Six Nations' two tiers and Gloucester's rise also on the agenda
Monday 11 March 2019 14:58, UK
Stuart Barnes reflects on Wales' continual ability to grind it out, and looks ahead to the final round of Six Nations matches.
1. Wales remain on course for the Grand Slam. Again they have ground it out. The verb is either a compliment or an insult, dependent upon your point of view. Let us be honest. Wales have hardly been tearing teams apart in this tournament to date.
Defence has been their modus operandi. Shaun Edwards must be a contender for coach of the tournament but it is hardly the stuff of legend. Good in the first half in Edinburgh, it was a full scale defensive shift in the second half. Still, rugby is about defending as well as attacking.
To play with such a lack of style in general and to keep winning by grinding it out is in another way a compliment. It takes some character and organisation to keep on winning when the muse is elsewhere but that is exactly what Wales have achieved ahead of their Grand Slam game with Ireland next Saturday.
2. Alun Wyn Jones has been magnificent both as a lock forward and a leader. Sam Warburton is revered for his leadership skills but the second row has been every bit as influential with the referees, his team-mates and opponents as Warburton in his pomp.
Another Osprey, Justin Tipuric, hasn't stopped running so far this championship. It's hard to see how Wales have missed their former skipper. Being the team man and patriot that he is, Warburton will be delighted with the way things have turned out so far.
3. If it has gone well for a Welsh team you sense have something left in the locker for the World Cup, you do have to wonder about Scotland. The home side threw everything at Wales in a second half that was scruffy.
Take Stuart Hogg and the inspired counter attacking of the Scotland back three against Italy out of the equation and things look pretty bleak for Gregor Townsend. The revival of the Scottish team is turning into something of a stuck record for those of you with a predilection for vinyl.
4. Next week does not augur well for a team whose celebration of victory against England last season has Eddie Jones already stoking up the furies. All this pre-game chat is becoming a touch tedious but there was nothing remotely boring about the power game of England.
Yes, Italy are not very good but Manu Tuilagi was back near his best, not because he was against a weak team but rather he started in the wider channel of 13 where he has more room to cause his inimitable brand of carnage. The key selection question for Jones is who plays 12.
Ben Te'o didn't convince and Henry Slade has found his international feet but in the Tuilagi channel. It is going to be a fascinating call. Again, 12 is the problem position for England and there isn't much time to sort out the identity of his man and the style of the team.
5. I hope and expect Jones to select Bath's Joe Cokanasiga. The big man was devastating. He has hands with the dexterity of Leone Nakarawa, an easy Rupeni-like acceleration and a Lomu-like ability to run over the defender in front of him. Against Italy he was content to create for others.
Jones must surely want to get another game into him. England have all sorts of styles and options on the wing but nothing quite as extraordinary and original as the 21-year-old.
6. One round remaining and it looks like being a straight split between the top three and the bottom three. Unless England lose to Scotland at Twickenham the Big Three will only have lost to one another (or not in Wales case should they slam it) while Italy, Scotland and France are scavenging from the scraps their own mediocrity leaves lying around.
It has not been a vintage tournament so far, the gap between the tiers is too significant. Yes, you can say if and but, but, look at the table year-on-year for the last decade or so. It tells a tale of bleak division between the European rugby powers.
7. On Sunday we watched a wonderfully well-drilled Irish team beat a shambolic French side with ease. The 14 points in the last few minutes will have irritated Ireland but no more than that.
The tries were scant consolation for a side not short on talent but devoid of cohesion. It is easy to point the finger at Jacques Brunel but one has to wonder about the role of Bernard Laporte who oversaw another bizarre choice of French coach.
8. James Ryan enjoyed a three-week break. He looked sharp and was a deserved man of the match but I thrilled at the crucial match winning few minutes in the first half when Sexton looped around Gary Ringrose for the second try before hoisting the perfect Garryowen which Ringrose caught and almost scored from.
The third and decisive try came minutes later, Ireland high on momentum, France stuck on the back foot.
9. France needed all the help they could get. Ben O'Keeffe, a Kiwi referee who offered no French and chatted amiably with the hosts was not what captain Guilhem Guirado and his beleaguered front row colleagues needed.
Bemused, the French skipper clearly had interpretation problems. The British and Irish referees have worked on their French and Italian, likewise the French and Italian officials have good English. Not good enough Mr O'Keeffe.
10. Away from the international game, it was a great weekend for the West Country. Gloucester cemented their top-four credentials with a Danny Cipriani inspired win at Harlequins; Bath stayed in the hunt beating Saracens, while Exeter clung on against Worcester to open clear water between themselves and Saracens.
But perhaps the most important result of them all was Bristol's away win against a yellow-card-ravaged Northampton. With Newcastle winning this was a special result for Pat Lam's team. So much for the Premiership. Good luck to Wales, Ireland and England, may the best team take the title, whatever you mean by best...
