A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME
HERE we are at the start of another Six Nations with everything to play for as the excitement builds with the first games this weekend. The world of rugby desperately needs the Six Nations to be a real success if the game is to grow and prosper.
As much as the World Cup is seen as the ‘prize’ competition, it really doesn’t cut it for the players or fans because there are so many variables which are allowed to influence the outcome of the competition. The most glaring is the pool draw taking place months in advance of the contest, allowing for some countries to have an easy route to the play-offs while others face a brick wall every step of the way.
It is extremely difficult for those countries from the lower tiers that seldom have fixtures against Tier 1 nations to know how far they need to raise their game to even get out of the pool stage of the contest.
If you have a little knowledge of the game, you can virtually predict the countries that will reach the knockout stages as soon as the draw is made because of the structure of the pools with each usually having two Tier 1 nations who dominate. I understand why World Rugby arrange the games like this as they want the teams with the biggest support in the final stages to earn as much money as they can, but it is kind of fixing the outcome of what should be a fair and even competition.
The Six Nations however has always been a different kettle of fish with all the history between the countries leaving their teams and fans desperate to win, especially against England. This makes for a truly intense competition in all the games with the fact that most of the teams are fairly evenly matched – even Italy have beaten all the other competing countries except England – and you have a contest that World Rugby wish the World Cup was.
For the young up and coming and first time selected players, it is the Six Nations that will give them their chance to show if they are capable of playing at International level. It is also where they will face some of the toughest matches of their career on an annual basis with no place to hide.
Facing teams like France, Wales, Ireland and Scotland is tough but rewarding when you win. However when Italy came into the mix, it made the Five Nations a Six Nations nightmare. As the supposed elite of the northern hemisphere game, the addition of a sixth country immediately put pressure on the five other countries as to who would be the first team to lose against them.
Since joining the tournament in 2000, the Italians have beaten Scotland seven times (also the first team to lose to Italy in 2000), Wales three times, France twice and Ireland just once. This shows that the Italians are not a team to be taken lightly and have caused a number of upsets in the past.
It is the unpredictability of Italy that has seen the idea of a European inter national league, with two divisions and promotion and relegation pushed into the background.
This was just in case Italy managed to pull of the unthinkable and were not at the bottom of the table leaving one of the old Five Nations countries to suffer relegation, plus the potential financial and participation problems that could bring.
However, a Six Nations after a World Cup is always special as it gives the players their first chance to put right some of the mistakes they may have made and show what they can really do.
You only have to look back to see some of the strangest results in the Five/Six Nations competitions have occurred after a World Cup. The 1992 Five Nations saw the World Cup runners-up England team stroll to a Grand Slam, scoring a record number of 15 tries in the competition. However the 2004 Six Nations saw England’s 2003 World Cup winners finish third in the Six Nations after unexpectedly losing to Ireland and France.
With so many new coaches and players, this year will be an interesting series of games with no outcome really predictable until we see how well the teams have gelled and if the coaches have been able to ‘get their messages across’ particularly as all seem to be promising a new style of game.
One thing is for sure, Ireland certainly have increased the pressure on all the others nations to show something a bit special if they want to compete for the Grand Slam. Although I must admit that, in Friday night’s game, both teams looked more than a bit rusty with quite a few errors creeping in from both sides, but mainly France.
Sadly we once again had a game where the TMO had to make a number of decisions for the referee which seemed a little unfair even if it was the right call under the new system of play. The French losing a player midway through the first half for a double yellow did make a difference with France failing to adjust and Ireland taking advantage of the extra man they had.
Andy Farrell will be pleased with Ireland’s first outing meanwhile for Fabien Galthie, it’s back to the drawing board.
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