What. A. Weekend. In what was set to be the weekend of close matches, all of the games were extremely exciting. Now that its Monday morning, RBP would like to remind you of what happened, just in case you state of mind was not as conducive to remembering what was going on.
Scotland vs Italy (19-22):
It looks like Italy will avoid the wooden spoon this year with a great win over Scotland. We wondered if Scotland would be able to function with the same explosiveness without their Glasgow flyhalf Finn Russell, and while its hard to fault all that much of the result to Peter Horne, who played very well, you have to wonder if Russell would have changed the final outcome.
While Italy have a lot of positives to take from the performance, they did not improve on a few key areas. Their kicking game is still woeful, and their decision making wasn’t great with ball in hand, as was highlighted by Mark Bennett’s try.
That said Italy dominated possession for huge chunks of the game, and routinely threatened the Scottish line, but critically, they dominated Scotland in the scrum. Their forwards were more physical than their Scottish counterparts, and this led to a fair amount of go forward ball. Sergio Parisse was fantastic, and so was young Giovanbattista Venditti. Josh Furno was incredibly active, and Italy have uncovered another promising young center in Enricco Bacchin.
Jonny Gray continues to impress for Scotland, and the Scottish backs are getting better and better all the time, but they need to improve in the set-pieces or they will struggle to compete at the level that the 6 Nations requires. Tommy Seymour looked very dangerous whenever he had the ball, and the return of Finn Russell should see Scotland return to play the way they did in the first two rounds.
France vs Wales (13-20):
Wales have produced their best performance of the tournament. They looked nothing like the side that forgot that the points in the second half counted, and they looked much better than the resurgent side that beat Scotland at Murrayfield. France do look better, and they seemed to play with a bit more flair, but really nothing seemed to change.
Up front, Gethin Jenkins held his own against the powerful French pack, an area of concern for many, especially seeing the way that he struggled against Dan Cole, and for certain patches of time, Geoff Cross as well. Scott Baldwin didn’t do much wrong, stepping in for Richard Hibbard, who put in a good shift off the bench. Samson Lee continues to grow, and was a continual pain in Eddy Ben Arous’ neck.
Romain Taofifenua didn’t have the same impact that he had coming off the bench, and the French second rows were consistently overshadowed by the tireless work of Luke Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones. Impressively, neither team lost any of their own line outs, despite the fact that Taofifenua and Charteris have squid like arms.
Bernard Le Roux and Thierry Dusautoir pushed really hard in the scrums, but they were slow coming off, which often gave Jamie Roberts a free shot at Camille Lopez. This meant that Wales not only made huge territorial gains, but also had relatively low pressure on their kickers when trying to clear their 22. Wales will be hoping that Sam Warburton’s injury won’t be too bad, but Justin Tipuric is solid backup. Dan Lydiate had perhaps the highlight of the game, with his superb pass to Dan Biggar for the decisive try.
Wales dominated the battle of the halfbacks. Rhys Webb may not have been as dangerous as he has been in weeks past, but he controlled the game, and Dan Biggar’s kicking was sublime. Biggar is very solid in defence, and makes good decisions when he has the ball, in addition to being phenomenal when going for high balls. Morgan Parra looked very good, but he is now out for the remainder of the tournament, seeing how France have struggled, and remembering how they played against Ireland last year, I wonder if Remi Tales should get another shot.
Wesley Fofana was more active this week, but I would have like to have seen how Remi Lamerat would have gotten on in the 13 shirt. Bastareaud is an incredible athlete, but he is a one trick pony (or more accurately a one trick cow, albeit a cow GTI), and his simplicity is often his downfall. Jamie Roberts was back to his best, and Jonathan Davies kicked well and put others in space. If Wales are to get back into the running for the championship, Roberts will need to continue to put his side on the front foot.
George North celebrated his 50th cap in style. He didn’t score a try, but played a key role in Biggar’s try, and threatened the French every time he got the ball. Liam Williams put in another solid shift on the wing, and Alex Cuthbert will have a lot to do if he wants to get back into the side in time for the world cup. Sofiane Guitoune really impressed me and I actually think he looked more dangerous than his counterpart Yoann Huget. Brice Dulin looked dangerous, and I have no doubt that he should keep his spot over Scott Spedding. Leigh Halfpenny’s kicking was precise again, and Wales will be hard to beat if he keeps that up.
France have a lot of questions to answer, and very little time to answer them. Wales on the other hand, have rebounded supremely well, but still have a lot of improvements to make.
Ireland vs England (19-9):
A match that felt closer than it was. That’s not to say that it was a blowout, it was a tight finish, but Ireland controlled the game so effectively that they snuffed out nearly all of England’s opportunities.
I thought that England were going to control the scrum throughout the game, and while there were times that England won that area, Ireland were able to negate that advantage for most of the game. Mike Ross and Jack McGrath did a phenomenal job of beating Dan Cole and Joe Marler, who became very frustrated at their inability to gain an edge. Rory Best was back to his top form, pestering the English at the breakdown and making a lot of tackles.
Devin Toner’s crucial lineout steal with England set up on the Irish 5 meter mark ended what was probably England’s best scoring chance, apart from their disallowed try in the waning moments of the match. Nick Easter was excellent with ball in hand when he came off the bench, and he kept England in the game late.
England’s back row was not able to have the same impact that it has had in the opening weeks of the tournament. Apart from Billy Vunipola’s break, Haskell, Robshaw, and Vunipola were unusually quiet. Jordi Murphy was fantastic stepping in for Jamie Heaslip, and when Sean O’Brien went down from his concussion, Tommy O’Donnell put in another excellent shift, making 10 tackles and missing none.
Its not often that you see a flyhalf send a physical message to his opposite number, but that’s exactly what Jonathan Sexton did. Sexton’s big hit on Ford, coupled with Sexton and Murray peppering Ford with kicks, kept Ford from getting into his stride for much of the game. Sexton and Murray were pinpoint accurate with their kicking, and this meant that England never really got into their stride.
Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph have been the talk of the town since the 6 Nations began, and rightly so, as they have been the most explosive center pairing. However, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne completely shut them down. Henshaw is rapidly growing into a serious weapon for Ireland, and he kept his side going forward whenever he got the ball. He took his try beautifully, an incredible leaping take, and could have had a double if he hadn’t dropped a potential intercept.
The back three for both teams was one of the highlights. Both chased kicks tirelessly, and both looked dangerous when they had the ball. Kearney’s missed drop goal would have been incredible, although he is making a habit of almost nailing those dropkicks. Jack Nowell proved that he was worth dropping Jonny May. He was very active and showed off his pace, finding space time and time again.
Both of these sides are fantastic teams, and I have no doubt that England will bounce back, but Ireland simply strangled England out of the game. England conceded a total of 23 turnovers to Ireland’s 9, and you simply cannot expect to win a match when you get turned over that often.
Team of the Weekend:
1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Rory Best
3. Mike Ross
4. Luke Charteris
5. Josh Furno
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Tommy O’Donnell
8. Sergio Parisse
9. Conor Murray
10. Jonathan Sexton
11. Jack Nowell
12. Robbie Henshaw
13. Mark Bennett
14. George North
15. Rob Kearney