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One theme dominates reaction to England chariot grinding to halt
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England the only team not represented in our Six Nations team of the week
By Josh Raisey
What a difference a week makes in the Guinness Six Nations.
Players that were shoo-ins for the round one team of the week could not be further from the XV after round two, and conversely, this week’s team has names that were nowhere near consideration last week.
England are the losers this week, with no players in the team, although Ben Earl deserves a mention. The slayers in the Calcutta Cup, Scotland, are well represented, on the other hand. Here’s our team of the week:
15 Louis Rees-Zammit
France were never in any real danger against Wales at the Principality Stadium, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t tested, with Rees-Zammit causing them a few problems. The full-back topped the match for carries, metres carried and beat a commendable five defenders. His step to beat Louis Bielle-Biarrey and pass to put Mason Grady in for a try at the end capped a strong showing in the face of adversity.
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14 Theo Attissogbe
As soon as Attissogbe jinked through the Welsh defence after a matter of seconds for Emilien Gailleton’s try, everyone knew it was going to be a good afternoon for France and their 21-year-old wing. He finished with two tries and a further assist, causing mayhem all over the pitch.
13 Huw Jones
There is something about the Calcutta Cup that brings out the best in Jones. Two tries on this occasion, two line breaks and the most metres carried in the match – albeit aided by his run-in for the match-sealing try. With England defending for 30 minutes of the match without a wing, Jones left the visitors’ defence looking dazed and confused.
12 Stuart McCloskey
Ireland look far from their best at the moment, but McCloskey’s grit in his carrying and ingenuity in his distribution provided the key moments to unlock Italy’s defence. The architect of tries to both Jamie Osborne and Robert Baloucoune, the Ulsterman has been Ireland’s best performer so far this Championship. With the joint-most tackles for Ireland, 17, McCloskey will surely keep hold of the No.12 jersey despite Bundee Aki’s imminent return. His opposing outside centre, Tommaso Menoncello, ran him close in this team.
11 Kyle Steyn
England arrived at Murrayfield with a much-vaunted kicking game and backs who thrived in the air. Steyn came out on top in Edinburgh, however, and it wasn’t even competitive. He not only entirely neutralised England’s main threat, but he did plenty of damage of his own, beating six defenders.
10 Finn Russell
It will not be often that a performance like Matthieu Jalibert’s against Wales fails to make a team of the week, but Finn Russell produced a masterclass the day before that cannot be ignored. He foiled England’s narrow defence time and time again with the width of his passing, and sprinkled his performance with moments of magic only he can produce, with his flicked pass for Jones’ try being the pick of the bunch.
9 Ben White
A fortuitous try, pouncing on an Ellis Genge mistake, was nice for White, but that was just a small facet of a wonderful display. Elite decision-making at the base meant he was always a step ahead of the English defence.
1 Danilo Fischetti
Save for his first scrum of the match, Italy’s Fischetti only went one way when packing down thereafter, with Ireland simply trying to minimise the damage. His opposing prop Thomas Clarkson was given the hook at half time and his replacement Tadhg Furlong didn’t fare any better, although it was Fischetti’s successor, Mirco Spagnolo, who took the British & Irish Lion for a proverbial ride in one scrum.
2 Julien Marchand
Double figures in both carries and tackles, with a try and two dominant tackles part of that, is a big return for a 50-minute spell on the field from the Toulouse hooker. With a 100 per cent record in the lineout, Marchand had a fine afternoon in Cardiff.
3 Simone Ferrari
Like his compatriot on the other side of the scrum, Ferrari had the upper hand in the scrum in Dublin. On top of that, he was taking names at the Aviva Stadium, with some huge shots in defence.
4 Charles Ollivon
Playing a flanker by trade in the second-row has its limitations, and maybe France’s scrum suffers as a consequence.
5 Gregor Brown
A new addition to the starting XV after Scotland’s horror show in Italy, and Gregor Townsend will struggle now to look past the Glasgow Warrior from now on. 16 tackles were a significant return, shutting down England’s power game up front.
6 Rory Darge
England tried and tried to batter Scotland around the fringes, but it more often than not resulted in a knock-on or turnover. Darge was responsible for three of those turnovers, the most in the match, as well as a heroic 21 tackles in the Scottish capital.
7 Manuel Zuliani
Italy’s openside really flaunted his all-court game in Dublin, troubling Ireland in all areas of the game, but his five turnovers – including ripping it clean from Jeremy Loughman’s clutches – really stultified any momentum the hosts tried to build.
8 Jack Conan
Tied with McCloskey for the most tackles for Ireland against Italy, and also clocked 12 carries, but, crucially, it was his power from close range to score that kick-started Ireland’s bounce-back in the second half.
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