Many are those, players, coaches, journalists from all countries, to consider that this Six Nations Tournament is the most difficult for a long time. The shocks of the first day did not disappoint. On the contrary, they only stoked excitement and promises for the rest of the competition. The surprises and disappointments are already there. Before moving on to what’s next, franceinfo:sport invites you to come back to the lessons of these first meetings.
There are successes that mark, whether they are the fruit of an almost perfect and relatively expected copy or whether they are ripped off at the end of the suspense and come to affirm an adversary status more annoying than itchy hair. Let’s follow the timeline and start with the first performance of the weekend. The Irish, led by a valuable Jonathan Sexton in the animation of the game, corrected the Welsh, defending champions (29-7), next to their pumps.
The performance of the fourth nation in the world ranking, and future opponent of the Blues (February 12, 5:45 p.m.), is not “not surprising” for the manager of the Tricolores, Raphaël Ibanotez. If everything was not perfect – the addition could have been much saltier in view of the domination of the XV of Clover – Andy Farrell’s players presented the most solid content of the day.
In the process, and in another style, the Scots also made an impression. Jostled, dominated, they showed a pragmatism specific to big teams. By beating the English for the second time in a row (20-17) in the Tournament, Stuart Hogg’s teammates reiterated a performance dating back almost 40 years (1983-1984) and confirmed their status as opponents now capable of overthrowing n’ anyone. They sign the performance of this start of the Tournament.
Their respective adversaries are certainly those who bite their fingers the most after these first games. We knew the Welsh were diminished by many absentees, including their captain and defense leader Alun Wyn Jones, but we would not have thought them so harmless. The defending champion and aspirant to his own succession took the lead in the wing and was only able to save the honor at the end of the match on an interception by Taine Basham (76th). The expected return of certain executives for the reception of Scotland can only be life-saving, but not necessarily sufficient.
The English, orphans of their captain Owen Farrell (operated on his ankle and forfeited for the Tournament), are probably as much – if not more – frustrated after their failure at Murrayfield. Fifth last year, weighed down at the time by a defeat when they entered their cocoon against Scotland which had conditioned a Tournament to be forgotten, the players maneuvered by Eddie Jones must be concerned that history repeats itself.
If he failed to take his revenge by a hair, the XV of the Rose led by Marcus Smith showed what to hope for a start from the next match in Italy. The Italians, valiant as usual, ended up conceding their 33rd consecutive defeat in the Tournament, losing to the Blues (37-10) on Sunday.
Last but not least, the Habs provided the essentials by seizing the offensive bonus against Italy (37-10). France had never beaten the Italians with such a gap in the Tournament. But do not rely too much on the five past tries that could make it look like an easy victory. Facing the Transalpines who ended up physically cracking, rinsed by the work of the French forwards (Willemse-Alldritt in the lead), before being punished by the canes of Gabin Villière in the final, the battle was difficult. The indiscipline of the Blues, sanctioned nearly 14 times, will be one of the main areas of work of the week, conceded Antoine Dupont and Raphaël Ibanotez at a press conference after the match.
“There were a few bad choices, approximations, especially on my part. Most of the time, my pressure foot games were too long and it was difficult to find the length to find the keys after their dismissals, these are things to improve. We all know that we will have to raise our level of play individually for the next match.”, concluded the scrum-half of the XV of France. It will be necessary to hope to compete with Ireland on Saturday.