RBS 6 Nations
Starting with England, the tournament itself was
an undoubted success. To come away with their
second consecutive title is a fine achievement and
losing to Ireland away from home is nothing to be
ashamed of.
However Eddie Jones always points towards
the 2019 World Cup and it is questionable whether
England made any progress over the tournament.
With some injuries to key players there were chances
for a number of players to make an impact but Elliot
Daly aside none were able to nail down a starting
position. That leaves them with question marks in
their back row and at full-back in particular moving
forward.
Ireland should probably be a little disappointed
with their performance overall. They undoubtedly
have a good team and have shown in the Autumn
Internationals, this Six Nations and the one before the
World Cup that they are more than capable of beating
anyone and there is not a great deal between them
and England.
To take a step forward they need to be able to
produce on a more consistent basis but they certainly
have the quality in place, particularly up front to do
so and both their half backs stand a good chance of
staring for the Lions.
In recent years France should have been a lot
better than they have been but there is a feeling
now that they are getting there. Their forwards are a
formidable pack and competed with everyone they
came up against.
All of their matches against the top sides could
have gone either way and they have given themselves
a better platform from which to build than they have
had in quite some time. If their backs can click they
could prove to be a real force to be reckoned with.
Scotland’s
performances
have
improved
significantly in recent years and they finally put
together the results to underline their progress.
Beating both Ireland and Wales was a superb result for
them meaning that they were unbeaten at home and
whilst the England result was a huge disappointment,
particularly in terms of the score line, this still appears
to be a team on an upward trend.
Vern Cotter now leaves the side and the work he
has done rebuilding the team has been superb. It will
be important, and difficult, for them to continue to
develop if they are to make the most of the momentum
they have built.
Wales continue to be a steady side in the
competition and although results are worse than in
recent years this is more down to the fact that other
sides have improved rather than the Welsh going
backwards.
The complaint for some time about this side has
been that they aren’t getting any better and that feeling
will have been enhanced during this tournament.
It is difficult to see how they will take a significant
step forward without a major change in their set up
somewhere.
For Italy this tournament was a reflection of years
of failing to progress and when they appointed Conor
O’Shea it was always going to take time to turn things
around. Whether they are able to do that remains to be
seen and until they find a reliable goal kicker they are
not going to worry the other sides in the competition.
For the first time in eleven years Scotland
finished with a positive record in the 6
Nations thanks to wins over Ireland, Wales
and Italy. The end of the tournament
sees popular Coach Vern Cotter leave his
position with the side ranked 5th in the
world – their joint highest position ever.
Things did not start out well for Cotter as he lost all his
matches in his first 6 Nations but is now able to leave having
done a great job of getting Scottish rugby back on its feet.
He leaves with nineteen wins from thirty five matches and
playing a brand of rugby that the Scottish public can get
behind.
The four tries scored in their final match left them with
fourteen in total for the tournament, their best ever tally in Six
Nations competition.
Speaking to www.independent.co.uk, John Barclay,
Scotland’s captain said, “He’s had a fantastic contribution to
Scottish rugby, he’s built a fantastic culture in the team, he’s
a great man. We wanted to finish on a high, especially after
last week. We really wanted to give the coaching team a good
send-off.”
Cotter has been humble throughout his time with the side
and continued in the same manner telling www.rbs6nations.
com, “It’s been fun. It was nice to be able to finish at home
with the bonus point.”
“It wasn’t always perfect but we got there in the end. Job
done. I am not going to talk about legacies. I was a supporter
before I came here and I’ll be a supporter now that we are
moving on.
“Greig Laidlaw pulled me along onto the pitch at the end.
My daughter was there as well. She found a way, got past the
security guard. It was really nice, it was something that will
stay with me.”
One suspects that the work that Cotter has done with this
Scottish side will stay with them for a long time as well.
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