NZ Rugby World column, May 2006

I watched Six Nations Rugby live at Twickenham, Flaminio, Stade de France, and the Millennium Stadium this season. Not impressed!!

The Northern Hemisphere is suffering from too much rugby played in sub optimum weather conditions. Teams are over programmed defensively, over coached, and under skilled. Injuries were common place reflecting an impossible playing schedule and outdated conditioning training. There's a lot of ground to be made up in the next 12 months to prevent the All Blacks, the Springboks and, I'm sure, a resurgent Wallaby side under Connolly, from dominating World Cup action in France.

The upcoming Southern Hemisphere tours for England, Scotland, and Ireland will give each of these teams a clear picture of where they stand. And it could be ugly.

Uncertainty reigned in the Six Nations with Scotland beating France and England, Italy looking capable of an illusive victory, Wales imploding, England finishing below Scotland and the French winning the championship while playing poorly. Little consistency, little improvement, and little momentum shown by France, England and Wales with solid commitment from Ireland and great improvement from the minnows, Italy and Scotland. Another season where bookies would have cleaned up. Who would have picked an Italian center, the less famous brother, Mirco Bergamasco as the player of the tournament? Who would have picked a Scottish winger, Chris Patterson, to be the leading goal kicker with an 89% percentage? Who would have picked an ex Rotheram first five, Romero Pez, to score as many points as Charlie Hodgson? Although I guess many would have picked Lewis Moody to concede the most penalties and they would have been right! (10).

So, apart from the live games, what did we see courtesy of satellite television and video replays?

France won the championship at the Millennium Stadium on March 18 through hard work and lack of killing power from the Welsh. Wales did everything but score more points than France (the story of France's season). Scotland hammered them at Murrayfield where, once again, France did not turn up to the first game of the tournament when handed the tag of favorite. From there back home to the Stade de France, where France scored 43 points in 49 minutes largely by waiting for Irish errors and then punishing them. Laporte then ludicrously subbed 5 players with the Irish racking up 28 points without reply. The last 10 minutes were gripping as Ireland threw everything at the French line but France held out making 148 tackles compared to Ireland's 35, an incredible testimony to Ireland's attacking. From there, the French consolidated and took Italy apart (much to Pierre Berbizer's disgust), and then on to total dominance of England 31-5.

France have been touted as one of the favorites for '07 given their home advantage. But they did not put it together in this tournament. Michalak had an inconsistent season suffering from poor decision making and lack of concentration. They missed their most influential player, Yannick Jauzion, and they had little fluency behind the scrum. Bringing back Castaignede at full back was a desperate move which I don't think will pay off against Southern Hemisphere in '07. The pack was solid but under performed. Nyanga, Lievremont, Magne, were an ineffective back row trio without ever driving quick enough ball.

Runners up Ireland performed extremely well. Apart from going walk about in the first half of the French game, their players dominated most phases of the game in attack and defense. O'Driscoll was back to his best and Dennis Leamy brought real go-forward to the back row. Paul O'Connell recovered from a poor Lions tour and was probably the most dominant tight forward of the tournament. He will be a handful in '07 if he can continue to develop his discipline, judgment and ball skills. Eddie O'Sullivan was consistent in selection and strategy and made the most of his resources. David Wallace came back to the side with a bang and Murphy, Horgan and D'arcy all proved very competent throughout the season. And they enjoyed their 3rd successive win over 
England . . . funny that.

Scotland were heroic. Frank Haden selected well, focused the players on playing their natural game, and restored pride north of the border. Beating England and France in the season is pretty good for morale, belief and public support. It was great to see Murrayfield full for games. Scotland's defense was superb, making 102 tackles to Ireland's 58 and 112 to England's 36 in these two games. The back row of Jason White, Ally Hogg and Simon Taylor were probably the most cohesive in the entire championship. Great work rate, great tackling and great commitment. They will be tested in South Africa because their tight five is light and could come under pressure from the Springboks. Sean Lamont continues to go from strength to strength and Chris Patterson's goal kicking was a revelation. He seems to be something of a hit and miss part-timer but the results this season have been incredible. And both half backs, Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter provided consistency and firepower.

England were simply awful. They seemed bewildered and bemused. Tactically they have stood still with their armory apparently limited to a smash and bash plan A, minus the smash & bash needed to make it work. Johnson, Dallaglio and Hill have not been replaced and the much vaunted front row of Sheridan, Thompson and White flattered to deceive. The back row seemed ill balanced and I don't understand how Corry keeps Dallaglio out of the side. As a leader, Corry is workmanlike rather than inspirational. England frequently suffered from a lack of on-field leadership and a lack of decision-making.

In the backs it was all about crash ball up the middle or inside passes from Tindall, Noon, Cohen and Cueto. Lewsey was rarely involved and never took the kinds of lines that Christian Cullen pioneered. Balshaw and Simpson-Daniel did not have the confidence of the England coaches, which made them predictable and easy to defend against. Consistently running into people, not space, cannot take you forward in the modern game. Their tour to Australia could be the launching pad for a revived Australia in '07. 

Wales flopped. From grand slam to fifth in season was not what David Moffett and Co had in mind. They were haunted by injuries losing Gareth Thomas, Tom Shanklin, Brent Cobain, Dwayne Peel, Ryan Jones and Gavin Henson. The sides they put out bore little resemblance to the Grand Slam side and the coaching nightmare was most unsettling. Scott Johnson might be a good bloke but he doesn't look like a head coach. Gareth Jenkins or Phil Davies would both provide Hwyl, passion, commitment and know how and with all their grand slam players fit, the Welsh should provide some entertaining, exciting rugby in '07. If they could recover some confidence, they will be a potent force. World Rugby needs their imagination, risk taking and verve.

Brad Johnston and John Kirwan spent a ˝-dozen years building the foundation in Italy. And they did a great job. Pierre Berbizer took the side to the next level and they could have beaten Scotland, Ireland and Wales. A goal kicking percentage under 50% does not win test matches today. If Diego Dominguez had been in his prime and playing this season, then Italy would have finished 3rd. They played well for 60 minutes in virtually every game. With the best player of the tournament in Mirco Bergamasco, a dynamic back row led by his brother Mauro and Serge Parissi, Italy have added creativity to their very aggressive dominant tight five. Despite only having a tiny player base, I believe the Azzure are on the right track to be very competitive at the World Cup. I believe they are capable of beating any of the British sides.

The Six Nations remains the most traditional, passionate and fun tournament from a spectator perspective. The weekend in Rome has now been added to memorable weekends in Paris, Dublin, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and London. But standards slipped this season as player burn-out and over reliance on contact/collision reduced flair and imagination. Let's hope the harder grounds in the Southern Hemisphere and some fresher, younger blood will re-inject the dynamism that was once a tradition of touring sides from the Northern Hemisphere.

My team of the tournament Geordan Murphy - Ireland, Sean Lamont - Scotland, Brian O'Driscoll - Ireland, Mirco Bergamasco - Italy, Aurelier Rougerie - France, Stephen Jones - Wales, Mike Blair - Scotland, Pieter de Villiers - France, Fabio Ongaro - Italy, Carlos Nieto - Italy, Paul O'Connell - Ireland, Marco Bortolami - Italy, Jason White - Scotland, Dennis Leamy - Ireland, Yannick Nyanga - France.

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