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Year of Les Bleus put on hold

By Online Editors
France celebrate a try against England (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The abrupt suspension of the Six Nations and other tournaments has certainly been felt worldwide.

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Sport has always been a means to unify the world. Weekly thousands of fans flock together to witness athletes compete to be the best.

The highly competitive nature of sports allows athletes and supporters to openly despise an opponent – all in good spirit- and be extremely bias towards what you consider your own.

Has Matt Giteau played his last game of professional rugby?:

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And that is certainly true when it comes to the Northern Hemisphere’s most prestigious tournament, the Six Nations.

Expanded to six teams in 2000 – following its humble beginnings as a Home Nations (1883) and Four Nations (1910) tournament – the annual international competition has been a unifying vehicle for these countries.

However, the Six Nations has been left in turmoil, with the completion dates of the remaining fixtures still uncertain – to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Reports suggest the Six Nations may resume late in October. However, that will mean that England will have to play five Tests in consecutive weeks, not good news for Eddie Jones and Co.

Heading into this 2020 edition of the competition, England were favourites to win this title, with the goal being to bag a Grand Slam.

Fresh from a World Cup Final defeat to South Africa in Japan, Eddie Jones’ men were in far better shape than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts.

Then that opening match happened and France managed to stun the world.

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The young fearless French side made a huge statement and recorded a stunning 24-17 win over England at the Stade de France in Paris.

The win was the dawn of a new era under recently-appointed France coach Fabien Galthie.

What’s was even more impressive is that Galthie’s France XV featured just one player over the age of 30.

Their momentum did not stop there.

Les Bleus followed up their Round One performance with wins against Italy and a very experienced Wales team.

They were well on their way to claim a rare Grand Slam.

However, defeat to Scotland shattered those dreams.

France, who are in second place on the table, with 13 points, was scheduled to host Ireland at the Stade de France before the fixture got postponed when the French government banned all public gatherings of more than 1,000 people in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Since then the coronavirus has killed more than 1000 people in France, thus thinking or even preparing for rugby has become impossible.

Tournament organisers and World Rugby has been planning relentlessly to salvage some form of rugby for this year.

However, with the long break and the country’s ever-increasing death toll due to the virus, who knows what the state will be of Fabien Galthié’s squad upon resumption of the sport.

One certainly has to feel for the young France team, who could have been Six Nations champions.

– Leezil Hendricks/Rugby365

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Adrian 41 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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