Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd
this week looks back at the opening round of the RBS Six
Nations Championship - and gives his views on how each team
fared, and what to expect from this weekend's games.
It's certainly been an action-packed start to 2010, with
plenty of incident and controversy to discuss - from the
eye-gouging scandals
(involving Stade Francais duo Julien Dupuy and David
Attoub) that rocked France, to the
great achievements of Top 14 teams in
the Heineken Cup. And that’s without even
mentioning how my club Toulon have managed to reach the last
eight in a European competition for the first time in 13
years.
However, I think I’m going to have to resume my blog by
talking about rugby's crown jewel in the Northern Hemisphere
– the RBS Six Nations.
The championship kicked off last weekend in Dublin with
current Grand Slam champions Ireland taking on Italy. Both
teams had completely different expectations going into the
competition, with Ireland looking for nothing less than
another title while Italy just want to avoid the wooden
spoon.
Ireland came out of the game winning but frustrated at not
being able to put in a good performance. It seems to me that
everyone goes into matches against Italy expecting a big
victory but rarely does this happen. Italy can be very
competitive and have a scrum to match any other nation. They
say it's easier to be destructive than creative, and
destructive is exactly what Italy are at the breakdown.
I’m not sure it will be enough for them to avoid the wooden
spoon but it’s good to see them continuing their development
as a rugby nation. Ireland will only get better and with
players of the calibre of David Wallace in the forwards and
Brian O’Driscoll in the backs they are still going to be the
team to beat.
Siege mentality
It was nearly a case of déjà vu in the match at Twickenham
where Wales almost repeated the
comeback they made two years previously at the
same ground, but in the end a powerful performance from the
England forwards saw them through. It always amazes me how
the English press react to an England performance and this
time, despite talking prior to the match of wanting them to
find a ‘winning mentality’, they trumpeted the view that
England were lucky and won because of a lack of discipline
by the Welsh lock Alun Wyn Jones. The sin-binning was
certainly a factor in the win but when a team's forward pack
and lineout functions as well in attack and defence - as was
the case on Saturday - it’s rare that the opposition come
out on top.
Now they have won they have a great chance of going one
better than last year, and they seem to have adopted a siege
mentality that I think will work in their favour throughout
the tournament. As for Wales, if they don’t sort themselves
out upfront it’s going to be a long Six Nations tournament
for Warren Gatland's team. The loss of Matthew Rees and the
world class Gethin Jenkins has hurt them greatly. However,
as we witnessed at times at the weekend, if they can get
ball they have the backs to beat anybody, so I haven’t
written them off just yet.
The final match of the weekend saw
the impressive French take on Scotland
at Murrayfield. I say "impressive" as they won
the game at a canter, which is important in a long Six
Nations campaign. Winning with such ease will leave them
fresh for the crunch encounter against Ireland in Paris at
the weekend.
Doubts
While the French have the ability to beat anyone on their
day what concerns me is their ability to back up their
performance in consecutive weeks. This was shown in the
autumn when they struggled with their energy levels against
New Zealand after a fantastic victory and performance
against world champions South Africa. The scheduling has
been kind to them this year so if they can get Ireland out
of the way at the weekend I think they are set for a good
Six Nations.
It was great to see Mathieu Bastareaud back in the French
team after all his well publicised off-field problems. He is
young and has made some mistakes but now it's time for him
to make some headlines on the pitch, and if he keeps playing
like he did at the weekend the past will soon be forgotten.
While I was disappointed with Scotland after their good
performances in the autumn series I think they are
developing nicely under Andy Robinson and will prove
difficult opposition as the competition progresses.
Overall, I think the competition for the title will be
between the winners at the weekend: France, Ireland and
England. With France playing both these teams at home they
have got to be the favourites but I am sure Ireland will
have something to say about that at the weekend! For me,
despite living and trying to immerse myself in French
culture, I will be backing England all the way, so come on
lads!!!
A bientot.
Previous columns:
08.12.09 -
'I see the Top 14 play-off race going all the way down the
last game'
24.11.09 -
'Gym-monkeys, IPGs and the pain of being sidelined by injury'
04.11.09 -
Star turns and the glamour play - how to judge a performance
27.10.09 -
Why I relish the role of 'gratteur', and the key to back row success
21.10.09 -
'My brothers think I'm mad when they see all my rugby scars'
07.10.09 -
'I keep telling them Rovigo is not Rome, but they're still excited'
28.09.09 -
'The three-part conundrum of winning
away in France'
22.09.09 -
'There's more to Jonny than just kicking'
14.09.09 -
Lesson number 1 - 'Pas de melée,
pas de victoire'
08.09.09 -
'The money's good, but so is the
weather, the rugby and the
crowds'
