Jonathan Joseph hat trick seals emphatic victory for England in Rome

By Guest Author, Paddy Boyland (Paddy_Boyland)

Italy 9 England 40

After an exhilarating opening weekend, round two of the Six Nations very much went with the form book. On Saturday, France beat a forlorn Ireland in Paris and then Wales edged out Scotland at the Principality Stadium, while Sunday’s Valentine’s Day clash between hosts Italy and reinvigorated visitors England saw a ruthlessly efficient away side make it two wins from two in Rome.

Italy may have had a greater percentage of the possession and territory, yet the away side responded well when tested and always looked like pulling away in the closing stages.

The two sides traded penalties in a scrappy opening 20 minutes, with ill discipline from serial offenders Dan Cole and James Haskell, together with a malfunctioning lineout (4/13 lost) contributing factors in a disappointing England performance early doors. It remains to be seen if the aforementioned duo will keep their places in the coming weeks given the options at Eddie Jones’ disposal, but the Australian coach will want to see considerable improvement from the pair in that aspect of their play.

As against Scotland, the penalty count was far too high for a side with aspirations of becoming one of the best in the world. Currently, Jones’ men top the table for penalties conceded in this year’s championship, and will have to resolve this flaw in their game if they’re to lift the trophy come the final weekend. Put bluntly, Cole and Haskell will have to show they’re able to curb their reckless tendencies if they’re to fight off challenges from Kieran Brookes and Matt Kvesic and remain in the starting 15. 

Despite their sluggish start, it was England who scored the opening try of the game with the first real moment of quality. A well-judged George Ford up and under was expertly tracked by Joseph and Brown. The two hounded Italy full-back Sarto and eventually forced a turnover, from which England scored the game’s first try. Billy Vunipola and Farrell combined on the left, with the latter putting Ford in for an easy score in the corner. Advantage England, and just  rewards for a real desire to chase what was an expert kick from the fly half.

However, a missed Farrell conversion and a further moment of Red Rose indiscipline meant the game remained in the balance at 9-11. Italy came out firing at the start of the second half- the Azzurri had close to 70% possession and territory in second period- but England defended resolutely and Joseph’s intercept try on 52 put paid to any Italian hopes of a famous win. It was a huge turning point in a game that, at that point, looked like it could well have gone either way up, yet as was the case at Murrayfield, England’s grit, extra quality and superior nous shone through when it mattered.

Eddie Jones sensed a change in momentum with Italy starting to tire, and a raft of high quality substitutions underlined England’s strength in depth. On came Launchbury, George, Itoje, Marler and replacement scrum half Danny Care, further swinging the tide in the away team’s favour. Care’s early introduction, in particular, was an indication of how Jones will rotate his two 9’s until one proves himself to be undisputable number one in the position. As it stands, neither has massively impressed from the start, with the substitute then invariably looking better in the last twenty as space opens up. One must eventually seize his chance, or we may well see the two effectively share the role until such time as a standout candidate emerges.

This scenario was again apparent on Sunday- with the new forwards adding fresh impetus off the bench and providing a platform from which England could pull clear, Care was then afforded the type of space that Youngs wasn’t, and was thus better able to meaningfully affect the play. It was the Harlequins man’s delightful grubber pass that released Joseph for his second try of the game after a decent attacking scrum in Italy’s 22.

With the Italians tiring and England’s substitutes making their mark, Joseph’s hat-trick came with 10 mins left on the clock. Launchbury battered his way over the gainline, England swept left and Joseph muscled his way over despite the attempts of three Italian defenders. A welcome return to form for the Bath flyer, who had previously failed to reach the heights set in last year’s breakthrough Six Nations campaign.

By this point, the game was over as an encounter and the away side’s final try- a sweeping move that culminated in Jamie George’s superb offload to the grateful Owen Farrell- provided the proverbial icing on the cake. In many ways, it was the best of the lot, and another promising hint of things to come if England do indeed start to click more regularly.

So far so good for Eddie Jones and his men, then, who now have a two-week break before they face injury-hit Ireland at Twickenham. England must beware a fightback from a wounded Ireland side, yet focus will no doubt also turn to the penultimate weeks of the championship.

Of course, there’s room for improvement aplenty, especially at the lineout, where Courtney Lawes faltered on his first start of the championship. At the moment, the Northampton lock seems a shadow of his former self; the former bulldog used to crunch into tackles but now looks more of a meek puppy bounding about and bouncing off things, in truth. On current form he surely finds himself behind the abrasive George Kruis- who was again excellent- and Joe Launchbury in the second row pecking order.

Elsewhere, Paul Gustard’s role in England’s high intensity defensive work is starting to pay dividends, with a paltry 18 points conceded in two matches evidence of his exceptional work. There was also further improvement at the breakdown, where in the absence of a genuine fetcher, the likes of Joseph, Brown and Nowell chipped in to swarm around the player in possession at every available opportunity.

It’s still early days in a championship that is always prone to swinging to and fro but initial indications suggest that it will be a three-way tussle between England, France and Wales. The Red Rose have still to play their two greatest rivals for this year’s trophy, with a home game against Wales in week four followed by a final day trip to Paris. These are the fixtures that could well decide the destination of the famous old competition. To this victor, the spoils, as they say.

The RBS Six Nations roars back into action

Guest edition by Paddy Boyland

The Six Nations roared back into action last weekend, with the opening round of 2015/16 fixtures proving one of the most dramatic and thrilling in recent memory.

Much of the talk in the build-up to the highly anticipated championship centred on England and France after the pair’s disappointing World Cup campaigns-  the sleeping giants of northern hemisphere rugby flattered to deceive over the summer and came into Saturday’s curtain-raiser under new management, with enigmatic Australian Eddie Jones replacing Stuart Lancaster and trophy-laden former Toulouse boss Guy Novès tasked with rebuilding a France side that had seemed to stray from its traditional strengths.

There were occasional green shoots of recovery evident for both, yet, in truth, the quality of rugby on display was often lacklustre, with basic handling errors commonplace and progressive, attacking rugby eschewed in favour of attritional, predominantly pack-based blood and thunder. If this was the Northern Hemisphere’s response to the generally abject World Cup performances of the summer, then it was a pretty underwhelming one.

Sure, mitigating factors can be found at every corner. Jones and Novès need time to implement fundamentally different styles of play to those witnessed by their predecessors, while Ireland and Wales are still counting the cost of debilitating injury lists. Poor conditions also played a part, particularly at wet and windy Murrayfield, however the expectation must be that the standard can and will improve over the course of the next month.

Here, then, are the key things we learned from the opening round of fixtures.

 

France 23 Italy 21

Hosts France secured a narrow win in Paris thanks, in part, to fly half Jules Plisson’s controversial late penalty from range. Defeat was tough on an Italy side who had shown a pleasing versatility in their play; the away side dominated the scrum and threatened from deep, with Exeter centre Michele Campagnaro (4 defenders beaten) and veteran Sergio Parisse (91m made from 19 carries) key in taking the game to Guy Novès’ men.

France and their new coach will be no doubt happy enough with their opening gambit. Not only did they secure a precious opening day win, but they did so with a new team still very much in its infancy.

Novès’ rhetoric beforehand suggested that he wanted to see Les Bleus return to a style of rugby more in keeping with their renowned Gallic flair, and the initial signs from debutant backs Jonathan Danty and Virimi Vakata were promising. The former, named best centre in the Top 14 last season, provided constant menace with ball in hand, while the latter, plucked from Sevens rugby, crowned an impressive debut with an opportunistic try.

Elsewhere, the novice half-back partnership of Sébastien Bezy and Plisson ultimately failed to set the pulses racing. Bezy has been the standout scrum half in France for over a year now, helping Stade Toulousain to first place in the Top 14 standings, but he fluffed his lines here in missing three important penalties. He was eventually bailed out by his partner’s late kick, and Plisson will surely take up the place kicking mantle for the remainder of the tournament. Perhaps debut nerves got the better of the Toulouse 9, who in time should cement his place as the attacking metronome of Novès’ side.

Clearly, the ex-Toulouse boss has his work cut out in marrying short-term results with transforming his team’s modus operandi- France had turned into something of an England lite in recent years, using the considerable bulk of back row forwards Louis Picamoles and former captain Thierry Dusautoir to bludgeon their way over the gain-line- yet the performances of Danty, Plisson and prodigiously gifted 21-year-old flanker Yacouba Camara offer a glimmer of hope for the new coach in what is otherwise an uphill struggle to return France to the top of world rugby.

Scotland 9 England 15 

England’s new era, meanwhile, started in much the same vain as the last, as Eddie Jones’ charges kicked off the championship with a narrow, yet fairly convincing win over Vern Cotter’s Scotland.

The Scots came into the opening round of fixtures off the back of a decent World Cup, and hopes were high that they could spring a surprise in the Calcutta Cup game against the Auld Enemy. Once again, however, they were to fall short, with a superb performance from Man of the Match Billy Vunipola (51m made from a staggering 22 carries) and tries from Saracens lock George Kruis and Exeter winger Jack Nowell ultimately proving the difference.

As expected, there was no seismic shift in game-plan from new coach Eddie Jones, although the coach spoke of a desire to improve the pack and correct England’s misfiring scrum. In general, the set piece was indeed a strength for the visitors, with the driving lineout used to good effect throughout. At the breakdown- another area of weakness during the World Cup- Robshaw and Haskell again failed to pilfer the ball in the manner befitting a Hooper or Pocock, but did manage to slow down Scottish ball thanks to the help of backs such as Nowell and Joseph. Haskell, who it must be said is not a 7, made a substantial contribution defensively (completing 18 out of 18 tackles) and may retain his place despite competition from traditional opensides like Matt Kvesic of Gloucester and Will Fraser of Sarries.

In the backs, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson did not succeed in living up to their pre-tournament billing, while the Ford-Farrell 10/12 axis was solid if unspectacular. Jones will cling to the promise evidenced by his side’s second try- a well-crafted move that culminated in a wonderful offload from Mako Vunipola and Farrell releasing Nowell for a simple finish in the corner. More of the same, please, if you’re an England fan.

For Scotland, positives came in the form of star performers Stuart Hogg, John Hardie and Jonny Gray- the latter grows in stature by the week and must now be a real Lions contender in the absence of stalwarts such as Paul O’Connell. There is considerable talent in Cotter’s team and they may surprise a few- don’t yet rule out a third place finish if one the more fancied sides falters.

 Ireland 16 Wales 16

Sunday afternoon’s final installment of the weekend was a pulsating, tightly contested clash between the two Celtic nations. This was a ding-dong affair which swayed to and fro and ended with a result that neither side really wanted, however the final score was a fair reflection of a game in which both had spells of real dominance.

Wales were pre-tournament favourites, and for good reason given their solid World Cup and relatively settled side. Here, they combined brain and brawns, with Jamie Roberts and Taulupe Faletau battering over the gain-line and half-back pairing

Yet Ireland, shorn of established stars Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Rob Kearney as well as retired captain Paul O’Connell, raced into a 13-0 lead with newly qualified South African debutant CJ Stander (23 carries, 12 tackles) of Munster exceptional in the back row. If the World Cup showed us anything, though, it’s that Wales are made of stern stuff, and Gatland’s men fought back for a valiant point despite Dan Biggar’s early injury.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Hogg (SCO); Nowell (ENG), Campagnaro (ITA), Danty (FRA), Vakatawa (FRA); Plisson (FRA), Murray (IRE); Hardie (SCO), Vunipola (ENG), Stander (IRE); Kruis (ENG), J.Gray (SCO); Lee (WAL), Hartley (ENG), Cole (ENG)