Six Nations 2014: Brian O’Driscoll’s fairytale finish

It was a brilliant weekend in Paris, capping off a Six Nations which went down to the final play of a thriller between France and Ireland.

Brian O’Driscoll got the reward his career deserved, rounding off his career in the stadium where he first announced his arrival on the international scene.

France were a lot better than they had been against Wales and Scotland, and should possibly have won the game: they would have led with less than 10 minutes to go had Jean-Marc Doussain not hooked a straightforward penalty.

Sitting behind the posts, I also didn’t realise at the time how far forward the final pass of the 79th-minute French “try-scoring” move had gone, and thought Ireland had let another championship slip away in the last minute against France (the video below is of Vincent Clerc denying Ireland a Grand Slam in 2007).

At the Stade de France this time around, Les Bleus had done well to get themselves back into the match, having conceded three tries in the first 45 minutes or so, and Philippe Saint-Andre’s team, which has looked so shambolic in recent weeks, were guilty of pretty awful defence for all three. Just watch the lack of effort the French players make to get back and form a defensive line just before Jonny Sexton’s second.

France’s daily sports newspaper L’Equipe generally wasn’t impressed, awarding its players between 6.5 (Alexandre Lapandry) and 3 (Thomas Domingo) out of 10. Just think what they would have given as ratings for the Wales game! By contrast, three French players were rated as 8/10 by the Sunday Times.

Joe Schmidt’s Ireland certainly deserved the title, though, having been the most consistent team throughout the tournament, giving sport another fairytale ending – in the form of the illustrious career of Brian O’Driscoll – at which it excels.

The only way the game could have been even more exciting was if Triple Crown winners England had managed a couple more tries against Italy (and not conceding the interception score would have helped). If they had managed to bump their points difference ahead of Ireland, both sides in Paris would have been trying desperately to score in the closing stages of the tournament – that would have been epic.

Stuart Lancaster will be pleased with his side’s efforts this championship, and there is plenty to worry the rest of the Northern (and Southern) Hemisphere ahead of the 2015 Six Nations and World Cup. Luther Burrell, Mike Brown and Danny Care have all been excellent.

And, after back-to-back championships, Wales are finally knocked off their perch, thanks to the well-documented horror shows against Ireland and England. It was nice to see the 51-3 thumping of a 14-man Scotland, and a handful of highlight-reel tries, but clearly there is a lot of work to do ahead of the summer tour to South Africa. After Stuart Hogg was sent off, for a shocking bit of foul play, the game was effectively over, so the resulting big win doesn’t mean all is suddenly well, even if there are plenty of positive signs (not least the performance of Liam Williams). We’re still the reigning Grand Slam holders though!

But there can be no complaints that Brian O’Driscoll’s Irish side, scorers of 16 tries while conceding just four, are who Wales relinquish their tournament crown to, and that BOD hangs up his boots in a manner befitting his 141-cap career.

Six Nations prediction: England v Wales

France looked dreadful against Scotland, Ireland thrashed Italy: it means four teams have a shot at the title – but you’d think Ireland will surely go to Paris and win next weekend. Still, the winner tomorrow will at least have something still to play for…

England 15-18 Wales

I’ve been feeling a bit sick all week about this, but, for any neutrals (and although it will have to be a pretty special match to beat the England-Ireland encounter from a fortnight ago) it has all the ingredients of a classic:

• Both teams have to win – the loser will be out of championship contention, while the victor will still have a chance going into the final weekend
• Wales’s 30-3 demolition job last year, which obliterated England’s Grand Slam hopes. It’ll be motivation for England, while Wales will obviously be keen again to bully up front then cause havoc out wide
• The fact these two teams will line up against each other, again on English soil, in a World Cup pool match in 18 months
• The (naive?) comments from young wing Jack Nowell about Wales hating England

There’s been a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the media this week as to who is actually the favourite for this one. England are certainly the team in form – although Wales come in to the game on the back of having crushed France – and they obviously also have home advantage.

At the start of the tournament, you’d look at this Wales team, especially now it’s been reinvigorated by the return of centre Jonathan Davies, and say that, man-for-man, it was far superior. In fact, questionable form aside, you still would. Luke Charteris is the only injury absentee at Twickenham for Warren Gatland’s men.

Conditions will be perfect on Sunday: sunny and warm, and ideal for Welsh firepower outwide and in the centre. England’s backline is talented but relatively raw – Twelvetrees, Burrell, May, Nowell – but Wales will be rightly wary of the Harlequins spine, the link betwee Robshaw, Danny Care and player of the tournament Mike Brown.

Maybe it’s my daffodil-tinted spectacles, but I’d take Roberts, Davies, North and Cuthbert any day of the week. Halfpenny might have been outshone in the last three weeks by Brown, but he’s still the best scrum-half full back (oops) in the north. Rhys Webb at scrum half eliminates the frustrating Mike Phillips wander across the pitch from the bottom of every breakdown.

England might have the edge in terms of form, don’t forget that last time out form was comprehensively beaten…

Meanwhile, it’s good to see a Plaid Cymru MP has prepared a decent excuse in case Wales lose: blame it on captain Sam Warburton being British! I wonder if Chris Robshaw similarly thinks of himself as a Brit? England fans had better be worried if so…

Disappointing that a Plaid MP criticises Sam Warburton. Why shouldn’t he feel British AND Welsh? I’m proud to be both http://t.co/dWQki1e9Jg

— Huw Silk (@huwsilk) March 6, 2014

Six Nations: ranking after week three

1. Ireland (=)

What a game. It won’t be any consolation to the defeated Irish for them to have been on the wrong side of one of the best Six Nations games ever, but, despite the narrow 13-10 loss, this year’s tournament is still theirs to lose. They’ll comfortably beat Italy at the Aviva next time out, meaning any win in Paris (against the newly hapless French) would probably be enough for the title. They’ll have been disappointed to lose at Twickenham, but Ireland remain in the driving seat. Meanwhile, France centre Wesley Fofana’s injury, sustained against Wales, will be a further boost ahead of the sides’ likely championship showdown at the Stade de France in just under three weeks.

2. England (+1)

Wales 30-3 England: two days on, still unbelievable

Forty-eight hours after the most dominant Welsh performance over a tier one side I can remember, it still seems amazing.

It was a performance of incredible intensity, as one-sided as any match in the Six Nations in the last few seasons. It was tight until half-time, true, but even trailing only 12-3, you felt England were beaten. They threatened briefly early on, then briefly at the death, but never really looked like penetrating a Welsh defence which has now gone nearly four and a half games without conceding a try.

The atmosphere at the Millennium Stadium was the best I have ever experienced

Wales truly dominated. English fans don’t exactly worship Steve Walsh, and I’ll not pretend to be an expert in the officiating of the scrums. But Joe Marler was totally humiliated by Adam Jones (a possible player of the tournament) to the extent it was almost embarrassing for the Welsh fans.

That was the most obvious head-to-head victory for a Welsh player, but I can’t think of any clash where an Englishman had the upper hand. The Ian Evans and Alun Wyn Jones were again immense. The back row? Man-of-the-match Tipuric was sublime in the loose, Sam Warburton again embarrassed those who had questioned him, and Toby Faletau was as bruising as ever.

It was the same story among the backs. Dan Biggar’s confidence continues to build, and his drop goal effectively sealed the championship for Wales. George North was dangerous, Alex Cuthbert was lethal: simply no comparison with Mike Brown and Chris Ashton. Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi were one-dimensional, not-quite-powerful-enough, and – in Tuilagi’s case – wasteful of England’s only decent chances. Again, the English pairing were outclassed by their Welsh opponents, here a resurgent Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies.

And, of course, the last line of defence. Leigh Halfpenny, probably player of the tournament. Probably the outstanding player in European rugby at the moment. A metronomic goal kicker, safer than houses under the high ball, fearless in the tackle. Rob Kearney has long been touted as the likely Lions full back, with Halfpenny back in his original position on the wing. But, as one rugby blog puts it, “Anyone suggesting that Kearney should get the Lions shirt is either lying, blind or mad.”

All this in an atmosphere unlike any I have ever experienced in sport. The pyrotechnics as Wales entered the field of play, knowing they needed a seven-point win to retain their title – a margin Welsh fans might have been hopeful of, but were hardly expecting – were spectacular.

God Save the Queen was belted out well by the sizeable English contingent at the Millennium Stadium, but the response with Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was just incredible. JPR Williams attributes the passion of the crowd – fed on by the players – to the Welsh win. Perhaps; if I had been an English player there would have been nothing I’d have enjoyed more than silencing the crowd.

Wales celebrate thrashing England to retain their Six Nations title in dominant fashion

But the crowd refused to be silent. If I close my eyes I can still hear Hymns and Arias and Bread of Heaven reverberating around the cauldron of noise. Not to mention “Easy, easy” – a bit unclassy maybe, but no less true. And, from a section of the crowd just behind me, “All we need is eight, eight is all we need”. As it turned out, England would probably have been grateful to have escaped from Cardiff with a loss that small, as they gazed at Ryan Jones and Gethin Jenkins raising the Six Nations trophy towards a stunned and emotional Millennium Stadium crowd.

Speaking of emotion, Rob Howley’s face was a picture of it by the final whistle. The last home game I saw was Wales’s capitulation to Argentina, and I thought at that stage he was simply not cut out to be a coach. I’m glad for Howley, my favourite player when I was growing up, to have been proved emphatically wrong.

For the record:

1. In terms of points scored, it was Wales’s largest ever win over England (though previous wins have been more convincing on the scoring system of the day).
2. Wales have now won three matches in a row against England – for the first time since the late 1970s.
3. In the all-time series between the sides, Wales and England have won 56 matches each.
4. Both sides have also now won 26 championships all time (though England have 12 Grand Slams to Wales’s 11. Thanks to the three people who told me I originally said Wales had only won one).
5. It was Wales’s biggest win over any opponent since their 66-0 triumph against Fiji in the 2011 World Cup.
6. It was Wales’s biggest win over a Six Nations opponent since their 47-8 triumph against Italy in 2008.
7. It was England’s biggest defeat since they were thrashed 42-6 by South Africa in November 2008.
8. Since the opening weekend, Wales have not conceded a try. In the same period, England have scored just one.
9. Leigh Halfpenny scored more points in the tournament than France and Ireland.