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?