This weekend saw Scotland, England and Italy finally playing this game called rugby and not just merely making up the numbers. While all of them were on the losing side this weekend, they all showed that they can compete and not just merely put out 15 players for the other team to practise against.
The Scots chose 2 flyers on the wings in the Evans brothers, injecting some much needed pace into their game. they made numerous line breaks but couldnt finish. The Scots completely dominated the French in the first 10minutes, so much so that the Parisian crowd began to boo the home team, unfortunately, the Scots could not make that dominance of possession and territory count, coming away with fewer points than they should have. the french were rather fortunate to get the win through lack of discipline from the Scots handing Lional Beuxis plenty of shots at goal and able to build and maintain that lead throughout the game. i think with a bit more work the Scots can produce better rugby and challenge other teams for the win, not quite the 6 Nations title but definitely cause some havoc.
England finally produced something that they could be semi proud of. despite playing the game with only 14 men for 20mins with Tindel and Goode both being yellow carded at different periods during the game for silly indescretions. had they not been yellow carded i feel that they could’ve pushed wales even further, who, even without Shane Williams, didnt look as fluid or comfortable. they made few line breaks as Joe Worsley smashed Stephen Jones and Jamie Roberts all day. he is not my favourite player by a country mile, but boy did he do a great job in defence, tireless and effective he tackled all day. Riki Flutey in the backs always looked a threat and Dylon Armitage at the back is growing in confidence in every game, watch that number 15, he’s safe under the high ball, runs good lines and has some serious gas. England did however lack a lot of inspiration, they were inconsistant in their running lines and asking questions of the Welsh defence. for the amount of possession England had, they shouldve made more of it. But Wales deserved the win in the end, but you can see that Martin Johnson has done some homework and is doing some good work with the England team.
Ireland are on the march for a 6 Nations title and Grand Slam win, the match against Wales is likely to determine the winner of both pieces of silverware. However, Ireland were rather unconvincing against a determined Italian side who faught with grit and determination, and what a difference it makes when you have a proper 9 in place. Had it not been for 2 great pieces of play by the Irish, the Italians wouldve gone into the break in the lead, however, they trailed 14-9 at half time, which was a good reflection of a balanced half. the second half saw Ireland starting to finish off moves and the Italians fitness began to flag, an interception from BoD in the dying seconds of the game gave them a rather flattering scoreline, but the Irish knew they were playing a test match at least.
It was a very good weekend of rugby in the north, and some classic moments. no clear cut winners yet, and after the next round of games in a few weeks time we’ll have a better idea of who’s leading this horserace….
