As Les Bleus chase a first grand slam in 12 years, more questions than answers exist for France, England and IrelandAnd so the Six Nations has the last tango it wanted. A packed Stade de France and a primetime television audience, a grand slam up for grabs and enough pre-match talking points to wallpaper the Louvre. Can France be stopped? Are England capable of being party-poopers? Is there any chance of Ireland sneaking up on the blindside? Regardless of the answers, “Super Saturday” will be lively.On the evidence of the penultimate weekend’s three games, France should be feeling quietly confident as they eye a first grand slam for 12 years. Continue reading...
The Six Nations leaders were pushed all the way by Wales’s rejigged pack and their bitterest enemies will have taken noteAnother step negotiated by New France, as they progress to their own World Cup next year – and, before that, a date with their bitterest enemy, everyone’s bitterest enemy in rugby’s small world, England in Paris next weekend.Another successful step there, and a grand slam will be theirs, a first since 2010, a first title since 2010, a dozen years, long and barren. That said, this notion that France are in a different class to les autres suffered a few cracks. Continue reading...
Stuart Hogg looked tortured by what might have been while the French greeted victory with a chilling shrug of the shouldersWas this the day to herald French brilliance or to bemoan the same old faultlines that persist so stubbornly in Scotland’s constitution? The temptation, if the bearing of the two camps afterwards is anything to go by, is to opt for the latter. Certainly, Scotland seemed more traumatised by the defeat than France were euphoric about a resounding victory at one of their less favoured grounds of late.Then again, the shrug of the French shoulders, so often a symptom of their own faultline, on this occasion seemed quite ominous. Their travelling fans were raucous and numerous in equal measure, but...
A play-off final involving the winner of the Rugby Europe Championship could help to bring new fans to the sportLate on Saturday night in Edinburgh’s Old Town as we walked back to our hotel, the strains of a familiar tune floated past on the chill, gusty breeze. In the pub around the corner they were still having a grand old time and a loud rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was in full swing. Travelling revellers, fellowship, simple pleasures: if you were to bottle the essence of the Six Nations it was right there.The opening weekend of rugby was enjoyable, too, give or take the inclement weather. The grounds were sold out and the singing of the anthems was...
The quality may never have been higher and revenues dwarf those of the World Cup – no wonder South Africa wants to joinHuman beings have a troublesome relationship with statistics. Them and damned lies. The wise treat them with caution, but only a fool, alas, dismisses these numbers as worthless. The hysterical, meanwhile, react extravagantly to whatever they find at the end of their nose and co-opt whichever statistics support their hysteria.This Six Nations has been hailed already as the most competitive and deliciously anticipated in the history of the world, ever. “It says behind me: ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship,’” said Eddie Jones last week, in front of the mandatory branding, “and I think it is that now by a country...