Wednesday 25 March 2015 11:57, UK
He narrowly missed out on a Six Nations title but Jonathan Davies has three other trophies in his sights in 2015.
Looking at it from the perspective of the fans I imagine it was a very good day on the sofa watching the rugby that was on offer last Saturday, but I can tell you that I didn’t enjoy being a spectator during Ireland’s game against Scotland!
When we came off the field against Italy I had a nagging feeling that the final try scored by the Italians right at the death would come back to haunt us. If we hadn’t have conceded that try, and Stuart Hogg had not knocked on in the act of scoring against Ireland, we would have won the competition.
If we hadn’t have conceded that late try, and Stuart Hogg had not knocked on in the act of scoring against Ireland, we would have won the Six Nations.
With that said, I was chatting to one of the guys after the game and he said that if you’d have offered us a 40-point win when we woke up on Saturday morning we would have taken it, so we had no real complaints.
If we had any complaints it would be with ourselves and that we didn’t hold onto our lead in the opening round against England.
Full credit to Ireland though, they faced the difficult task of going to Murrayfield to get a win and they came away with a big points difference. They scored the points required and they took the trophy home – it’s a simple game when you look at it.
We had a quick shower after the game and watched the Ireland match from the stadium, then headed over to a function to watch the England game thereafter. From a selfish point of view we’d have enjoyed the final game a lot more if we were still in the competition but it was still an entertaining spectacle.
There was a lot of talk before the weekend about whether or not all the games in the final weekend should be played at the same time. Some said that we had a bit of an advantage because we could play freely and set the pressure on the other teams, but of course we had no idea how many points would be enough.
That’s not to say it was unfair on us, it’s just the way the fixtures fell. There were two types of pressure at play – the known and the unknown. We had the unknown, Ireland and England had the known. Would it have been more fair if we’d all kicked off at the same time? Maybe, but I can’t see it being any more exciting.
As a professional sportsman you do get a bit of perspective on these things. Of course I would have loved nothing more than a Six Nations trophy - winning is something that motivates me. But once the game is over, it’s over, and when there’s nothing you can do to change the result then it’s time to move on.
Fortunately for me it’s not the kind of year where you can afford to dwell on results; there are so many competitions in the calendar still to come. One of the great things about playing for a club that’s doing as well as Clermont is that we are second on points difference in the Top 14, and there is a European quarter-final around the corner for us too. So between now and the end of October there are three major trophies I will be fighting for as part of different teams – provided I get picked of course!
This weekend we are off to Paris to play Stade Francais in what is a very crucial game for us. I know I say it often, and there really are no easy games, but this match is one that could have very serious consequences when it comes to the play-off spots at the end of the season.
We are currently six points ahead of Stade, who are in third place, and we want to increase that gap rather than allow it to close in Paris. It will be a tough ask but as I always say, you enjoy these games because you always want to test yourself against the best.
What a year of rugby ahead – and it’s only just getting going.
Watch Stade Francais v Clermont Auvergne live on Sky Sports 3 on Saturday from 1.30pm
