SIX NATIONS RUGBY
Pragmatism and points mean more than flamboyant failure, says Simon Barnes
ENGLAND BEGAN THE Six Nations tournament by telling us they were going to entertain the world, but this weekend they head for Scotland and I have a sneaky feeling that they’re not going to play like the Harlem Globetrotters.
England went through traumas last year: losing to Fiji, being booed by a sparse Twickenham crowd, and enduring a 53–10 beating at home to France. Now they have announced a relaunch, but unambiguous signs of recovery have been few and far between.
So far in this year’s Six Nations, England have come from behind twice, beating Italy in Rome and Wales at Twickenham. In the latter match they showed that there is more to pleasing spectators than simply playing Hey Jude at a million decibels during injury breaks.
England began the match by trying a few passes out wide, but they won it by going back to the old risk-averse kicking game. Pundit Matt Dawson, part of England’s World Cup-winning side of 2003, said, “I don’t think any players of my generation ever aspired to be an England player to entertain the nation. It was about winning games.”
The truth is, sporting excellence – as embodied by that 2003 side – isn’t always entertaining. But it is invariably enthralling. And when England were down to 13 men against Wales and scored a try, we had one of those moments you watch sport for. Ben Earl charged out from the back of a scrum under the posts and burst through five Welsh players to touch down.
Scotland have beaten England on the past three occasions and Earl has been talking about the need to “right some wrongs”. But it’s Scotland who go into Saturday’s match with a sense of grievance. They thought they had a winning try against France in the most recent round of the Six Nations, but it wasn’t given.
And if we’re going to talk about England’s risk-averse kicking game, it’s only fair to spare some admiration for Scotland’s fly half Finn Russell. He was frustrated by his team’s reluctance to listen to him during the first match of the championship, when they came close to blowing a 27-point lead. But Scotland tend to find something extra when it’s England. Perhaps it’s the weekend to bring out the Glenmorangie.
EARLIER ON SATURDAY, Wales are up against Ireland, who have been the team to watch this season. Jack Crowley has taken over from the sainted Johnny Sexton at fly half and is doing a damn good job. Ireland beat France in Marseille in what already looks like the match of the tournament. (Which begs the question, “So why did they schedule it first?”)
Ireland are on course to become
