The A teams used to provide supporting roles to the main event but also offered valuable international experience to fringe players looking to make the step upAll the best Six Nations championships start with a bang and, encouragingly, this one has been no exception. Duck beneath the headlines, though, and something we all used to take for granted each season is missing. Nobody has made a fuss – the majority have not even noticed – but the longer-term ramifications may yet prove significant.The absent friend? The traditional ’A’ team fixtures which once played supporting roles to the main events on international weekends. It was commonplace, for example, for the Irish Wolfhounds to play on a Friday night in Donnybrook or...
Italy need a pack to complement their impressive youngsters, Scarlets and Wales combine and Johnny Sexton finds a wayOne of the most striking elements of England’s seven-try victory in Rome was the wraparound tactic that set the visitors on the way to their 46-15 success. It has been Johnny Sexton’s signature move for years and George Ford and Owen Farrell have now taken a leaf out of the Irish playbook. Both England’s opening two tries by Anthony Watson involved Ford looping round and helping to create a midfield mismatch with Jonny May also coming at pace off his wing to confuse the defending side still further. Ford may find teams will now be lying in wait for him in future...
Eddie Jones will surely build his back row around his new No 8 but coach may regret not having tried a couple more rolls of the diceThe theory went that this was a conservative England team selected by Eddie Jones. That the number of matches before the World Cup is dwindling and this was the time to give fringe players a taste of the white heat of Six Nations battle. Jones was having none of it, but it cannot be denied that the most eye-catching performance of this ultimately predictable victory – England’s self-styled hunters eventually feasting on their Italian prey – was that of Sam Simmonds, the newest member of this side.Granted Simmonds’s selection was hardly a surprise, given...
Gregor Townsend left Greig Laidlaw on the bench, preferring the young Glasgow scrum-half, and by the time the steady old hand got on Scotland were 20-0 downOptimism does not come easy to the Scottish, not in the Six Nations, where their team has lost almost three times as many games as they have won. Their fans’ faith has been worn thin by all those fourth and fifth and sixth place finishes since they won the final Five Nations back in 1999. This year looked set to be a little different, though, after their fine performances in the autumn. They came to Cardiff with a slick team, a sharp coach and high hopes. These lasted 11 minutes, like some brief glimpse...
Eddie Jones can expect his toughest Six Nations yet, Ireland will threaten if they can improve away and Scotland need a winning startBidding for a third successive title, they are the team to beat having lost only once in 23 Tests under Eddie Jones. They often relied on their bench last season to compensate for slow starts, winning last year for the most part without being imperious. Injuries and suspensions have disrupted them again and, while they have the greatest strength in depth of any side in the tournament, Jones has yet to see the leadership qualities in his youngest recruits that would make him consider moving on such as Dylan Hartley and Mike Brown. England thrive on quick ball...