As this slightly underwhelming Six Nations gets back to work this weekend, JOE looks at five things to watch out for in Dublin, London and Edinburgh.
Will Ireland play with a bit of flair this time?
Stupid question, right? Even with the weakest possible team coming to town, Declan Kidney has resisted the urge to try a few things against Italy. Keith Earls’ introduction to the centre in place of Fergus McFadedn was always Kidney’s plan anyway so we hope the Munster man can conjure up some of the magic he displayed against the Azzurri at the World Cup.
What we would like to see is a similar scoreline to that day in Dunedin, 36-6, but done with a bit more ease and excitement. However, we fear it will be a tight, tense affair, just like that game was back in October, at least until the closing stages. Ireland may pull away in the end but it probably won’t be one for the purists.
Can Stuart Hogg inspire Scotland?
It’s a lot to ask of a 19-year-old making his full international debut but Andy Robinson has turned to Stuart Hogg to save Scotland’s Six Nations.
After an insipid display against an equally insipid England ended in defeat in their opener, Scotland were given a bit of a spanking by Wales in the end two weeks ago. The only high point of that game for Robinson was the performance of Hogg as a substitute.
The Glasgow full-back looked lively and, crucially, capable of making a line break. France come to Murrayfield on Sunday and while the visitors are deserved favourites, a decent performance in defeat by Scotland may ease the pressure on Robinson, who has won only two of the 12 Six Nations games he has taken Scotland into. The question is can Hogg save his bacon? Sorry.
Can Wales win the Triple Crown?
It seems very early to be talking about Triple Crowns but a few hours after Ireland play just their second game of this year’s tournament, Wales could already have a trophy in the bag.
Okay, the Triple Crown ain’t what it used to be but do you think Declan Kidney would like to swap places with Warren Gatland right now? You bet he would. Wales and France look to be the class acts of this year’s tournament and a win at Twickenham would have Wales well over halfway to another Grand Slam.
Despite having only one win in 24 years at the home of English rugby, Wales are just a better team than England at the moment and they should smash the fragile mood of resurgence around Stuart Lancaster’s team.
Who’s the man? Manu’s the man
It is safe to say that Manu Tuilagi has been caught up in a fair bit of trouble this past year. From giving Chris Ashton what was coming to him (see below, about 2.30 in) to jumping off a ferry in Auckland, the Samoan-born centre has been in the news for mostly the wrong reasons.
But on the field he is a fearsome force and his return to the England midfield this weekend against Wales means the game at Twickenham is easily the game of the weekend. The prospect of the Leicester bruiser taking on Welsh brutes like Jamie Roberts and George North is mouth-watering and could make the UFC octagon look like a knitting circle.
Time is on France’s mind
An interesting titbit of info emerged from the manager’s press conferences in Edinburgh this week. Andy Robinson said that in the average Top 14 game, the ball is in play for 26 seconds in each phase. It is much, much longer outside of France, often a couple of minutes per phase.
French coach Philippe Saint-Andre alluded to the same point when he said that in a recent game between Stade Francais and Toulon, the ball was in play for just 26 minutes of the entire 80. He also noted that when Scotland played Wales a fortnight ago, the ball was in play for 46 minutes.
It seems if you can keep the game flowing you may just upset the French stop-start style they are familiar with. Scotland may not be good enough to do it this week, but we hope Deccie is aware of this bit of info too.
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