Five things we learned from the opening round of the Six Nations
England ruined Ireland’s designs on consecutive Grand Slams with a brutal 32-20 victory over Joe Schmidt’s men in Dublin, while Wales conjured a stirring comeback to sink France in Paris.
Here, Press Association Sport runs the rule over the opening weekend of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations.
England’s triumvirate of power bullies the stunned Irish
Manu Tuilagi’s first Six Nations start since 2013 transformed England. The Leicester juggernaut bludgeoned through Ireland’s midfield right from the off, with the undercooked hosts finding no answer whatsoever. Throw in fit-again Vunipola brothers Mako and Billy, and England had three dump truck power mongers that Ireland simply could not stop. Keep all three fit, and England can seriously start to plot the route to glory at World Cup 2019.
Slade comes of Test-match age
2 – @ExeterChiefs' @Sladey_10 is the first @EnglandRugby player to score a brace of tries against Ireland in Dublin since @WillGreenwood in 2003. Throwback. pic.twitter.com/8OmUMRNwHV
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 2, 2019
Exeter Chiefs centre Henry Slade has long since boasted all the raw materials for Test-match success. A physical edge to add to plenty of finesse, the rangy midfielder knows how to unlock defences. And England boss Eddie Jones admitted in the wake of this two-try showing that the 25-year-old has finally realised just how good he can be. England may well have stumbled upon their World Cup midfield, thanks to an injury to Ben Te’o, because Slade’s partnership with Tuilagi and his links with Jonny May caused Ireland untold troubles.
Record comeback win puts Wales on title tilt
COMEBACK CYMRU ??????? It's a mighty, 24-19 Welsh win in Paris to open our #GuinnessSixNations account. Buddugoliaeth felys ym Mharis, a dechreuad disglair i'r gystadleuaeth. #HWFN pic.twitter.com/dprzwE353K
— Welsh Rugby Union ??????? (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 1, 2019
Warren Gatland’s last Six Nations as Wales boss so nearly started with a whimper. But then France imploded. Wales trailed 16-0 at one stage, but edged home 24-19 as Les Bleus slipped woefully off the pace. Wales will not care how they won, simply that they did. Gatland’s teams tend to grow into every Test window too. If they really find their rhythm, they could easily contest the title now.
Ireland hit with World Cup “reality check”
Full Time score from the @AVIVAStadium: IRELAND 20-32 ENGLAND#TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IrevEng pic.twitter.com/6pbOetDjCe
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 2, 2019
England’s potency left Ireland’s hopes of becoming the world’s top Test team in tatters. Anyone with any sense of nuance knew full well that New Zealand boss Steve Hansen was cranking up the mind games when he installed Ireland as the best team in the world in November. Ireland’s stunning 16-9 victory over the back-to-back world champion All Blacks in Dublin still merits huge respect, even in the wake of their Six Nations thumping by England. But New Zealand are still the team to beat. England are right up on the rails though, leaving Joe Schmidt with precious little to say except that the manner of Ireland’s Dublin loss carries worrying World Cup portent.
Italy no closer to bridging the gap
? #SCOvITA: Il CT #Itlarugby Conor O'Shea e il Capitano @sergioparisse nella conferenza stampa post partita #insieme #rugbypassioneitaliana @SeiNazioniRugby pic.twitter.com/14ELhm7A6Y
— Italrugby (@Federugby) February 3, 2019
Former Harlequins coach Conor O’Shea has done a sterling job in building Italian rugby’s infrastructure behind the scenes. But the ex-Ireland full-back is also head coach of the Test team, and despite three late tries to gloss the score against Scotland, this was another below-par start from the tournament’s regular strugglers. Scotland’s 33-20 victory reads far better on paper than in the flesh. The Azzurri have plenty of work still ahead to catch the Six Nations’ main pack.
Press Association Sport
Comments on RugbyPass
Starts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
2 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
2 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to comments