England go back to back
Eddie Jones’ tenure as England coach goes from strength to strength. Their demolition job of the best Scotland side we have seen in years, coupled with Ireland’s loss to Wales, means they have secured back to back titles. They also have the opportunity to make it successive Grand Slams and break the world record for consecutive victories by a tier one nation all their own, should they beat Ireland next week. I’m sure the Irish will have something to say in the matter, as they did against New Zealand in the autumn, but the way England are going, it is difficult to bet against them.
The game against the Scots itself should have been a tensely fought Six Nations decider. After all, this was the team that had lit up the opening weeks of the tournament, rightfully putting their name in the mix (I don’t think anyone would have grumbled if they’d won this game and gone on to win the tournament), going up against the great escape artists, who somehow kept picking up wins, even when they were struggling.
It turned out to be anything but. Vern Cotter’s side looked nervous and caught in the headlights from the word go. Fraser Brown was yellow carded within a couple of minutes and England were 20-0 ahead barely after the first chorus of Swing Low had fizzled out. Slow starters? Not with Jonathan Joseph tearing up all in front of him. His two tries in that time gave the visitors little hope. Gordon Reid crashed over as Scotland showed what they could do when they have a sniff of the line, but JJ was terrorising them again within minutes, gliding through and feeding Anthony Watson. 30-7 at half-time.
The tartan army was in tatters, with bodies strewn everywhere; both literally (injury rates that a Game of Thrones episode would be proud of) and metaphorically (defensively a shambles). Joseph completed his hat-trick soon after the interval to put any ideas of a comeback to bed. Scotland did occasionally show glimpses of their threat, but it was all too infrequently. Huw Jones grabbed a couple, but England scored more, as they hopped, skipped and jumped to a 61-21 demolition job.
North guides Welsh to win
The inconsistency of these two sides has been plain to see this championship. Moments of champagne-guzzling rugby, mixed with dining from the dog bowl. Sometimes in the same game. Ireland were the frustrating outfit this time round, seeing their title challenge go up in smoke, whereas some much-maligned Welshmen came to the fore.
George North was particularly insatiable, scoring a sublime effort to help his side manufacture an 8-6 lead at the interval. He was at it again soon after, extending the lead out to nine points, but Ireland were relentless in their pursuit of victory. They knocked and hammered at the line, and should have scored, but a moment of Robbie Henshaw madness saw a try wiped off, which would have changed the game. Jamie Roberts scored a late five-pointer to sew up the victory, 22-9.
Arguably, the two sides and their players seem to have been a bit distracted by potential Lions places, which may explain their inability to achieve consistency. They have frequently been afraid of making mistakes, or, at the other end, overplaying things. If they had pulled together a bit more and just concentrated on the task at hand, it could have been a very different tournament for both of these teams.
Second halves continue to elude Italy
One thing we have learned about the Azzurri this Six Nations, is that they do not like the length of a rugby match. Give them forty, even fifty minutes and they will give anyone a game, but past that…
And so it proved once again against France, a storming start and a threat to the French line, they were up within minutes with Sergio Parisse scoring. Gael Fickou replied for the French with a stunner, but the scores were an evenly poised 16-11 the way of France at half time. Then they went to pot. They fell off 55 tackles and conceded three more tries, scoring a consolation at the end to lose out 40-18.
England and Ireland set for Women’s decider
England smashed Scotland 64-0 at the Twickenham Stoop, keeping up their perfect record. They ran in twelve tries in total, which put the visitors’ recent win into perspective and brought them crashing back to earth. Ireland also won a close 12-7 encounter against Wales, keeping their own winning tournament in tact and setting up a Grand Slam decided next week. The match was also particularly poignant as it was the first since the death of Welsh player Elli Norkett. France also beat Italy 28-5.
England also win U20s
England won the U20s tournament as they recorded a bonus-point 33-5 victory over Scotland. Wales hosted Ireland in a high-scoring 41-27 match in favour of the home side. France just edged out a battling Italy outfit 18-13.
Spain Stun Germany
In a week the governing body formalised it’s request to the Six Nations, the Rugby Europe Championship took another twist as Spain grabbed what could be a vital away win in Germany to better their chances of RWC qualification. They rocked their hosts 32-15, leapfrogging them into third. Georgia won yet again, this time against arch-rivals Russia in front of a sellout crowd in Tbilisi 28-14. Belgium were left stranded at the bottom, and realistically will have to playoff to secure their place in the division. Despite another encouraging performance, they lost 33-17 to Romania, who host Georgia next week in a clash of the heavyweights.
Exeter and Tigers set up Anglo-Welsh showdown
Chiefs will face off against Tigers in the Anglo-Welsh cup final after seeing off Harlequins and Saracens respectively in the semis. Chiefs are in the showpiece for the third consecutive season and will be confident of another victory given the ease in which they turned over the Londoners 24-7. Leicester, meanwhile, will be grateful to the tournament for providing opportunity of silverware in what has been a tough season that looks like bearing no fruit elsewhere. They were impressive in their 32-10 visit to Allianz Park.
Super Rugby
Los Jaguares shocked the Lions with a 36-24 win. Highlanders also surprised Blues 16-12, whilst Chiefs edged Hurricanes 26-18. Crusaders had to battle to beat Reds 22-20 and Cheetahs were also made to work for their 38-31 win over Sunwolves. Brumbies held off Force 25-17, Sharks comfortably beat Waratahs 37-14 and Stormers walloped Kings 41-10.
More Super Rugby coverage coming up tomorrow.
Top 14
La Rochelle smashed Racing in Paris 38-15. Brive edged Toulouse 21-19, whilst Lyon also were the winners of a close game against Stade Francais 35-33. Toulon put a massive 82-14 scoreline on Bayonne and Bordeaux also won big, 46-14 against Grenoble. Montpellier won away at Clermont, 28-19 and Pau beat Castres 18-12.
Try of the weekend
He has been a shadow of the world-beater we are used to seeing after having been slated for under-performing recently, but how George North responded with two tries against Ireland. His first was an absolute cracker; superbly well finished after a pinpoint pass from Rhys Webb to Leigh Halfpenny, who in turn fed the winger to crash through the covering defence.
Hero of the weekend
There were many heroes this weekend, but I don’t think anybody will argue with Kay Wilson standing out from the rest. Scoring seven tries in a Six Nations game, the Red Rose winger set a new record. Phenomenal.
Villain of the weekend
Scotland were undone by a number of things at the weekend, but none more so than their midfield defence. It has seemed solid all championship, but was wholly responsible for the embarrassment of the scoreline against England.
Discussion Points
– It is difficult to say without seeing them against New Zealand, but how close are England to being the best team in the world?
– What do Ireland need to do to stop England’s Grand Slam bid?
– How will the final table look?
– Which U20s stars have impressed?
By Joe Large
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
J don’t think you can argue with a 60 point drubbing and Scotland were indeed a shambles especially in mid field.Having a player sin binned after two minutes losing Start Hogg early on plus other players early on in game did not help their cause! I think also Scotland also have a huge mental barrier to overcome. England however could only play what was in front of them and they did exactly that and with aplomb! Against a better organised defence I think 3 of the trys, although well executed, would have been avoided.To theit credit Scotland never gave up and Scored 3 trys themselves. I personally don’t think England are close to All Black’s however they will continue to improve and we all look forward to the titanic clash when it happens. Ireland were very poor against Wales where Sam Warburton put himself on the flight to New Zealand.The Welsh defence was immense and forced Ireland into many turnover balls!Wales well deserved Win.Now looking forward to the huge clash in Dublin this week end!
It is difficult to say without seeing them against New Zealand, but how close are England to being the best team in the world?
Closer than anyone else but still 2nd best to nz
– What do Ireland need to do to stop England’s Grand Slam bid?
Refind the passion that they delivered in the autumn. They have looked a bit lacklustre so far this 6n
– How will the final table look?
Mens: Eng, Sco, Wal, Ire, Fra, Ita
Womens: Eng, Ire, Fra, Wal, Sco, Ita
U20’s: Eng, Wal, Ire, Fra, Sco, Ita
– Which U20s stars have impressed?
Zach Mercer
Also im glad that someone else has picked up on Scotlands defensive frailties in midfield. As much as dumbar and jones offer going forwards they have been weak defensively all tournament and credit to the England management for identifying that and devising a game plan to exploit it. Also credit to the players for great execution on that front too
JJ said after the match, “I just run the lines and the holes were there.” An element of modesty, but the defence wasn’t up to much, and Ireland will be a different prospect.
Zinzan Brookes comments annoyed me about the validity of England’s streak because they didn’t/haven’t played the All Blacks but if you are going to be pernickety about things you could argue that they never played England in their streak or beat/played two other tier one nations in Ireland and Scotland coupled with the fact they beat more tier two nations than England.
Another way of looking at it is that England’s is more impressive as Eddie Jones had to start fresh with England (Uruguay aside) whereas the New Zealand team has been in place for years.
My point is that both records are impressive in their own rights as you can only beat whats in front of you and you can always pick fault enough or a argument to suit if you look for it.
NZ are still on another level, I don’t think many of the English would make an AB starting XV. But in terms of achievement I see England’s run as a greater one than the ABs run. We were 9th in the rankings at the start of the run, so for the team ranked 9th to play all of the better ranked teams (bar one) and go 18 unbeaten is an incredible achievement.
I saw on another thread somewhere, NZ fan stating England only got to 18 by beating Tier one teams that are arguably the worst they have been in years, my response is / was, those are the same teams NZ were beating also!
There seems to be an awful lot of whinging from Scots about the ref. Mainly due to him not liking Scottish tactics at the breakdown and for not giving Hughes a card.
I thought he was relatively decent if a bit weak for not giving a red to Brown.
What were other people’s thoughts?
I’d agree Pablito, I am waiting for the ‘Amount of Scottish players playing out of position due to injury’ excuses due to the scoreline.
I think the yellow was fair, marginally, but was disgusted when Brown protested that Daly ‘Landed on his back’ oh that’s ok then despite him going beyond the horizontal, the ref also showed strength in turning the penalty over when John Barclay got a bit overenthusiastic.
I am noticing to many players being verbose towards the referees too, something that needs sorting.
Don’t think we are making to many excuses re injuries as the holes appeared in mid field not affected by injuries.Poor defending full stop I do agree that our game is becoming much like soccer with all the mouthing of the referee.
I thought the ref was actually pretty good – I don’t think Brown should have got a red (right on the line but just kept on the side of a yellow for me as shoulder/back touched the ground first) and Hughes definitely shouldn’t have got a card (yes a late tackle but not high and wrapped the arms). He reffed the breakdown pretty flawlessly for me – I can think of one contentious decision that Scotland were unlucky on (I think it was Hamish Watson who I thought had managed to steal one but was pinged). The rest were correct – the big difference was the ref was calling to players when it was a ruck, when to release, when it was a maul or a tackle etc and England listened but Scotland didn’t. Itoje was excellent at this – would have his hands all over it, but when the ref called ‘ruck’ he was off the ball in a flash.
Oh and yes – the ref turning the penalty around against Barclay was excellent to see. Hopefully cut out the increasing levels of back chat. This is not just because it went against Scotland. Regardless of which team do it, I hate it.
I approve of him reversing the penalty, but it wasn’t exactly one-sided hamdbaggery, and he did seem to focus more on Scotland than England. I thought his performance was indicative of the pressure he was under, and if one team is losing heavily it’s natural to assume that they’re more likely to be in the wrong. Such is life.
Ah Cam on this thread too with you ‘Not making excuses but making excuses’ shtick.
A reason isn’t the same as an excuse. Thanks for the devotion, though. Warms the cockles.
No an excuse from an opinion, not this first time you’ve had your cockles warmed by another man and I fear not the last.
I actually did see that it was very one sided, paying particular attention so I didn’t burst a blood vessel at giving silly pens. The Scots were certainly trying to incite a reaction and England didn’t bite
Thought the Hughes penalty was harsh, borderline to being committed and there was an arm wrap. Lucky the TMO called the referee back before he had the chance to give out the yellow card.
Barclay lost the plot during the game, not great when your captain isn’t able to keep his cool.
Yeah i thought he did ok, was it his first 6N match? or was the Fra/Ita ref? I also thought Barnes did a good job (as a Welshman), even with a 10-4 penalty count to Ireland.
It’s all becoming a bit of a mess. Under the laws, Brown was a red card – in reality, i think Yellow is sufficient.
We’re told time and again intent doesn’t come in to it, and yet we have Dallaglio on commentary saying “there was no malice or intent” – maybe it does need to be considered?
The Biggar ‘high tackle’ on Ringrose? i think? in the 2nd half, was an absolute nonsense call but it’s what the referee’s are straining under. I actually thought Ireland got away with a lot of similar tackles to that Biggar one.
One other note from the weekend was something doing the rounds on social media – replacements for HIA’s cannot kick points for goal, and Jackson kicked 3 while Sexton was off – i can only wince at the thought of the apoplectic and hysterical reactions here in Wales, had Wales lost by 3!
Having said all that, i go back to my original point, i thought the refereeing on the whole was decent all weekend.
Although it now looks as if the rule has been recently been changed and the kick was legal.
For the 2 games I watched I thought the standard of refereeing was very good, got the big calls correct. Barnes was very sharp to ping Henshaw for the maul infringement real time without slowing the game down to refer it to the TMO.
My guess is he will get around a 3 week ban to indicate it was an offence worthy of a red because he drove him into the ground once he was above the horizontal. But given it was so early in the game I’m glad we did get 70 minutes of XV vs XV
I thought that Barnes’ best moments was when Sexton got a slight knock to the head from Jonathan Davies. I got the clear impression that the Video Ref was angling for a yellow card, although Barnes made the most sensible decision to just carry on.
Good article as always Joe, feel like the questions posed have been answered, but after reading Guscotts article on BBC Sport today, I was interested to find out your thoughts on this: Do you think any of this current England team would make it into the world cup winners from 2003?
It’s a tough one.
Can’t even think how you’d fit Billy in there. Perhaps Farrell over Tindall but then you’d lose the balance with Greenwood. Josh Lewsey and Brown are close. But Lewsey swings it just for that tackle on Matt Rogers.
Some people might say Mako at loose head but that underestimates what a quality player Woodman was
Perhaps one from Itoje, Kruis, Launchbury and Lawes over Ben Kay. Imagine any of those 4 playing with Johnson…
Perhaps it would be easier toook at the bench!
Cheers Pete.
As Pablito says, it’s very difficult.
I think I’d take one of our current wings over Ben Cohen, perhaps Jack Nowell. Maybe one of Joseph or Farrell instead of Tindall, depending on if we are calling Tindall an inside or outside centre. Billy and Dallaglio are both too good to choose between, and both integral to their respective sides. Perhaps one of the current locks instead of Kay. And probably Mako instead of Woodman, but both very different.
Maybe something like this:
Mako
Thompson
Vickery
Johnson
Itoje
Hill
Back
Dallaglio
Dawson
Wilkinson
Nowell
Farrell
Greenwood
Robinson
Lewsey
The balance is tough though
Scot here to complain about injuries and bad luck.
England tore apart the Scottish midfield, very disappointed with Dunbar and Jones in defense, particularly Dunbar.
However, it’s unfair to say the result would be the same without Seymour and Hogg, they add too much to both attack and defense compared to Price and Weir.
England still would have won comfortably, but I don’t think it would have been by 40 points.