The 2016 Six Nations was never going to emulate the World Cup for its quality of rugby. Nor was it ever going to reproduce anything like the high-end drama of last season's finale, which was due to the staggered three-way tussle for tries to clinch the title on points difference. That was a one-off, perhaps the single greatest day in the tournament's history.
As it was, Wales filled their boots against Italy once more as that fixture again yielded 81 points (67-14 as against 61-20, and nine tries to two as against 10 tries to two) while the Ireland-Scotland game yielded ten more points (60 instead of 50) as Ireland won by four tries to three whereas it was four tries to one last season.
Indeed, over all, the three corresponding fixtures of last Saturday accumulated 193 points as against 221 points a year previously, and 21 tries compared to 27. Once again, there was more fluidity and tries as the tournament progressed and the weather and playing conditions improved, albeit this was helped by the Italians starting strongly (coming within a fluffed Sergio Parisse drop goal of beating France in Paris) to ultimately concede nine tries apiece to Ireland and Wales.
The 2016 Six Nations also had a fitting finale as the French, roused by their home crowd and an anti-Anglo desire to deny Eddie Jones's team a Grand Chelem, played with passion and ambition if not sufficient accuracy or organisation.
In winning by three tries to nil, England underlined the worth of their first Grand Slam in 13 seasons and good luck. Jones inherited the bulk of this strong collection of players from Stuart Lancaster, and undoubtedly improved them, connecting their hard edge up front with a cutting edge out wide. But it's worth remembering that England had won four out of five in each of the previous five Six Nations' campaigns, winning in 2011 before finishing runners-up for four years in a row.
Trust rewarded
The talkative Aussie was rewarded for investing his trust in George Ford as playmaker and Owen Farrell as his goal-kicking inside centre. With Ford playing close to the gain line as he does, their pace out wide gave them the tournament’s most consistently potent game.
Jones was blessed with the emergence of Maro Itoje and had great reward from continuing his relationship with Steve Borthwick from their time together with Japan.
With the athletic Itoje and George Kruis being sprung into the air, often in tandem and sometimes with only one lifter, England stole 12 opposition throws – more than twice any other team – and seven of them were in their own 22 when Ireland, France and Wales went up the line into the English 22. These had massive influences on those games, both technically and psychologically.
Their scrum and breakdown also improved from the World Cup, while the concession of just four tries demonstrated, like Ireland over the previous two seasons, that defences win championships.
Yet this was hardly the first example of a team bouncing back from an anti-climactic World Cup under a new coach, witness the Welsh Grand Slam under Warren Gatland in 2008 after their pool exit in 2007, the Irish Grand Slam in 2009 under Declan Kidney and their Six Nations’ title in Joe Schmidt’s first campaign in 2014.
Furthermore, was it really such a transformation from the World Cup? The main difference from that understandably much derided hosting of the global jamboree was the outcome of a pivotal match against Wales in Twickenham. In the World Cup, England contrived to lose a match they should have won against the comeback kings, and even then turned down a kick for a draw that would ultimately have seen them reach the quarter-finals. This time, they were even more dominant before holding on to win by four points against the comeback kings.
England also won by a score against Scotland and would have been clinging on against Ireland with 14 men had Romain Poite not wrongly overruled that try by Josh van der Flier. Dan Cole’s try against France should probably have been overruled.
Kindly fixtures
Having beaten Scotland, who started poorly, the fixtures also fell most kindly for England, with a trip to Rome offering them momentum before two-week build-ups to both home games against the next best sides in the tournament, Ireland and Wales. A low injury profile also afforded them consistency of selection.
It's an imperfect tournament, the margins remain so fine, and the winners invariably need the breaks, as Ireland can attest from the previous two Six Nations' triumphs. Think back to Jean-Marc Doussain missing an eminently kickable penalty, a French forward pass and Steve Walsh almost penalising the Irish scrum in the last play in Paris alone. Or Jamie Heaslip's tackle on Stuart Hogg in Murrayfield, and Noa Nakataci barely touching down before planting his foot over the dead-ball line and Rory Kockott, bless him, eventually kicking the ball dead.
By contrast, this time Ireland’s injury woes carried on from the World Cup and were compounded by the six-day turnaround between the opener at home to Wales and away to France. Losing Seán O’Brien after 20 minutes in Paris was the kind of price that had to be paid. Even then, intolerable scrum pressure yielded tries which probably cost Ireland wins in both matches.
The Welsh game was Ireland’s first in 80 Six Nations matches without either John Hayes or Mike Ross, which was compounded by the loss of Marty Moore, who had averaged 20 minutes a game over the previous two years and 10 games as well. Whereupon, the return of Ross, even at 36, for the final three games at a stroke steadied the scrum.
Then, rightly or wrongly, the great style debate might never have materialised, nor the widespread questioning of Joe Schmidt’s selections amid calls for blooding new players amid sweeping changes. As it was, five players were blooded with a fair degree of success. They were partly enforced by injuries, but also when Schmidt could have opted for capped alternatives.
Credible finish
Amid it all too, Ireland stayed true to their processes and selections, and came through strongly to beat Italy and Scotland handsomely and finish third, which was always a credible finish. Ireland scored almost twice as many tries (15) as last season (eight), and were thus the second highest for tries scored as well as clean breaks.
It would be nice to see the off-the- cuff flair of the last two games become more commonplace. Ireland made the least offloads true, but also had the least handling errors and, typical of a Schmidt team, had the highest percentage of returns from their rucks. Ireland invariably started games well (the first half hour or so against Wales appears to have been airbrushed from history) and often the second-halves as well.
Far more disconcerting was the narrowness of their defence. Ironically, they had the highest tackle percentage, but the seven tries conceded in the last three games were all finished by untouched run-ins as the defence narrowed or malfunctioned. But that is more fixable, especially with Andy Farrell filling the Les Kiss void.
France made the most offloads, but where did that get them? Guy Noves has inherited even more of a mess than Bernard Laporte, Marc Lievrement or Philippe Saint Andre. When Jake White’s Montpellier thrashed Racing last week, their starting XV had 10 South Africans. The French Federations’ budget is €89 million, whereas the budget for the Ligue Nationale de Rugby is €179 million, which is swelled further by private benefactors.
They tried to play, but they scored fewer tries than anyone, even lamentable Italy, for whom even Sergio Parisse became a dispirited figure. While Scotland genuinely improved, and Italy stayed stagnant, much more of this and the words “French flair” will have disappeared from the rugby and Six Nations lexicon.
The advent of a relegation/ promotion play-off would spread the gospel, and morally cannot be questioned, although ironically for years we have been told how Super Rugby benefits from not having the spectre of relegation and so fear-induced, conservative rugby. And, while it’s easy to knock, the Six Nations again made truckloads of wonga.
More unpalatable was the lack of player welfare, witness the lack of citings and punishments for cheap shots, foul play and high hits, and Jones should have been reprimanded for his unpleasant pre-match comments regarding Johnny Sexton, and particularly his expressed concern for Sexton's parents, whom he has never met.
