Next year could be four-way tussle, Brian O'Driscoll's retirement raises player questions and there were World Cup clues
*1) The open championship*
Last year's Six Nations held little to trouble the memory, spoiled in part by the weather. Wales were at their most bruisingly efficient, England were emerging from their chrysalis, Ireland were in stasis, France's motion was circular and so Scotland and Italy avoided finishing in the bottom two. This year, England and Ireland were superior to the rest tactically, evolving their attacking games and varying their options. It may be an era of brute force but the two showed that brainpower can count as much as muscle power. The match between the two at Twickenham stood out: it may only have produced two tries but the two sides bristled with devious intent. Wales, never mind the final day blow-out against 14-man Scotland, need to start thinking on the hoof, while France showed a glimpse of what they should be at the very end and it should be a four-way tussle next year.
*2) Hard centres*
Brian O'Driscoll's final appearance for Ireland marked the end of a long international career but, mused his head coach Joe Schmidt, would he be the last of his type, a centre who was not a back-five forward of old? O'Driscoll possessed until the end an ability to produce moments of high skill under pressure, while never shirking contact but Schmidt's observation posed the question whether the midfield balance has shifted away from skill to force. Luther Burrell had expected to provide the latter for England after being chosen out of position at 13 this tournament but from his debut in Paris he showed there was far more to his game than boshing. The way he created England's first try in Rome, standing up to the challenge of three defenders and manoeuvring his body so he could slip the ball to Mike Brown, was O'Driscollesque. There is still a place for the artist.
*3) World Cup pointers*
One of England's priorities was to win their matches at Twickenham, the ground where they will play most of their matches in the World Cup. They faced their biggest rivals there, Ireland and Wales, and conquered both, the first narrowly and the second decisively. They have lost only one match at home in the championship since 2010, to Wales two years ago when they were denied a try that would have given them the opportunity to level the scores in the final minute, and they have defeated Australia and New Zealand there in the Stuart Lancaster era. Wales will play England at Twickenham in their group and their away form, which had taken them to the top in the previous two years, fell away, outscored by two tries to nil in Ireland and England. Ireland ended their poor run in Paris but otherwise home advantage counted in matches between the top four.
*4) Settled pieces*
The scrum disfigured last year's Six Nations, a mess of resets, free-kicks and penalties. Gethin Jenkins may have seen yellow in two successive matches for boring in but generally the scrum was a far more effective means of restarting play and teams are able to use it again as an attacking weapon. It worked against Wales, whose victories over Italy, Scotland and England last year were due in no small measure to the pressure and points they were able to accrue from decisions awarded at the set-pieces, and their head coach Warren Gatland has to consider before the World Cup whether Jenkins, who is so important to his side in the loose, and Adam Jones will be his first-choice props in 18 months. The outcome of fewer matches was determined by the interpretations of referees this year and what teams did in possession mattered more than how they fared without it, to the advantage of Ireland and England.
*5) The decline of Rome*
Italy have struggled to make a breakthrough since joining the Six Nations in 2000 but after beating Ireland and France last year, they talked about finishing in the top half – and ended up whitewashed. If they started reasonably in Cardiff, they fell away badly, shipping 97 points in their final two matches. A number of their warriors are looking battle weary and they could not keep up with the pace of Ireland or England. With Treviso pulling out of the RaboDirect Pro12 next season, although Italy will continue to field two teams, the domestic game is in another period of flux. Their head coach Jacques Brunel, asked after the defeat by England where Italy were going, replied that he could not give an immediate answer to the question and then spoke for five minutes. Everything needed to be looked at, he said, and they are the one team that can take nothing out of this year's tournament. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.
*1) The open championship*
Last year's Six Nations held little to trouble the memory, spoiled in part by the weather. Wales were at their most bruisingly efficient, England were emerging from their chrysalis, Ireland were in stasis, France's motion was circular and so Scotland and Italy avoided finishing in the bottom two. This year, England and Ireland were superior to the rest tactically, evolving their attacking games and varying their options. It may be an era of brute force but the two showed that brainpower can count as much as muscle power. The match between the two at Twickenham stood out: it may only have produced two tries but the two sides bristled with devious intent. Wales, never mind the final day blow-out against 14-man Scotland, need to start thinking on the hoof, while France showed a glimpse of what they should be at the very end and it should be a four-way tussle next year.
*2) Hard centres*
Brian O'Driscoll's final appearance for Ireland marked the end of a long international career but, mused his head coach Joe Schmidt, would he be the last of his type, a centre who was not a back-five forward of old? O'Driscoll possessed until the end an ability to produce moments of high skill under pressure, while never shirking contact but Schmidt's observation posed the question whether the midfield balance has shifted away from skill to force. Luther Burrell had expected to provide the latter for England after being chosen out of position at 13 this tournament but from his debut in Paris he showed there was far more to his game than boshing. The way he created England's first try in Rome, standing up to the challenge of three defenders and manoeuvring his body so he could slip the ball to Mike Brown, was O'Driscollesque. There is still a place for the artist.
*3) World Cup pointers*
One of England's priorities was to win their matches at Twickenham, the ground where they will play most of their matches in the World Cup. They faced their biggest rivals there, Ireland and Wales, and conquered both, the first narrowly and the second decisively. They have lost only one match at home in the championship since 2010, to Wales two years ago when they were denied a try that would have given them the opportunity to level the scores in the final minute, and they have defeated Australia and New Zealand there in the Stuart Lancaster era. Wales will play England at Twickenham in their group and their away form, which had taken them to the top in the previous two years, fell away, outscored by two tries to nil in Ireland and England. Ireland ended their poor run in Paris but otherwise home advantage counted in matches between the top four.
*4) Settled pieces*
The scrum disfigured last year's Six Nations, a mess of resets, free-kicks and penalties. Gethin Jenkins may have seen yellow in two successive matches for boring in but generally the scrum was a far more effective means of restarting play and teams are able to use it again as an attacking weapon. It worked against Wales, whose victories over Italy, Scotland and England last year were due in no small measure to the pressure and points they were able to accrue from decisions awarded at the set-pieces, and their head coach Warren Gatland has to consider before the World Cup whether Jenkins, who is so important to his side in the loose, and Adam Jones will be his first-choice props in 18 months. The outcome of fewer matches was determined by the interpretations of referees this year and what teams did in possession mattered more than how they fared without it, to the advantage of Ireland and England.
*5) The decline of Rome*
Italy have struggled to make a breakthrough since joining the Six Nations in 2000 but after beating Ireland and France last year, they talked about finishing in the top half – and ended up whitewashed. If they started reasonably in Cardiff, they fell away badly, shipping 97 points in their final two matches. A number of their warriors are looking battle weary and they could not keep up with the pace of Ireland or England. With Treviso pulling out of the RaboDirect Pro12 next season, although Italy will continue to field two teams, the domestic game is in another period of flux. Their head coach Jacques Brunel, asked after the defeat by England where Italy were going, replied that he could not give an immediate answer to the question and then spoke for five minutes. Everything needed to be looked at, he said, and they are the one team that can take nothing out of this year's tournament. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.