England don't pass

Rugby Union comes alive in Europe during the 6 Nations. This year the ebbs and flows have been remarkable, the margins microscopic but the result was a Grand Slam for Ireland. Forty one phases and a Sexton drop goal should have told us the Irish were contenders. However, it seemed the firm favourites should be England but the 3 game run of losses took fans by surprise.

England under Eddie Jones had been building and winning; sixteen of their squad were selected for the British & Irish Lions and seemingly the deepest of playing reserves at their disposal. National media and rugby bloggers taking great delight in selecting England's world beating 3rd XV.

The RFU and the Premiership taking great delight in the national team's position in World Rugby rankings. The success allowing discussions about extended playing seasons and a ring fenced Premiership; a new CEO at the RFU with a finance background reminding fans of the wealth being created.

So it came to pass that Saturday's game between England and Ireland was not a winner takes all match; instead it was England's chance to spoil Irish chances of a Grand Slam. Twelve months ago England travelled to Dublin with hopes of a slam, the Irish spoiled the party, could England return the favour.

The crowd was over 80,000 and the Irish fans had travelled in their thousands. The temperature was zero, there was snow in the air and within 10 minutes there was a sense this was to be Ireland's day.

There were industrious performances from Haskell, Robshaw and Itoje - this game meant something. Wigglesworth and Hartley started well but seemed to fade - age perhaps

The rugby brains of Daly and Farrell shone throughout - oh that they were more involved.

Eddie Jones adopted a mantra of a "good big one gets the nod over a good small one" - perhaps he would have been better to go with "it's not how big you are, it's how big you play". He has spoken about leadership and leadership groups; performances in the past 3 games have seemingly undermined this ethos. Rigid thinking, an inability to make changes to a play book and selection myopia adding to many's observation that there was lack of leadership.

Eddie bemoaned the team's lack of fitness and athleticism; he promised continuous improvement and offered the brightest young talent 'apprenticeships'. Talents like Mercer, Dunn, Smith and Boyce being good examples

There has been concerns about how much rugby English players are being asked to play. Add to this a Lions tour and questions start to be asked about tiredness not lack of fitness. On Saturday there seemed to be a lack of energy. Stars of 16/17 who went with the Lions seemingly unable to get back to their highest performance levels. Jamie George and Maro Itoje being two that come to mind; George having made his breakthrough in New Zealand has not reached close to his best this 6 Nations.

Then there are the basics. Passing seems to have been overlooked in favour of the offload; surely not. It appeared that only Farrell, Ford, Daly and both 9's were confident passing and able to do so off both hands. X-factor players like Joseph and Itoje seemingly bereft of confidence to pass. Criticising the passing seems trivial compared to many other analysts who talk about attack coaches, the breakdown, the collision and the hit; however Saturday's game highlighted the confident/accurate passing of the Irish not so for the England team.

Saturday saw a number of England players taking the ball into contact in a very upright position, allowing the Irish defenders to drive the ball carrier backward in the tackle. The Irish team were one of the first to deploy the choke tackle pinpointing ball carriers prone to an upright body position. There weren't so many choke tackles but the Irish had researched the running styles of key English runners. They were ready and waiting for Haskell, T'eo and Itoje.

So the 2018 Six Nations belongs to Ireland, they passed the test.