By Bruce Lowe
February 10, 2025
Dear Six Nations Followers and Fans,
Crikey! (to borrow a much-used word Down Under). What a weekend!
No sooner had I got over the shock of my hitherto pretty good hometown round-ball team Seagulls (Brighton & Hove Albion) being thrashed 7-0 by Nottingham Forest, than I’m watching sad Wales being demolished 43-0 by a rampant French team (mind you, the score may have been a bit flattering—in my book three of the first four French tries were questionable.
Dupont’s final scoring pass to the wing looked forward (at least from where I was sitting!), and on both tries from kicks to the corner I have a sneaking suspicion that the winger was advancing and was offside (i.e. in front of the kicker).
It’s probably difficult for referees and line judges to police this accurately, and teams know it, hence a little “creeping up” by the wingers! Regardless, no question but that France was the vastly superior side.
On to Week 2, last week’s matches actually set the stage for three fascinating week 2 encounters:
Italy v Wales (Rome) 9:15 am
The Azzurri were less than a quarter of the match left away from springing a shocker themselves, 19-19, with everything to play for and a stunned Murrayfield crowd, having seen a 19 point lead completely evaporate, reduced to nervous, eerie silence! The Scots pulled it out in the end, but Italy must be enormously optimistic that they can snatch a Welsh scalp in front of their home crowd.
Welsh pride is totally on the line now, and I expect them to re-group and perform much better than they did in Paris. This is going to be a close one, with the nod going to Italy (the fact that we can now take the Italians very seriously is a welcome recent development to my mind).
England v France (Twickenham) 11.45 am
It sounds almost Dickensian that this has now become “the tale of two Smiths,”! Once again fiddling with his line-up, coach Steve Borthwick is moving the mercurial Marcus Smith to full back and bringing in the next wunderkind flyhalf, Fin Smith, for his first start.
Poor old Freddie Steward doesn’t even make it to the bench (what did he do wrong?). This is probably done to inject more attacking flair into and across the England back line, and whether or not it will work remains to be seen. Tinkering with the backline is one thing, but it was the impressive, sustained Irish pressure, particularly in the forwards but also across the whole team, that caused England to make multiple errors and to lose a match that by the end was not nearly as close as the final 27-22 score suggests.
The fascinating part of this encounter is that, historically, similarly highly touted French teams have come into Twickenham on a highly favored roll, only to perform well below expectations. Maybe it’s because it’s the English, it certainly can’t be because they’re intimidated by the repetitive strains of “swing low, sweet chariot” (a personal anecdote about that song for another time).
France have recalled Jalibert to fly half (I think Ntamack’s injured again), fresh from the stage of Les Miz (oh no, that’s “ Javert”), but he’s good too. Another tight game—too close to call, but don’t be surprised if England have the final edge.
Scotland v Ireland, Sunday 10:110 am
Almost to be expected – Scottish fans were driven to distraction by a home performance that was at times, creative and exciting, and at other times, careless and hapless. This weekend Scotland cannot afford to be nearly as cavalier and inconsistent.
The rumors of Ireland’s slight decline had clearly been greatly exaggerated (including by me). The usual full court press was clearly very much in evidence against England, especially in the second half, notwithstanding one or two of their own errors mixed in, and the boys in green rarely fail to show up.
Scotland have their own well of talent and ability, but they need to be at the top of their game for the full 80 minutes if this game is to go their way. A real battle royal treat!
Enthralling encounters all, enjoy!
Best Regards,
Bruce
*Bruce Lowe is a partner Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and a Board Member of the 1964 Rugby Foundation.
6 Nations Schedule:
February 22: Wales vs. Ireland @9:15 am
England vs. Scotland 11:45 am
February 23: Italy vs. France 10:00 am
March 8: Ireland vs. France 9:15 am
Scotland vs. Wales 11:45 am
March 9: England vs. Italy
March 15: Italy vs. Ireland 10:15 am
Wales vs. England 12:45 pm
France vs. Scotland 4:00 pm
