6 Nations Wrap-up – Winners and Losers

6 Nations Wrap-up – Winners and Losers
Now that the 6 Nations is finished for another year here is v2Journal's take on who were the big winners and the big losers, along with a little look at a few who the jury is still out on.

Winners
Wales showed that their best World Cup performance in 24 years was no fluke as they picked up a Grand Slam. It wasn’t all plain sailing, with several close games but Wales now have some enviable depth across most positions. The men in red sit at the top of Northern Hemisphere rugby, they now need to step up against the giants of the Southern Hemisphere. Welsh coach Warren Gatland justified his pre-RWC contract extension and staked a strong claim to a Lions coaching berth for 2013. By then he will have had plenty of practice at playing Australia, by July the two sides will have met 6 times in under two years.

For Wales Alex Cuthbert outshone his more highly rated counterpart George North, all of a sudden Wales have plenty of bulk as well as skill and pace in the backline as Jonathan Davies also stepped out of the shadow of Roberts, Hook and Henson. Wales’ injury crisis at lock was good news for Ian Evans whose career had been sidelined by injury and ill-discipline.

England emerged from the disarray that marked their World Cup and placed some solid foundations for the future with the selection of some talented youngsters. Picking up four wins was a better result than most were tipping pre-tournament. Stuart Lancaster managed to put down a strong claim for being the permanent manager by fixing up a lot of the mess he inherited, while Chris Robshaw proved himself to be a superb captain, if not a classical openside wing forward. Now if the RFU can only get the administration of the English game sorted ...

The great Brian O’Driscoll’s absence from this year’s tournament showed how much Ireland will miss him.

Losers
France battled their own demons to almost win the 2011 Rugby World Cup, with the already-sacked “Mad” Marc Lievremont at odds with his players whose poor form saw them lose to Tonga in their pool and scrape past a 14-man Wales in the semi-final. A new coach in Phillipe Saint-Andre was expected to rebuild and re-invigorate Les Bleus. However after posting wins over Italy and Scotland in the opening rounds their campaign literally froze in Paris before their postponed match versus Ireland.

Scotland finished with the wooden spoon this year despite showing in patches that they have some good young talent coming through. Again this year the Scottish campaign was blighted by injuries, though poor selection and an inability to score tries (though at least they have finally scored at Murrayfield) were the major issues. Andy Robinson’s job must be hanging on a thread due to the lack of results, the lack of an attacking game plan and his failure to drop non-performing players in favour of those in form at club level until having his hand forced by injury. While poor Dan Parks must wish he’d stuck to his guns and retired after the World Cup. Johnnie Barclay moved to the blindside following the injury to Kelly Brown, and went AWOL, is this the end of the road for the “killer Bs”?

When Ireland rolled over a Pocock-less Australia in September the future looked bright for the men in green. And the club form of Leinster, Munster and Ulster suggested a strong Irish challenge was possible in 2012. That all changed after the Welsh took the spoils away from Lansdowne Road, and the draw in Paris was their only real highlight of the tournament. The match at Twickenham highlighted a lack of depth in the scrum, while the back row remains less than the sum of its admittedly strong parts. Declan Kidney has attracted strong criticism over his loyalty to out-of-form stalwarts like Gordon D'Arcy and Jamie Heaslip, as well as for a game plan so conservative archaeologists have applied for a permit to dig up Ireland’s training ground.

In a tournament notable for a lack of stand-out performances at fly-half, Kris Burton surpasses even Dan Parks and several French candidates (Lionel Beauxis missed far too many shots for a supposed “drop goal specialist”) as the worst of the lot. Charlie Hodgson on the other hand made a spectacular comeback, coming out of Wilkinson’s shadow only to pick up an injury to allow Farrell to take the plaudits

While his team were earning plaudits Chris Ashton was largely missing in action, possibly due to a lack of game time at club level. A game plan that didn't see many breaks made inside him meant his support runner game was irrelevant, while the ball seldom made it all the way out to his wing. He only has himself to blame for his failure to come in looking for work though, meaning the 2011 tournament top try-scorer came up empty-handed in 2012.

But for several moments of idiocy while drinking Danny Care could have been England’s starting scrum half. At least his problems are self-inflicted however. The very unlucky Justin Tipuric showed himself to be one of the top opensides in Europe, but he may turn out to be a Marty Holah to Sam Warburton’s Richie McCaw.

In-between
Italy had a new coach for 2012, with Jacques Brunel succeeding Nick Mallett. The Azzurri played well in patches, and were good enough to beat Scotland at home and avoid the Wooden Spoon. Their lack of depth in some positions remains apparent, especially at fly half. And there are signs that Sergio Parisse’s Herculean efforts to keep his men in matches are taking their toll, with him resorting to some fairly cynical play on occasion. Getting over 70,000 fans in Rome to watch the team play will hopefully have benefits down the line.

Before his injury in the RWC Rhys Priestland looked like the answer for Wales at fly-half. However in the 6 Nations his form was patchy, and he will need a strong couple of months for the Scarlets followed by a good tour to Australia to truly seal his spot.

Ben Youngs didn’t have the greatest RWC, and (partly due to injury) lost his England starting spot. However in the 2nd half against Ireland he proved once again that he can be electric behind a dominant pack.

In 2011 Sean O’Brien was European Player of the Year and he starred at the World Cup. However in 2012 he proved that he is not an international openside. Jamie Heaslip’s poor form is an opportunity to shift O’Brien to 8 and try to balance Ireland’s back row, but will Kidney be brave enough to try it on the New Zealand tour?

Dave Denton and [/i]Ross Rennie[/i] both made impressive starts to the tournament, but by the end defences were wise to Denton’s threat with ball-in-hand while Rennie was conceding a lot of penalties at the breakdown. Scotland’s challenge is to get other players supporting the pair better so that they are less exposed.

Are there any other individual winners/losers people think are worth a mention?

Kiwireddevil wrote:England emerged from the disarray that marked their World Cup, and placed some solid foundations for the future with the selection. Picking up four wins was a better result than most were picking pre-tournament.

You don't need a comma between 'World Cup' and 'and.' Maybe a bit of tweaking so that you don't use 'pick' twice in one sentence.

Also, who's Andy Robertson?

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:England emerged from the disarray that marked their World Cup, and placed some solid foundations for the future with the selection. Picking up four wins was a better result than most were picking pre-tournament.

You don't need a comma between 'World Cup' and 'and.' Maybe a bit of tweaking so that you don't use 'pick' twice in one sentence.

Also, who's Andy Robertson?

Cheers.

One candidate for a winners and losers spot would be Chris Ashton. Top try-scorer in last season's tournament, not a sniff of a try and way off form in this.

Another winner could be Cuthbert?

The Welsh lads have started referring to him as #ragstoriches

His story really is incredible.

Added in Ashton and Cuthbert

rugbydreamer wrote:Another winner could be Cuthbert?

The Welsh lads have started referring to him as #ragstoriches

His story really is incredible.

He hasn't done badly for an Englishman!

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

rugbydreamer wrote:Another winner could be Cuthbert?

The Welsh lads have started referring to him as #ragstoriches

His story really is incredible.

He hasn't done badly for an Englishman!

I thought North was the Englishman

Individual winners

Jonathan Davies - the Welsh centre selection was always 'Roberts and who?'. Now Roberts himself acknowledges it's 'Davies and who?' and he's not entirely safe of his place given Scott Williams' challenge.

Ian Evans - After bursting onto the international scene, injuries and disciplinary matters saw him sidelined. An injury crisis gave him his chance which he has nailed.

Chris Robshaw - confounded his critics to show himself a captain (if not a classical open side wing forward)

Ben Youngs - Rediscovered his mojo under the challenge of Dixon.

Losers

Tipuric - how unlucky is he to be in the same generation as Warburton. The Brynmor Williams of his age.

Kidney - bet the farm on his conservative game plan and lost.

Bauxis - the drop goal expert who missed all attempts.

Glas, how can you list Ben Youngs as a winner? He was terrible all tournament apart from a close-range try from a quick tap penalty against thoroughly demoralised opponents in a game that was already won. He looked fairly sharp when he came on, true, but the sheer ineptitude shown by Tomas O'Leary when he came on around the same time made Youngs look like Gareth van der Westhuizen.

he contrast with his previous performances was marked. He's a winner because he regained his form (put him in between then)

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Glas, how can you list Ben Youngs as a winner? He was terrible all tournament apart from a close-range try from a quick tap penalty against thoroughly demoralised opponents in a game that was already won. He looked fairly sharp when he came on, true, but the sheer ineptitude shown by Tomas O'Leary when he came on around the same time made Youngs look like Gareth van der Westhuizen.

Have to admit I took a double take at Youngs name. I thought we already knew he was electric behind a dominant pack.

Kidney's already in the losers list (hence italics) but I'll add "conservative game plan"

Separate the Kris Burton sentence into a paragraph of its own.

Would it be harsh to list Sean O'Brien as a loser over the tournament? He was European player of the year last season (I think) and he shone at the World Cup, but he really hasn't made much of an impression on this Six Nations.

No.

In between - Bowe scored more tries than anybody, but apart from that was poor.

Loser

Dan Biggar.

If he'd kept his head to convert that overlap verses Fiji, how different would his life be now?

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Would it be harsh to list Sean O'Brien as a loser over the tournament? He was European player of the year last season (I think) and he shone at the World Cup, but he really hasn't made much of an impression on this Six Nations.

Might put him in the "jury's out", as "proving" he's not a 7 should see him move to 8, Declan permitting.

That's a good call, Kiwi.

Losers

Charlie Hodgson

No sooner does he make a spectacular comeback (getting out of JW's shadow and scoring tries) he picks up an injury, Farrell steps up and puts him back in the shade.

Put Denton and Rennie in that Jury's out bit as well. Spectacular starts for both, but by the end, Rennie was starting to get pinged and offered nothing by way of compensation and defences were wise to Denton and he failed to break a tackle in Rome. Interesting to watch how they respond.

And come to think of it Barclay as a loser. Demoted to 6 where he was anonymous. The killer B's sting has been well and truly drawn.

Changes made

I dunno, considering he was out of position, I thought Barclay did as good a job as he could do.

Kiwireddevil wrote:Wales’ injury crisis at lock was good news for Ian Evans who’s career had been sidelined by injury and ill-discipline.

'who's' should be 'whose.'

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

Kiwireddevil wrote:Wales’ injury crisis at lock was good news for Ian Evans who’s career had been sidelined by injury and ill-discipline.

'who's' should be 'whose.'

Cheers. For some reason that's one of my "regular" typos.

I always type 'European' as 'Eurpoean' for some reason, and the name William as Williams because I'm more used to typing the latter.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I always type 'European' as 'Eurpoean' for some reason, and the name William as Williams because I'm more used to typing the latter.

My worst ones used to be "governmnet", and "ruin" instead of "run" (when the programming language I work in requires a "run" every 4 or 5 lines, and the code won't work without one ... )

Fab Kiwi.