Another three games done and a lot of predictions from various pundits thrown into the bin! So, in chronological order.....
England 59 v 13 Italy
Well after playing down the hype all weekend and saying that "Italy would be a tough match, just look at what happened last week", England go and blow them away with a performance reminiscent of years gone by!
But lets face it - this wasn't the same Italy side that faced off against Ireland. Maybe that match and what must have been the gut wrenching end result was all too much for the Italians because they never really got going.
That said, England can only play what's in front of them. More or less everything worked for England, including not one but two swallow dives! No doubt Sunday morning saw a swathe of young budding rugby players in A+E with broken ribs. Ashton deservedly picked up the man of the match award - he'll apparently be a marked man in matches to come, but you've got to be quick to mark and then catch him! The forwards did their job well, there weren't many scrums but the lineout was solid - it'll be more sternly tested against France and Ireland but on evidence so far things are going well.
I'm loathed to get my hopes up too much, maybe, just maybe.........
As for Italy - well, they've got a good chance against Scotland and Wales, they'll need to replicate what they did against Ireland to stand a chance
Scotland 6 v 24 Wales
After their performance in Paris and Wales' performance against England I really thought Scotland stood a good chance here. How wrong was I (and a number of other commentators it should be said!)? Scotland weren't the same team that faced France the week before. I didn't think Wales were all that better than they were against England - they just created and took a couple more chances.
Scotland still lack flair - it was a problem when Robinson managed England as well. Why they didn't replace Dan Parks earlier in the game is a mystery, he was doing nothing and the Scots have a young fly half, desperately in need of experience just sitting on the bench - whats the worst that could have happened !?!
As for Wales - well they took their chances but asking Hook to play a more conservative game is like asking Ashton not to make a big deal out out of a breakaway try! Hook is probably their best player at the moment and has potential to be better. But they seem to be not using him or Jamie Roberts properly. Get Roberts running at people on the crash ball - he's going to open up gaps and Wales have the runners to take advantage of those gaps!
Wales have the chance to put a stamp on this 6N if they put in a performance against Italy. Italy should look to forget their last game and focus on putting in the same performance they did against Ireland, if they do and Wales don't up the game then this could be a shock result.
Scotland have Ireland at home - the Irish are suffering in the forwards and their backs aren't what they used to be. Saying that it's going to take a massively improved performance to beat them - if Scotland play like they did versus Wales then they'll have no hope
Ireland 22 v 25 France
I think everyone expected France to win this fairly comfortably but Ireland ran them hard throughout the game. Bar a few mistakes and maybe some questionable decisions by the ref, Ireland could have taken this.
So - Ireland, well it was similar to watching England play over the last few years. There were a few basic handling errors, the odd forward pass and some silly penalties given away. I've had the odd Irish friend say that the ref made a few bad decisions, but the point is if you're giving away that many penalties in the first place, it's more than likely that you'll get pinged for other more "on the edge" decisions.
The forwards fronted up well and I think having Heaslip back was a massive boost. Add in Ferris and things will really start hotting up in this department. David Wallace, once a great great player is looking like he's past it and it may be time to get a younger man in to build up experience before the World Cup. The second row too is a worry - O'Connell seems to be out of sorts and the pair of them aren't seen running with ball in hand enough at the opposition. Granted this never used to be the job of a second row, but more and more we're seeing that need in the International game - think Lawes in England or Chabal playing there for France.
As for France - well, there are holes. With Toby Flood in this form and Ashton or Hape on his shoulder those holes will be seen. The forwards remain strong but I think if you speed up the game, reduce the time that the ball is in a ruck and move the forwards about the pitch then you'll reduce their impetus. Their backs are as electric as England's are, however their defence is questionable - as exhibited by Australia in the Autumn
On this performance I think Ireland will beat Scotland though I think it'll be a bit of a battle, especially up front. I think Ireland still have the class to beat Scotland in the backs though and that should just give them the edge.
As for France playing England at Twickenham. This could be, as they say, a humdinger of a match! It's a tough one to call - if they were more frequent in rugby I'd say it's going to be a draw! As it is, as they're at home I'm going to give it to England. They're playing well in attack and are better in defence then France are currently
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