ON THE BALL: So if Eddie Jones gets fired for losing to the Springboks at Twickenham, does Steve Borthwick get fired for losing to Scotland? asks Lucky Maree.
“Early days”. Those are the words so often used when a coach starts the painful descent down the slippery slope to getting fired – and it is indeed early days for both Steve Borthwick and (second-time-around) Warren Gatland.
Over the weekend, all three Six Nations matches gave viewers a much needed boost in terms of spectacle, excitement and sheer enjoyment. It was a great reminder that rugby doesn’t have to be a long procession of forwards grinding towards the line as they battle the elements in either tropical heat or near-arctic conditions. Rugby isn’t about referees looking at the same replays over and over.
Although Wales lost badly (as expected) to the mighty Irish, they did fight back in the second half to stop a total rout. Scotland pulled off a stunner, beating England on the hallowed turf of Twickenham. The tables show that France got the full five points for the away win and Italy got only the losing bonus point – but that only tells part of the story.
But now that the dust has settled, what can be learnt from these three beautiful matches?
For Warren Gatland at Wales it’s “early days” – but he had better get used to the idea that riding the old warhorses is not going to get Wales to the finishing line at the World Cup. The worst example is watching a truly great player like Alun Wyn Jones always arriving at the breakdown a half-a-second too late is a very sad sight. He should be put out to pasture as soon as possible. Dan Biggar, and a number of players in that side are in the same boat. Gatland will have to recruit almost an entirely new team and do it in the remaining four matches of the Six Nations. Come to think of it, Gatland himself also looks like an old warhorse, doesn’t he?
Steve Borthwick? A true breath of fresh air after the blustering Eddie Jones, but can he deliver? A nice guy, indeed, but we all know that nice guys, more often than not, don’t win. If Borthwick had plans to win the Six Nations, losing to Scotland is not the way to start.
Andy Farrell had the best weekend of all. His team played the right game and they got the result. (Remarkable that a steady, hard-working guy like Andy produced obnoxious offspring like his son, Owen.) But this Ireland team is in good shape for the World Cup.
Can Italy win the World Cup? No. Can France win the World Cup? Probably not.
Kieran Crowley has led his team to maturity. “Disappointed”, is the way he felt after the match. He said he was proud of the team, but he didn’t celebrate that loser’s notion of the little guys giving it a good go against the big boys. He expected them to win. “We’ll have a few beers tonight then go out and see how we can do better,” he said.
French coach Fabien Galthié said “oui” a lot, pulled down the corners of his mouth and lifted his shoulders a lot, but thought his team did okay. (They did get the five points, didn’t they?) The romantic notion that you never know who pitches up when France is playing won’t work at the World Cup. The right team has to pitch up eight times in a row. Oui! that’s a tough task.
If Rassie is making plans this morning, as one can imagine that he is, it will be to beat Ireland. That’s the one he’ll have to watch out for.
And don’t worry, messrs Gatland and Borthwick. It’s early days.
Pic: PlanetRugby
