Coach’s constant tinkering has left England living on the promise of a bright future rather than winning the next gameRemember that night in Paris? This same March week back in 2016, Eddie Jones’s England went there with the grand slam on the line. Of course they won it, beating France 31-21 thanks to fine tries from Danny Care, Dan Cole and Anthony Watson. Afterwards, James Haskell and Chris Robshaw were walking around the Stade de France in custom-made shirts with the number six-and-a-half on the back (a sly and affectionate dig at their coach after he told them they couldn’t play seven), while the Vunipola brothers belted out Backstreet Boys covers in the dressing room. It was the start of...
Grand slam-chasers have a serious claim to have the upper hand on Les Bleus teams from 1977, 1998 and 2004It is only three years ago, having just watched France throw away a 16-0 interval lead to Wales in Paris, that the former Les Bleus flanker and multiple grand slam winner Olivier Magne delivered a few home truths. “We won’t win anything with the current generation,” he hissed. “When I hear some players after games, it’s never their fault. At the first hitch, they collapse psychologically. This generation has been associated with defeat for too long … they are deeply traumatised.”Magne, we now know, was two-thirds right. France’s national team did indeed require a new broom but, ultimately, the key has...
Eddie Jones’s side deserve credit for battling with 14 men, but they are still chasing the elusive promise of their own potentialIn England’s national sporting psyche there is a special place reserved for the gallant loser. At times it can feel a little schmaltzy, a touch indulgent. To be beaten but unbowed is a romantic notion though one that can also suggest a certain nobility when the cold, hard facts point to a definitive defeat.Leaving a frazzled Twickenham late on Saturday night you could not help but wonder whether the heroic nature of such a defeat was overblown or if the plaudits heading England’s way were justified after resisting Ireland for so long with 14 men, before two late tries...
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 Ireland captain and talisman left his mark eventually despite being a peripheral figure for much of the gameAs the final whistle blew on a bruising and barnstorming and brilliant evening’s entertainment, Ireland’s players wreathed each other in hugs: their ordeal finally at an end, their conquest complete. Johnny Sexton, their captain and talisman, was not among them. He had been withdrawn with a few seconds left on the clock, presumably to grant him one last valedictory ovation from a Twickenham crowd that may never see him in action again.This is the sort of treatment Sexton should probably start getting used to over the coming months. Earlier in the week he finally ended months of speculation by revealing that his...