I found out yesterday that some of my colleagues at Maynooth were planning to go to a pub to watch the first match of the new Six Nations competition last night. They were optimistic, but I thought it was going to be a very tough match for Ireland in Marseille. Despite the absence of Dupont and Ntamack I thought home advantage would prove decisive. I am very happy that I was proved wrong. It was a comprehensive victory for Ireland, 38-17. I bet the Maynooth contingent enjoyed the game! I never imagined a bonus point win for Ireland nor did I think I’d ever see a French side so unimaginative in attack and so porous in defence.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that last weekend I was confident that Australia would beat the West Indies and India would beat England in their respective test matches. I was wrong on both counts. Clearly my predictive powers are limited!)
The remaining two games of the first round were played today. England beat Italy by 27-24 in a game of much lower quality. Italy were OK in the first half, but offered very little in the second until with the game virtually over they scored a fine try that gave them a losing bonus point. I think the scoreline flattered Italy a bit, though I don’t think England were particularly impressive.
The last game, Wales versus Scotland in Cardiff, turned out to be very exciting. Wales were dreadful in the first half, and trailed 20-0 at half time. When Scotland scored another try to make it 27-0 Wales looked a beaten side and I feared they would be walloped by 50 points or more. Then Wales scored a try, Scotland had Turner sent to the sin bin and Wales ran riot, scoring three more tries. With ten minutes left to play, Wales were within a point and with the wind in their sails, and Scotland imploding, looked the likelier team to win. They had a good chance too, but messed up a lineout in a good position and lost the ball. Scotland almost scored at the death but it finished 26-27, Wales netting two bonus points after a stirring revival that almost brought them victory.
It’s dangerous to draw too many conclusions from the first round of matches, but I can make one prediction with some confidence: neither France nor Wales nor Italy will do a Grand Slam in 2024.
In the Dark 