Six Nations 2011 review

And the moral of the story is, don't count your chickens, as this Nike Grand Slam England 2011 video would testify....



Grand slammers: no-one.
Winners of the Six Nations: England.
Most emotional moment: Italy beating France and Nick Mallet's tears of joy.
Best try: Imanol Hardinordoquy for France against Scotland.
Peter de Villiers award for craziest coaching speech: France's Lievremont announcing that his team has 'betrayed' him after they fall to Italy by one point and branding them as cowards, followed closely by the dour Warren Gatland moaning about Ireland's penalty count when in fact the Welsh had the highest penalty count of the lot.
Best individual performance by a back: Chris Ashton's four try swallow diving extravanganza against Italy.
Most scandalous moment: the illegal throw in by Wales to clinch a try after the ball boy and touch judge got rule 19.2 in the rugby book wrong.
Most huffiest commentator: Brian Moore for the beeb although kudos to him for being possibly the first man in the history of the sport to use the word 'hitherto' while commentating on a game of rugger.
Best match: A dead heat - Ireland V England and Italy V France.
Worst match: Scotland V Wales (I did the unthinkable and fell asleep during an international test match).
Most overrated first five eighth: Toby Flood.
Funniest quote: Keith Wood - 'Ronan O'Gara makes kicking look sexy'.
What referrees really should say: 'Crouch, touch, put the kettle on for a cup of tea, engage.'
Team that consistently has the most internal dramas: Wales, always Wales.
Fading star: Chabal.
Skill quality of the rugby played: 7/10.
Entertainment quality of the rugby played (bar Scotland V Wales): 9/10.
Best performance of the tournament: Ireland in 'that' test.
Teams on this showing that would deserve to make it to a RWC semi or final: possibly Ireland.
Teams that probably will make it to a semi/final even though at this moment in time I don't think they have a hope in hell, but stranger things happen during a knock-out comp: France or England.

IRB rankings after the 2011 Six Nations: 1. NZ, 2. Australia, 3. South Africa, 4. Ireland (up 2 places), 5. England (down 1 place), 6. France (down 1 place), 7. Wales, 8. Argentina, 9. Scotland, 10. Fiji, 11. Samoa, 12. Italy

Six Nations XV:
15. Adrea Masi (Italy)/Chris Patterson (Scotland), 14. Chris Ashton (England), 13. Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), 12. Gordon D'Arcy (Ireland), 11. Tommy Bowe (Ireland), 10 Jonny Wilkinson (England), 9. Mortan Parra (France), 8. Sergio Parisse (Italy), 7. Sam Warburton (Wales), 6. Sean O'Brien (Ireland), 5, Paul O'Connell (Ireland), 4. Richie Gray (Scotland), 3. Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy), 2. Dylan Hartley (England), 1. Thomas Domingo (France).

The Six Nations decider 2011 - England verse Ireland

Mark Cueto is a rare breed -  a winger that doesn't score tries.

Well, it's been great to be back in the Northern Hemisphere, to soak up the wonderful atmosphere that is the Six Nations. 

As an All Black fan trying to gauge what this will all mean for the World Cup, a few interesting things.  England's resurgence after years of dross is exciting for the game. As much as it pains me, I think England, whether they win the Slam and the Six Nations or not this year, have to now be considered as genuine Rugby World Cup 2011 contenders.

The main reasons: they've always had good forwards, but now that they've finally found some men out wide that can chance their arm means a whole new dimension has finally been added to their play (it's only taken about a decade to catch-up).   Chris Ashton brings a frisson when he gets his hands on the ball. And I love their halfback - Youngs. He's dynamic and has a great pass.  At such a young age, he has the world in front of him.

In the forwards, well England have always boasted a strong front row and their locks don't look too shabby either. I think the key areas where they will probably be found a little bit wanting are still in the loose forwards. Scotland had it over them in this department of the game last week, and I don't know whether Martin Johnson's loosies will ever pose a serious threat to the Southern Hemisphere flankers.

England's main weapon however, remains the same as it was in 2003 and 2007. Jonny Wilkinson. He knows how to play tournament rugby, and we all know that he is the best in the world to push a drop goal over when the pressure is piling up. He also is the calm in the storm, he can make decisions under pressure and his team will trust him if the chips are down to know what to do.

For me, the jury is still out on Toby Flood. Sure, he looked good against Italy and found a few gaps. But to be realistic, Italy were shocking the day England played them and I don't think that was down to England's brilliance. Still, with Wilkinson on the bench, maybe Johnson can afford to have Flood out on the field - for although he is not that great, he isn't dreadful either.

Other weak links for England? Definitely Mike Tindall and Shontanye Hape - they lack penetration and just seem a wee bit ploddy out there. It will be interesting to see what Matt Banahan does against the Irish tomorrow. He seems to inject real impact when he is on the field. If I was Johnson, I would have been starting him for every test.

My personal favourite in the England team is Steve Thompson.  When the All Blacks play England, I always hope Steve Thompson isn't on the field.  I think that might be the ultimate compliment for him.

So, England tomorrow against Ireland. I personally of course want Ireland to beat them.  Why? Because I'm a terrible, fickle person, and also because the English media is unbearable about their rugby team when they're winning.

I think the game could be very close. It is being played on Irish soil, and England haven't had to travel to hostile territory in this tournament much (excepting the Welsh game). In fact, is it just me, or does England in general try not to tour very much (it was a few years ago they played the All Blacks in NZ). 

Ireland have a chance. They have Brian O'Driscoll, they have Paul O'Connell. They have a strong back row and backs that can run and break the line.  Where Ireland will struggle is in the scrum.  But if they can get parity there, and if they can maintain their puff through to the 80 minute mark, then this will be a very close game indeed. But too close to call I think. Come on Ireland!

Additional notes:

1. Is it just me or is the England captaincy becoming a bit of a poisened chalice? First for Moody and then Tindall? Will they get their places back in the team let alone the captaincy when world cup time rolls around?
2. I think England will have a good chance of reaching a world cup final, as long as they don't meet New Zealand beforehand. If they do, it will be curtains for them. Let's not forget, for all that English rugby supporters drone on and on about the All Blacks 'choking' at world cups, the English rugby team has never beaten the All Blacks during a World Cup tournament.

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Rugby World Cup Profiles - Ireland

In this lull before the Rugby World Cup, I have decided to follow the lead of fellow esteemed bloggers and publish my thoughts on each top ten team heading into the World Cup Competition and what I think their chances are. Here are my thoughts on Ireland:

Current World Rank: 5

Random cliché: The pluck of the Irish

Murray Mexted most likely to say: ‘Everyone knows I’ve been pumping Gordon D’Arcy for a couple of seasons now’

Stephen Jones did say: ‘Ireland has a feeble scrum, weak scrum-half and undermanned lineout and unbalanced back row’ (ouch – don’t hold back Mr. Jones)

Main headline in the local rag when they lose: ‘It was a cheap shot’

Glamour boy: Brian O’Driscoll

Greatest Moment: Triple Crown winners for last two years running

Weakest Moment: Losing to France in the dying minutes of the 2007 Six Nations, thus ruining their best chance ever to date of winning the tournament.

Weak link: Ronan O’Gara’s tackling

Redeeming features: Keith Wood – ex captain and now star commentator. He even cried on telly in the last world cup when Ireland lost to Oz. A man that in not afraid to show his emotions and has a nice shiny head to boot. Great for Ireland and great for rugby.

Incumbent star: Paul O’Connell

Rising star: Gordon D’Arcy