NICK CAIN
READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK
THE game-changing force of last weekend’s Six Nations tales of the unexpected cannot be exaggerated. The fourth round was a truly transformative “Super Saturday/Sunday” for a 2024 edition of a tour nament which had been in danger of turning into a predictable procession in which Ireland were heading for a second successive Grand Slam, Italy in the running for yet another wooden spoon – and big beasts France and England in the doldrums.
Both England and France at last set sail, although it seems unfair to label Ireland’s loss to England as a plus for the Six Nations, given their consistent high quality displays. However, it has galvanised the tournament because predictability is the curse of modern professional sport – and upsets like England’s sensational one-point win at Twickenham are its lifeblood.
It was not just England who were upsetting the established order, because, if anything, Italy’s victory over Scotland in Rome – a fortnight after having to settle for a draw rather than a win in France due to Paolo Garbisi’s last-minute tee tangle – might prove to be even more of a sea change.
In Italy’s 25th year in the Six Nations, the wins over Wales and Scotland, draw against France, and narrow loss to England, offered a clear signpost that they have cracked the code to become a competitive force – and that was before they had played Wales.
If Italy prove that they are no longer easy-beats who win an average of only one match in every 10, which is the case since they were included in the Six Nations in 2000, then they will truly have crossed the Rubicon in terms of being competitive.
However, those who argue that this quarter of a century of the Italians being passengers is comparable with France when they joined the Championship (soon to be known as the Five Nations) after playing first against England in 1906, Wales 1908,
Ireland 1909, and Scotland
