Now the tournament is over for another year
– just a few final thoughts and comments on this year’s competition.
Personally – I think it was one of the best
competitions given the extremely tight finish in the table with 3 teams in the
running for the title right up to the final whistle. Your correspondent is
feeling rather pleased with 13 matches correctly judged or an 86.66% success
rate. Despite the closeness of the teams in the league table, the matches themselves
were not necessarily close. The spread between the teams over 15 matches was
263 points – an average of > 17points per match. Of the 15 matches, 11 also went
with home advantage – only the Italians losing two matches at home in the vast
soulless bowl which is the Stadio Olympico.
So lets move on to look at the winners and
losers of the tournament and final conclusions:
Team of the Tournament – Ireland
England look like moving forward at every
level and narrowly lost out on the championship again. However, they do not
take the best team award and are bridesmaids again. This time Ireland came of
age. To come back for a wretched 2013 competition and win this year’s title was
a major achievement for Ireland. To do so without really playing that well was
an even better achievement.
Ireland saved their best performance to humiliate
and destroy Wales in Dublin by outplaying and out thinking their opponents.
They put Scotland and Italy to the sword and did enough to beat France despite arguably
being not the better team on the day. They also pushed England very close and were
only 3 points off a Grand Slam. So hats off to Ireland and fitting tribute for
Brian O’Driscoll as he retires for the international stage.
Coach of the Tournament – Joe Schmidt
Joe Schmidt showed great intelligence
throughout the tournament adding a fresh perspective to arguably a tired
Ireland team. The first signs of the new dynasty started in the autumn and they
were not encouraging. Ireland struggled against Australia but quickly rallied
to scare the All Blacks before coming into this tournament as underdogs albeit
confident ones. The clever way they out-thought Wales has to be put down to
intelligent coaching. Despite the claims from Stuart Lancaster, Schmidt is the
governor this term.
Biggest Flop of the Tournament – Wales & Warren Gatland
Have Wales been found out? There was great
confidence in the principality for Wales to go one and win a third straight
title. Despite a poor autumn, and the continued civil war between clubs and
WRU; the Six Nations gave the Welsh a reason to be optimistic for the future.
Wales were disappointing to say the least. A poor start against Italy was
followed up by the debacle in Dublin. A dominant win over France was followed
up by dismal uninspired play against England. Stuart Hogg’s red mist moment
gave the Welsh a great win but over a stuttering Scotland. Did it just paper
over the cracks?
Gatland is a great coach but his continued loyalty
to certain players – Priestland and Lydiate – to name but two; in the face of a
loss of form shows poor judgment and vision. With a year and a bit to go to the
World Cup – Wales should be seriously concerned. The U20 team has had a mixed
Six Nations and their coaching and game planning needs a refresh. Can Gatland
turn it around? We will see. But I fear a few years of underachievement ahead
for the dragon.
Where do we go now award – Scotland & Italy
Seriously both teams were a bitter disappointment.
Scotland especially showed limited vision and no real game plan. The new coach
cannot come soon enough as the basic talents are there albeit in a small squad.
They should be doing better.
As for Italy – what an awful tournament.
They started strongly against Wales but in hindsight – that was probably more
down to Wales paying poorly than Italy playing well. They competed for 50
minutes against France before falling away in the last 30 minutes. The loss
against Scotland in Rome was clearly devastating to Italian morale and they
gave up trying in the final two games. Where do they go from here? With
Parisse, Bergamasco, and Castrogiovanni all coming to the end of their careers
– you have to fear for the future of Italy. The continued presence of Italian
teams in the Rabo 12 is important for their future but it is going to be a long
time before we see a recovery.
TEAM
OF THE
Full
Back – Mike Brown
The player of the Six Nations. He really
came of age this season with solid performances in every game.
Wings
– Yohan Huget & Andrew Trimble
Huget was France’s best player and looked dangerous
in every game. Trimble is the quiet man of Irish rugby. The Ulsterman took his
chance with the injuries to Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo and Keith Earls and had a
great tournament.
Centres
– Luther Burrell & Jamie Roberts
No Brian O’Driscoll I’m afraid. I can’t be
that nostalgic. Burrell was excellent for England and getting better every
game. Roberts – the rock for Wales gave 100% in every match and was the only
Welsh player to be noticeable in every match even the fiasco in Ireland.
Half
Backs – Jonny Sexton & Danny Care
Sexton was the catalyst behind all the Irish
moves. He controls the game so well and is best outside half in the Northern Hemisphere
by some distance. Danny care finally came of age and shed his bad boy image.
His speed of distribution was good and he controlled the England back line. A
great tournament for him and England.
Front
Row – Cian Healey, Dimitri Szarzewski & Mike Ross
The Irish props stood up to everyone in the
scrummage and were powerful in the loose. In a world where poor line out
throwing is the norm, Szarzewski was the one hooker that stood out. No Dylan
Hartley I’m afraid – he gave away far too many penalties – especially against
Wales. Rory Best is still not really dominating games, and the Welsh pretenders
Owens and Hibbard too inconsistent. So controversial choice but the Frenchman
with eth film star looks gets the nod.
Second
Row – Courtney Lawes & Joe Launchbury
England has the best engine room bar none
and Lawes finally came of age in this tournament backed up by the physical
presence that is Joe Launchbury. Alun Wyn Jones was impressive for Wales but
looks a little tired after a long 12 months.
Back
Row – Peter O’Mahoney, Sergio Parisse, & Sam Warburton
The Six Nations is the place to be for world-class
back row forwards. Chris Robshaw led England well and others also were
impressive. Heaslip and Chris Henry for Ireland, Billy Vuniola impressed in his
3 games for England but it when it comes down to it the three selected were in
my opinion; the best in this year’s competition. Peter O’Mahoney was
outstanding in every game he played. Sergio Parisse remains World Class and he
played well despite being in a weakened and demoralized Italian side. Warburton
grew with confidence and composure in every game and was outstanding against France
and Scotland and the only Welsh forward to enhance his reputation against
England.
Concluding remarks
So that's it for another 12 months. Another
great tournament with all the highs and lows of being a rugby fan. Rugby
raconteur will be taking a closed season to recover and will be back in the autumn.
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