As a rugby fan, I always look forward to the 6 Nations. I’ve watched it for as long as I can remember. It is, after all, the Northern Hemisphere’s premier rugby competition and I truly believe we are lucky to still get the tournament annually. In no other sport do you get an international tournament of that standard every year, and this year is special!
There are some obvious reasons to be excited about this year’s tournament. There’s an England team filled with the excitement and energy of youth, riding high after some impressive recent performances. There’s an Ireland team with enough old heads to guide their own impressive crop of youngsters to a reasonable level of success. The French have suffered some terrible form recently but have class at the backbone of their team and are always a threat. Wales are welcoming back some of their Grand Slam heroes and always flirt with greatness going into the tournament and Italy should see the benefit of two fully professional domestic teams playing top flight rugby in the Magners League. That just leaves Scotland, so much the forgotten team in recent years having not won the title since the last 5 nations tournament in 1999, however they have turned a corner and boast a recent win record any of the preceding teams would relish and they are poised to serve up a few surprises should some of the ‘bigger’ rugby nations not take them seriously.
So surely this makes for an exciting tournament with the best rugby we have to offer? Hopefully…Maybe… Probably not. This will be a great tournament, but not in the conventional way, because there is another reason this year is special. This is a world cup year. That changes everything.
Between the world cups the tournament gives every team an opportunity to try things, to experiment a little, to blood the youngsters and try to develop as a team. However in a world cup year that all goes out of the window, as everyone chases the most important thing leading up to a world cup, ‘form’. Every international coach will be after form going into the world cup and the 6 Nations is the perfect place to begin to build momentum. In 2003 England took their Grand Slam winning 6 nations form all the way to the World Cup in Australia and dispensed the challenges from all the other ‘big’ Southern Hemisphere rugby nations along the way to winning it.
This seems to add to the excitement as all the games mean a little bit more. Nations are no longer playing for the 6 Nations trophy, the illusive Grand Slam or even the Triple Crown. It is all about grinding out wins so that you’re on ‘form’ going into a tournament 7 months later. Unfortunately this can have a negative affect on the rugby. Rather than the adventure to play from their own line that saw England wing Chris Ashton score one of the tries of the decade, will we see boot to ball in the name of safety?
I think this years 6 Nations will be an exercise in damage limitations. All 6 of the teams have precious little strength in depth. The England team are already without Second Row sensation Courtney Lawes, captain Lewis Moody and the talismanic winger Chris Ashton has injury after injury hanging over him. Those injuries, unfortunately, are a side effect of modern rugby. The sport is quickly moving from a contact sport to a collision sport. The hits are phenomenal and the effect that has on the body is beginning to take its toll. Not that this is a bad thing for the game; the sport is a better spectacle than ever before and all the more marketable for it! However it does put concerns into the minds of players and coaches especially leading up to a world cup. I think the one word that could summarise this year’s 6 Nations is ‘safe’. Safe rugby and safe game plans without the adventures from the defending 5m lines or quick tap penalties. Safe selections, with the tried and tested taking centre stage despite other players being on form in their domestic competitions and finally safe excuses. I genuinely wonder how long into the tournament it will be before we hear one of the 6 coaches, after a negative result, utter the phrase ‘We’re obviously disappointed, but there are a lot of positives to take towards the world cup’.
The 6 Nations is a prestigious tournament, steeped in history, with some of the world’s best teams competing. It’s a tournament that certainly talks a good game. I just hope the rugby can deliver in a world cup year.
Ben Hooper, Banana Kick
