2023 Six Nations: France v Wales

Second up on Super Saturday came the match that all of Wales had been dreading for the past week. Despite their first win in Warren Gatland’s second spell last week, Wales were still so far off the pace of the top teams in the competition and found themselves ending the tournament in Paris against a French team who had ran riot against England last weekend.

Wales came in having made a number of changes, with a focus on experience over form, and in fact earned the first chance of the game as a breakdown penalty allowed them to kick to the corner, but after Ken Owens spilled the ball at the back of the maul, Wyn Jones found himself held up over the line. Wales were making ground surprisingly well in their early attack and causing the French issues, and third penalty to the corner saw the maul stopped just short of the line, only for George North to pick a beautiful line to hit Rhys Webb’s wide pass for the opening try underneath the posts. If they had been shocked by the start, it didn’t take long for France to recover, and after Romain Ntamack broke down the left wing in their first attack, he offloaded to Antoine Dupont, whose wide pass found Damian Penaud in acres of space on the right for a quick answer. Wales were playing with a tempo and intent that had rarely been seen in recent years, but the French defence were finding answers, and then began growing into the game and winning some vital penalties at the breakdown, which eventually allowed Thomas Ramos to kick a penalty to put the hosts ahead for the first time after 26 minutes and another on the half hour to open up a gap on the visitors. The French attack was growing into the game too, and after Dupont was stopped just short in the left corner, the ball was spread down the hands to Jonathan Danty, who went over on the right wing. Wales perhaps got a little lucky soon after the restart as George North’s intervention to break up a French counterattack with Rio Dyer out of position was not considered a deliberate knock on, and the two teams were able to see out the half for a 20-7 score at the break.

The second half saw a much more impressive start from Les Bleus, who were immediately on the attack, and it took just a few minutes of concerted pressure in the 22 before the created an overlap just short of the try line, allowing Uini Atonio to power through the tackle of Louis Rees-Zammit for his first French try on his 50ᵗʰ cap. And their next attack was even more clinical, sending Gaël Fickou over on a beautiful line on the first phase after a lineout maul went nowhere, securing the bonus point in under 50 minutes. France were playing with confidence, but after being turned over in their own 22 after trying to play out from behind their own line, replacement hooker Bradley Roberts managed to force his way over for the try. Wales appeared to be going through a spell of momentum, and after Aaron Wainwright was stopped just short by Grégory Alldritt, Tomos Williams took the opportunity to snipe over from close range. But France put the pressure on in the final minutes to send Penaud over in the corner with just minutes left, which meant that a last gasp try for Rio Dyer was just a consolation bonus point, as the game ended 41-28.

France

They may not have faced the toughest of opponents in the last few weeks of the tournament, but after a disappointing loss to Ireland, France have made a statement.

Having arguably overplayed against Ireland, Les Bleus have been much more clinical in their matches against England and Wales, with a few exceptions like the decision to play out from their own in-goal which led to Bradley Roberts’ try. With Danty back providing his extra physicality in midfield, it feels like it has freed up carriers in the French pack like Cyril Baille, Sipili Falatea, Charles Ollivon and Grégory Alldritt to effect the game in better areas of the pitch. But you also get the feeling that they are holding something back with the World Cup so close.

Meanwhile in defence, Danty’s return has also been felt as it has not just solidified the midfield but also brought back an extra jackal threat to the back line, which one again allows the team to spread their jackals through the defensive line for maximum impact.

While France will be disappointed not to be celebrating a Grand Slam today, they can look back at this campaign as a success. The questions the may have been asked after losing to Ireland have been largely answered, while this tournament may have cost them Anthony Jelonch, it has seen the rise of Falatea, Thibaud Flament and Ethan Dumortier among others, along with the return of Thomas Ramos to add extra depth at 15 (while also being an emergency 10, which will surely see him make the World Cup squad) and a test of the depth at tighthead prop.

While they may not have won the Six Nations (assuming no shock victory in the finale from England), it’s another stepping stone as they build towards the Autumn and a World Cup which they must be one of the favourites to win.

Wales

I’m sure that I can’t have been the only one surprised when Warren Gatland announced his matchday squad, which sa a number of the youngsters who had been impressing given the weekend off, while a number of Gatland’s old favourites—who had frankly looked past it in may of their recent appearances—returned tot he starting lineup. Was Gatland just going back to his old favourites? Had he lost his mind? Or did he look at what happened to England last weekend and decide to remove as many of the kids as he could from the firing line so that their early Test careers did not involve the pain of taking an absolute hammering?

Well the old guard certainly caught myself—and perhaps even France—by surprise, with many of them putting in performances that ran back the clock. Rhys Webb continued where he left off against Italy, benefitting as well from the return of Dan Biggar outside him. Nick Tompkins looked comfortable in his first start of the tournament, George North was carrying and defending with a strength that we have not seen enough, while Alun Wyn Jones—who had looked years off the pace in recent appearances—was at the heart of everything, though it may be a little worrying that he only lasted to a few minutes into the second half.

Meanwhile, there suddenly seemed an intent in attack that has so often been missing. Instead of hitting a one-up runner or playing it down the line, Wales were targeting the fringes of the breakdown with pick and go carries, and taking every opportunity they could to keep the ball alive and the tempo high by offloading out of contact. The attack was drawing in the tacklers and creating gaps in the defence, while also forcing them to give away penalties as they attempted to slow the game down.

And in possibly one of the smartest moves, Gatland chose to use Gloucester superstar Louis Rees-Zammit at fullback, which saw him get more touches in the opening half than he had probably had all tournament, as he was given the freedom to find the gaps and hit them. Such is the talent that Rees-ammit has, the more Wales can get the ball in his hands the better, while with players like Josh Adams, Rio Dyer and Alex Cuthbert, Wales have enough other options to cover the wings.

With this being Wales’ last competitive match before the World Cup, some veterans may have just secured their spot in the squad, while a couple of others may have helped put themselves back in contention.

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2023 Six Nations: England v France

Twickenham played host to the 2023 edition of Le Crunch, as Steve Borthwick’s England played their first match against a team expected to be in contention for the Rugby World Cup later this year. Les Bleus were welcoming back a few regulars to their 2 following injury, while the news from the England camp was largely focused on Marcus Smith being given the 10 shirt, with Owen Farrell dropping to the bench.

And it was the visitors who got the better start, Thibaud Flament’s line break releasing Ethan Dumortier, who sent Thomas Ramos over in the corner, who also kicked the conversion and a penalty just minutes later for an early 10 point lead. After an awful first 10 minutes, England grew into the game and found some parity, and turned down a kickable penalty on 19 minutes to go to the corner, only for a poor maul to break apart and allow the defence a chance to get in and steal the ball on the floor. And Les Bleus made them pay 5 minutes later as a 50-22 from Antoine Dupont put them within 10m of the line, and a few phases of pressure saw Flament crash over for the try. A penalty allowed England a quick chance to respond, but after again going to the corner, they were penalised for obstruction as they set the maul. England finally chose to go for the posts with their next penalty just after the half hour, and Marcus Smith finally got them on the scoreboard, only for Ramos to immediately counter with a kick of his own. And when the French scrum got the wheel on at the end of the half, a dominant carry off the base from Grégory Alldritt allowed him to send Charles Ollivon over for the try, Ramos maintaining his 100% record off the tee for a 3-27 lead.

Though far from perfect, England were competitive at the start of the second half and thought they had a try after 5 minutes as Marcus Smith’s crosskick evaded Ramos, only for the diving Max Malins to fail to collect in goal. England went to the bench early, with ALex Mitchell and Owen Farrell coming on for Jack van Poortvliet and henry Slade, and it had an immediate impact as the tempo increased from the hosts, which resulted in Freddie Steward crashing over for a much-needed try. But France soon recovered from the shock, and when Dupont chipped into the England 22 from the back of a ruck, Romain Ntamack beat Steward to the ball and tapped back to the onrushing Flament for his second try of the match. And when France broke again and kicked downfield, forcing Marcus Smith to set up the ruck on his own line, Charles Ollivon had the presence of mind to realise that the ball was free over the line and he came through to dot the ball down for another try. England were struck another blow in the final 20 minutes as Ollie Lawrence went off injured, and with all the replacement backs already on, Alex Dombrandt was forced to fill in at centre, which France took advantage of entering the final ten minutes, Fickou’s cross-kick evading the Harlequin and finding Damian Penaud, who had been quiet by his standards but did not hesitate in cantering 60 meters untouched for another try, while he was celebrating another just minutes later as they caught England far too narrow and beat the bliting Anthony Watson to send the wing over in the corner, Ramos finally losing his 100% kicking record for the game. England looked to try and end a humiliating day on a minor positive, but Steward found himself held up over the line in the corner, leaving them left to reflect on a chastening 10-53 loss, their largest ever home defeat.

England

This was a major reality check for England. After years of stagnation under Eddie Jones, it was never going to be easy for Steve Borthwick to turn things around in time for the World Cup. It must be remembered, England came into this tournament basically a step or 2 above Wales—mainly due to the depth they have courtesy of the Premiership compared to the Welsh—while France are one of the favourites for the World Cup. And that gap in quality really showed.

One of the stars of the Premiership, Alex Dombrandt has struggled to replicate his performances on the Test stage, and looked especially poor in this game, with a number of handling errors and often going to ground too early, putting his team under pressure. 2 stupid early penalties from Lewis Ludlam helped remind me why I have never considered him a Test-level back row, while players like Maro Itoje and Jamie George continue to not reach their Saracens level of performances with a rose on their breast instead. Jack van Poortvliet struggled to get anything going and provide quick ball, while his replacement Alex Mitchell impressed for about minutes before putting in a torrid display that will surely see Harry Randall sending the England coaches a reminder that he’s available.

And as the new attacking gameplan is still settling in with a change at 10, the last thing you want is a game against a Shaun Edwards defence, especially with Jonathan Danty’s return helping solidify the midfield. Too rare were the times that England were able to get on the front foot, and it left Smith with little to work with. But what was really worrying was just how easy the French found it to turn the English over… it honestly felt like men against boys at times watching Danty, Ollivon, Flament and Aldritt take control of the game.

And the bad news for England: next week they face an Irish side likely playing for the Grand Slam. It’s hard to imagine that things will get any easier for English fans this month…

France

If you want to highlight the success of Fabien Galthié’s decision to reset the squad at the start of the cycle and build from day 1 with the World Cup in line, look no further than Thibaut Flament.

With the dynamism of a back row but the physicality of a lock, Flament is one of those incredible locks on the level of Tadhg Beirne who are so hard to account for due to their unique blend of skills. Over the last few seasons we have seen him embedded into the squad, with 9 appearances last year but only 3 starts (against Argentina and twice against Japan). Now 25 years old and with another season of top flight rugby under his belt, this was his sixth start of the season for Les Bleus. And now that he has secured himself as a starter, it is allowing him to really carve out a role in this team.

Previously, his dynamism was used to hurt a tiring opposition, much like we have seen from players like Sipili Falatea and Matthieu Jalibert. However now that he has become a starter, he has actually added a new dimension to the French attack. Rather than just being another big carrier like his partner Paul Willemse, his dynamism allows himself to be used slightly wider where the defence is less congested and the gaps between defenders is bigger. By then targeting the gap, he can look to use his pace and power to break through, and even if the defense does tackle him, he will have generally managed to get through the tackle, where he can then look to offload to his support men, creating the linebreak that his team will so often convert into 5/7 points.

And the scary thing is that he will likely just get better over the next few years. Expect to him becoming a regular in my Team of the Tournament articles.

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2023 Six Nations: France v Scotland

After losing their winning run 2 weeks ago against Ireland, France looked to bounce back at home to Scotland, who for the first time in Six Nations history were still chasing a Grand Slam come round 3. But it was Les Bleus (ironically playing in all white while Scotland wore their traditional blue) who started better and scored the first try within 5 minutes as a concerted assault on the Scottish line drew the defence in narrow enough for Romain Ntamack to beat them to the edge and go over for the try himself despite men free outside of him. And things got immediately worse for the Scots as Grant Gilchrist was sent off for a high hit on Anthony Jelonch at the restart, leaving Scotland 75 minutes to play a man down. And the hosts immediately took advantage of the extra space, Ntamack sending Ethan Dumortier over in the corner just a minute after the game restarted. A Scottish penalty at the next restart gave them a chance to go to the corner, and with Jonny Gray coming on for Hamish Watson to add extra ballast and lineout options, the Scots found their maul stopped just short, only for Mohamed Haouas, into the squad in place of the banned Uini Atonio, to needlessly dive in and catch Ben White in the head, earning himself a red card—making it 2 red cards in his last 2 appearances against Scotland. An obstruction at the lineout allowed France, who had to sacrifice Grégory Alldritt in order to bring on replacement prop Sipili Falatea to escape without further punishment, but a 50-22 from Racing’s Finn Russell soon had the Scots back in the 22, only for Zander Fagerson to lose control of the ball as he reached for the line. Scotland kept the pressure on, but were undone as Thomas Ramos intercepted Russell’s flat wide pass and ran in untouched from 60 metres to score under the posts, giving himself the simplest of conversions. But Russell quickly looked to make amends with a break into the 22, and when Scotland quickly recycled, the Scottish forwards worked the ball out to Duhan van der Merwe, who was just forced into touch by Anthony Jelonch and Ntamack as he stretched for the line. A penalty advantage allowed them to continue their siege on the France try line, and Russell eventually found Huw Jones on the perfect angle to go over next to the posts, while Jelonch was forced to call it a day after a physical 25 minutes that had seen him pass a HIA and both give and receive a series of big hits. Scotland were dominating the possession and territory since the game became 14v14, with Russell’s kicking to the corner keeping the pressure on France and allowing the visitors to counter their clearance kicks, and yet it was France who added to their tally 5 minutes before the break via a Ramos penalty. Scotland had one last chance to attack the French deep in their half, but Russell’s looped pass to send Hogg free down the wing was judged to have gone forward, leaving them going into the break down 22-7.

Having missed so many chances in the first half, Scotland desperately needed to score first in the second half, and after a huge carry out wide from Huw Jones brought the visitors up tho the line, Scotland tied in the defence with a couple of forward carries before hitting back to the blind side and sending Jones over for his second try of the game. But France soon hit back with some strong carries to seemingly put Dumortier over in the corner, only for Ben White and Huw Jones to stop the ball getting to ground. Another Ramos penalty extended France’s lead back to double figures and triggered the arrival of Jack Dempsey and Ali Price as Scotland continued to largely dominate the possession and territory while lacking the killer final pass. But with 13 minutes remaining, a strong carry from Sione Tuipulotu on first phase after a scrum put the Scots on the front foot and a quick recycle allowed Russell to run through a gap in the disorganised defence, before converting his own try to cut the French lead to 4 points. France turned to Mathieu Jabibert for the final 10 minutes, and when Jamie Ritchie saw his side marched back 10 metres for dissent after he was pinged for holding on in his 22, France took the quick tap penalty to send Gaël Fickou over for the bonus point try, with Ramos’ conversion making it a 32-21 victory for the hosts.

France

Has Mohamed Haouas just brought an end to his international career?

The Clermont-bound Montpellier tighthead only came into the 23 this week due to Uini Atonio’s ban for a high tackle on Rob Herring 2 weeks ago, but his return lasted a grand total of 12 minutes before a needless dive off his feet that at best was going to gift Scotland a penalty for playing the 9, but instead resulted in him clashing heads with Ben White, leaving officials no choice but to send him off.

Having been sent off for punching Jamie Ritchie in his last appearance against Scotland, and having recently received an 1-month suspended sentence for his part in a series of robberies in 2014, with another court appearance due in May after being charged with “wilful violence” for another incident, there were already questions over whether he had the right temperance for test rugby or if he was too hot-headed. It seems that this latest moment of idiocy has answered that question. Now coaches must ask themselves if this makes him too much of a risk.

Judging by recent selections, Uini Atonio and Sipili Falatea are the clear preferred pairing, while today’s selection would suggest that Fabien Galthié prefers to utilise Falatea’s dynamism by bringing him off the bench against a tiring defence. So with the World Cup fast approaching, what other options does Galthié have? Well Demba Bamba looked to be the rising star of the French front row, only for a series of injuries to limit his playing time recently. But if he can get the minutes under his belt for the rest of the season, he will surely come back into contention, while Toulouse’s Dorian Aldegheri, whose last cap came against England in 2021, could also be in contention for a recall.

And then what about after the World Cup? Well it’s safe to assume that France will likely repeat their actions in this cycle by starting an immediate rebuild by looking only at players who they think could be part of their plans for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. We know that Atonio will have aged out by then and it is hard to imagine Haouas (who will be 33 in that tournament) will make the squad when Falatea and Bamba would be arguably entering their prime at 29 and 28 respectively, as we would probably see a younger third option.

Would you select Haouas again if you were Galthié? I certainly think that this is one selection headache I would rather avoid, causing me to look at other options.

Scotland

This will be a hard loss to take for Scotland. Grant Gilchrist’s moment of complete stupidity not just allowed France to build a commanding lead before their own red card, but also cost Scotland one of their most devastating forward carriers and jackals as they were forced to sacrifice Hamish Watson to bring on another lineout option.

And yet despite that awful first 10 minutes, it’s hard to argue that Scotland shouldn’t be leaving Paris still hunting for the Grand Slam. Though barely in the game during the first 10 minutes, the Sots ended up dominating the possession and spending so much time in and around the French 22. And yet they failed to convert this to scores, leaving them without even a bonus point.

Scotland wasted so many opportunities. Getting pinged for obstruction at the 5m lineout immediately after Haouas’ red card was a big let-off for France given the recent success of the Scottish maul. Zander Fagerson’s knock-on in the corner was a classic case of a prop getting white line fever and hunting the glory, when simply recycling the ball would have likely seen the team score within a couple of phases. Russell’s wide double-miss pass that was intercepted by Ramos was unnecessary and costly. and there were a number of other occasions where it felt like Scotland were trying to force the opportunity rather than going through the phases and letting the opportunity develop, as he French did.

Of course, if any defence can hold out with 14 men, it’s one organised by Shaun Edwards. But if scotland want to start regularly beating the top teams in the world, then they need to find a way to be more clinical.

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2023 Six Nations: Ireland v France

Could this be the tournament decider in round 2? The top 2 teams in the world rankings met at the Aviva Stadium having both come through the first round with victories despite performances that were not completely convincing. And a physical start hat saw both teams fronting up on the gain line ended with an early penalty for the visitors, which Thomas Ramos duly dispatched. However, a mistake from the fullback when trying to deal with James Lowe’s kick down the 5 metre channel gifted the hosts with a 5m lineout just a minute later, and though the maul was well defended, a series of strong Irish carries culminated in Andrew Porter driving over the line, only to be held up by his opposite number Cyril Baille. The net Irish attack was much more clinical; a dummy from Finlay Bealham to the looping Conor Murray created a gap for the tighthead to send Hugo Keenan through a gap on the fringe of a ruck and back himself to reach the line for the opening try after just 8 minutes. Ramos narrowed the gap with a try, and as the game began to open up and the play got extremely loose, the French found a chink in the Irish defence to put Anthony Jelonch through a gap, with a smart offload from the flanker sending Damian Penaud over. France were their own worst enemies though, Ramos’ clearance was charged down from the restart to gift the Irish with possession on the 22, and when the ball game wide to the left, James Lowe was adjudged to have successfully denied gravity to dot down as Penaud tried to tackle him into touch, Jonathan Sexton’s missed kick from the touchline just allowing Les Bleus to hold onto their lead. Things soon got worse for the French though after a monstrous collision between Uini Atonio and Rob Herring was reviewed for a head contact and resulted in a yellow for the French tighthead, and the Irish soon took advantage of the extra man to force his way over from close range. Ramos cut the lead by 3 as the visitors returned to a full complement, but as Romain Ntamack was intercepted trying a play that wasn’t on, Mack Hansen looked certain to score only to be manhandled away from the line by Antoine Dupont. Yet once again a French error in their own 22—this time a knock on from Jelonch on his own try line—gifted the Irish a chance, only for Cyril Baille to once again save the day by holding Conor Murray up over the line, while the Irish scrum half also found himself knocking on as he stretched for the line in the final seconds of the half, leading to the hosts settling for a Sexton penalty to end the half at 22-16.

The hosts were struck a blow early in the second half as Tadhg Beirne was helped off the pitch just 5 minutes after the restart, while Sexton’s match was brought to a premature end just minutes later. After throwing caution to the wind with their play int he first half, Les Bleus were playing a much more structured and territory-focused game in the second half, but when a 5-22 from Hugo Keenan gave Ireland a lineout deep in French territory, the hosts went through the phases to force a penalty, which Ross Byrne kicked to extend the lead to 9. Ramos responded with a drop goal just after the hour—his last act before being replaced by Matthieu Jalibert—but another French error within 10m of their line gifted Ireland another opportunity, only for replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher to be held up over the line. With Craig Casey upping the tempo from the bench at scrum half and combining with Byrne to keep the French pinned back, Garry Ringrose broke through Jalibert’s tackle out wide to go over with just 8 minutes left to earn the bonus point and secure a 32-19 victory.

Ireland

Hugo Keenan is just quietly going about his business becoming the best fullback in the world. There really appears to be no weakness to his game!

In attack, he has a great range of passing to ensure that him hitting the line will not negatively impact a move, an eye for a gap, and a fantastic blend of pace and agility to take advantage of any gap he finds, as highlighted by his try today. In defence, he is a reliable ackler, but really stands out is his positioning. And in the kicking game, he is dominant in the air—somewhat reminiscent of Rob Kearney with his reliability under the high ball—while covering the backfield in a way that makes it look easy, while his own kicking game is dangerous enough to allow him to turn a kicking duel in his favour.

It really is incredible to watch him play, and he must feel like such a comfort blanket to his teammates. He truly is a great example of how just doing the basics really well and being consistent can make you one of the best in the world.

France

Last week, I wrote about how Italy overplayed against France and it cost them the match. Well it seems that France looked at that performance and said “hold my glass of wine.” After 3 years of creating a structured but fluid attack, the team suddenly reverted to the French team of old, throwing the ball around with abandon.

Now of course, we know that the Irish defence is one of the best in the world, but by throwing the ball around how they were, the French were generally giving the Irish a chance to reset their defence, or in many cases actually set up a counterattack of their own. But even worse was how unnecessary it felt, as when they played their usual structured game, they were generally making good ground and winning penalties.

Yes attacking like that can lead to beautiful tries like Damian Penaud’s. However at this level of the game, you need something much more structured and reliable to consistently cause the best defences problems.

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2023 Six Nations: Italy v France

The final game of round 1 took place on Sunday as France made the trip to Rome. The Azzurri came into the tournament of the back of one of their most successful seasons in years, which included ending a run of 32 losses in this tournament with victory in Cardiff, bu soon found themselves behind as Thibaud Flament’s charge down of Stephen Varney’s kick bounced back into his hands for him to canter in untouched. The Azzurri continued to play positively though and began to claw back the score with a penalty from Tommaso Allan, starting in place of the injured Paolo Garbisi. However they shot themselves in the foot trying to overplay their exit, and were only reprieved by Charles Ollivon fumbling the ball as he reached ou across the try line. However the French were soon attacking the line again, and when Damian Penaud and Ange Capuozzo both contacted each other in the air competing for Romain Ntamack’s crosskick, Thomas Ramos was backing up to dot down the loose ball, though he was unable to add the extras from the tee. Allan continued to keep the score close with another penalty after some impressive handling, but again Italy were let off at the kickoff as Antoine Dupont charged down Allan’s clearance kick, only for the ball to bounce right through the dead ball area. However it was just a temporary delay, as a turnover from Grégory Alldritt once again gave Les Bleus possession around the 22, and the drew in the defence for Ntamack to find debutant Ethan Dumortier for a try with a perfect crosskick. Italy continued to respond with positive attacking play, and with their next penalty on the half hour went to the corner, and when the maul crabbed infield, Stephen Varney played the ball blind to the late-looping Capuozzo, whose step just held Alldritt and allowed him to sneak in at the corner. And then just before the half, a pair of penalties against France allowed Italy to go from their own 22 to the French 22 with 2 kicks to touch, and 15 phases of pressure eventually drew a penalty from Paul Willemse, which Allan kicked for a 14-19 halftime score.

After a solid defensive start to the second period, it was Thomas Ramos who opened the scoring for the half with a penalty, while Allan responded with an inch-perfect kick tot he corner from halfway with his next penalty to set up a 5m lineout for the Azurri pack, and after their drive splintered the French pack, Charles Ollivon was adjudged to have illegally collapsed the maul just short of the line, giving them the penalty try and a 10-minute spell in the sin bin for the former French captain. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the French were not content to slow their play down, and Damian Penaud came close to a try as he outpaced Luca Morisi in the chase to a kick into the in-goal, only to knock-on under pressure from the centre as both reached for the ball at the same time. And after Ramos missed a penalty of his own, Allan kicked the hosts into a 24-22 lead as Ollivon returned to the pitch just after the hour. However the lead did not last long, as a series of errors and penalties from Italy gave France the ball in the Italian 22, and a lovely carry through contact and offload from Romain Taofifenua to his fellow replacement Matthieu Jalibert allowed the stand-off to step back inside the overcommitting Italian defence and drop over the line. Taofifenua’s next involvement wasn’t so positive, though, as a tackle off the ball on Edoardo Padovani gave Allan a kick at goal, but the ball ended up drifting just wide of the posts. But as the clock entered the red, Tommy Allan was able to kick a penalty to the corner, but the resulting maul became a mess and Matthew Carley blew the final whistle and a 24-29 victory for Les Bleus.

Italy

The Azzurri are playing some lovely rugby, and are arguably looking the best they have in the Six Nations for some time, which given the quality of players missing (Garbisi, Polledri, Ioane to name just 3) is a great sign. Unfortunately, at times they have overplayed, especially in their own half.

France’s opener came from a charge down of Stephen Varney’s kick, and as it was intended to be a surprise chip over the breakdown rather than a clearance, it meant that he had no men in place extending the breakdown or obstructing the blockers, making it easy for Flament to charge down. It’s a risky play against a defence that was pretty well set, and this time it backfired.

And on the subject of backfiring, Italy were just constantly shooting themselves in the foot at restarts. Against Samoa, I identified how Italy are now dealing with restarts by setting up a ruck in the middle of the pitch and looking to see if there is an attacking play on if the defence does not work around the breakdown, but the first time trying this saw them try to play from deep and a handling error in their 22 gifted France possession just short of the line which should have resulted in a try for Charles Ollivon, while France clearly knew what was coming when Dupont charged down Allan’s clearance, Italy again getting lucky that the ball bounced dead.

There is a time and a place to attack. Italy have shown they can, now they just need to learn to be pragmatic and not overplay, or they will be putting themselves under undue pressure.

France

When teams watch back the footage of this match, one thing that I’m sure they’ll be highlighting will be France’s struggles against the Italian maul.

While they did successfully get up to spoil or steal a handful of throws, when the Italian pack secured the ball and set up the maul, they struggled to stop it at source and found themselves going backwards So it was no surprise to see Italy start kicking to the corner, and it paid dividends for the Azzurri, who scored twice off the maul, once attacking the blind side that opened up as they came infield, the other splitting the French pack in two before Ollivon illegally brought them down as they drove for the line. Honestly, I’m surprised that after the penalty try, they abandoned the driving maul until the final play, which was the only time France really succeeded in defending the maul all game!

What makes this a real issue is just how poor their discipline was today. If they are going to give away penalties, then teams will look to challenge them with the catch and drive, knowing that at longer range they may force another penalty, or if nothing else, draw in the defence to create space for the backs to attack. And in the 22, that’s when they will find themselves under real pressure…

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Autumn Nations Series 2022: France v Japan

Another successful Autumn came to an end for France with the visit of Japan. Les Bleus’ decision to play their strongest available XV as a clear mark of respect to their opponents, who had the first attack of note as Kazuki Himeno sniped off a ruck and carried into the 22, though a handling error eventually ended the pressure and a penalty at the scrum allowed the hosts to clear their lines. France were soon on the attack, though, and after phases of pressure on the edge of the 22, Romain Ntamack’s grubber was kicked on by Damian Penaud, and when fullback Ryohei Yamanaka failed to keep hold of it as he covered across, Penaud dived on the loose ball for the opening try. As conditions worsened, Japan struggled to deal with the French conveyor belt of hard carriers, eventually gifting Thomas Ramos the simplest of penalties, and he added another just after the 15 minute mark as Koo Ji-won obstructed France’s routes to the kicker, while Les Bleus were forced into a reshuffle of their backs due to an injury to Gaël Fickou, resulting in Yoram Moefana moving into 13 and back row Sekou Macalou again coming on as a wing. Japan finally got on the scoreboard as the first quarter ended; Ntamack choosing to run back a kick with no support led to him being turned over, and Anthony Jelonch was forced to illegally slow down the Japanese breakdown to give Lee Seung-Sin an easy kick off the tee. Japan had a half-chance soon after as a tip-on off the top of a French lineout failed to find it’s man and scrum half Naoto Saito kicked on, but though he beat his opposition to the ball, his next kick on was overhit and saw the ball go dead. The late deluge of rain was affecting French plans as the ball became slippery in hands, but the monstrous carrying of the French pack won a penalty in front of the posts for Ramos to convert with 30 minutes gone. And as the game approached halftime, Maxime Lucu took advantage of some confusion after another ball came off the top of the lineout to break down the 5m channel, before feeding his captain Charles Ollivon for the try, Ramos adding the extras for a 21-3 lead at the break.

Japan has started the first half with a breakaway, and they did again for the second half, with Shogo Nakano shooting through agap, but this time the immediate support was there on his shoulder from Saito to take the pass and go over for the try, Seung-Sin converting. Franc were soon back to controlling the game as their powerful carries in midfield made space for the backs to exploit out wide, though there were some moments where they still looked somewhat disjointed. A cut to the bridge of his nose that caused heavy bleeding brought an end to Ntamack’s game, with Matthieu Jalibert coming on, and his clever mid-length kick down the wing caused nightmares for the Japanese defence and allowed him to recover it and feed Bastien Chalureauto carry the ball up to 5m out, and when the ball was fed back, it was spread wide to the left for Damian Penaud to score his second of the game. However, an error at the restart from Grégory Alldritt gifted the Brave Blossoms a penalty kick to the corner, and a clever planned move off the top saw Siosaia Fifita sent over untouched. France looked to immediately answer and thought they had when Penaud put Jonathan Danty over in the corner, but replays showed that though his dive avoided him stepping into touch, the ball was dotted down on the touch-in-goal line. But France secured the victory with 7 minutes remaining. A cheeky chip and collect into the Japanese 22 from Matthieu Jalibert put the defence in disarray, and when the ball came out to Danty on the wing, he played it back inside to Anthony Jelonch to score. However Jalibert’s next action was not so silky: winning the chase of a kick back into his in-goal, but then trying to play his way out and floating the offload into touch, but the French defence held firm on their line and secured the turnover, along with a 35-17 victory that secures an unbeaten 2022 for Les Bleus.

Wing forward

Sekou Macalou may have just secured his spot in the 23 over the last couple of weeks. A back row by trade, the 27-year-old has come on early in both matches due to injuries, but with France favouring a 6-2 split with Matthieu Jalibert and a scrum half covering the backs, he has found himself coming on to play wing.

And while many forwards in his situation would do their best impersonation of a fish out of water, jelonch put in performances that actually looked like a Test wing. His pace was enough to hold his own, while his positioning was extremely impressive, especially in defence, where he would not commit himself too early and knew to use his touchline as an extra defender.

So why does this secure his space in the 23? For the exact potential situations we have seen the last 2 weeks. France clearly have the preference of a 6-2 split, but when you look at their ideal 23, it leaves them with nobody to cover the wings. However, if you have a forward who can do such an impressive job there—just consider the quality of wing he has faced over recent weeks—it allows Fabien Galthié to select the extra forward on the bench safe in the knowledge that Macalou can cover an emergency at wing, making it effectively a 5.5-2.5 split instead.

Unprepared

This Japan side was heavily changed from the one who lost to England last week, and that just highlighted one massive point: This team is still trying to find themselves one year out from the World Cup.

Much like Georgia and Fiji, they are a team who have the quality to take Tier 1 scalps, but without being in the Six Nations or Rugby Championship, they do not get the regular fixtures against Tier 1 opposition that they need to stop these occasional victories being an upset, and arguably they do not get enough matches period, which has certainly not been helped by the impact of COVID earlier in the cycle.

Rugby has reached an important point in its life. The top teams outside Tier 1 need to be playing in major competitions against Tier 1 opposition with regularity in order to keep growing, while teams like Chile and Portugal making it to the World Cup at the expense of the USA, who just a few years ago were in incredible form, has highlighted just how close everything is getting below Tier 1.

The international calendar needs a shake-up sooner rather than later. It is probably time for at least another 4 nations to be added to the World Cup, while existing Tier 1 competitions (the Six Nations and Rugby Championship) need amending or replacing to keep with the times and acknowledge the growth of rugby around the world.

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Help me to change the face of men’s health!

Autumn Nations Series 2022: France v South Africa

A Saturday full of rugby came to an end in Marseille as France hosted South Africa. A hugely physical start saw Faf de Klerk’s early offside give Thomas Ramos an early kick from range, which he despatched with ease for a 3-0 lead. With Willie le Roux back in at 15, South Africa were looking much more comfortable than last week, but things became much harder after 11 minutes as Pieter-Steph du Toit was sent off for a dangerous clean-out to the head of Jonathan Danty. As both teams continued to look to play positive rugby, a turnover by Charles Ollivon caught Kwagga Smith offside for Ramos to double the lead, while the World Champions found their lineout reliability taking a huge hit, and when France finally found themselves with possession in the visitors’ 22, Cyril Baille managed to force himself over from close range. While the French were starting to take hold of the game, they were struggling to deal with the Springboks’ driving maul, and one such maul earned the visitors a penalty just inside the French half which Cheslin Kolbe kicked to put them on the board after 25 minutes, while the next one 5 minutes later saw Siya Kolisi break out as it collapsed to go over for a try without any tackler even getting close. As the half came to a close, Ox Nche was penalised for not rolling away, and Ramos successfully bisected the posts for a 16-10 lead at the break.

Another penalty from Kolbe cut the lead to 3 soon after the restart, but when Faf de Klerk failed to effectively clear his lines under pressure from Cameron Woki, a mighty French maul allowed Thomas Ramos to almost immediately take the lead back out to 6. What had already been a crazy game then took it’s next massive twist, as Antoine Dupont was given a red card for taking out Cheslin Kolbe in the air just 8 minutes into the half, and after a series of penalties in the corner, the South African forwards attacked infield and then he ball went back blind for Willie le Roux to put Kurt-Lee Arendse over in the corner, de Klerk kicking the conversion (having taken over kicking duties while Kolbe underwent a HIA) to put the Boks ahead, before kicking a penalty minutes later. France hit back with a Ramos penalty just before the hour. As both sides emptied the benches going into the final half hour, Maxime Lucu and Sekou Macalou just combined to force Kurt-Lee Arendse into touch as he went hunting another try, but the French wing was pinged moments later for getting back to his feet when held, and with both de Klerk and Kolbe off the pitch, Damian Willemse found he target with his penalty. As the game entered the final 10 minutes, South African replacement Deon Fourie was sent to the bin for an offence at the French maul, while Romain Ntamack made way for Mathieu Jalibert, but it was the forwards who put France back ahead, as their siege on the try line saw Sipili Falatea pushed over the line with a pick and go, but a first miss of the night from Ramos left them with just a 1-point lead with 5 minutes remaining. As the clock ticked down, a huge scrum from the French against the depleted Springbok pack allowed Thomas Ramos to kick the lead to 4 points. South Africa secured the restart, but a crucial turnover from Yoram Moefana won the ball back for Les Bleus and they held out for the final 30 seconds for a 30-26 victory.

rugby south africa springboks crest no background

Pushovers

One thing that will likely have Fabien Galthié a little worried will be just how effective the Springboks maul was. Despite being a (very big!) man down, the Springboks were making France look like Japan, such was the ease they were making metres with the maul.

Now granted this isn’t France’s ideal pack (or biggest, with players like Paul Willemse missing) and the sheer number or injury-enforced changes made early on won’t have helped, but these were not fringe players packing down against the Springboks and being made to look they they were facing a team 2-3 age grades above them. As the game went on, the French pack had some success themselves with the driving maul, but they still looked at risk whenever the visitors were setting the maul.

France have a wonderful all-round team, but teams with big physical packs will look at those maul and perhaps see a chink in the French armour. The good news is, with almost a year still to go, there is still plenty of time to work on this.

Where there’s a Willie, there’s a way

Is there anybody more underrated in Test rugby than Willie le Roux. Often panned online by fans, and continually looking to be replaced by the coaches, the experienced fullback continues to show his quality when given the chance.

Granted he isn’t the best defensively, but what he does is so vital to the Springboks attack, as he plays the second playmaker role, comfortably coming in at first or second receiver depending on the phase and what the team are looking to do, while when he takes the ball around the 13 channel, there are very few players who will time the simple pass tot he winger so perfectly while making it look so easy.

Right now, South Africa have a serious issue at fly half, but it is notable just how much less of an issue this is when le Roux is there to assist them, as he takes so much pressure off of them and allows them to focus on what they do best—a perfect example being how last week Damian Willemse’s runs with the ball brought the attack to a standstill, while this week they looked like a way to draw in defenders and look for a gap to exploit.

So go ahead and keep hating him, he may just be the difference between defending the World Cup or losing in the quarterfinals.

Autumn Nations Series 2022: France v Australia

A day full of rugby came to an end with Australia continued their Autumn Nations Series campaign with a trip to France. The Wallabies could consider themselves lucky to have won last weekend against Scotland, but were fully deserving of their early lead after Taniela Tupou won a penalty at the scrum, which Bernard Foley kicked. However, the hosts were soon level after the Wallabies failed to release Antoine Dupont in the tackle, allowing Thomas Ramos an early kick from distance, while a Grégory Alldritt jackal allowed Ramos to kick them into the lead from halfway just minutes later. Foley soon levelled the scores offt he tee after Uini Atonio tackled Michael Hooper off the ball, while the fly hal successfully covered a Ramos kick to the corner moments later at the expense of a 5m lineout. And though the French pack were unable to maul it over, the team went through the phases before Charles Ollivon forced his way over on 15 minutes, only for it to be judged a double movement. Foley’s clearing penalty failed to find touch and the French were back on the attack, but when the bounce of Dupont’s chip just evaded the chasing Ramos, Australia recovered it and countered down their left wing for Len Lalakai Foketi to score. As the visitors began to take control, Foley missed a penalty, while Foketi was forced to leave the field with an injury, Hunter Paisami taking his place. As Les Bleus grew back into the game, Ramos added another 6 points off the tee, and they took the lead on the stroke of half time. The ball went to ground as Australia tried playing it though their backs, and when Fickou kicked the ball on, Andrew Kellaway managed to cover it, only for Dupont to drive him back to his own try line in the tackle, before the next men in cleared over him to turn the ball over, allowing Julien Marchand to cross from close range, with Ramos’ conversion giving them a 19-13 lead at the break.

Foley was able to quickly cut the deficit to 3 after the break as the French defence advanced too soon at a lineout, but an error off the restart gifted Les Bleus possession on the edge of their 22, and as the front row’s carries began to make ground, Rob Valentini’s high tackle allowed Ramos to kick 3 points of his own, though his next kick from halfway drifted wide. As the substitutes began to make an entrance, a wide move directly following a driving maul saw Jock Campbell go over for his first Test try just before the hour, with Foley’s conversion giving his side a 1-point lead. A penalty for Dany Priso going off his feet allowed Foley to stretch the lead to 4. However the French were straight back on the attack and when Jonathan Danty was taken out off the ball, the hosts chose to go to the corner, but as Alldritt tried to offload close to the line, the ball went loose and the visitors earned a penalty to clear their lines with 10 minutes left. Ramos soon cut the lead back to 1 with a penalty, while Australia replaced Bernard Foley with the big boot of Reece Hodge, and one of his first actions was to kick the lead back out to 4 points with 5 minutes remaining. France were straight back on the attack, and after making a break down the left, replacement fly half Matthieu Jalibert floated a wide pass to Damian Penaud just phases later, and the French wing somehow manager to beat Tow Wright to go over in the corner and give Les Bleus the narrowest of leads as Ramos’ conversion drifted wide. With just seconds left, Australia turned the ball over just inside their own half, but the French defence held firm and a jackal from Danty earned the hosts a penalty, securing a 30-29 victory, a record 11ᵗʰ in a row for them.

Restarting

How often do we see it in rugby: a team scores and then immediately maks some error either securing the restart or with their exit play, often resulting in them quickly conceding themselves.

Well for the French, the restarts will likely be a huge focus during the week as they repeatedly struggled to secure the ball, continually putting themselves under pressure. It doesn’t matter how good your defence is, if you are continually gifting the opposition possession in and around your 22, then you’re putting yourself under pressure and will likely concede points.

This is a fairly settled team, with just a few changes to the usual starting XV, so it is a little shocking to see them struggling so much. But with someone as meticulous and disciplined as Shaun Edwards, you can guarantee that they will be looking to sort this out ahead of next weekend. Because you can guarantee that next weekend’s opponents South Africa will have picked up on this and will likely be putting extra pressure on at the restarts to try and win them back.

Kicks covered

Whether intended or not, Australia’s back 3 selection for this game may have helped them nullify the French kicking game for the most part. With usual starter Marika Koroibete unavailable for this series, the Australian coaches chose to go for a back 3 of Tom Wright and Andrew Kellaway on the wings, with impressive youngster Jock Campbell at 15. Notably, this means that all 3 of them had experience playing at fullback.

Now while France may be better known for their exciting rugby, that is usually reserved these days for possession inside the final third of the pitch. The rest of the time, they will usually go through a couple of phases to create a platform, before kicking downfield, allowing their now-reliable defence to put the opposition under pressure. All well and good, until they find themselves playing against a back 3 who are all comfortable cover the kicks for territory and then replying with a territorial kick of their own.

Suddenly, that territory advantage is disappearing and, if anything, with Foley and White also there to control the territory game, the Wallabies are doing this better than the hosts. Suddenly without that control of territory, France were having to play from deeper with ball in hand, and though they still had some success with this, it was also playing at much greater risk.

2022 Summer Tests: Players To Watch

As both Super Rugby Pacific and the Northern Hemisphere club rugby season come to an end, it’s time to switch our attention from club rugby to the international game as a number of the Northern Hemisphere nations go on tour:

England to Australia
Ireland to New Zealand (facing both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks)
France to Japan
Wales to South Africa
Scotland to Argentina (while a Scotland “A” side will also face Chile in an uncapped match)
Italy to Portugal, Romania and Georgia

Now regular readers will have guessed what’s coming here, as I look at the majority of the teams above (in this case all the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams) and pick a player from each team to watch out for during this tour. Often they will be someone relatively new to Test rugby, sometimes someone with a point to prove as they face the pressure of depth at their position, and sometimes a player who may have already made a name for themselves, but finds themselves now switching to a different position.

Of course these are just my picks, and there were certainly some other options that I could have gone with, so feel free to chuck who you would have selected in the comments!

Argentina

Starting off this list with someone who firmly falls into the third category I mentioned with Santiago Carreras. You may have noticed that I have began a series of my picks for the top 5 players in the world at each position and (SPOILERS) the Gloucester back will be appearing in one of those articles down the line. But it will not be the one about fly half, and that is where he has found himself playing in recent Tests. He certainly has the skillset to excel there, but he lacks the experience, having never started a professional club match at the position and not likely to anytime soon at Gloucester. With Michael Cheika having taken over leadership of the Pumas, will he stick with the Carreras experiment to take advantage of the depth Argentina have in the back 3, or will he look to play his best players in their best positions?

Australia

With 16 caps to his name already at the age of just 22, Angus Bell looks to be around for the long haul. A dynamic loosehead, he is becoming a much more solid scrummager and will be licking his lips at the thought of taking on the English tighthead crop with Kyle Sinckler missing. If he can cause some damage at the set piece, England could be in trouble.

England

There were so many ways to go with this pick and I was very tempted by returning players like Danny Care and Joe Cokanasiga or the inexperienced Joe Heyes, but instead I have gone for Care’s Harlequins teammate Joe Marchant. The centre has always had great attacking quality but had added a super reliable defence to his game, while he also has the ability to move out to the wing. He may have a fight to make the starting XV when everyone is available, but with both Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade missing this tour, Marchant has a chance to push for that starting spot. His familiarity with Marcus Smith will certainly help things in attack, while he will play a big role in helping shut down an exciting Australian back line.

France

As if France weren’t dangerous enough, they may have found another future star just in time for the World Cup in the form of Yoan Tanga. The 25-year-old Racing 92 back row really stood out to me with his consistent carrying in the tight for the Barbarians in their humiliation of England last weekend, which repeatedly drew in multiple tacklers to finally get him down. The French backline is dangerous when given space, and Tanga’s carrying will just give them even more to work with.

Ireland

Sticking with the pack here, I’m going for Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan. It feels like in an ideal world with everyone available, the Irish hookers in the matchday 23 will be Sheehan and Leinster teammate Rónan Kelleher, with the big question just being who starts. However with Kelleher out injured, Sheehan will surely be the clear first choice ahead of Rob Herring and Dave Heffernan and with the World Cup just a year away, he has a legitimate chance to secure the number 2 shirt.

Italy

I was initially going with Six Nations hero Ange Capuozzo here but a second glance at the scrum half position made me change my mind. With Stephen Varney left out after a poor Six Nations that ended with injury and limited minutes for Gloucester, Callum Braley’s retirement from international rugby leaves the Azzurri short of experience at scrum half this summer. Step forward Alessandro Garbisi! Paolo’s younger brother has shone with the U20s and has been racking up the minutes for Benetton in the URC. He may not be the finished product yet, but a summer facing 3 of the top 4 teams from the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship will be a great way for him to gain experience in the senior team.

New Zealand

What a difference a season makes. Last year, the All Blacks were seriously lacking centres, whereas now they seem almost spoiled for choice. And while part of this is down to the return of Josh Goodhue from injury and another year of experience for last year’s crop, they are also helped by the arrival of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck from rugby league. The centre played 20 times for New Zealand in the 13-man code alongside almost 200 appearances in the NRL, and has grown into the 12 position in his first season with the Blues. With a great range of skills, clever footwork and good strength, Tuivasa-Sheck has the chance to be the new Sonny Bill Williams.

South Africa

Evan Roos was going to get my pick here until I realised that André Esterhuizen only had 8 caps! The Quins centre is arguably one of the best inside centres in the world, but has the challenge of being in the sae national team squad as Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, while South Africa’s recent favouring of a 6-2 split on the bench has led to them usually going for a more versatile player on the bench rather than a specialist centre. However his form has been incredible over recent seasons and he is fully deserving of a return to the national team and will be looking to put in some big performances against Wales to solidify his spot in the squad ahead of the World Cup.

Scotland

Another in a similar spot to Santi Carreras, Blair Kinghorn may not be as entrenched in the Scottish XI, but he was clearly in the reckoning for a spot in the back 3. However his skillset has recently been used more at fly half, and with Finn Russell given a summer off and Adam Hastings forced to pull out of the touring squad through injury, Kinghorn looks likely to wear the 10 shirt against the Pumas. With Scotland underperforming of late and resting some key players this summer, and facing an Argentina team looking to climb back up the rankings under a new head coach, the pressure will be on Kinghorn.

Wales

Finishing off this list with a potential debutant in Tommy Reffell. Many would argue that the Leicester flanker should have been capped well before this, but he now goes into the South Africa tour off the back of a strong performance in the Premiership final. Back row is an area where Wales have plenty of quality but don’t seem to give anyone a long enough chance to secure a spot. But with Reffell’s all-round ability in the loose and real danger at the breakdown, can he prove himself worthy of an extended run in Wayne Pivac’s 23?

2022 Six Nations: France v England

And so we reach the finale of Super Saturday and the 2022 Six Nations, as England travelled to Paris to face France. The French knew that a win would secure the Grand Slam and as a climax to the tournament, the crowd were ready to do their part to make the occasion one to remember. And with the Paris crowd roaring on their support, it was Melvyn Jaminet who opened the scoring off the tee following a scrum penalty. France were looking the stronger team with Grégory Alldritt winning some big turnovers, and when Gabin Villière took advantage of Freddie Steward’s inexperience on the wing, the French pulled the England defence from side to side and sent Gaël Fickou over in the right corner. England pulled things back slightly with a penalty from Marcus Smith and were incredibly lucky to see Jack Nowell stay on the pitch after taking Jaminet out in the air, as TMO Marius Jonker shockingly felt that Nowell had been impeded in his chase. Luckily for France, Jaminet was able to continue, and he and Smith each added another penalty, before one last attack from France saw them break down the English right wing to get on the front foot, and after Romain Ntamack was stopped just short by the despairing tackle of Ellis Genge, François Cros managed to get the ball to the line, with Jaminet adding the conversion for an 18-6 lead at the break.

England started the second half on the front foot, and after Joe Marchant broke through in the middle, some quick but calm handling from Courtney Lawes and Jamie George allowed Marcus Smith to put Freddie Steward over in the corner. However the French began to bring on the replacements and up the tempo in attack, which resulted in Aldritt carrying around the fringe and offloading to his captain Dupont to score on the hour. Down by 12 points, the English continued attacking but the closest they could get was with 10 minutes left as Alex Dombrandt was held up after crashing over from close range, and they held on to secure the 25-13 win and a Six Nations Grand Slam.

France

3 seasons of rugby have led to this. With Fabien Galthié taking over leadership of the team following the World Cup, the decision was made to basically drop everyone and start again with a team made up largely of young and inexperienced players. The idea was that by rebooting immediately after the World Cup they could start picking the players who they would expect to be playing in the 2023 World Cup, allowing what will likely be the vast majority of the future World Cup squad to spend 4 years playing together and growing not just as individuals but as a unit.

In starting this so early, it has led to a core team that has spent the last 3 seasons playing together, and allowed new faces like Melvyn Jaminet or returning faces like Jonathan Danty to come into a settled system that could then gratefully benefit from whatever this new player could introduce to the team, with the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup (where each French player was only allowed to feature in 2 matches, resulting in a 2ⁿᵈ/3ʳᵈ string team narrowly losing to England’s 1ˢᵗ team in the final) and the Summer Test series in Australia giving Les Bleus a chance to test their depth and see who was ready to step up into the main squad.

And so, with the World Cup a year and a half away, this team has built into a unit that has capably beaten the All Blacks and now won a Six Nations Grand Slam. With World Champions South Africa coming to Paris in November, that will be the next sign as to how ready they are to compete for the World Cup, but even then they will still have the best part of a year to grow and improve. I called it soon after France named their first squad under Galthié that France were my favourites to win RWC2023. Right now, everything is going to plan.

England

England went for a very interesting tactic in dealing with the French kicking, repeatedly dropping Ellis Genge back along with the usual kick coverage, with the intention to play the ball off to him and give him a 20+ metre run-up into contact.

I’ve seen dynamic carrying props used in a similar way before, with the Melbourne Rebels often fielding long goal-line drop-outs during Super Rugby AU and having Pone Fa’amausili or Cabous Eloff get a 20+ metre run-up charging back at the defensive line with ball in hand, much like we see off a rugby league kickoff.

So it’s nothing new to see a forward drop back to do this off open play kicks, but the issue here is the selection of Ellis Genge. While he is definitely a destructive ball carrier, he already had a big enough (no pun intended) challenge in the scrums facing Uini Atonio—a challenge which was proving too big for him—so should have been keeping his fitness for that. If Eddie Jones was so desperate to have a dynamic carrier doing this, why was he not starting Alex Dombrandt somewhere in the back row?

Thoughts from the world of sport and the Schmoedown

France

Wales

England

France

France

Scotland

Ireland

France

Italy

France

Wing forward

Unprepared

Pushovers

Where there’s a Willie, there’s a way

Restarting

Kicks covered

Argentina

Australia

England

France

Ireland

Italy

New Zealand

South Africa

Scotland

Wales

France

England