Six Nations Week Three - Review

By Nick Powell

Three weeks have now gone in the Six Nations and two sides have taken the initiative. Like in 2012 and 2013, England and Wales have burst to the top. In both those years, it was the latter that took the title and before this weekend, it seemed as if that might just happen again.

But England stood up and showed their credentials, with an excellent performance against Ireland in what was the best game of this season's championship.

Wales got a job done, and never looked like losing as I expected, but they were far from brilliant in their dull clash with France on Friday night.

And at the bottom of the table, Scotland claimed a deserved first win in nine games as a sensational solo performance from Sergio Parisse was not enough for the Azzuri to avoid a damaging defeat. 

So, lets start with England, what have we learnt from their encounter? Well, the first half saw plenty of chances go begging, it was frustrating to watch from an English perspective, but Ireland's defence was reminiscent of the solidarity that had won them two consecutive titles. England found another gear in the second half however, and despite two yellow cards came through to win 21-10 at Twickenham.

England's attack, until the 22, was superb, they looked dangerous from anywhere on the park and led by the brutal force of Billy Vunipola, got some excellent go-forward in the forwards. Their missed chances hurt them in the first half, but they got the job done in the second half. The Wales game is huge, but they will go into that game with a lot of confidence beating a solid team comfortably and defending for long periods. If they find a clinical edge, they will be in a great position in that Wales match.

For Ireland, it is another disappointing weekend. Despite having 57% possession they failed to ever really get a foothold in the match, apart from when they briefly led. Of course, they have been hurt by injuries, but a lot went their way on the day and they really could have won. It leaves them with only one point from 3 games and out of the title race. I hope they show some exciting play and dominate these last two games with nothing to play for anymore.

Wales and France played out a dire clash on Friday night. The worst game of a pretty terrible bunch in this tournament. Credit has to go to the defences. And 6-3 was a fair reflection at the break, but the game never got going and the two tries scored were hardly through clever attacking play.

For Wales, they are still on track for the title, but they cannot expect to go to Twickenham and beat up England. England have an aggressive, strong defence and in attack are much more threatening than France. Having said that, we know that Wales can play better. What concerns me however, was Warren Gatland's reaction. Saying it was a great test match. If that is what the ambition is from Wales, it's very disappointing. Wales need to do better than that, and if they don't, they will be well beaten by England.

France will be really disappointed with how they are playing at this present time but there were flashes of brilliance and I think in time they will get there with Guy Noves as the coach and a couple of years from now will be somewhere to being a really good side. 

Finally, Scotland have a lot to look forward after their win over Italy, they've only lost to the two best teams and will have a genuine crack at winning their last two games. That would leave them in third. However it will be a big step up from an Italian team that were really poor on the day. They scored a great try in the first half, but after 83 six nations games you have to wonder how far they have progressed in this tournament. Their first game was a 34-20 win against Scotland, their last was a defeat of a similar scoreline.