Week 2 of the Six-Nations is proving a mixed bag. While the conditions in Paris were bad enough to cause the postponement of the match between France and Ireland, no doubt much to the annoyance of the full-house crowd, England finally showed a bit of form in Rome.
For the first 50 minutes, Italy's clash with England looked much like the Italy-France game last week. Italy looked decent but had no cutting edge; England took a couple of opportunities and led 6 - 0 without really doing much either. Then it was all-change. Two lapses from England and the Italians had 2 tries and a 12 - 6 lead at half-time; it was all a bit weird but England were staring at a humiliating defeat.
For 10 minutes in the second half, it was as before, except that Italy extended their lead with a penalty. Then, Charlies Hodgson charged down a kick and scored a try, exactly as last week; Farrell, a find for sure, kicked the conversion and the English were back in it but, again, without really doing anything very great.
Now came the magical stroke as Coach Lancaster started making changes and England were suddenly a different side. Full of energy and invention, they began to dominate and put the home side under huge pressure. They still didn't look a particularly strong side, but they looked much better than previously and, in the end, were good value for a 19 - 15 victory. The poor old Italians tried hard but they missed a couple of very kickable penalties and simply had no penetration. Their chances of avoiding this year's wooden spoon don't look good.
As for England, they've negotiated the 2 easiest games of the tournament and won both; they now have to look forward to games against Wales, France and Ireland, in that order, and they'll have to improve a lot more if thery're not to lose all three.
Wales then took on Scotland at the Millennium Stadium. The first half followed a predictable pattern though perhaps not what I'd expecetd. Neither side was able to penetrate the other's defence and it was rather a dour affair, though a good game nonetheless. There was genuine effort and enterprise from both sides though the Scots were probably more on the back foot than the home side. As the second half progressed, things became a bit more fraught and the Welsh began to dominate; the successive dismissal of 2 Scots to the sin bin for 10 minute spells proved decisive as Wales took full advantage and gained a good lead, crossing the Scottish line 3 times. Once back to full strength, the Scots were much more of a handful and even threatened to reduce the deficit dramatically; sadly for them, the Welsh defence held out and, despite considerable pressure and one try, it ended as a 27 - 13 victory for the home side.
In the end, the Welsh were not as good as they'd appeared in week 1 and/or the Scots were better. The Scots still lacked a real cutting edge but their defence was good and they showed promise; the Welsh defence was also good and their attack was probably slightly better, but not as good as might have been thought. Wales may have deserved their win but it was on the back of the Scots playing for 20 minutes with only 14 men; on a level playing field it would have been much closer.
Given that we have yet to see what the French and Irish can do against each other, things are pretty confused. England beat a Scottish side that performed very creditably against Wales, possibly suggesting that they may yet prove to be better than they appeared at first viewing. The Scots are certainly no mugs and the Welsh don't look as good as first thought. Quite a melting pot, as the teams prepare for the next round of matches in 2 weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment