Wales 31—Scotland 24
With 10 minutes remaining, the Press would have been preparing headlines along the lines of “Wales Played Off The PARK”. How cruel rugby can be with so many “if onlys”. Last week, a crucial yellow card cost Wales the game against England so it was ironic that they won on Saturday because of 2 Scottish sin binnings. .
The Wales Scotland game was fantastic, a real drama.
Scotland were a different side from last week. This could have been because the Welsh allowed them to be, but the Scots definitely came to play rugby.
Wales never seemed to work out how to cope with the Scottish defensive tactic of shooting a man up in the middle of the line
Wales plugged away to keep in touch and took full advantage when the yellow cards were awarded. Scotland had been warned for slowing the game down and did not have the streetwise guile of previous Scottish sides.
I’d tipped Wales to win by ten points and thought I’d been proved wrong.
Scotland were the best team for most of the match. Along with all of Scotland, I thought they had done enough to win but it was not to be.
France 33---Ireland 10
Saturday’s second game saw France flex its muscles and brush Ireland aside. Ireland seemed to run out of attacking ideas. Dave Ellis, the French defensive coach, is an old friend of mine and he must be pleased with his work. It was an aggressive, front foot approach.
I predicted a French victory but not by this margin. From the start, they showed their attacking instincts by choosing to run the ball rather than kick it away. At times, it put your heart in your mouth but it was great to watch.
Ireland’s defensive tactics were similar to Scotland in that they sent a defender up in midfield. Unlike Wales, France dealt effectively with this ploy by using decoy runners to find the inside gaps left by the defender.
Like most teams this weekend, France had lineout possession problems but their scrum was rock solid. I can testify as to what a pleasure it is to be a scrum-half behind a pack which is so solid in the tight and in the loose.
The French stand-off, Trinh-Duc was outstanding, showing electric pace
My final round of applause goes to the man in the middle, Wayne Barnes. For me, he has been the only referee who has enforced the offside law. This is essential for the running rugby that we all want to see. He took advice from his touch judges and was not afraid correct his judgements. Well done.
I remember him refereeing a game I played in when he was about 21, it must have been one of his first National League games. He yellow carded several players in the first few minutes.
England 17 --- Italy 12
We had predicted that the Italians might cause the odd upset at home but I didn’t expect it to happen against England. Just as I thought the English were coming good, they nearly tripped up again. Michael Johnson has admitted that he is relieved to come away with a win
.
The Italians are proving to be difficult to play against. They kick long and deep but don’t rush up in pursuit. Instead, they hold off at about twenty metres in a strong line.
Since the kick is so deep, players cannot get back behind the ball so electing to run risks a turnover. This leaves the kicking option, which results in the unattractive aerial ping-pong.
However, if England had succeeded with their goal kicking opportunities and gone two scores ahead of the Italians, they might have been more inclined to have a go from deep.
It was a shame that England could not carry on in the way they’d finished the previous week against Wales
All teams now have a fortnight to review their tactics and lick their wounds with no games this weekend. Scotland have the most serious wound licking to do as they have lost the services of two key players, Thom Evans and Chris Paterson, for the rest of the season. Wales have also lost Alun Wyn-Jones through injury and Andy Powell for another reason
The next round of games in two weeks is:-
England v Ireland
Italy v Scotland
Wales v France
With England and France unbeaten it could go down to the last game of the season to settle a Grand slam. England will have a tough test against an Irish team trying to get back on track and France has a potential Banana skin in Wales.
Rhys Morgan
