Borthwick is still in search of right mix
Paul Rees predicts a close encounter in the Calcutta Cup but sees Ireland winning another Grand Slam
THE second round of the Six Nations was as dramatic as the first but saw a drop in quality. Ireland continued on their unobstructed way to retaining their title, but the other home unions were involved in matches that could have gone either way.
Both were spiced by refereeing decisions that provided more to talk about than the rugby. Scotland felt they were denied a match-winning try against France when Sam Skinner forced his way over the line and appeared to finally ground the ball after initially being held up by Yoram Moefana's boot.
Wales were awarded a penalty try at Twickenham after Ethan Roots collapsed a maul, much to the disgruntlement of the home supporters who were even more enraged when George Ford's conversion of Ben Earl's try was charged down as the visitors reacted to what they felt was the start of his run up by sprinting off their line.
There was a common denominator to Scotland's non-try and Ford's conversion woe: Skinner. Three years ago, the second row scored a try for Exeter in the closing moments against Northampton at Sandy Park to leave the Chiefs trailing by a point with the conversion to come.
It was from close to the righthand touchline and Joe Simmonds was told by the referee that the conversion would be the final act of the match. As the outside-half prepared to kick, Northampton's backs charged off their line and Simmonds looked on with the same disbelief that Ford was to show as Ollie Sleightholme kicked the ball off the tee and into the stand.
Any motion towards the ball by Simmonds had appeared slight, almost imperceptible, but the referee Christophe Ridley sided with Northampton's players. World Rugby had just changed the regulation, explaining its decision after a query from the New Zealand union following a Super Rugby match when a kicker took a step backwards and opponents set off from their line in a successful chargedown.
“The moment the kicker moves in any direction it is deemed he is ‘approaching to kick'. The reason for this interpretation is simplicity, otherwise the referee would have to judge when the kicker first moves, and in what direction. It would also be open to misinterpretation by players, match officials and spectators.”
The rule would seem to be that when a player attempting a conversion comes to a stop after planting the ball on the tee and stepping backwards, their next move marks the beginning of their run-up and is the signal for opposing players to set off.
Ford was unimpressed, saying afterwards: “It doesn't make sense to me. I am trying to use the full shot clock time as we have got men in the sin-bin. You are at the back of your stance, you have your routine, and if adjusting your feet like that is initiating your run-up then some of us kickers are going to have to stand like statues at the back of our run-up now.”
The Simmonds affair should have made that clear, and two of Ford's colleagues on Saturday, Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles, celebrated at Sandy Park in 2021. So ready were Wales to run to the ball that there was more than a suspicion that the tactic was conceived in the analysts' room after a study of Ford's kicking technique.
It also raises the issue again of time-keeping. Ford admitted he was looking to run down the clock with players in the sin-bin, but why is time kept on when a conversion is being attempted, effectively earning remission for a yellow card recipient? The ball is effectively dead because it cannot be used by the opposition to launch an attack, unlike a penalty.
It was Ford's first conversion attempt in the match and Wales may have raised the issue with the referee, James Doleman, before the match. Ford should not have been caught by surprise: when Cheslin Kolbe charged down his former Toulouse team-mate Thomas Ramos in last year's World Cup, the France full-back moved his foot a few centimetres, as if twitching, and the South Africa wing was off.
If that was considered to be movement at the start of the kicker's run-up, Ford had nothing to complain about: indeed, he should have been aware of how the law was being officiated, as Wales were. He will not make that mistake again.
It showed that rugby union's laws with their myriad sub-clauses are written in black, white and grey. There is an element of subjectivity, and for every someone who believes that Skinner should have been awarded a try at Murrayfield, which would have won the game against France, there will be another who argues that Nic Berry made the right call because none of the various camera angles provided confirmation beyond all doubt.
And yet. Wales's penalty try at Twickenham came after Aaron Wainwright's lineout take six metres from England's line was the prelude to a driving maul which generated considerable momentum. It was brought down just short and Roots was sent to the sin-bin after Doleman identified him as the perpetrator of the collapse.
Yet just before the collapse, the maul moved from travelling in a straight line to veering to the left. The relevant law says: “A penalty try is awarded between the goal posts if foul play by the opposing team prevents a probable try from being scored, or scored in a more advantageous position.”
Roots brought down the maul to prevent a try being scored, but that is different from the probability Wales would have got over the line. And it is here, as the game looks to attract a new audience to make it more financially secure, that its contradictions confuse those who already watch it, never mind new sets of eyes.
Skinner was denied a try because although the camera angles showed that he had probably, very probably, scored, evidence had to be beyond doubt, never mind reasonable doubt, once Berry made his on-field decision no try. Yet Wales were awarded a penalty try on the basis of probability.
A picture emerged afterwards showing the ball being held by Skinner on the ground over the line, but it was too late. Berry and the television official Brian MacNeice took four minutes to rule that there was no incontrovertible evidence for the referee to reverse his on-field decision, although at one point he looked to have changed his mind only to be talked out of it.
That was what most upset Scotland. The referee was ready to award the try but the TMO advised caution. In one sense MacNeice was right because for that to happen there had to be clear and obvious evidence that the original decision had been made in error. Had Berry awarded the try as he peered under the tangle of bodies, it would have stood for the same reason.
But with the referee, still, being the sole judge of fact, surely the job of a TMO should be to provide them with all the relevant camera angles which would be watched, as in American football, by the referee on the side of the pitch with no one squawking in his earpiece.
It should be up to him or her to make the decision alone. Even football's much criticised VAR uses the American system after checks whether a penalty or a red card should have been awarded. The referee looks at the footage and while he or she will feel under some pressure to reverse their decision because the television official has recommended a viewing, it is still theirs alone to make.
Scotland considered seeking a verdict from World Rugby. Their frustration was understandable because what Berry was effectively telling the TMO was that had he seen the final image shown him on the big screen at the time he made his decision, he would have awarded a try.
World Rugby declined to get involved. In one sense there was no need because a procedure had been followed and whether a try had been scored came down to a matter of opinion, but it could have clarified how a decision may be reversed because Berry was clearly not comfortable with his final ruling.
It should have come down to what he, and he alone, saw, just as Doleman himself decided that Roots's action merited a penalty try at Twickenham. And so a probable try was disallowed and a possible one given. Such is sport.
Ireland's encounter with Italy the following day had none of the dramas or controversy. It was a routine victory by the side that won the Grand Slam last year against the team that was whitewashed. Any chance the Azzurri had, and it was barely discernible, disappeared when injuries disrupted their back row and although they conceded their fewest points in a Six Nations match in Dublin since 2009, they managed none.
Ireland have not been derailed by their World Cup disappointment or the retirement of Johnny Sexton.
The title was theirs to lose after overwhelming France in Marseille on the opening night and they face Wales at the Aviva Stadium at the weekend before travelling to Twickenham.
Wales have the same points difference as Scotland, minus three, but have lost their two games, including their opener to the Scots. England are two from two with a points difference of five and with France finding a way to win at Murrayfield after being 10 points down in the first half, the race for second could be tight.
Scotland have scored 33 first-half points this year but only 10 in the second and none in the final quarter. They drew a blank after the break against South Africa in the World Cup having trailed by three and failed to score in the second period against Ireland in last year's Six Nations having been one point behind.
England's blitz defence will be given an examination by Finn Russell. Wales looked to exploit it by kicking across the field to the wings and enjoyed some success. Their outside-half, Ioan Lloyd, was making his first Test start in the position whereas the Scotland captain is with Ford the most experienced stand-off in the tournament.
Wales were well prepared against England, using analysis to try to offset a lack of experience, but Scotland will be more aware. If they have struggled for too long against the sides above them in the rankings, they are far more effective against those around them and they will be fired by a sense of injustice after they were denied at the end against France.
It will be a step up for England having played the two teams who finished below them last year. Victory was what mattered against Wales, even if they left it late, but the performance showed there was a need for a thrusting player in midfield and a ball-carrying presence at forward to supplement Ben Earl.
Manu Tuilagi and George Martin have been added to the squad and will be in line to start.
Alfie Barbeary has been named in the A squad that will face Portugal a week today in Leicester, although there was no room for another No.8, Zach Mercer, who reacted indignantly to his omission from the Six Nations squad.
England have shown a greater propensity to attack than they have since the 2010s, but they struggled to get into the game against Wales because they conceded penalties under pressure and their opponents' only blemish in the opening half was a free-kick conceded at a scrum.
England reverted to what they were comfortable with in the second half and, as the rain fell, Ford steering them into position. They showed against South Africa in the World Cup semi-final that they are capable of coming up with a gameplan against the top sides that makes them hard to beat, but head coach Steve Borthwick is looking for an all-court game to move his side up the rankings.
It will take time with Scotland, Ireland and France all at more advanced stages, but it is now about getting the mix right. Scotland may have won the last three matches against England, but it promises to be a close encounter. England have not lost the bloody-mindedness that served them in France last year, but Borthwick is trying to get his players to see the bigger picture.
An England victory at Murrayfield would leave Ireland with probably the biggest hurdle to vault to achieve a successive Grand Slam when they travel to Twickenham. Scotland will be the more desperate for victory because defeat would end their challenge and raise questions over why potential is continually not being turned into achievement.
Russell, below, who has been part of Bath's rise up the Premiership, will be key. There is a maturity to his game now and for the first time this year, England will face a tactician capable of developing his own pictures rather than relying on images downloaded to his laptop.
Wales will need more than analysis to get anything from their visit to Dublin. They have been unusual for a Warren Gatland side, prepared to retain possession in their own half without the dominant ball-carriers of old. If they had put their first-half at Twickenham together with their second against Scotland, they would be behind Ireland on points difference.
But the first half against Scotland and second at Twickenham saw them score no points and concede 31. Theirs is a tale of vastly contrasting halves, symptomatic of a young side which needs guidance. Gatland has mined players with promise, but at this stage they are an irritant rather than a headache.
France have been the enigma. They got it badly wrong against Ireland and missed Antoine Dupont at Murrayfield where, lacking a catalyst, they needed a moment of inspiration from Louis Bielle-Biarrey who scored a try out of nothing at the point where Scotland were holding to their lead with some degree of comfort.
France face Italy in Lille in need of a confidence jab but with a growing injury list and a need for another captain with Gregory Alldritt out. Head coach Fabien Galthie is coming under mounting criticism, some of it personal, and maintains there is no hangover from the World
Cup when the hosts bowed out at the quarter-final stage. A considerable amount of emotional energy had to find somewhere to go but the final decision going for them against Scotland should jerk them out of their trance and relight their joie de jouer. It has to.
