Quick Tap: 6 Nations Week 1 Round Up

Time for another Quick Tap article. The 6 Nations started this weekend, so here's my chief take away from each game on a weekend that saw Wales come from behind in Paris; Scotland get their expected bonus point against Italy, and finally England romp to victory in Dublin.

England put in the performance of the weekend, but what were the takeaways from the first round?

Wales' Scrummaging

The hair style is questionable, but
the scrummaging isn't.

Ever since Adam Jones retired from the number 3 jersey Wales have struggled to find the man to slot into the large shirt. Chopping and changing between Samson Lee and Tomos Francis on a regularity not often seen outside of French fly-halves. However through the Autumn (partially due to Lee's injury), Wales settled on Francis, and he returned the faith with a number of solid displays. Heading to
Paris there were still question marks over whether he would be able to provide the long term solid cornerstone of the Welsh set-piece required, especially against the monster's that Brunel had selected for the French pack.

In the end, Francis and the rest of the Welsh pack left Paris with the spoils at scrum time. Winning a number of penalties, and usually producing clean ball for the half-backs, except on a couple of occasions (which were more to do with how Moriarty and the scrum half dealt with the ball than the front row dealt with the French). It is only one game but it was a stern test which was passed convincingly, Robin McBryde will be happy.

Italy show 'something'

Let's get it out the way, Scotland won with a bonus point, that was the minimum expectation for the Scots. Job done, move on, prepare for Ireland next weekend. The interesting point from the game was how Italy suddenly turned it on in the final ten minutes, scoring three tries during the closing stages. In previous years Italy's biggest failing has been the number of points they conceded at the end of games, not so this time. Instead, they turned it on, generated some quick ball, and got their best players on the front foot.

What was O'Shea thinking putting his best back on
the wing?

Credit especially has to go to Sebastian Negri for his offloads which produced two of the tries, and also Michele Campagnaro who - once he'd be returned to his natural centre role - put Italy on the front foot every time he touched the ball. He's an extremely difficult man to tackle, he often reminds me of Ben Smith deceptively strong and manages to slip tackles somehow. O'Shea needs to make better use of his talents going forward, putting him on the wing is a waste and essentially put Italy's best offensive weapon on the shelf.

Also credit Parisse for setting the new 6 Nations appearance record, a true legend.

Brutal English Rugby

England lost their way in 2018, they lost their identity, and with it the wins, dropping to their worst ever finish in the 6 Nations. That appears to have been left behind and in 2019 England are back to the physical embodiment of Eddie Jones' brash nature. The men in white rocked up to Dublin set to pound their Irish counterparts into the turf with raw physicality. England's stall was set out from their first possession, with big powerful players running directly into the teeth of the Irish defence battering them backward. Tuilagi, both Vunipolas, and Sinckler were to the fore especially consistently getting England over the gain line and silencing the crowd. It led directly to England's first try.

Have England finally found that centre combination
which can make them a force once again?

That level of brutal rugby continued on the other side of the ball too, with the defence charging up on every phase giving Irish ball carriers no room to breathe and shoving them into the ground with abandon. Henry Slade scored a try directly from this pressure, it reminded me of England's rampant displays in Australia back in 2016. Back then England were defined by their defence and a decent kicking game from Ford & Farrell. Fast forward and now England have defined themselves in attack as well. The challenge is whether they can maintain this game plan, if Tuilagi can stay fit, I see no reason why not.