Six Nations 2013 – My Thoughts

So the Six Nations is over for another year and after the highs of the opening weekend with that O’Driscoll pass, the Zebo flick, the Welsh comeback, England scoring four tries (no, really) and Italy upsetting France in Rome for the second time in a row the championship reverted to type where defence was key, teams tended to play with fear rather than flair and the weather did it’s best at ruining things, particularly in Dublin. Those three opening games were some of the best I remember seeing in the Six Nations but what followed were some of the worst. The games between Wales and France and Ireland and France should have been exciting but instead both teams seemed scared of losing and devoid of any inventiveness. “Scotland v Wales 2013 will go down in rugby history as a game which took place” as Andrew Cotter described and that’s been kind. Thankfully, the drama and excitement of the Wales vs England game restored some faith in the fact that when there are good games in this tournament they are often great.

I could go on all day and night (and more) about each game but instead I’ve decided to write my own review on each team based on their expectations going into the tournament and how they performed overall.

Wales

Pre Tournament Expectations: Low

After last years Grand Slam, Wales went on a seven game losing streak heading into the Six Nations. That stat wasn’t helped by losing a very close series in Australia 3-0 where they lost by 8 points in the first test, 2 in the second and 1 in the first (moreover, in that first test they managed to get within a point with 14mins). Their autumn tests weren’t great, however. There’s no shame in losing to the All Blacks but they were expected to beat Argentina and losing at home to Samoa was not in the script. Then another close defeat to Australia but this time after conceding a last minute was particularly galling. This wasn’t a bad team by any means but the confidence had taken a pounding which never helps.

Overall: Ecstatic

That Wales found themselves in contention for the championship, and only having to win by seven points, meant that regardless of how their last game went they should have been happy with their overall performance. What followed was pure jubilation for the Welsh as they took the game to England from the off and never looked like losing. The seven game losing streak before the start of the tournament can’t have helped confidence, nor could the loss of Gatland for the whole tournament due to his Lions commitments. And after the first 42 minutes against Ireland there were probably dreaded fears of trying desperately to avoid the wooden spoon. They finished that game strongly but staring at three away trips in a row, there still could have been doubts about where this season would go. Winning all three of those games was a great achievement as all were fraught with danger: France looking to bounce back after their shock defeat to Italy, Italy hoping to show that win against France wasn’t a fluke and Scotland looking for a third straight championship win and to keep alive feint hopes of winning the tournament.

Player of the Tournament: Leigh Halfpenny. Hard to argue, really. He is consistently excellent in each game, solid across all facets of his game and has nailed down a Lions test jersey regardless of whether he plays at Full Back or on the wing. Alex Cuthbert continued his steady rise and should be in strong contention for a test start vs Australia whilst Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton were a mark above

Find of the Tournament: Dan Biggar. He’s hardly a new find given he won his first cap over four years ago but the game vs Ireland was his Six Nations debut. One thing that I love about Wales is their conveyor belt of decent fly halves and Biggar is another off the production line. His ascendancy could also see Rhys Priestland kick on after suffering a drop in form before his injury.

England

Expectation: High

After beating the All Blacks it was only natural that the expectation levels for this England team would be high and that a grand slam was a distinct possibility. They had two tough away games against Ireland and Wales but should have felt confident in either of them particularly with the relative lack of form for both their Celtic neighbours.

Overall: Disappointed

Losing a Grand Slam is never easy to take especially in the manner in which they were dismantled from 1 to 15 in Cardiff. England could do nothing but watch as Wales ran away with the game and the Six Nations title. That said, this is still a young England team and the experience they will have taken from this tournament will serve them well in the future. There is still room for much improvement, particularly when it comes to scoring tries. Not getting a single one at home to Italy is fairly poor in spite of how well Italy played in that game. Their back three is dependable (apart from Chris Ashton) but were possibly the least exciting of all teams in the tournament. It will be interesting to see who Lancaster selects in his back three on their summer tour of Argentina whilst most of the focus will be on the Lions. As always their pack remains strong and the depth of their back row, when everyone is healthy, is great although they need to find the right balance.

Player of the Tournament: Chris Robshaw. Before the tournament, many were not convinced as to whether Robshaw would make it to the Lions tour. As each week progressed he made his case as captain even stronger and all though he had no answer for the Welsh onslaught, he can be proud of his performances.

Find of the Tournament: Mako Vunipola. Couldn’t stop the flow of scrum penalties in the Wales game but made a useful impact sub and at only 22 his future is promising. Competing with the likes of Joe Marler and Alex Corbisiero will do his progress no harm. Billy Twelvetrees looked useful against Scotland but wasn’t given another real chance.

Scotland

Expectations: Low

Scotland lost all three of their Autumn tests with a points difference of -46. Whilst two of those tests were against New Zealand and South Africa, who only lost one test between them, the third was at home to Tonga after after which Andy Robinson stepped down. Scott Johnson took over on an interim basis and despite three home games being sandwiched in between trips to London and Paris, Scotland would have been grateful to just avoid another Wooden Spoon.

Overall: Satisfied

Had to gauge, really. The back to back wins against an Italian team on a high after beating France and an Irish team that dominated possession will have helped Johnson’s chances of getting the job on a full time basis. They have a number of top players in their ranks that would add to any international side – Richie Gray and Jim Hamilton are a fantastic line out duo; Kelly Brown and Johnnie Beattie did their Lions chances no harm at all; the back three of Sean Maitland, Tim Visser and Stuart Hogg all have the potential to be world class. They would have loved going into the last weekend with at least a mathematical, if not probable, chance of winning the tournament so the loss against Wales was a setback. The lack of tries is still a worry as well. The tries they did score showed they can make something out of nothing but they need to do it more regularly as they seem more than happy to just gift possession back to the opposition. A case in point against France – they were camped on their own try line for almost ten minutes which would have taken a lot out of them. When they won a penalty and cleared their lines, the first thing Greig Laidlaw did after winning the resultant line-out was launch a poor box kick back to the French. Odd.

Player of the Tournament: Johnnie Beattie. The Scottish back row has always been strong and Beattie was probably the standout player, pushed close by Kelly Brown. Greig Laidlaw also had a good tournament, particularly with the boot whilst Tim Visser proved his try scoring exploits in the RaboDirect Pro 12 can be transferred to the international stage.

Find of the Tournament: Stuart Hogg. An exciting talent and the more we see of him, and the more he sees of the ball, the better he is going to get. That people were looking at the Scotland vs Wales game as a playoff for the Lions 15 jersey is testament to how well Hogg has done this year. Scary to think he had only just turned nine when the Lions began their last test series vs Australia.

Italy

Expectation: Medium

Italy should be a team that targets two wins each season now as a minimum and after a fairly decent showing in the Autumn including pushing Australia close (OK, a 10-42 defeat to the All Blacks is pretty big but they were within 11 points going into the last 15 minutes) they should have targeted at least a 100% record at the Stadio Olimpico.

Overall: Satisfied

Italy will be disappointed they did not push on after another stirring win against France in Rome. They capitulated against Scotland in a game they would have fancied their chances in and will also be frustrated with how their scrum performed against Wales in a game they would have again targeted as a potential win. They fought valiantly against England and deserved a lot more than just praise but the signs were still good. Thankfully, for them (not the author!) they were rewarded with an historic win against Ireland on the last day – their first against the Irish in the Six Nations. Whilst it was a rather disjointed Irish team suffering from injuries and ill discipline, nothing can be taken away from the Italian performance and they were fully worth their seven point win. Finishing 4th in the table was more than deserved and perhaps were actually the 3rd best team in the tournament (sorry Scotland fans!).

Player of the Tournament: Sergio Parisse. He’ll probably pick this up for years and years to come and rightly so. He was missing for the game against Wales and the lack of leadership told as the Welsh pack dominated proceedings in Rome. Even when he was off the pitch for ten minutes against Ireland the Italians looked lost. He returned to help Italy see off the late Irish resurgence.

Find of the Tournament: Giovanbattista Venditti. A young Italian back with plenty of promise ahead of him. He looked for work consistently and will benefit under the stewardship of Jacques Brunel. If Italy can find a half back pairing that can get the ball to Venditti and co quickly and consistently then this team will only get better.

Ireland

Expectation: Medium/High

Coming off the back of an impressive win against Argentina in the autumn, thus securing a top eight ranking for the World Cup draw, meant Ireland were seemingly in a good place leading up to the Six Nations. There was fears that that performance was largely down to a tired Pumas side at the end of a long season as well as the ability of Ireland to play well when their backs against the wall as opposed to a high standard consistently. It was also an ‘odd’ year meaning they faced the so-called ‘big guns’ of England and France at home. Playing away to Wales, Scotland and Italy is never easy, however, so there was still some caution. Missing big game players like Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell and Tommy Bowe, Lions in 2009, would have been a worry as well.

Overall: Disaster

Ireland weren’t helped by injuries, or weather conditions in their two home games, but there can’t be much excuse for the tired, laboured and ponderous way they played rugby after they scored their third try in Cardiff all those weeks ago. They played the conditions poorly against England, somehow managed to lose against Scotland despite dominating possession and territory, threw away a win against a France side that were there for the taking and completely imploded against Italy. The knives were already out for Declan Kidney but it’s now a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ he steps down/is asked to step down.

With regards to the result vs France, I doubt they will ever have a better opportunity to beat them again. Since Ireland last beat France in 2009, England have beaten them four times, Wales twice and Italy twice. Even Tonga and Argentina have beaten them in that time frame. For whatever reason, Ireland seemed to run out of steam in their first four games and were just poor against Italy. Overall their first half points differential was +24. Their second half differential was -31. That is an alarming statistic as is not scoring any points any later than the 57th minute in their first four games – 42nd minute vs Wales, 57th vs England, 43rd vs Scotland, 32nd vs France and 57th vs Italy.

Player of the Tournament: Brian O’Driscoll. Hard to argue with this although Sean O’Brien ran him close (giving away silly penalties counted against him) and his stamp out of frustration was out of character but could be costly. When the great man retires from rugby, it won’t just be Ireland will be worse off, but rugby itself.

Find of the Tournament: Luke Marshall. Called in after injury to Gordon D’Arcy, Marshall looks like the most obvious heir to the throne that O’Driscoll may be vacating soon. He’s got pace and a step; he’s elusive; can get stuck in to rucks and has a complete disregard for his body if the France game is anything to go by. Unlucky to go off injured vs Italy but can probably be thankful he was not tainted by the result. Who knows – a good showing in the Heineken Cup and a strong end to the Pro12 season with Ulster and he could be a Lions tourist.

France

Expectation: High

France, as ever, were one of the pre-tournament favourites. They were unbeaten in the autumn tests with Freddie Michalak seemingly back to his mercurial best and many were looking at the game at Twickenham between England and France as a potential Grand Slam decider. A tricky trip to Italy was up first but surely they weren’t going to trip up their again.

Overall: Unmitigated Disaster

Another defeat in Rome followed by a terrible display at home to Wales saw France bottom of the pile after two rounds of matches. After 52 minutes against England with players in their proper positions, and a try for the ages from Wesley Fofana, France seemed to be back to their best. However, on came Michalak and the whole thing came tumbling down. Again. A draw in Dublin restored some pride although that game itself was French rugby summed up. They looked clueless, uninspired, desperate to get off the pitch and into the showers yet was also a game they would probably had won if it went on for another two minutes. Restored some pride with a win against Scotland although conceding a late try meant they finished bottom of the pile.

Player of the Tournament: Louis Picamoles. One of the few highlights for France was the performances of Picamoles at number 8. In spite of his sides displays he was a consistent threat, carried well and was a very useful lineout option. All the potential Lions number 8s should look to him (and Parisse) as the standard that needs to be set.

Find of the Tournament: Wesley Fofana is NOT a wing. No one real player stood out for the French in terms of a new kid on the block but what did stand out was the fact that on his day, Fofana is a World Class centre and should never be put on the wing again.