The future of Brian Ashton as England head coach remains in the balance
despite England’s 33-10 victory over Ireland on Saturday. The RFU’s
management board, which will make the ultimate decision, was split on
Saturday night after the game as to whether England’s stirring triumph was
sufficient to extend Ashton and his coaching staff even as far as England’s
tour to New Zealand in June. Five of the management board were in favour of
making change quickly, four swung heavily in the opposing direction and
another four remained floating voters.
The beauty of the two-match series in June between Wales, winners of the
northern-hemisphere’s grand slam for the second time in four years, and
South Africa, the world champions, is matched only by the battle for the
services of Shaun Edwards.
Look me in the eye and tell me: did you wish him ill? Were you actively
willing Danny Cipriani to fail when he made his first start for England as
fly half on Saturday? Were you hoping he would do poorly for the love you
bear to Jonny Wilkinson, the World Cup-winning superstar he so shockingly
replaced?
The atmosphere in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night was fantastic, even
for a Frenchman. Fifteen minutes before kick-off, the stands were filled
with a sea of red shirts. Fifteen minutes after the game, they were all
still in their seats singing.
London Wasps kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish with a hard-fought
win over London Irish yesterday. A try by Riki Flutey and 17 points from the
boot of Dave Walder, the fly half, were enough to see off a spirited but
indisciplined Irish team.
Seven years ago this summer, Jamie Noon, 22 at the time, made his debut for
England on their tour to North America under Clive Woodward. After three
international appearances, two against Canada and one against the United
States, Noon was the player of the tour - not an inconsiderable feat, given
that Josh Lewsey, Lewis Moody, Martin Corry, Ben Kay and Paul Sackey were
among his contemporaries.
In the muscular confrontation that is the modern game, Wales have made
themselves a match for other teams in this tournament, but they have risen
above their rivals in their ambition. They have dared to seek the more open
air and to exploit the individual talent within their team. By and large the
others have preferred a defensive mood, almost negative and fearful. Wales
have taken risks and benefited; others have not and suffered. The England
players would appear to have come to such thoughts late in the day. Wales
have chosen not to be restrictive in their practices. For this alone they
deserve the title.
It would be premature to get carried away by England’s performance, to believe
that a corner in the national team’s fortunes has been turned or, more
significantly, that this defeat of Ireland marks the beginning of a new era.
New Zealand in June will provide the true yardstick.
A courageous defensive performance by Leeds Carnegie brought them a
hard-earned 10-10 draw, but victory was what they really needed to improve
their slim chances of avoiding relegation. Leeds have a game in hand, but
remain 14 points behind Worcester Warriors, who failed to convert their
domination into points.
One scrum during Saturday’s match at the Millennium Stadium told you a lot
about Wales. It gave a glimpse of why the team had risen from failure in the
2007 World Cup in France to triumph in the 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship
and the grand slam.
After Ireland’s worst performance in the RBS Six Nations Championship since
1999, Eddie O’Sullivan said that he still had the hunger to continue as the
national head coach and that he would not be resigning. However, coming
after a dismal World Cup, the decision may well not be his. Despite the
security of a four-year contract extension signed only last September, the
belief is that O’Sullivan and Ireland may go their separate ways as early as
this week.
That was a phenomenally impressive start from Danny Cipriani in the England
No10 shirt on Saturday. And believe me, from where I was sitting on the
England bench for most of the game, it was a joy to watch.
5 <b>Iain Balshaw</b> First two touches resulted in a turnover and a penalty.
However, did well in providing scoring pass for Tait.
“I’m more confident than ever that I can take this team forward,” Frank Hadden
said defiantly as he and the Scotland team flew out of Italy after their
latest defeat in Rome.
This was yet another match where Scottish blunders threw away victory, though
it was not until 4½ minutes into injury time that Italy found the spirit to
launch one final onslaught and feed the ball out to Andrea Marcato, who
showed nerves of steel in calmly slotting the drop goal that was all that
separated the teams when the final whistle went a few seconds later.
Down, but not out. The Scotland players were distraught at the way their game
against Italy finished but the message was consistent, this was the kind of
rugby they want to play and if only they could cut out the stupid mistakes,
it would be winning rugby.
6 <b>Geordan Murphy </b>Looked in good nick setting up try by Kearney until
his early exit with further Achilles problem.
When Newcastle Falcons’ England stars go back to their day job this morning,
they will find their club in a state of upheaval which a 28-8 defeat at home
to Bristol did nothing to ease. At the end of a week during which John
Fletcher was dismissed as director of rugby, the Falcons were convincingly
outplayed by the side just above them in the Guinness Premiership, suffering
a third defeat in a row that leaves them rooted in tenth place in the league.
WHILE Shane Williams’s superb opportunist try may have been the decisive
moment of this Welsh Grand Slam victory, it was not the only occasion when
France’s soft underbelly was exposed.
NEITHER coach would have seen it that way, but this RBS Six Nations needed a
humdinger of a finale, a proper match free from the chains of winning or
losing a championship. Twickenham needed one too, a performance to point the
way to a brighter, more enlightened, future. No one on either side could be
thinking about the coach’s job, though the match was couched in such sombre
terms. England had a damning statistic to set to rights too, going into the
game on the back of four consecutive defeats to Ireland.