by The Six Nations championship is supposed to be a marathon not a sprint. It doesn’t feel that way right now, though, after an opening weekend that has already featured a runaway title favorite. If this was the Cheltenham Gold Cup many would already be putting their binoculars down and preparing to take home the winner of the Irish classic with the rest of the field still way out in the country.
The wheel of sporting fortunes can never be completely certain but there will be no one in Rome or Cardiff rushing to back Andy Farrell’s proactive team. France were way off the pace in the first half in Marseille and the other two competitions did little to suggest that the other four nations are still at the required level. Whichever way you shake it, it clearly looks like Ireland’s year.
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He also highlighted the risk of playing the biggest game of the tournament on an opening night. There is no “conference” system to deliver a guaranteed exhibition finale; there are just three Irish home games against Italy, Wales and Scotland in Dublin – where they lose as often as it snows in Riyadh – and a trip to Twickenham to face an England side in rebuilding mode. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.
The pressure, then, is on Saturday’s winners in England and Scotland to make some kind of significant move and prevent an entirely predictable one-horse race. After winning by three points and one point respectively in round one, both have home games this Saturday that will give them real momentum or drag them back to square one. If England lose to Warren Gatland’s Wales at Twickenham, in particular, any sense of quiet Roman contentment will end abruptly.
Already the visitors look set to be strong with the return of a couple of senior players George North and Will Rowlands and Leicester boss Tommy Reffell is a constant nuisance whenever he plays and Aaron Wainwright had a great game in face of the Scots. . Furthermore, as Italy discovered in the first half, England’s new hyper-aggressive defensive system introduced by former Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones is still a work in progress.
The theory is perfectly fine. Sprint forward with a white blur and reduce the time and space available to ball carriers attacking the gain line. However, with unusual combinations and fresh faces throughout the England squad, there can be cases of over-enthusiasm. Italy scored by looking at two England goals and scored a few more easily than Steve Borthwick’s side would have. “We got it wrong a few times, didn’t we?” admitted the idiot George Ford. “The main thing is to calm everyone down and say ‘Mistakes happen’ but we can’t commit again for the rest of the game. We have to continue to commit to it.”
If there’s one thing Wales will be keen to do from the start after their impressive comeback against the Scots it’s upping the tempo and moving the ball at pace, which could make for a great duel . England also need to be more positive but, as Italy’s game has strengthened, they are not going to go through too many teams with their existing game. That means drafting more substantial picks at No. 8 and in the middle or find other, more creative ways to find and exploit space.
Regarding the latter, and despite the prestige of the game by man Ethan Roots, Tommy Freeman is now one of England’s main players, exactly the kind of athletic talent that can change the team’s attacking options. If Borthwick’s side are to find success this year they need to get the ball into the hands of the Northampton wing more often and look one or two at other ball carriers and a bit about them. Roots and Chandler Cunningham-South have enjoyed their Test debuts, while Northampton’s Tom Pearson is another mobile presence who deserves a run at some point.
This is all strictly relative, however. If one 80-minute tour de force doesn’t end the season, the bad news for Ireland’s opponents is that their World Cup disappointment appears to have made Farrell’s green machine stronger. With the presence of second row Joe McCarthy they also have a great new totem which looks like they will be touring with the British and Irish Lions in Australia next year.
Sometimes all it takes is one or two players to step in or step up to provide a team with fresh energy. Ireland needed a new name to get excited about after the retirement of Johnny Sexton and ‘Big Joe’, along with the great all-rounder Tadhg Beirne, has inspired the rest of the Irish pack. In comparison, the French tapped into the joie de vivre of loyal partners on a long shopping trip with their spouses.
Prose up to Edinburgh in the same downbeat way next weekend and Scotland will also want to pay. And if England and the Scots manage to reach the third round unbeaten, their Calcutta Cup challenge at Murrayfield will be even tougher than usual. Barring a truly spectacular stumble, however, it is the Irish cup to lose.
