Yes, they had a great result against Ireland but maybe the coaches should be aware of players becoming more relaxed in their approach to the game. As good as England were, they still had to rely on France failing in their defence. France’s defence coach Shaun Edwards would have expected that, after taking a 16-3 lead early in the game, France would have held onto that lead. Edwards also said that you shouldn’t have to score 30 points to win a game and he is right. Both teams scoring lots of points shows a lack of true competition and a weakness in both teams’ coaching and delivery.
If you can score 10 or more points without reply, you should be able to defend that lead with a solid defence and control the flow of the game. As both England and France managed to take the lead at different times it showed both have good attack (it seems Richard Wigglesworth is getting his message through at last), but losing that advantage showed a failure to focus in defence. While large scores like the French game seem to be what some of the players now feel are needed to excite fans, I am not so sure.
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Denne historien er fra March 24, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Harrow keep their nerve for double joy
HARROW saw off QEGS Wakefield to defend their Continental Tyres National School Cup title in emphatic fashion at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Wales all washed up with nowhere to go...
Every living English Grand Slam captain, from Sir Bill Beaumont to Dylan Hartley via Will Carling and Martin Johnson, shares another common denominator. They all know what it’s like to be blown away in the cyclonic fury of Cardiff on big-match day.
Lynn's hoping for fantastic farewell
GLOUCESTER-Hartpury have the chance to send boss Sean Lynn off with a perfect farewell as they chase an unprecedented hat-trick of consecutive titles.
Red Roses want to make it seven in a row - Mitchell
ENGLAND head coach John Mitchell has had to prepare for his title defence without players in the PWR final.
Lions' support team keeps on growing
The 1974 Lions took off from Heathrow with a management team of two. No specialist coaches, no analysts, no spin doctors, no physios, not even a bucket-and-sponge man.
Chiefs are too good for Blues in thriller
In a repeat of last season’s final, the Chiefs beat the Blues in a thriller to go top and continue the champions’ nightmare title defence.
Battling Italy make it tough for Ireland
ITALY, despite a succession of serious injuries and self-inflicted disciplinary problems, pushed Ireland all the way at the Olympic Stadium in a game that summed up both their respective campaigns.
Nice are planning a quick reversal
You may not have heard of Stade Marcel Volot – the one-stand 3,000-capacity home of ProD2 basement side Nice, which sits next to the Var river up the road from the rather larger and better-known Allianz Riviera home of the city’s Ligue 1 football team.
France in seventh heaven
FRANCE overcame a spirited Scotland display in a breathless finale in Paris to secure a record-equalling seventh Six Nations title – drawing level with England – and their first since 2022.
Time to talk about the 1995 you-know-what
It’s ODD how some Grand Slams get lost in the mists of time, seemingly never to be mentioned again. Take England in 1995. Thirty years ago this weekend Will Carling’s team were closing out their third Slam in five years with a 24-12 victory over Scotland at Twickenham with Rob Andrew kicking seven penalties and a dropped goal for the men in white.
