Six Nations 2021: Six Talking Points from Round 5
Virimi Vakatawa and Brice Dulin celebrate their stunning last gasp 32-30 win over Wales in Paris
Credit: Getty Images
After five rounds of matches, over 1,120 minutes played and enough tries, cards and kicks to fill a wheelbarrow, we still don’t have a winner of the 2021 Six Nations.
France produced the most brilliant of finishes to snatch a fantastic spectacle and break Welsh hearts in Paris by a score of 32-30.
They still need to do a job on Scotland on Friday night to walk away with the trophy, who themselves were excellent in demolishing Italy 52-10 at Edinburgh to leave the Azzurri without a win in the tournament in six years.
The ballad of Eddie Jones and England went on as an electric Ireland put them to the sword in Dublin and walked with the spoils after a comprehensive 32-18 win.
In the (slightly altered) immortal words of Sir Alex Ferguson: “The Six Nations eh? Bloody hell.”
Here are the key points from an epic Saturday of Six Nations rugby.
Relegation from Six Nations not the answer despite Italy woes
Italy’s Edoardo Padovani looks on as they fell to yet another heavy Six Nations defeat against Scotland.
CREDIT: AP/Scott Heppell
It was a damning finish to a damning tournament for Italy. Their 52-10 drubbing by Scotland in the early Saturday kick off was endemic of the performances throughout the tournament this year.
Frankly, it looked like a Tier 1 team playing a side from Tier 3. There has been an obvious gulf in class in each of the five games Italy have played this tournament, with their heavy 41-18 defeat to England probably their best performance of a dire championship.
It has been record-breaking for all the wrong reasons. They conceded a whopping 34 tries and finish their tournament with a points difference of -184, their worst outlay since they were first admitted to the tournament in 2000.
31 consecutive Six Nations losses in a row is a bitter pill to swallow with the nostalgia of their last win, a 22-19 triumph over Scotland in 2015, a distant memory.
It has led to increased questioning over Italy’s place in the tournament, with the sheer gulf of class between them and the other five teams as apparent in 2021 as it ever has been.
Relegation from the Six Nations has been an issue hanging over international rugby for some time and it is easy to agree with the argument behind these growing calls.
Demotion would put increased pressure on the Azzurri to improve their performances and would give an emerging nation, such as Georgia, the chance to show what they can do at the highest level.
While it is understandable to call for such a system, it would be counter-intuitive as relegation would starve Italy of being able to improve their current group of undeniably talented players.
It would force Head Coach Franco Smith and his successors to eke out results by any means possible rather than develop a proper gameplan for the long-term.
It is not like nations in the second tier of European rugby are banging on the door either. Georgia recently squeaked past both Portugal and Spain by 13 and 6 points respectively - hardly the dominant victories which show they’re ready for the big time.
These nations do need experience against the best, but it would not be useful to have a revolving door of Tier 2 nations being battered every time Italy are relegated. The issues over relegation would affect the style of rugby played also.
Ultimately this is a very young Italy side who will perform better if given time. The mercurial Paolo Garbisi is potentially world class, teenager Stephen Varney is their scrum-half for the next decade and would anyone doubt Monty Ioane has looked like one of the tournament’s best wingers?
With figurehead Jake Polledri still recovering from injury and the enigmatic Matteo Minozzi’s self-imposed exclusion, it's also easy to forget this side was down two of its most influential players.
The performances of both Italian franchises - particularly Benetton - in the PRO14 are encouraging and their junior teams have earned some impressive results in recent years.
This is a team, like England on their infamous 1998 “tour from hell” Down Under, going through a trial by fire and they will ultimately come out the other side of this in a much better place than they are now.
Faith in the current format and Italian rugby is needed, even if the results have been far from something to write home about.
READ SCOTLAND VS ITALY PLAYER RATINGS HERE.
Ireland’s old guard save best for last with a stonking victory in Dublin
In order to summarise Ireland’s 2021 Six Nations campaign, one is drawn to a quote from Chris Penn’s character Nice Guy Eddie in the 1992 Tarantino masterpiece Reservoir Dogs: “Alright, the first thing is f****** last”.
So, let’s start at the end. Ireland completed their Six Nations campaign with, comfortably, their best performance of the tournament in a thumping 32-18 victory over England in Dublin.
That scoreline flattered the men in white, whose efforts in chasing the game were helped by Bundee Aki being dismissed by referee Mathieu Raynal for a high shot on Billy Vunipola with 15 minutes to go.
After England dominated the ball last week in a great victory against France, they were starved of good possession by Ireland this time around as Ireland roared out the blocks through first-half tries by Keith Earls and the brilliant Jack Conan.
The Earls try was a well-worked lineout move that has been tried and tested within the Ireland setup even dating back to Joe Schmidt’s tenure as Head Coach.
In fact, it was something they practice regularly as seen by the clip below - so can’t have been a shock to England if their analysis was done correctly.
Once again, contender for player of the tournament Tadhg Beirne was outstanding all around the park. Ten tackles, ten carries, hitting rucks, lineout operator - there is nothing the man from Kildare can’t do.
The scrum was superb with Tadhg Furlong giving Mako Vunipola a torrid time, forcing the Saracen into a half time withdrawal and popping up with his usual carries in midfield.
Jack Conan was excellent with his tackling and looks to be the heir apparent to the departing CJ Stander in terms of bashing opposing defensive lines.
It was a win, and a tournament in many ways, built on the performances of Ireland’s gnarled veteran band of merry men.
One of those, the aforementioned Stander, tops the carrying charts with a whopping 66 - six clear of next contender Taulupe Faletau while 35-year-old Johnny Sexton is the top point scorer in the tournament.
Keith Earls, 33, is their joint top try scorer and even the players who really announced themselves on the international stage this tournament, particularly James Lowe and Beirne, are 28 and 29 respectively.
The Munster wing was again impressive and finished off the best disallowed “try” you are ever likely to see.
It is hard to see where the next generation of Irish talent is going to come from into the national side at this point, despite names like Ross Byrne, Caelan Doris and Craig Casey lighting up the PRO14 for their provinces.
However, if not for an early Peter O’Mahony red card in a narrow 21-16 loss to Wales in Round 1 and then another close defeat to vibrant France a week later, we could easily be talking about another Irish Grand Slam.
Enough can’t be said about Beirne, who has completed an astonishing 10 turnovers single-handled throughout this years Six Nations while Kiwi-born Lowe is second on the metres carried list with 433 over three matches.
Head Coach Andy Farrell has built on predecessor Joe Schmidt’s penchant for aggressive line speed in defence and rehearsed, intricate attacking plays that can bamboozle defences when they come off.
The 2021 Six Nations should ultimately go down as a successful campaign for the men in green, with far more positives outweighing the negatives.
Ireland has very much shown it definitely is the country for old men.
READ IRELAND VS ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS HERE.
Joue (and nerve) seal crowning achievement for new French generation
Brice Dulin dives over to score the winning try at the death in Paris
Credit: AFP
In among the heartbreak for the Welsh that littered the Paris turf at around 11pm local time on Saturday, there was jubilation and a celebration of a revival that equalled Hercules’ return from Hades.
France, in a perfect metaphor for their renaissance as a rugby nation under Head Coach Fabien Galthie, had come back from the dead.
Ten points down and a man red-carded after 75 minutes? There’s no coming back from that.
Except there was this time and it felt in many ways like the crowning achievement of this new French generation.
We have often admired this French side at their best - with Antoine Dupont rising up towards the mantle of the best player in the world, a seemingly endless stock of quality wingers putting defences to shame and new-found steel in the forwards that have crushed the life out of all before it so far.
But the question always remained about what would happen when the waters turned choppy for France and they had to navigate their way out of the eye of the storm.
We now have an answer and it was as admirable as it was dramatic.
This is the first time in what feels like a long time that for such a long period of a game, France were genuinely outclassed and outfought.
Yes, they served frequent notice of their attacking flair - Dupont’s score after 15 minutes was a thing of beauty - but for much of this game they were pegged back by a Welsh outfit that rediscovered the bit between its teeth and then some.
However, what makes this France team different is that instead of slinking off quietly into the night, they managed to right the ship and bring it home in the face of all the adversity in the world.
What the French pulled off in the dying minutes in Paris rivals anything New Zealand could have hoped to pull off, and that comparison does not come idly - just think back to the All Blacks’ famous overtime victory in Dublin in 2013.
What happened in Paris last Saturday night was not far off.
Yes, France were helped out by a Welsh side whose discipline was disintegrating before their eyes and were able to ride some penalties downfield - but no side can control the ball all the way up the pitch and over the line as France did without some serious nerve.
It showed the mental strength that now exists in this French unit, along with the courage for the fight they have developed under Galthie and Shaun Edwards.
It is this more than their ability to score ridiculous first phase tries (see last week against England) that now serves as a warning to the rest of the rugby world that this French team have a home World Cup on the horizon - and they had best be ready to take it from them.
They have not sealed the title yet and will have to produce the goods again against a rapidly-improving Scotland to do so.
However, this tournament will serve as notice that this France side is not only here to stay but can beat you any way they want.
The next two years should be a lot of fun.
READ FRANCE VS WALES PLAYER RATINGS HERE.
Scotland rapidly closing gap to Six Nations big boys
At the end of Round 5, one normally would look at Scotland sitting fourth on the Six Nations ladder and assume it was the same old story.
Beating Italy, obviously, and jagging a win elsewhere but otherwise failing to build on their promise.
This time, however, it feels different.
Firstly, it is true that they have a date in Paris on Friday for their rescheduled fifth fixture which, if they win, could see them finish the tournament in second place - almost unprecedented for the eternal nearly men of the competition.
However, the bigger picture shows that this has been a very different Scotland across the tournament so far.
The ruthlessness with which they dispatched Italy is a timely reminder of how much of the gap to the other four nations they have closed in a short space of time.
We can already hear people queuing up to bark “It’s only Italy” at The Flanker’s face, but we would like to point something out first.
Yes, it was Italy, but Scotland still put the most points and the biggest winning margin on the Azzurri in this year’s tournament - and that’s up against some stiff competition.
What is more, if you look back at their other games it backs up the assertion that Scotland have made giant strides in this tournament.
Winning at Twickenham speaks for itself - one need only look at France last weekend for proof that a victory at HQ is no mean feat, even when England are so far below their best.
Week 2 - Wales. A side that came within moments of completing a Grand Slam left to rely on the magic of a 20-year-old and a desperate tap tackle to see off a Scottish side who had played with 14 men for almost half an hour.
Round 4 - Ireland. What was at that stage arguably the best performance of the Andy Farrell era was needed to beat the Scots, with the game level and Scotland odds on to win it with just moments to go.
Yes, it is true that the next stage will now be for Scotland to convert these situations, as in both cases they arguably should have done.
They will look at the end of the Ireland game in particular, when they had all the momentum but were undone by their own mistakes, as a real missed opportunity and a reminder of the work they have yet to do.
However, in the grand scheme of things, these near misses and the wins they have achieved are proof that the daylight that had existed between the “Top Four” and Scotland has now been narrowed to an almost invisible shaft.
They have arguably the best 6/7 combination in the tournament, they have bonafide matchwinners at 10 and 15, they have one of the most exciting emerging players in the tournament in Duhan van der Merwe, and they have a tight five who can mix it with the best.
If those facts alone don’t tell you that this Six Nations has been a massive leap forward for Scotland, then look at the fact that they go over to Paris for the final game of the tournament not only eyeing up a second-place finish but actually capable of achieving it as well.
They will need luck and a mighty effort to knock over France on Friday night, but the fact this game is generating the excitement it is is testament enough to the improvement we’ve seen north of the border.
Think about it this way - in an alternative universe only marginally different from our own, where Owen Watkin is one step behind the pace at Murrayfield and Jonny Sexton puts his touchline penalty kick in Round 4 a foot to the left, Scotland could have been heading to Paris this week with a Grand Slam in their sights.
Not that far away, are they?
READ SCOTLAND VS ITALY PLAYER RATINGS HERE.
Jones on thin ice after historically poor tournament
England’s 5th place in the 2021 Six Nation was their joint worst result in the championship under Jones’ reign as head coach.
CREDIT: Rex Features
For the vast proportion of England 32-18 defeat against Ireland on Saturday, Eddie Jones’ men looked life a team completely bereft of ideas.
In many ways, it summed up their tournament. Their players got on the wrong side of the ref early in the game, their attacking play looked toothless and they were not their normal, aggressive selves in defence.
The game was, frankly, done and dusted by half time and they only started looking fluid after Bundee Aki’s red card for a high tackle on Billy Vunipola.
Their eye-watering 67 penalties conceded throughout the championship shows how their style of “playing on the edge” has gone too far and is now starting to cause them to lose matches.
After the impressive display over France, this was a fair few steps back. It has led to nagging questions as to whether Jones is the person to take this England side through to the next World Cup.
The Australian has said himself the team will receive an overhaul with the British and Irish Lions tour looming large this summer, which is sorely needed as a litany of players (take your pick) in the Premiership are playing out of their skin on a weekly basis.
Selection has been brought up time and time again this tournament but the style of play will what will worry RFU higher-ups the most.
At their best, an Eddie Jones England team makes an explosive start (see the corresponding fixture against Ireland in 2019 and the World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand) then puts relentless pressure on sides in attack and defence to ruthlessly capitalise on their mistakes.
But throughout this tournament, they have started poorly and failed to impose themselves on the game.
Aside from the France outlier a week ago this is a poor team to watch, especially compared to the spectacle put on by Wales, France and Scotland during the championship.
Is a more expansive style of play the answer? Not necessarily, but Jones but now has a chance with many of his star players on Lions duty to see what a team of players performing week in and week out at club level can do on the international stage.
But more than anything else, he needs quality results again. Losing against all three other home nations for the first time since 1974 is unacceptable and while his job should not be at risk now, if things have not changed by the end of the year serious questions will need to be asked.
Whether it is a revolution or evolution of his team, Eddie Jones needs to find a way of capturing his side’s old form once again.
READ IRELAND VS ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS HERE.
Wales Grand Slam agony a reflection on how far they have grown
First things first - if Wales go on to win the title, as is likely at this stage, they will have completed a brilliant turnaround from their limp Six Nations showing last year and the dismal Autumn Nations Cup campaign.
If France fail to secure a bonus-point victory against Scotland this Friday - and by a margin of 21 points or more - the title will be heading back to Cardiff and a remarkable story will have something of a happy ending.
However, it may feel more like the ending to Return of the Jedi rather than the Return of the King - pleasing, but not as iconic.
That is because Wales saw their Grand Slam dreams go up in flames in the 82nd minute of a Six Nations epic as France snatched a 32-20 victory in Paris.
It was the most dramatic of ironies which saw Wales record their only defeat of the tournament in, by far, ther best performance of the competition.
It was a performance built on grit, determination and no shortage of skill whatsoever.
Liam Williams, George North, Josh Adams and the brilliant Louis Rees-Zammit were constantly buzzing in midfield - coming into the line repeatedly to make carries and yardage.
Dan Biggar was back to his solid best in terms of his brilliant distribution while his out of hand kicking provided bombs for Williams and co to run onto.
His brilliant angle started the scoring before Josh Navidi smashed through from close range. Josh Adams’ poacher’s effort after a scruffy hack through got Welshmen everywhere believing the fairytale was on.
Despite suffering a little bit at scrum time, they threw bodies on the line as they defended for their lives and their lead despite being reduced to 13 men for the final 10 minutes.
Alun Wyn Jones, leading from the front on effectively one leg towards the end of the game, made a heroic 20 tackles in the game in a mountainous performance.
He said after the game that he and his team hoped to make their nation proud and deliver their second Grand Slam in three tournaments, only for Brice Dulin’s late winner to break hearts in The Valleys.
It is safe to say, pride in the Wales national team has well and firmly been restored after their horrendous 2020.
Yes, it has been much publicised that they benefited massively from refereeing calls throughout the tournament - but this is a side that has got better and better week on week.
From a stodgy and workmanlike performance in the opening game against Ireland to some really excellent ball carrying rugby in their final match against France, this side has started to evolve and gain much-needed confidence.
Head Coach Wayne Pivac, who was under a little bit of pressure coming into 2021, has earned his corn and is starting to stamp his authority on this side.
The Kiwi has got the best out of George North after his switch to the centre position while in form youngsters have been backed to the hilt.
Callum Sheedy, James Botham and the electric Rees-Zammit have impressed and have thrived in the Test arena.
All the pieces are in place for a side that could make a splash at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which Pivac is undoubtedly building towards.
In the present, however, Wales can be more than pleased with their 2021 Six Nations campaign that for the knock-on of a ball or a French mistake, could have been history-making.
