John Mitchell key for England; Wales’ Dan Biggar offers alternative denied to France; Scotland’s chance to show ambition; England women face formidable French packIreland have won every match in the final round of the Six Nations under Joe Schmidt, but they have won only one of their last four on the opening weekend – in France last year when Johnny Sexton’s late, late drop goal took them past France. They were seven points down against England before a number of spectators had found their seats and they didn’t even bear a passing resemblance to the side who had prevented the most free-flowing team in the world, New Zealand, from scoring a try a few months before. In contrast, England have...
No 10 frequently an Irish saviour but influence goes missing as green machine is rolled over by men in whiteNo grand slam this time, just the eerie thud of lofty Irish reputations crashing back down to earth. One bad result does not suddenly make Ireland a bad side but this was not a day to convince many neutrals the world’s second-best team were wearing green. Maybe that was the problem: given the choice between being the hunters or the hunted, Irish rugby players instinctively prefer the underdogs’ basket.Being garlanded as near-invincible champions before a ball has even been kicked is rather less comfortable terrain. And goodness this was an untypical Ireland performance: nervy, inaccurate, flat in places, panicky in others....
Ireland are performing as the world’s best team but England cannot afford to forget what they are about themselvesWhen I was at Harlequins we had a psychologist, Pieter Kruger, who now works at Munster. I always remember how he would tell us the times you’re most likely to concede points is the 10 minutes before half-time and the 10 minutes after. If anything defines this Ireland team, it is their ability to strike during those moments, in those championship minutes. Related: Six Nations 2019: team-by-team guide | Paul Rees One moment Ireland are beating a team up, the next they are out-thinking them Related: England braced for bruising epic as they seek to storm Ireland’s citadel | Robert Kitson Continue...
Last Six Nations hurrahs arrive for Warren Gatland and Joe Schmidt – and what an impact they have had on their teamsBack in the day when rugby was amateur but toying with professionalism, Wales and Ireland could usually be found scrapping for the Five Nations wooden spoon, claiming it eight times between them in the 1990s. Had there been world rankings, neither would have been on the first page. They were two countries known for their emotion rather than attention to detail, moments of brilliance only occasionally compensating for structural disrepair.Then along came two New Zealanders to lay a new foundation. Related: Six Nations could be tougher to win this year than the Rugby World Cup | Robert Kitson Continue...
With injuries inevitable, coaches need to know who their next cab off the rank is in each key position and Ireland have the system best placed to succeedWhen the Six Nations starts we’ll all enjoy picking and poking over team selection and tactics, how the benches have been used and how the coaches have drawn on all their nous to get the results they need. But one thing you won’t hear much about may end up being one of the most important factors of all in deciding the championship – the depth chart.Every nation will have a spreadsheet with each position on it and then the first choice, second choice, third choice and so on. Often it’s also colour-coded red,...