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.