It's all over, 6 Nations Review

It's all over for another year, the greatest annual tournament in world rugby has come to a close. England are Grand Slam champions, with no qualms made by any nations, they were the best team each and every week. Italy once again were awarded the Wooden Spoon amidst huge question marks over their continued inclusion in the tournament. France were frustrating, Scotland are starting to threaten, Wales fluctuated between improvement and poor performances, and Ireland had to figure out how to win while missing half their team.

It wasn't a brilliant tournament on the whole, not many "great tries" being scored, most games forgone conclusions with 60 minutes gone denying fans the real nail-biting finishes that they hate to love. A lot of sides seemed to be a pale shadows of themselves, possibly due to the taxing nature of the World Cup that had occurred 5 months earlier. Sometimes teams seemed to try to play the expansive style that dominated at the World Cup and it struggled to take root. I expect by the next World Cup most of the teams in the tournament will have a balanced mix between the typical Northern Hemisphere style and the expansive "new-age" Southern Hemisphere one, but it will take a while to appear. The big test is to try this new style in the summer tours and the November friendlies when the other team are the actual exponents of the style they are trying to adopt.

Anyway how did each team do overall, and where can they look to build for next years championship?

1st - England

Eddie Jones has given England their toughness back.

Start with the obvious, they won the Grand Slam. Can't say much more than that in terms of just how good they've been this year. It hasn't been a glamorous Grand Slam, efficient is the word I would use, but it hasn't been without it's flashes of exciting play. Under new coach Eddie Jones England have rediscovered the grizzly hard-nosed attitude which made them both hated and feared across the globe. With the likes of Kruis, Haskell and Owen Farrell allowed to show their combative side they have
thrived.

It's been a pretty simple game plan from England overall, combining an efficient set piece (yielding 91% success across both scrums and lineouts), with aggressive breakdown strength, and then add two play makers in the back-line to capitalise on any over laps that develop. In defence it was a case of blitzing as hard and as fast as possible and trying to force the opposition into mistakes. It wasn't a perfect system, teams were capable of unpicking the defensive system with quick decision making and a eagerness to spread the ball wide quickly. Ireland has some good success with this system and France almost blew the Grand Slam apart with a risky offloading game. I'm sure they will be sternly tested in the summer against Australia, who with their super effective double open-side system could maybe pose some problems to England at the breakdown. Also the willingness of the Australian backs to spread it into the wide channels where the likes of Folau and others can thrive is something that Gustard will have to take into consideration.

Haskell with the rest of the pack have been crucial.

In attack England have relied heavily on Billy Vunipola, and with good reason, in the first half of the tournament he was breaking tackles at will, making ground for fun and giving England the front foot ball they needed. Against Wales and France he was less obvious, but that's because teams started taking him seriously and double or even triple tackling him. This just meant there was more room out there for the likes of Itoje, Haskell to make the yards, but what it really did was free up the scrum half. Youngs and Care had a free ride on the back of the forwards, able to snipe and probe around the fringes which kept the opposition on the back foot, and in the case of Care gifted him a simple run in try against France. Eddie Jones may not know which of the two are his first choice yet, but it can't be a bad thing both of them performing so well.

England possess plenty of talent, no world class players yet, but three or four are threatening to be and very soon. Itoje has started two tests and is now practically undroppable alongside Kruis in the second row. Billy Vunipola was the player of the tournament and will have a huge battle with his cousin Faletau for the Lion's shirt next summer. Anthony Watson is the sort of lethal finisher any team needs and is almost unbeatable in the air. And Owen Farrell's goal kicking has been second to none all tournament and is worthy of his vice-captain role within the team. 

Henry Slade could be the long term "second playmaker".

It's hard to see where England need to improve really as they were simply better than everyone this year. As mentioned their defence can be unpicked with regularity if the attacking team is brave enough. The only other area is their finishing in the final third, England struggled to get over the line through multiple phases, slightly lacking that killer instinct when they had the opposition on the
ropes. They still scored some great tries, but more often than not they came from a little deeper and a line-break around the halfway line. Would maybe having a bit of star quality like Tuilagi allow them to punish teams more, or having Henry Slade back allow a more confident 10-12 axis to exist, especially with George Ford still struggling to find the form that made him great last season.

2nd - Wales

Well, for a Wales team that has won Grand Slams after the last two World Cups, and were arguably the best team from the 6 Nations in the World Cup, they were pretty lacklustre all tournament. Starting against Ireland they were done 13-0 before they knew what was happening, but proved their quality in the end fight back. Against Scotland the produced a roller-coaster performance that only won by reverting to their power game for 20 minutes. France half way through was a simple walk over, and Wales didn't get out of third gear. The England game was the worst performance in years except at the death but the game was gone, and Italy weren't even interested in the game.

Roberts still crucial to Wales.

The power game is once again hotly debated, with many people say it's time it was thrown away after it proved unsuccessful again. But considering it got Wales out of a sticky situation against Scotland, it has to stay around. What needs to be done is Wales - and Gatland - need to build on top of it. Against Italy we finally saw Wales using Jamie Roberts as a decoy runner, drawing in two or three defenders which created large holes wider out, which allowed the likes of George North and Jonathan Davies to run rampant. They even used Roberts as a distributor, giving him the ball on the gain-line and asking him to slip it back to a looping player creating even more havoc. It doesn't seem that hard a additional system to add to the current game style, so it seems bonkers it took so long to use it.

North was back to his best this year, just in time too.

The positives this tournament haven't been many but they have appeared. First and foremost is the emergence of Rob Evans at loose head, for years Wales have been worried about how to replace the veteran Gethin Jenkins, and here they've found the man before Jenkins has even retired. Willing to ball carry in the wide spaces, equipped with a deft pair of hands, but most importantly has proven a capable scrummager at this level. Another player who took his opportunity was Ross Moriarty against Italy, his powerful ball carrying similar to Vunipola will be a useful addition to the Welsh squad. The biggest positive was George North getting back to his best, whenever he got the ball he made yards, in most cases that was a large number. Finally giving a bit more space to use the ball, being asked to run and attack in the wider channels rather than at players into the 10-12 channel. He'll be crucial to any hopes Wales have of winning in New Zealand.

Despite coming second Wales have plenty to work on, the style which so expertly took apart Italy - and England eventually - looks incredibly dangerous and needs time to bed in, but it wasn't perfect. Wales left a couple of tries out on the field, with poor communication from out wide leaving 4-on-1's begging. Begs the question how that message doesn't get passed into Webb & Biggar at half back, and maybe the introduction of Anscombe at fullback with his play making ability could allow Wales to capitalise on those chances. The Anscombe debate also comes on the back of the void at winger, three players were tried in that position and none of them did enough to take claim of the shirt. In fact Liam Williams looked the best in that position after Anscombe had come on at fullback. Wales will be hoping to half Leigh Halfpenny back soon, because the back three debate is a problem.

3rd - Ireland

Safe to say it was a frustrating tournament for Ireland, started with early promise building a comfortable lead against Wales, however three weeks later their title defence was over. After Wales took control of the game, and a brutal French team had battered their way to a dull win in Paris, England completed the job with an accomplished display. At Twickenham Ireland did show some promise, with two tries being unfortunate not to be scored by TMO decision and a heroic cover tackle by Jack Nowell, they looked like a team finding their feet again. Then came the huge blow out against Italy which gave them the confidence to go out and beat Scotland on the final weekend.

CJ Stander has given Ireland yet another ball carrier.

Ireland seemed a shadow of themselves early on in the tournament really lacking the bite and front line ferocity that made a nightmare to play against, without Paul O'Connoll they looked a little lost, especially with no Iain Henderson - out with injury. No O'Mahony either meant they lacked the ability to dominate the breakdown battle. However slowly they begun to cope and replace these big players. Sean O'Brien's departure was covered with the sensational form of CJ Stander who was seemingly mentioned by commentators every 30 seconds. Jamie Heaslip eventually stood up to the mark in the final two rounds, getting involved in the ball carrying void left by O'Brien too. Zebo at fullback has given Ireland a bit of exciting flair in the backline, someone who is willing to try the running game instead of the kicking game they have relied upon for so long.

After those early disappointments Ireland looked much more like themselves, with forwards giving Connor Murray a fast platform on which to run the play and win the territory game. Johnny Sexton was back to his world class best, pushing Ireland around the park with his point perfect kicking game, as well as offering the running game which is capable of tearing teams apart - and did so again and again against England. Against Scotland he simply oozed class, making correct decision after correct decision and creating tries at will, if he needed to work on one element of his game it would be his kicking from the tee which took a massive downturn during the last two weekends.

Zebo adds a bit of flair to Ireland.

Plenty of positives for Ireland, especially in the creation of strength in depth with Van der Flier and McCloskey getting their debuts and playing well in the green shirt, and the continued development of Jack McGrath as a top class loosehead prop. They also begun to show a bit more of a ball in hand attacking threat in general play, Sexton & Henshaw combining very well with regularity which will only improve with the young centre moving to Leinster next season.

Ireland do need to improve, but again it's difficult to see where, the end of the tournament was very good from them with forwards winning the breakdown and Sexton commanding the game with his mate Murray inside him. With the returning players from injury they are going to be a much stronger force come this time next year, perhaps if one thing was going to be their focus point for
improvement it would be developing this attacking with ball in hand game. The start is there, and with Zebo in the backline it could take off, but it does seem to struggle with the simple but consistent Payne at outside centre, it might be worth risking some youngsters sooner rather than later who would be more inclined to look to get the ball out of contact.

4th - Scotland

Another nearly year for Scotland, but they're better than the previous ones. They seemed a little stunned by the atmosphere of the Calcutta Cup on the opening weekend, and everyone feared that after an impressive World Cup Scotland would fall apart. A week later they posed Wales plenty of problems, and had Stuart Hogg not gone off injured they might have stolen the win. Then came the crunch match, where they managed a good win in Italy showcasing a complete performance with some excellent tries and good match control from captain Laidlaw. They followed it up with a comprehensive win against France where they never looked out of their depth. Sadly they then had to go to Dublin against a rejuvenated Ireland team where a couple of mistakes and a majestic display from Sexton kept Scotland at arms reach all game.

Scotland's game plan is a simple one, retain the ball. It's very rare you see a team happy to simply hold on to the ball through dozens of phases and wait patiently for their opportunity. Most sides prefer to dominate the territory game instead, and hope the opposition will make a mistake upon which they can capitalise. Scotland learnt the hard way that if they try that teams have a habit of using the ball better and scoring the tries which put Scotland out of the game. So instead they prove that having the ball is key to victory. Continued hard work by the forwards creates ruck after ruck, phase after phase, bringing in opposition players until the spaces appear out wide for someone like Stuart Hogg or Duncan Taylor to make a line break. If the space doesn't turn up they'll wait for a penalty to be awarded for the peerless Laidlaw to knock over.

The Gray brothers are the key to Scotland's phase play style, both willing to do the tough hard carries.

This isn't necessarily a new tactic for Scotland but now it is starting to work. Before Scotland would eventually give up possession or be rash into contact and give away a penalty, now their recycling is consistent, Laidlaw bosses expertly and they have the talent out-wide to execute the chances when the present themselves. That talent is epitomized by Stuart Hogg, he has been simply outstanding. His agile footwork combined with his lethal pace is an eternal problem for defences, he always manages to get the ball through the tackle and create chances for team mates. The try he scored against Ireland was simply fantastic, having the confidence to take on the defender, beat him on the outside and then outpace three Irish defenders over 50m's to score. His offloading ability has created at least three tries in this championship alone, and then add his huge boot both from hand and from the tee there is very little he can't do. Without a doubt he is currently the best fullback in the British Isle's and is everyone's pick for the Lion's 15 shirt right now.

Hogg has been simply superb all tournament.

The forwards have added grit to Scotland to allow Hogg and others to shine. The Gray brothers have become an amazing partnership with powerful carries in the tight exchanges as well as a tremendous amount of tackling. The pair of Strauss and Wilson have a great battle going for the No. 8 shirt which can only breed improvement. WP Nel has become an excellent corner stone for the scrum giving Scotland a platform to attack from. The introduction of Hardie from New Zealand, has given Scotland aggression in defence, he is capable of winning turnovers, and is always found making a dozen or more tackles each game. He also provides good link play in attack which has improved Scotland's contingency in attack.

Scotland are improving, and they will continue to improve, I think foremost on their list of things to achieve is find their first choice team. Most teams know their preferred XV, but Scotland through a cobination of fluctuating form and injuries haven't quite settled on theirs yet. The centre partnership of Dunbar and Taylor has started to look very good but there is also Mark Bennett to consider. Along with finding their best team, they also need to begin to build strength in depth, WP Nel is fantastic but Scotland lack a good quality replacement for him which is required in the modern game. Also at half back with Laidlaw becoming so important as captain and kicker, the understudies aren't given any chance to develop in the international game which could be a problem should the worst happen.

5th - France

Different coach, different style, same result. I'm starting to feel sorry for France if I'm honest. They languished under PSA for four years playing a dull boring game that made the fans dislike the players, and then they finally got a coach lauded for his playing style at Toulouse for years. They start seeing a French team wanting to play with the ball, looking to spread it around and attack with width. However it hasn't quite come off, this is likely because of a massive swing in play styles from their club game to the one being asked of them for France, and because of it they have struggled to win games. The end product hasn't been there, they have made multiple line breaks, but not been able to convert them into tries as shown by only 82 points scored in the championship.

Guirado strives for excellence in each game.

France showed early promise, plenty of attacking intent against Italy carried them through in the end even if their defence was porous. And then ground out a win against Ireland in terrible conditions, but then two games away in Cardiff and Edinburgh produced flat performances where they were simply outclassed by better opponents. They were arguably the better side overall against England in the
final weekend, but lacked the killer instinct to score tries despite picking apart the English defence on numerous occasions. In reality that summed up France, plenty of ambition but lacked the final touch. Their forwards showed touches of the old French brutality, bashing around opposition players and putting together some dangerous driving mauls, but it never stuck consistently. The forwards seeming to lack the will to carry hard into contact instead hoping to flick the ball away from the tackle in a desperate attempt to offload even if it wasn't on. The one French forward who was a consistent pillar of excellence was captain Guirado, who at times looked like he was trying to drag the entire of France forward by his own legs. France have got a great captain they just need to build a team around him now.

They have struggled with injuries, they lost talismanic No. 8 Louis Picamoles early in the first game. Young star Jonathan Danty who showed some much promise in the early games was crocked part way through the campaign and they never quite filled the void in the centre that he left, although the return of Fofana (although they played him on wing for the majority) did remind people of his talent there. And then there was the farcical injury list at wing which lead to the nationality problems. 

Camara could be a big star in the future, why not blood him?

France have started to play an exciting game which if it starts to stick could prove incredibly difficult to stop. The problem is that players are being told to offload on principle, which has lead to a glut of handling errors and coughing up possession allowing the other team to dominate possession. It's great that they are playing like this but they need to temper the risk with a bit of safe play just to allow them control in the game, against England they showed their ability to control a game considering all of their points came from penalties in the English half. They also need to learn how to finish a chance, they are making plenty of opportunities but for some reason lack the ability to get the ball over the line. Lastly I'd like to see them add a bit of athleticism to their back row, the likes of Yacouba Camara have shown excellent form in Europe and should be given chance, it worked for England and Itoje, Camara could be France's reply.

6th - Italy

What happened to the Italy side that could beat France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales? They started off well, the better side in Paris on the opening weekend, they should have won it but they panicked at the death. They pushed England hard for 45 minutes, before shooting themselves in the foot and giving England the dam break they needed. Then losing in Rome to Scotland meant the end of their challenge in the tournament as they ended with two record defeats away to Ireland and Wales. Italy didn't even look like they cared about the Wales game, as they went in at the break 27-0 down.

No Italian has performed as well as Campagnaro.

We'll start with the positives, there are some amidst the rubble. Firstly and most prominently is Michele Campagnaro who was Italy's shining light in every game he played in. Incredibly difficult to bring to the ground he always made ground, simply exceptional at breaking the gain line with speed and strength. But he also has the ability to get Italy back on the front foot when they've lost momentum. In defence he makes defending the hardest channel on the pitch look relatively easy as he hits with pure aggression and drives players back into the turf with force. He will be a star for years to come, I just hope he can spark an Italian Renaissance and they can start to compete once again. Other gems have been unearthed, little fullback Odiete has proven a tricky customer with dancing feet and great acceleration, he needs to be given a professional contract so he can continue to develop. Leonardo Sarto continued his good attacking prowess too, while Carlo Canna could give Italy the answer to the fly-half debate they have had for over a decade, he looked calm and assured against France and Italy noticed his injury with grave concern at the end of the tournament. He looked to form a great partnership with Edurado Gorri and they - when fit - could supply Italy with a long term successful half back partnership which every side needs. 

O'Shea is favourite to take the Italy job.

However we can't avoid the problems, as the injuries mounted up the quality dropped and scorelines increased. Italy simply couldn't deal with the raft of injuries that piled on their doorstep, losing crucial players to the point when they turned up to Cardiff they were missing 15 players from their initial squad. Any team would struggle with that injury list, but a team with Italy's tiny player pool it was a disaster. Their replacement fly-halves lacked the confidence and control of the game which cost them. Their defence was too weak, giving up easy yards and allowing teams to dictate the tempo. The forwards were unable to slow down opposition ball with any regularity which caused even more problems for their defence. With Brunel leaving the post now, whoever is coming in to fill the void has a large rebuilding job to do, but he has plenty of raw ingredients. They'll try to edge one more season at least out of the ever present great Parisse to set up the foundations of their play, but they will have to prepare for his eventual retirement. It's a long road but Italy could come back, and this talk of relegating them from the 6 Nations for Georgia is mad, if you want Georgia at this level just expand the tournament - we have two empty weekends each season anyway.

Tackle Pad Team of the Tournament

15 - Stuart Hogg (SCO)

14 - Anthony Watson (ENG)

13 - Michele Campagnaro (ITA)

12 - Owen Farrell (ENG)

11 - George North (WAL)

10 - Jonny Sexton (IRE)

9 - Connor Murray (IRE)

1 - Rob Evans (WAL)

2 - Guilhem Guirado (FRA)

3 - WP Nel (SCO)

4 - Maro Itoje (ENG)

5 - George Kruis (ENG)

6 - CJ Stander (IRE)

7 - John Hardie (SCO)

8 - Billy Vunipola (ENG) 

Farrell has played expertly.

This team largely picks itself. Hogg has been superb, Mike Brown was the closest challenger but not as good as he has been. Watson and North have scored important tries for their teams, have provided plenty of attacking intent and both solid under the high ball. Campagnaro would probably get into any other team in the tournament, pushed hard by Scotland's Duncan Taylor. Owen Farrell provided a confident guiding hand in the England back-line, with peerless goal kicking and staunch defence to boot too, Wales' Jamie Roberts was once again great but still had off days. Sexton looked a shadow of himself early on, but rediscovered the form that helped the Lions take apart Australia three years ago, picked alongside his predatory team mate Murray at scrum half, either of Youngs or Care could have got in if they'd been able to claim the shirt.

Hardie has outclassed
everyone else.

In the pack, Rob Evans has been a great find by Gatland and will develop for the next few years into a top class prop, on the other side WP Nel has been one of gems which have truned Scotland into a team which can win games. Guirado as stated was the constant shining light for France all tournament and just shaved out Grand Slam winning captain Dylan Hartley who was a consummate professional. In the engine room the two Englishmen were unmatched by anybody in the tournament, Maro Itoje is developing a fearsome reputation for stealing lineouts, and Kruis offers a brilliant line out captain and a safe pair of hands (claimed 50% of all England's lineouts himself). At blindside CJ Stander was mentioned again and again by commentators for good reason, he always had the ball in his hands, willing to do the hard brutal carries that but his team on the front foot. At openside Hardie could yet be the choice to be the Lion's No. 7 in New Zealand, totally committed to the cause, puts his body on the line again and again, also high in the tackle charts and a more than capable jackler.

Lastly is the man of the tournament without a doubt Billy Vunipola, for three rounds his meters gained and defenders beaten stats were simply ridiculous for a forward, he was everything good about England in attack. In the later rounds he was kept quiet by defences, but his presence meant that other players had more space, a crucial lesson he has learnt, that he can't do everything himself. Simply superb, and I can't separate him and Faletau for the Lions shirt right now.