Monday 18 March 2019 15:30, UK
Stuart Barnes says Alun Wyn Jones will go down with some of the great Welsh rugby players following Wales' Grand Slam Six Nations win....
1. Congratulations to Wales on their Grand Slam success. They ground out a few wins without looking anything special but it isn't a matter of what you see with this side. Confident, cleverly coached, defensively spectacular and always in control of the situation.
This wasn't a throwback to those nostalgic days of the 1970s when Barry and Benny glided over the ground. But through all the haze of history it is worth pointing out that here was one of the great defensive sides in either Five or Six Nations.
2. Alun Wyn Jones was my man of the match. The official recipient was the excellent Gareth Anscombe but the Ospreys lock led from the first to last minute. He has driven Wales throughout this tournament.
When Sam Warburton retired a while back a lot of Welsh fans took offence that I placed their hero in the category of 'very good but not great' in the historical perspective. Well, AWJ gets into my elite list of greats.
He is there with Gareth, Barry, Benny, Gerald and JPR - the greatest Welsh rugby player of them all, I read Sunday. Quite how anyone comes up with that rating is beyond me. Great will suffice.
3. What a first minute for Wales. Anscombe's kick-off was deep and towards touch. George North's chase was perfect. The Irish catcher was carried into touch.
From the lineout, who else but AWJ won the ball, a couple of drives and then perhaps my moment of the competition; Anscombe feinted as if chipping diagonally towards the touchline, instead with the outside of the right boot he clipped it straight behind the disorganised Ireland defence.
Hadleigh Parkes, again outstanding alongside Jonathan Davies, knew it was coming. Not even breaking stride he sprinted onto the kick, caught it, dived over. There was only one winner from here on in.
4. I was at Twickenham. Wrong place, I thought, as Wales celebrated their Grand Slam. However, that all changed in a first half where England were at their thrillingly physical best. There was too much power for Scotland to handle, too much pace and an abundance of skill.
It was 31-7 at half time. England had been staggering. But this was to be the ultimate 'game of two halves'. Scotland came out playing for pride, playing with freedom. England took their foot off the gas and suddenly Scotland had two tries, it was 31-19 but you still thought: 'no'.
5. England had to tighten up the game. Get back to the basics of the set-piece, squeeze the life out of their smaller opponents and deprive Finn Russell of the oxygen from the broken-field game which so suits him.
We waited for the skipper to tighten matters but Owen Farrell joined the party. I don't care about the intercept and charge down; these things happen but the game-management was desperate. As it has been so many times for England.
A fabulous physical first half gave way to a thrilling but mad second half. Hats off to Scotland but England were as psychologically weak as they are physically strong. At their best they are brilliant, a match for the All Blacks. When a team takes them on, though, they are abysmal. There is much work to be done before Japan.
6. Amid the inevitable analysis and various diagnosis we might have overlooked, what an incredible game Twickenham witnessed. A neutral or someone new to the sport would have been spellbound. 38-38 from 31-0. This was one of the craziest games of rugby I have seen.
England played their part - positive and negative - Scotland were simply stunning in the second half. When they get Stuart Hogg and a few others back, they could yet surprise some in Japan.
7. If the alarm bells weren't ringing in Ireland before their demolition at the hands of AWJ and his men in Cardiff, they should be now. The pack are being bossed. They are not winning the millimetres they made theirs in 2018. Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton are wearing the same shirts but are otherwise unrecognisable.
Yet to make a World Cup semi-final, they have to beat Scotland to avoid a quarter-final with a vengeful New Zealand (that is if the All Blacks beat South Africa in their pool). Either way, it is looking a long way from Dublin to the semi-final.
8. France beat Italy but this was their worst performance of the tournament. And that is saying something.
Italy blew it as much as France won it. Italy suffered from a desperate bout of white-line fever. It cost them a famous victory. Mind you, Matt Carley gave the distinct impression there had better be no doubt about the try.
Italy have received nothing all season. While referees bend over backwards to excuse Farrell shoulder charges, they seem intent to make life as hard as possible for Italy. That's what happens when you are the relative new boys.
9. It has been an outstandingly awful tournament for Jacques Brunel. Another in the long line of French managers who are past it or never had it.
They require an outsider with a fresh eye but with Bernard Laporte - a real rugby politician - pulling the strings, that seems about as likely as France making a fist of the World Cup. They were awful in 2011 and made the final but this lot are even worse.
10. Driving over the Chiswick flyover after the Twickenham match, my eye caught a billboard. The gist of it was this, 'rugby's biggest club rivalry is back'. The two rivals; Harlequins and Saracens.
Well, I racked through my mind and couldn't come up with the genesis of this great rivalry. Bristol v Bath, Leicester v Northampton, nope... Harlequins versus Saracens. Said so on the billboard.
I know that advertising has to push the boundaries a bit but this was pure fiction. False truths hit rugby! Enjoy the week, along with the greatest club rivalry of them all… Bristol v Worcester isn't it?
