This morning, I can’t help feeling that I’ve been robbed over the weekend. A start, which promised so much, simply failed to deliver. John Bentley’s hopes for a less dour Championship have not been realised.
Ireland 29 Italy 11
Ireland just never got going. They spluttered their way through the match showing occasional glimpses of what they could do but these moments were few and far between
It was not a good advertisement for Rugby Union. Both teams kicked too much and, in Italy’s case, not very well. They followed the modern unattractive trend of looking for territory, not possession
The game got going in the last fifteen minutes but, if we are to believe that Ireland will regain their crown, they have to work hard at raising their standards.. Perhaps they just didn’t take Italy seriously enough.
If Italy are to earn respect, they too need to look hard at their game plan. If they are to cause the predicted odd upset, their overall performance will have to improve and their first priority must be to work on their shambolic line-out. They’ll be desperate for the return from injury of their world class No8, Parisse.
Ireland won as we predicted but not by the expected margin. If the Italians hadn’t got that lucky charge-down, we wouldn’t have been far off with our prediction.
England 30 Wales 17
Well, what can we say..We anticipated an England win but we did not predict it would be served on a plate, courtesy of Alun-Wyn Jones.
It was a brave fight back but the Welsh can only talk of what might have been. There were only three points in it at one stage so they were nearly there.
However, there were too many wrong decisions and, for me, the defining moment came when the Welsh scrum half, Gareth Cooper made a break and then chose to kick the ball away. This, along with Jones’ self enforced absence, put an end to Wales’ chances.
Wilkinson was a class act and gave a great all round display of his repertoire of skills. Much was also expected of the Welsh full-back, Byrne but it just failed to happen for him
England can now breathe a sigh of relief and move on to the next game. There is already talk of them being contenders for Ireland’s crown but it is “early days”
Scotland 9. France 18
John Bentley’s “off the wall” prediction of a Scottish win didn’t materialise.
The French have, by their performance, secured the tag as favourites. However, England’s win, which I predicted, shows that it might not be a foregone conclusion.
The French scrum domination was the key to their win. Scotland’s props just weren’t up to it and this put enormous pressure on their hooker, Ross Ford. Although Adam Jones is entitled to disagree, Euean Murray could be the best tight head prop in Britain. He was watching the game from the stand because his religious convictions prevent him from playing on Sundays. It will be interesting to see how Northampton (his employers) deals with this.
Scotland compounded the problem by selecting two loose head props on the bench and duly paid the price of this strange decision. The Scottish back row played well as a unit with John Beattie absolutely outstanding. With a more solid scrummage platform, they could possibly cause their future opposition some problems.
However, to do this, they need to find a stand-off from somewhere. The skill and inventiveness of the French backs put them in a different class. Their enfant terrible, Bastareaud went from zero to hero with devastating pace and strength. Scotland’s Sean Lamont was the pick of their backs but he had to live off scraps.
I finish with a final observation that if we are to see an open running game and not the continual use of the boot then the refs need to look over their shoulders and get everyone on side, perhaps with the help of their touch judges to advise them
Rhys Morgan
