Tuesday 7 February 2017 06:01, UK
Stuart Barnes reviews the opening weekend of the Six Nations, where bonus points made a low-key introduction and France showed signs of a return to their unpredictable ways…
1. After all the fuss about the trialled bonus points system only two of the six teams managed one, in both cases consolations that won't feel like one for either France or Ireland, both of whom were in positions to record opening away-day victories.
Scotland took a penalty for the posts and a guaranteed win rather than go to the corner to seek a fourth try and five points against Ireland. Four points sufficed for Scotland.
Wales, in contrast, threw caution to the wind for all of three minutes in Rome. Liam Williams came close to a fourth try with the last play of the game as Wales ran amok in the final quarter of a game in which they failed to distinguish themselves against average opposition.
As for England and Eddie, bonus points were never part of the equation, not the way England played. Four points for an ugly performance.
2. Scotland found a way to win, France did not but these are the nations that, in the long term can maybe take the most out of an opening weekend that started with a bang and looked like finishing with a Roman whimper until Wales found fourth gear.
A fine first 40 minutes for Vern Cotter's team was capped with a determined last 10 as Ireland's dominant second-half display was overturned with two late penalties. Have Scotland, as Vern Cotter said post-match, found a way to win or did Ireland beat themselves?
As for France, they played the most elegant attacking stuff with some sweeping back play and a superb effort around the fringes from Louis Picamoles. They may have left London with only one point but they made another; the era of slow, static and uninspiring French back play is coming to an end.
France might be magnificent in Paris next week, they might be useless. At last, the old unpredictable French are back and welcomed too.
3. Stuart Hogg scored a couple of tries, the second of which was superb in terms of running lines, speed and technique but I reckon Scott Spedding eclipsed him as the star full-back of the weekend. He tore into England from the counter-attack, beating man after man. Yet I would hazard a guess that I was in a minority when naming him in my team of the weekend.
Scoring tries doesn't automatically turn the scorer into a superstar. A lot of other men play parts in the making of a score, a maxim that applies in both rugby and football. Next time someone scores a hat-trick in a game on which I am commentating, don't necessarily assume the scorer will be man of the match - although if all three are as good as Hogg's second then there is only one winner.
4. All the talk about the loss of Johnny Sexton pre-match; we'll never know whether his game management and skill would have made the difference but we do know that Paddy Jackson had an extremely good game as his deputy.
Ireland may have lost but it looks as if they have strength in depth at fly-half to go with the front and back rows.
5. On the subject of front rows, the Irish props did their Lions chances no harm with two fine performances in the loose and, especially, the tight, where Scotland were pummelled for much of the match.
A special mention too for Tomas Francis. He will probably not tour New Zealand but had a huge impact off the bench for Wales in Rome. The tighthead gave Wales the platform they lacked throughout the first half.
6. Two eye-catching performances at inside centre; Scott Williams' running skills and timing of a pass twice opened up the Italian defence for tries. He didn't have many opportunities but took them when they came.
Owen Farrell made a few errors and missed the odd tackle but he galvanised England when it was needed. Urgency and some sweet angles helped England stagger past the winning post.
Throw in his goal kicking and Farrell looks nailed on as the Lions' Test match kicker.
7. Will he be playing fly-half or centre though? That is the question I have been pondering since full-time on Saturday. It's not that George Ford was bad (he was his seasonal mix of good and bad but the good was glorious) but minus Big Billy there has to be more ways to get over the gain line and onto the front foot.
James Haskell is one obvious option but the other is Ben Te'o who runs the rugged lines that Farrell, more a ball player, does not.
It wouldn't surprise me if Ford was sacrificed for balance, much as I love the sheer class of the soon-to-be former Bath fly-half.
8. Who was player of the weekend? Having just watched all three games again, it has to be Picamoles. He might let others do his work on the floor but why not have a few minions in the side when the main man is such a potent threat with the ball in hand? I must say it wasn't a tough choice.
As for team of the week there were a few positions where the problem wasn't who to omit but who to select. It's early days but Steve Hansen won't have lost too much sleep last weekend.
9. Italy are not much of a team. They don't have such a pack as to possess a winning hand against any of the other nations. It's up to the other teams to lose a game they should win.
The drier and faster the game the tougher it should be for them. Conor O'Shea is not an alchemist and Italy are not a team with much in the way of true international class talent.
10. Expect Ireland to bounce back (and score a bonus point) against Italy this weekend; expect France to have too much pace and power in Paris although that comes with the caveat of France being capable of bad as well as the good we haven't seen for some time.
Scotland have realistic hope but I'll stick with France while in Cardiff Wales will do everything in their power to end England's 15-match winning streak. At Twickenham few would give Wales a chance but there's something about the River Severn (not the Severn River, Eddie!) that makes an Englishman think twice.
Eddie will be playing his team the old Bob Dylan classic, 'Don't Think Twice'. Will it be all right, as Bob sings, for Dylan Hartley and his men or will it be the end of the run for England? Both sides have work to do this week ahead of the weekend's main match.
