Six Nation 2015- Round 2

After the 6 Nations struggled to find its usual firework display last week, round two threw up a chance for teams to redeem themselves after a poor weekend and put up another World Cup practice for Ireland and France. The clash in Dublin was a brutal event, substituting attacking flair for brutal collisions, as Sexton made his return to the pitch. Wales made the trip up to Murrayfield to face a Scotland team that had begun to show major promise and attacking intent. First on the weekend was a strong England team at home to the perennial last placers Italy, a stuttering performance from the home team was enough in the end.

Joseph is turning into a continued threat

After last weeks stand out performance England faced an easy second game against the Italians, however England showed a lack of cohesion in a game that should have been a walk over. After losing fullback Mike Brown early on to concussion protocols and major back-line re-shuffle could be responsible for the unconvincing display.
Yet again Jonathan Joseph shone in the thirteen shirt (although he did play wing for the majority of the game), scoring two tries of extreme quality. His "ball in two hands" running style keeps defenders guessing and allows him to use his excellent feet ansudden acceleration to carve the defence apart. George Ford provided some inspired moments while Cipriani announced his return to the international set up with a try. Defensively England were a worry, as they missed a lot of tackles in a game when a clean tryline should have been not just demanded but expected.

However credit should be given to the Italians for their attacking enterprise and confidence with ball in hand, Sergio Parisse once again led from the front but it was Luca Morisi at outside centre that was the real star. Slicing apart the England line twice, leading to two fantastic tries. Italy may not be title contenders but they have now got an attack, and still hold a large power in deciding the title.






Champions elect Ireland, returned to the Aviva Stadium to face a French team which despite the skill of some of their backs have forsaken all pretence of "French Flair" in favour of a battering ram game plan of physical and bone juddering collisions.

The collisions were brutal in Dublin

Bastareaud lead the charge for the men in blue, as he looked to run over the returning Sexton. But Sexton returned the favour with a couple of brave tackles, showing no fear of the concussion which had kept him out since the Autumn Internationals. The French physicality had pulled them through against Scotland last week, however against a team coached by Joe Schmidt it was proven largely ineffective as brains overcame brawn. Jonathan Sexton ran the show, with a practically perfect kicking display (only one mistake), intelligent game management and was bordering on reckless in defence. Sean O'Brien proved destructive at the breakdown, and Robbie Henshaw is fast proving himself to be one of the best centres in the Six Nations. Sad news to hear that Jamies Heaslip is set to miss the remainder of the competition with broken vertebrae after a terrible collision to his back from Pascal Pape, the
citing commissioner is yet to determine the length of a ban. France as a whole seemed to be frustrated by Ireland's defence and kicking plan, unable to break down Ireland really, and couldn't get their deadly driving maul working against the Irish pack. In the end Ireland's victory didn't look troubled, the drive and willpower of the team as a whole puts them in good standing to claim the title. France meanwhile look lost in the wilderness with no real game-plan, no confidence in their attacking ability, and a coach who can't quite decide if a mobile pack or a scrummaging pack is best.




Lastly Scotland hosted Wales, after their almost game in Paris last week. In that game Scotland showed serious attacking intent with their adventurous backs. At the beginning of the game, they continued to show this, turning the Welsh over they shifted the ball out and scored the opening try. However as the game wore on Scotland seemed to turn back the years and resort to the traditional "white line fever" of old. Some of this could be attri

Laidlaw left ruing his decisions?

buted to the decisions of captain Laidlaw turning down plenty of kickable penalties in attempt to score for the Murrayfield crowd. Wales meanwhile resorted to type, with Alun Wyn Jones claiming lineout possession to feed the hard charging Jamie Roberts. It yielded results as Wales managed to maintain possession for multiple phases and show something of their true potential. There are still problems with Welsh machine: the lineout has begun to seriously shake, Alex Cuthbert seems to have lost all the threat he used to pose, and the scrum has suffered in the absence of a true quality tight head. There were some positives to take, the try line defence was back to the typical Shaun Edwards ferocity and Liam Williams turned the Wales attack into something a little different. But the biggest change in Wales has been Leigh Halfpenny, the fullback who has so often be famed for his defensive capabilities has begun to look to attack more, joining the line and returning kicks with ball in hand
instead of kicking it back. Speaking of kicking, the Welsh kicking struggles last week were but a faint memory, as Halfpenny, Roberts and Biggar chased and recovered kick after kick in a relentless aerial assault. Meanwhile Finn Russell has a day to forget with the boot as twice he missed pressure relieving kicks to touch and allow Wales to counter. Neither team has really shown like they are going to compete for the title, but both have started to hint at possible glory and success.






Team of the Weekend
15 - Leigh Halfpenny
14 - Jonathan Joseph
13 - Luca Morisi
12 - Alex Dunbar
11 - Liam Williams
10 - Jonny Sexton
9 - Conor Murray
1 - Jack McGrath
2 - Benjamin Kayser
3 - Uini Atonio
4 - Paul O'Connoll
5 - Alun Wyn Jones
6 - Peter O'Mahoney
7 - Sam Warburton
8 - Sergio Parisse