SIX NATIONS' GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE.

The penultimate round of matches in the 2013 Six Nations' Championship produced results which left the ultimate destination of the Championship, Triple Crown, Grand Slam and wooden spoon all in the balance.

 

Match 1 was Scotland v Wales. This turned out to be a horribly messy game, punctuated by a vast number of penalty kicks, apparently a record for any international match. Wales were the better side and deserved winners, mainly courtesy of the one try of the match. Their 28-18 victory was a third win in a row and gave them plenty of reason to believe that they could still win the Championship with a sufficient victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in their final match.

Up next was Ireland v France; this was another untidy game but played in awful weather. In the first half, France looking generally unhappy and were unable to apply much real pressure to their opponents; Ireland had most of the game but didn't often threaten the French line. In the second half, France were a different team although still not on top of their game. Ireland suffered several injuries which must have affected their ultimate performance, and they failed to score any points in the second half. France brought the scores level with a deserved try and that was the final result, 13 all. In the end, the main difference between the sides was that, while Ireland converted their penalties, France missed theirs. Neither could claim to have been at their best.

 

Finally, England entertained Italy on Sunday at a very cold Twickenham. Early pressure brought a penalty and quick lead for England who were totally dominant for first 15 minutes; they nearly had a try for Brown after a charge down. However, after this initial period, England found it impossible to make any real progress against a determined Italian defence, until a second penalty kicked by Flood.

Italy hit back with a penalty of their own, though England still dominated and came close to a try after 25 minutes when Flood was held up on the line. Italy lost a man to the bin after 30 minutes but England failed to capitalise; 2 more penalties were all they achieved to reach half-time at 12-3.

 

Italy started 2nd half brightly but England soon had another penalty converted by Flood. Italy quickly cancelled this out and followed it up with the only try of the match after a horrible miskick by Care; this made it 15-11 and 'game on'. Italy now dominated possession and caused England great problems. Orquera missed both his conversion attempt and a further penalty, otherwise Italy would have had the lead within the hour. Assorted substitutions were followed by English pressure which brought another penalty kicked by Flood. Italy continued to give as good as they got; sustained pressure almost brought another try but ended with a knock on, adjudged by the referee but disputed by the linesman. England ended defiantly rather than anything else with an 18-11 victory that was barely deserved.

The weekend's matches ended with the previously dominant England very much on the back foot while the Welsh had their tails very much up. Scotland and Ireland appeared to be going backwards, though the French appeared to be on an upward path, at least in the second half of their match. The real winners of the weekend were, though, the Italians, whose performance at Twickenham deserved more than another defeat. The last round of matches could yet throw up some real surprises; England can still seal a first 'Grand Slam' for 10 years, though Wales may be a tough nut to crack and can still win the Championship. Any of Ireland, France and Italy can still pick up the wooden spoon and, with Italy entertaining the Irish in Rome and France probably desperate for a win over Scotland in Paris, that particular 'prize' may well go down to the last kick of the last match at arround 21:45 on Saturday.

COMPTON CENTURY EMULATES GRANDFATHER

A few years ago I had the joyful experience of being able to watch Hutton and Compton batting together. Not, sadly, the original Len and Denis, but their grandsons, Ben and Nick who were both playing for Middlesex at the time. Both lads seemed full of promise but Ben's career never took off and he eventually suffered a terminal decline in form which led to an early retirement from the game. However, Nick prospered and I was fortunate enough to see him score a century at Lord's, the scene of so much of his grandfather's great career.

 

As happens rather too often, Compton then expereicned injury and a loss of form. He left Middlesex and journeyed to Somerset where he has re-established himself as a fine player; not just that, but he has become one of the very best batsmen in county cricket. His reward for perseverance has been a place in the England team and, today, he's become one of the very few players to emulate a forebear by scoring a test match century. At 29, Nick Compton is much older than Denis when he scored his first international century, indeed, he's been far behind Denis all of the way through his career. Denis made his debut for Middlesex when barely 18 years old and scored his first century a matter of a few weeks later; he played his first test match, against New Zealand, when 19, scoring 65, and hit his first test match century, 102 against Australia at Trent Bridge, when just 20. But Denis was a phenomenon, a player of the most extrraordinary abilities with whom it is unfair to compare anyone.

 

Nick Compton has had to carry the weight of dynastic expectations on his shoulders and has got there the hard way. He's come through the ranks, survived injury and poor form and today he has joined his grandfather as a Test Match Centurion. One of the greatest names in English sport is again making headlines and it's not just coincidence. Here's to Denis and Nick, grandfather and grandson, and let's not forget that there was a third Compton, Denis's brother Les who, though never quite making the England team, did sterling work for Middlesex over many years.

 

Jolly well done Nick Compton !!

NANI FOUL DESTROYS UNITED'S DREAMS.

I do love to see Alex Ferguson get into a bit of a 'paddy'.

 

Last night's match between his team, Manchester United, and the Spanish superstars of Real Madrid was a good encounter. Both sides had their moments and it was a pretty even game; there were several near misses at both ends and the result was, quite possibly, determined by the sending off of United's Nani.

 

At this point, of course, opinions diverge. The ITV studio crowd began their discussions with presenter Adrian Chiles referring repeatedly to the referee's shockingly bad decision; Lee Dixon backed him up and Gareth Southgate sat firmly on the fence. Thankfully, Roy Keane brought some sanity to the debate by stating, quite unequivocally, that Nani's ultra-high boot was 'dangerous play' and the referee had no choice but to send him off. Watching the replay from all of the angles available from the multitude of cameras in use, one has to agree; the tackle was dangerous, the referee was right and so was Keane.

 

The trouble is that Manchester United are 'our side' and they'd lost; most of the studio group felt obliged to find an excuse for the defeat and someone to blame. The referee was it. Alex Ferguson, for once, declined to be present for the usual post-match interview and sent his deputy along. Ferguson was reported to be too distraught after the events of the night; one suspects he was actually in such a tizz at what he would undoubtedly have seen as outrageously bad refereeing that he didn't trust himself, or his colleagues didn't trust him, not to create yet more disgraceful headlines by opening his mouth.

 

United may have been a little unlucky on the night but they can't blame the referee for their misfortune. Nani was in the wrong, disastrously so as it turned out, and 2 moments of brilliance from Real's stars turned the tie and sent United crashing out of the competition. Come on Alex, accept it and move on.

ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND TAKE THE RUGBY SPOILS

The third round of the Six Nations' rugby championship began with Wales being too strong for Italy in the foul weather of Rome. Italy, without the suspended Parisse, had no answer to the power and speed of their revitalised visitors and the Welsh eventually won fairly easily by 26-9. Italy, as always, tried hard but  they simply aren't quite as good as their Six Nations' rivals yet, notwithstanding their surprise victory over France on the opening weekend. Wales, after a bad start, are now emerging as the most likely challengers to England for the championship.

England then took on France at Twickenham and found themselves up against a team with much more spirit and menace than they'd shown in their first 2 disappointing games. Following their defeats at the hands of Italy and Wales, the French brought back a few older players and, for the first half at least, gave England a real scare. Despite an early penalty scored by Owen Farrell, it was France who looked more dangerous for most of the half and they took a deserved lead into the break at 10-9.

The second half was a different story. England were more composed and a series of inexplicable replacements by France saw the home side gradually take control. A try for Manu Tuilagi and more penalties from Farrell and his replacement, Flood, took England to a fairly comfortable win by 23-13, and set up the prospect of a Triple Crown and Grand Slam decider at the Millennium Stadium in 3 weeks time. England probably weren't at their best today and their tackling was particularly poor in the first half, but they were still the better team overall and are becoming a real force.

The weekend's final match, Scotland versus Ireland at Murrayfield was a bruising encounter in which the Scots defended for almost the entire first half. Ireland threw everything at the Scottish line but lapses meant that points were hard to come by. By half-time, Ireland led by only 3-0, having missed two penalties and failed to score anything when Scotland had a man -sin-binned'; their line-out was something of a mess which didn't help either. A try came early in the second half, though the conversion was missed, as the game carried on in the same vein. Scotland finally gained a penalty under the Irish posts to get themselves back in the game after 52 minutes and added a second 8 minutes later to close the gap to just 6-8. Five minutes later and the Scots, profiting from greater possession, had another penalty and took a most improbable lead. Yet another penalty for Scotland with just 6 minutes left was just reward for their second half revival although Ireland really should have been out of sight by half-time; instead, they found themselves 8-12 behind and in desperate need of a try to save the day. The last few minutes saw a furious assault from Ireland but the ball was lost with only 90 seconds to go and that was effectively the end of their effort. Against all the odds, Ireland lost a match they should have had sewn up by half-time and Scotland came away with the points. Scotland are still in with a sniff of winning the championship, while Ireland must go back to the drawing board.

 

We now have to wait 2 weeks to find out whether it's Wales or Scotland who will provide the final competition to England, and whether France will be able to get themselves off of the bottom of the table with a win in Dublin. As for England, surely a win over Italy at Twickenham is all but certain. 

OSCAR PISTORIUS : INTERNATIONAL NON-ENTITY.

I can hardly believe the amount of time the BBC is spending drivelling on about Oscar Pistorius and the alleged murder of his girlfriend.

 

Pistorius is a not particularly brilliant athlete. His only claim to fame is that he runs on artifical legs and has made a nuisance of himself in recent years by demanding to be allowed to compete in events alongside able-bodied athletes. Why on earth does something he's alleged to have done in his palatial home in South Africa have any relevance to us in the UK and why is our media devoting huge amounts of time to this story to the exclusion of far more important and relevant items ?

 

What is wrong with us and, more specifically, what is wrong with our media outlets ?

ENGLAND PROSPER AS FRANCE FLOP AGAIN.

After 2 rounds of matches, the Six Nations' Championship is beginning to take shape.with England now the only undefeated team.

 

In Saturday's games, Scotland bounced back from their defeat against England by trouncing last week's surprise side, Italy at Murrayfield. The Italians must have hoped for a triumphant follow-up to their victory over France but it was not to be as they were outplayed and well beaten, 34-10. France then took on Wales in Paris with both sides looking for a victory following last week's defeats. The match was hard fought and very close until a little bit of magic gave George North the chance to score a winning try; Wales' 16-6 victory leaves France, the pre-tournament favourites, bottom of the pile and there will undoubtedly be much soul-searching between now and their next match.

 

On Sunday, Ireland entertained England in Dublin where playing conditions were pretty horrible - cold and wet, and with the pitch tending to break up. Ireland had most of the possession but found themselves unable to make any real progress against a dogged English defence. A succession of fumbles spoiled promising positions and gave England kickable penalties - Owen Farrell did not disappoint. Although the second half saw Ireland continue to press, it was England who came closest to scoring a try; Ireland never really made much impression inside the English 22. Ireland did manage to level the scores through 2 Ronan O'Gara penalties but England were not to be denied and added 2 more Farrell penalties even though reduced to 14 men when James Haskell was sin-binned. In an attritional game, England simply refused to give way and Ireland lacked the ability to break them down; 12-6 was a fair score.

 

After 2 rounds, England now head the table and remain on course for the Triple Crown. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy each have 1 win and 1 defeat while France have 2 defeats and are probably out of contention for the championship. The next round of matches, in 2 weeks, will see with England playing France, Italy taking on Wales and Scotland playing Ireland; once those are played, we may know much more.

ITALY MAUL FRANCE IN ROME !

What a shocker !

 

Following Saturday's opening 2 games, Six-Nation's favourites were expected to enjoy a stroll in the park against the Irtalians in Rome, but things don't always go to plan. Italy scored first and managed to keep their advantage to the end, winning 23-18 and causing the first big upset of the competition. Where this leaves the French who, after their exploits against the southern opposition last Autumn were considered the best of the northerners, is anyone's guess.

 

Next week, France will entertain Wales in Paris in a clash which will most probably leave one or other of these highly fancied sides with 2 defeats from 2 matches played; whichever it is, there's likely to be a huge amount of soul-searching and a few careers may be on the line. At the other end of the table, victory over Ireland in Dublin would see England take a firm grip on the chmpionship and make the 'Triple Crown' a distinct possibility.

 

Roll on next weekend !.