Six Nations 2020 - Verdict

So, England are the 2020 Six Nations Champions, but it was a very odd way to end the championship, some 9 months after it started. I don’t know whether it was the the absence of supporters – usually such a prominent feature of Six Nations rugby – or whether it was the lack of momentum going into the final round, or whether it was the truncated preparation time but, for me at least, this really didn’t feel like a proper Six Nations weekend.

We had all done the permutations before the games and it largely unfolded the way many expected. I missed Scotland’s victory over Wales (well done to Scotland on a season of progress) as I was galavanting around on a rugby field playing a bastardised version of the game, miserably failing to roll back the years (more on that later) but I did manage to catch the subsequent two matches which determined who would be champions.

That it ended up being England after such a bang average performance against Italy really didn’t feel right at all – certainly nothing worth celebrating. England were as bad in the first half as they had been in Paris in February and, while a little better in the second half, we are in for a desperate Autumn Nations Cup if they persist with the dull and ineffective tactic of kicking the ball away at every opportunity.

France vs Ireland was the better game – Ireland toiled tirelessly but struggled for inspiration while France appeared to cruise through the game largely in 2nd gear before exploding into action to score some memorable tries. Dupont, Ntamack and Fickou were, once again, excellent, as were the French back row. In many ways the French should be the most satisfied with their Six Nations performances. Aside from one implosion away to Scotland, they were exciting and incisive and have clearly rediscovered le joi de rugby.

As to the usual Champs & Chumps – please see my team of the tournament below. Given the very weird circumstances surrounding how this year’s Six Nations unfolded I am going to resist naming a Chumps team which, let’s be honest, would mostly be made up of Italians, Mohamed Haouas for his pugilistic prowess and Finn Russell for his largely self-imposed exile from the Scottish team for the first four rounds.

Champs:

15. Bouthier 14. May 13. Vakatawa 12. Fickou 11. Adams 10. Ntamack 9. Dupont 1. Sutherland 2. Marchand 3. Fagerson 4. Itoje 5. Kruis 6. Curry 7. Ollivon 8. Alldritt

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was