Six Nations issues and controversies
So what did we learn from the first weekend of the 6 Nations. Some would say not much that we didn’t know on Friday but it was a weekend that gave us flashes of brilliance amongst the pragmatism and a couple of controversial refereeing decisions.
Let’s get the big one out of the way first, how Bradley Davies was not red carded for a cynical and horrific tackle on Donnacha Ryan is beyond me. He knew what he was doing, it was a calculated act and deserved a red card. Warren Gatland admitted such after the game "Bradley Davies was lucky not to get a red card. We've got to plan, potentially, for him being cited. I've seen a replay, and I won't deny it wasn't fantastic.”
That being said the decision of red or yellow had little effect on the game but certainly had an effect. Davies was yellow carded with 15 minutes to play so he returned for the final five minutes of the game. Yes that was when Wales took the lead but Ireland could have killed the game off before that with the number advantage. Wales defended the ten minutes well and finished off the game in some style. It should be said that it was the touch judge who saw the incident not the referee so the flack that has been thrown at Wayne Barnes is certainly undeserved (this time).
The second bone of contention in the game came with pretty much the final play as Stephen Ferris was also yellow carded for the same offence. However one look at the two incidents will make even the most hardened of Welsh fans wondering how the punishment was the same. Ferris shouldn’t have been yellow carded in my opinion but as Jonathon Davies explained after the game the letter of the law says otherwise and it is something that needs looking in to. I believe the way the law is written leaves the referee with no option than to award a penalty and sin bin the player but the tackle was not reckless or dangerous and is borderline as to whether it should even be a penalty.
That being said if you look at the game as a whole Wales were the better team and deserved there win.
The other issue raised over the weekend was video refereeing and a try that was (for Charlie Hodgson) and a try that wasn’t for Greg Laidlaw. The Hodgson try certainly should have stood but there will have been many a passionate Scot walking round Edinburgh and beyond convinced that Laidlaw had scored. One thing that was raised was that the way the referee worded the question to his TMO gave him little option than to say No Try, but had he phrased it differently the outcome may have been different.
Again though the Scots, like the Irish, cannot blame the referee and his officiating team, for the outcome of the game. This was the time that they needed to stand up and punish the old enemy, England were there for the taking and Scotland, for all their forward effort, were unable to show the skill or poise to do so. At no time watching the game did you feel the Scottish back line was going to spark in to life in the way the Welsh one did.
France v Italy
France proved that they are going to be the team to beat, Phillipe Saint Andre has a well drilled team lead by an experienced pack and some exciting talent behind it. A bench that includes Dimitri Szarzewski, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Imanol Harinordoquy, Morgan Parra and Maxime Mermoz shows the depth of talent the former Sale and Toulon boss has at his disposal. Wesley Fofana was impressive alongside his club team mate Aurelien Rougerie in the midfield and in Maxime Medard, Vincent Clerc and Julien Malzieu they have natural finishers out wide. Louis Picamoles slotted in to the back row seamlessly and the front five can compete with anyone in the world. France look a scary proposition.
Itlay however don’t, there is the familiar brute force of Martin Castrogiovanni and Andrea Lo Cicero along with a talisman in Sergio Parisse but behind the scrum they still struggle to break down sides and lack a cutting edge. At home, as England will find out next week, they will be a tough and uncompromising opponent but it’s difficult to see them scoring over 20 points. A lack of control and flair at the half back position means they have to do a lot of defending which will wear out there big ball carrying forwards and allow teams to take the game away from them in the last quarter. Same old same old.
Scotland v England
Scotland’s inability to score a try yet again was the most disappointing thing of the weekends action. England to their credit defended well but there is no cutting edge to rewards a seriously powerful pack. The back row looked more dangerous in open play that the back three, but even they in the form of Ross Rennie couldn’t covert a simple looking chance and the decision to play Dan Parks seriously back fired as he couldn’t get anything out of the backs and his kicking game, which was due to be a strength, severely let him and Scotland down and gave England a real let off. Once again they may have unearthed the new player of the tournament as David Denton will be looking to have the same kind of impact that Richie Gray had a year ago but until they sort out the creative aspects it could be another long season for the Scots.
England did just enough to win. There certainly are positives to take from the game, namely the defence and the lack of penalties conceded which is an improvement on previous campaigns when the were heavily penalised at the breakdown. New recruits like Mouritz Botha and Phil Dowson did not look out of place at the international level against decent opposition and Captain Chris Robshaw grew throughout the game after a shaky start. There was little to get too excited about behind the scrum but probably more than the immediate aftermath of the two sides meeting at the World Cup. Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt looked secure and there is still the threat of Ben Foden and Chris Ashton. England are a real work in progress but a win is a win and there are certainly more positives than negatives.
Ireland v Wales
If ever a game highlighted one man’s impact to a team it was this one as what would have happened had Brian O’Driscoll been fit to play. Would he have made the tackle on George North, when the giant wing crashed through the midfield to set up Jonathon Davies, would he have provided a spark in the ten minutes with a man advantage to secure the game. There were once again big games from man mountains like Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip. Tommy Bowe scored a wonderful try as they sucked in a defence that believed the drop goal was on, but instead good design or heads up rugby spun the ball wide for the try, but like at the World Cup they were off the pace early and paid for it at the end.
Wales went in to the week with a plethora of injury worries and lost their inspirational captain through injury to make matters worse but they were the one home nation team to really show some craft and guile and benefitted from a young backline that will only get better. The pass from Rhys Priestland to set up Davies for his first try was sublime and the run over the Irish midfield before a subtle offload by North was the moment of the weekend, combine that with his try in the final minutes with at least three defenders hanging off him and Wales fans may soon be saying Shane who?? (only joking). With Mike Phillips and Jamie Roberts to add some experience to the mix this is a backline that is showing the other how to do it with pace, power and more importantly creativity.
