The Six Nations: What have we learned?

1) England Continue to Rise

Wales’ final performance was incredible. The passion, intensity, discipline and sheer will to win blew England out the park, as it would have done to any team in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite that, Wales were not the team everyone was talking about throughout this year’s Six Nations. Destined to win throughout the tournament, it was England who were painfully consistent – the boot of Owen Farrell complimented the captaincy of Chris Robshaw superbly. Aside from the last game, and Chris Ashton’s suspect tackling, England were phenomenal. As a young team, they look to have the leadership, respect and discipline combined with a great deal of talent – a team for the future, for sure. Another year, the Lions’ squad would be littered with England players. This time, their downfall will, again, be the strength in depth of the Welsh.

2) Possession and territory are not enough to win

Following Scotland’s victory against Ireland, I found myself in an argument with a friend on Twitter. He suggested Scotland played “the worst I’ve ever seen”: woeful at the breakdown, rubbish in attack and altogether uninspiring – undeserved of the win. It has become somewhat synonymous to discuss territory and possession with winning in recent times, with the battle of 10s often proving the deciding factor. However, I thought this was harsh: Scotland defended valiantly, disrupted Ireland’s ball and forced mistakes whenever the opposition marched into the 22. Ireland weren’t as clinical as they should have been, but much like Celtic’s great escape against Barcelona, give credit where it’s due. Kelly Brown epitomizes the spirit and performance: his bloodied body was put on the line, with 20 successful tackles. After that game he had 9 more tackles than any other player in the 6 Nations. His side finished the game with 26% territory and 29% possession, but with a 4 point lead. Forget pictures in scorecards, Scott Johnson came out with something better: statistics are like a bikini, they show a lot but not the whole thing. Well said, sir.

3) France have lost the plot

Perhaps the most universally agreed upon of my four talking points: France have been rubbish. In the one game Les Bleus were playing anywhere near usual standard, Philippe Saint-André made a series of changes, including the enigma that is Frederic Michalak, that baffled fans and pundits alike. Why he introduced a flashy all-or-nothing, out of form stand off into a game that required patience, structure and discipline only he’ll know. An even worse decision was to start Mathieu Bastareaud. The rationale behind this move can only have been an attempted out-doing of England in the battle of the outside centres. There was only one winner. In fact, there was only one 13 on the pitch. The other was anonymous, only seen eating Manu Tuilagi’s dirt as the Samoan-born centre eased past the overweight, ill-disciplined Bastareaud, who also failed to pose an attacking threat, his hands prohibiting the prop lookalike from making amends. One moment of individual brilliance from Wesley Fofana is the only positive of note. Back to the drawing board with your spoon, Philippe.

4) Lions spots are there for those who want them

Six Nations tournaments in a Lions year always have a bit extra. Everyone wants to impress and be on that plane. Warren Gatland will undoubtedly have a rough idea of who he wants in his team. There are the obvious picks – Halfpenny, Sexton, Robshaw, but who has thrown their name in the hat unexpectedly? For me, a trio of Scots have shone: the aforementioned Brown, the painfully consistent Laidlaw and the exciting Hogg. Add the impressive lock partnership of Hamilton and Gray and Scotland could be well represented in Australia later this year. Elsewhere, Jones – Ryan and Adam, Wood and Parling have done their cases no harm. Expect most of the players to be familiar with the colour red.

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