It was a weekend dominated by massive collapses in form. Italy, Scotland and France all looked promising last week, but none turned up this week. Wales were still poor, Ireland should have won and England had no idea how to handle a restart. It’s the so called grand-slam decider at Twickenham in two weeks time, but given the change in performances so far, it could well not be the decisive game of the tournament.
England – Italy
To swan or not to swan, that is the question. Personally I don’t really care, but if (as it seems), it becomes the dominant discussion point, then I would rather it went away. I have mixed feelings about this game. Obviously 8 tries is great and given how strong Italy looked last week, to put them away like that was fantastic. But on the other hand, it was by no means a perfect performance.
The restarts were rubbish. We appear to have a plan of Louis Deacon taking the restart, which makes sense, but there doesn’t seem to be a plan of what to do then. Against France, we’ll be annihilated if we do that again. Similarly, with that much front foot ball, we still lack a clinical edge, often passing the ball left and right, but often not penetrating. That being said, this side is not used to dominating like that, so hopefully the analysis will help them see how much more clinical they can be.
Ashton has been such a great addition to the team. His ability to track the breaks means that he converts opportunities to points. More than that, because of that, players that break are more likely to look for a support runner, because as opposed to last year (in particular against Italy), we got the line breaks, but without any support runners, got no return for them. Now the breaks are starting to mean something and with Youngs and Flood playing as they are, the potential is fantastic.
Still huge uncertainty around the centre partnership – yes Tindall scored a try (from a forward pass) and Hape set one up (off a missed tackle). It’s hard to see Johnson changing it any time soon, but would love to see a Barritt or Clarke come into that position.
Corbisiero was immense given he was on debut, with 30 hours notice against Castrogiovanni. Haskell was good, although I still maintain my doubts. He makes a big play of his size, but rarely demonstrates huge power at internationals. If he started to see himself as a genuine link man between the forwards and backs and thought less about muscular development and more about his mobility, there is chance he could have a genuine place in the squad.
Scotland - Wales
I really don’t think much needs to be written about this awful game. I had high hopes for Scotland after the French game, and being at home, really thought they could and would win the match. God knows what happened, they were simply appalling and didn’t show up. Wales can be grateful for the poor showing to give them a much needed win.
Ireland – France
Not a great game and in some ways a classic role reversal – Ireland made the plays and scored the tries, whilst France quietly kicked points to stay in touch and with one try, just about did it. It was very surprising how little ground the forwards made on the charge and how little quality ball was presented to for the backs.
This should not give any cheer though. We love to talk about the French flair or the fact that they just don’t turn up sometimes (particularly away). Well here was a France doing the great old British trait of winning ugly. If they started matching that ability with its flair, then we should all be petrified.
One final point about the BBC coverage. I wish it would stop trying to make a narrative out of everything. Of course sometimes there are great mini-stories in the context of a match, but if there isn’t one, just focus on the rugby please.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Monday, 7 February 2011
I'm back, it's the 6 Nations
Much like going back to the Farnborough Air Show brought me back to Facebook, the beginning of this year’s Six Nations has brought me back to my blog which has sat dormant for the best part of a year. The year of rugby therefore started on a Friday night, England – Wales in Cardiff and will culminate in New Zealand. Players will tell you they are only thinking about the next game, but there is no doubt that what happens now is connected to the World Cup.
Wales – England
Given it is a World Cup year and the last performance against South Africa, this game was huge. The result didn’t matter, the implications were bigger than just this one game, but one thing was for certain, England absolutely had to win. And win they did, thank God. I thought Wales actually played pretty well and could have taken more out of the game – that itself is a great boon for England. They won away from home against a side that played well and threatened and, as we know, that has been a rare commodity in the 6 Nations of late.
It is very hard to pick out the top players, man of the match went to Flood, which is fair enough, I think. It had to be him or Ashton – no single individual stood out. Woods had a pretty good first go at it and Haskell’s name was barely mentioned – without reviewing the game, I can’t say if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
It seemed to me that the Welsh team had gone in with a strategy of kicking passed our defending backs – I assume their analysis of our rush defence had identified gaps. However, it meant that when they had good opportunities, they were wasted by kicking the ball away. The Welsh forwards were good and on balance would say they overpowered England, particularly through Bradley Davis, which is ironic given the team that we picked. Hartley had one of his most beautifully quiet games, a great repost to the Welsh coaching team.
On balance, it’s a great win, not a great performance. I think we need a better balance in the back row and Hape’s position has to now be under threat. Our midfield balance isn’t right and the way that Hape was passed for the Welsh try was pretty poor – he needs a big performance and has to get back to his offloading best to bring out the best in Ashton, Cueto and Foden.
With the win done, the fixtures really help England. Polish some areas against Italy, put them truly into practice against France, prove it wasn’t just a one off against Scotland and take a 4 win streak to Ireland for victory. Can’t wait.
Italy – Ireland
Oh poor poor Italy. They really did do enough for a victory. Yes Ireland were sloppy and the passing wasn’t great, but that was certainly partly a consequence of the consistent and aggressive defence. Italy looked different in this game – they looked much more like a team that trusted each other and had a semblance of belief that they could win. Maybe in part because of playing in the Celtic league, or just that they had Parisse back in the team – and boy was he good. It’s the mental side that needs improving. Had they secured the kick off from Ireland, they could well have held out for the win. It’s what Clive Woodward used to call T-CUP – Thinking Correctly Under Pressure.
France – Scotland
On the strength of their scrum and counter attack, I think it’s fair to say that France were the team of the weekend. I thought Scotland at times looked pretty good and Ansbro looked a great person to straighten and take contact – mix that better with Max Evans on the wing and they have real strike potential. One thought though, France conceded 3 tries and scored 3 of theirs from turnover ball (plus even the penalty try effectively came from a Scotland line out). Starve the French of turnovers and achieve parity in the scrum, what will France do then?
Wales – England
Given it is a World Cup year and the last performance against South Africa, this game was huge. The result didn’t matter, the implications were bigger than just this one game, but one thing was for certain, England absolutely had to win. And win they did, thank God. I thought Wales actually played pretty well and could have taken more out of the game – that itself is a great boon for England. They won away from home against a side that played well and threatened and, as we know, that has been a rare commodity in the 6 Nations of late.
It is very hard to pick out the top players, man of the match went to Flood, which is fair enough, I think. It had to be him or Ashton – no single individual stood out. Woods had a pretty good first go at it and Haskell’s name was barely mentioned – without reviewing the game, I can’t say if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
It seemed to me that the Welsh team had gone in with a strategy of kicking passed our defending backs – I assume their analysis of our rush defence had identified gaps. However, it meant that when they had good opportunities, they were wasted by kicking the ball away. The Welsh forwards were good and on balance would say they overpowered England, particularly through Bradley Davis, which is ironic given the team that we picked. Hartley had one of his most beautifully quiet games, a great repost to the Welsh coaching team.
On balance, it’s a great win, not a great performance. I think we need a better balance in the back row and Hape’s position has to now be under threat. Our midfield balance isn’t right and the way that Hape was passed for the Welsh try was pretty poor – he needs a big performance and has to get back to his offloading best to bring out the best in Ashton, Cueto and Foden.
With the win done, the fixtures really help England. Polish some areas against Italy, put them truly into practice against France, prove it wasn’t just a one off against Scotland and take a 4 win streak to Ireland for victory. Can’t wait.
Italy – Ireland
Oh poor poor Italy. They really did do enough for a victory. Yes Ireland were sloppy and the passing wasn’t great, but that was certainly partly a consequence of the consistent and aggressive defence. Italy looked different in this game – they looked much more like a team that trusted each other and had a semblance of belief that they could win. Maybe in part because of playing in the Celtic league, or just that they had Parisse back in the team – and boy was he good. It’s the mental side that needs improving. Had they secured the kick off from Ireland, they could well have held out for the win. It’s what Clive Woodward used to call T-CUP – Thinking Correctly Under Pressure.
France – Scotland
On the strength of their scrum and counter attack, I think it’s fair to say that France were the team of the weekend. I thought Scotland at times looked pretty good and Ansbro looked a great person to straighten and take contact – mix that better with Max Evans on the wing and they have real strike potential. One thought though, France conceded 3 tries and scored 3 of theirs from turnover ball (plus even the penalty try effectively came from a Scotland line out). Starve the French of turnovers and achieve parity in the scrum, what will France do then?
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