loss and ruling out of Robbie Henshaw with a shoulder injury, picked up when scoring, doesn’t put them in a good position heading into the next round.

Grade: B+

England
Eddie Jones’s boys started the Six Nations off with a bang, quickly diminishing at Twickenham with only six points between them and a massive upset at home against Wales.

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Had Scott William’s early slide gone differently, or even Gareth Anscombe’s incorrect TMO encounter, the Welsh Dragons might well have won and England might be one from two with only a win over Italy to show for it.

However, France and Italy are easier opponents then Italy and Wales, but 60 minutes without scoring will hurt.

Grade: A-

Wales
The men in crimson started off with a huge win over Scotland that frankly no-one saw coming.

34-7 is always a pretty convincing scoreline, and Saturday was no different, with a four tries to one win over the team that was in the top five midway through last year.

Against England at Twickenham was always going to be tough, to say the least, and 12-6 won’t be too displeasing for Warren Gatland.

Considering that England were held to no score in the last hour of the game, Wales should well have scored at least once.

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They won’t blame themselves for that though, with an admittedly wrong TMO decision.

Grade: B

Scotland
Who would’ve thought that a team who in 2017 were so dominant over teams such as Wales would lose by 27 in the opening game of the year?

Gregor Townsend won’t be too happy with either of the first pair of games, with a big loss and then a hard-fought win over France.

WP Nel and Zander Fagerson will return against England however, with Fraser Brown set to make a comeback in Round 4.

Finn Russell for Scotland

(Photo: AFP)

Grade: B-

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France
Where do you start?

Two losses, neither of them big ones, but with England, Wales and Italy to go, new coach Jacques Brunel shouldn’t be too happy.

Neither opponent was miles above, but with two of the more winnable games passed, France look destined for another middle-of-the-road finish at best.

Ireland shouldn’t have won against Guy Noves’ team – nor should’ve Scotland really.

Grade: C

Italy
“This is a monumental moment in our game. For the first time ever, a non-western European side will play in the Six Nations. Presenting…Georgia!”

Just kidding, that’ll never happen. Lucky for Italy it won’t because the Georgians have shown they can compete with top tier sides.

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Being asked to train against England is the ultimate compliment, and competing for 78 minutes against Wales in Cardiff shows the team is growing game-by-game.

Maybe I’m off track.

Let’s be honest, the Italians have struggled, and while a pair of 20 minute try-scoring bursts towards the ends of games have shown flair and skill, it’ll never compare with Soso Matiashvili’s incredible effort versus Canada.

Grade: D+.

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