An epic 7 week journey starts soon. The great and the good of European Rugby will set out on the annual pilgrimage to 6 Nations glory In less than 5 weeks time. The winning team will have played in 4 (or 3) countries during that period, before the 2nd biggest trophy in rugby, after the World Cup of course, will be raised by 1 lucky captain.
This is the annual sporting event I look forward to most, and have done since 1983, when the mere suggestion of Italian involvement would have been greeted with laughter. Now the Italians, following last year's impressive victory against the French, are nearer than ever to being more than a make-weight. A new coach, a new era? Sergio Parisse will hope so.
I, in a previous version of this blog, suggested a way of introducing new teams into the annual tournament, while keeping the integrity of the competition and ensuring that the current annual games remain that, thereby heading off the possibility that an extended tournament could bring (that Home Nations and France would not have their traditional annual winter/spring meeting). I remain convinced that, on a rolling basis a 7th team should be invited to join the Tournament. Russia, Romania and Georgia, while they would currently struggle to justify permanent inclusion in a 7 Nations tournament, could benefit from an occasional appearance. Start including them now, learn the lessons of delaying Italy's inclusion and Argentina's inclusion in the Tri Nations. We have to continue to encourage the smaller European Nations to grow. Your thoughts would be very welcome.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, a detailed preview will come much nearer the event itself. This week though has seen a lot of toing and froing surrounding the potential make-up of the England squad for that tournament. New head coach Stuart Lancaster has seemingly, if the press is to be believed, told all the 30-somethings that their time is done. That's a sizeable chunk of the ill-fated World Cup squad, and may be harsh on a few of them. The door will not be definitively closed on all of them, but most will indeed wander off in to the international wilderness. Easter and Cueto seem to have taken this news worse than others (including Wilkinson, who I am absolutely certain was prodded into International retirement by the new coaching staff). Easter, on current form and fitness, is possibly hard done-by. I am his fiercest critic, I make no apology for that, but his current lean shape belies the overweight, trundling version that waddled around New Zealand last year. He may well be only an injury away from returning to the fold.....
So the 30-plusses have gone and this week we have seen injury scares surrounding Courtney Lawes, Manu Tuilagi and now Toby Flood. Quite what they have been doing in Leicester over Christmas I am not sure, but Tuilagi's loss in the centre and Flood's at fly half will be sorely missed. Athletic and influential as he is, Lawes can never be relied to stay on the pitch for the duration at International level, and as such I feel his absence will have less of an impact.
Finally, as if the ranks were not going to be decimated enough, Danny Care was stupid for the second time in a month. Following drunk and disorderly charges a few weeks ago, he has now been charged with drink driving on New Year's Eve. He has, admittedly, accepted his guilt, held up his hands and apologised, for which he deserves a modicum of credit. No more than a modicum though, as frankly drink drivers get everything they deserve. Stuary Lancaster immediately excluded him from any involvement with the England squad.
Lancaster therefore has a few more holes to fill than he originally thought, and many players who may well have been overlooked may be getting calls in the next week or so. The glamourous location of Leeds awaits for their training camp. Gone is Portugal; at last someone appears to have realised that the Algarve in January bears little resemblance to Edinburgh or Dublin in February. The back to basics approach can only be a winner with the supporters, who, if my understanding is correct, are ever more critical of the unprofessional attitude that seemed to be emanating from certain quarters of the squad.
One bit of positive news this week saw the decision by Ben Morgan, the impressive Scarlets Number 8, to play for England (he is English) rather than Wales (qualified by residence). Morgan could well waltz straight into the squad, and even into the team, depending on Lancaster's vision and on his desired gameplan. Still, a positive that Lancaster will I am sure welcome with open arms, after a week of bad news after bad news.
Since May, no matter what the competition, we have seen some absolutely extraordinary clashes in this fabulous sport. The Heineken Cup Final kicked it off of course, and since then we have seen classics in the Premiership, the Rabo12, the French League, the World Cup, the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge. Not a weekend goes by without superlatives being bandied about. This weekend saw more such games:
Firstly Harlequins went to Exeter and clung on by the skin of their teeth after what should have been a comfortable victory was cast into doubt by Rory Clegg's profligacy. His boot cost Quins 14 points, but he was big enough to slot a crucial penalty late on to clinch the victory for Quins. The next day saw Leicester cling to victory against a rejuvenated Sale. Despite falling well behind early on, Sale showed guts and spirit to cling to a losing bonus point, despite conceding 4 tries to the Tigers who as a consequence joined the Top4 for the first time this season. London Irish disappointed at Bath, for whom Stephen Donald finally showed signs of the class act he is while Bath have arguably already had a better 2012 than 2011 (just kidding Bath fans) and scored a candidate for try of the season when Michael Claasens rounded off a length of the field move by sliding into the corner.
In the non Live games, Saracens and Gloucester shared the points, with England hopefuls Burns and Farrell both scoring all the points as it finished 15-all. Advantage Farrell for the England berth though if you ask me. Northampton joined Leicester, Saracens and leaders Harlequins in the top 4 after a comfortable win at Newcastle. Wasps and Worcester enjoyed (?) a record breaking encounter at Adams Parks. 6 points is the lowest (equal) total for a Premiership match and Worcester's 6 points is also the lowest (equal) winning score of a side in Premiership history. Wasps as a result became the only side in Premiership history, according to my calculations, to have scored more points in the League table than they did on the pitch. (Worcester won 6-0 if you haven't managed to work it out).
This week sees me planning to attend Doncaster vs Bedford in the Championship. I'm hoping this will be better fare than that I saw at Rotherham on Christmas Eve... I'm sure I'll let you know next week!
That's it for this week, relatively short and sweet, relatively uncontroversial. Keep on counting down towards the 6 Nations. Keep looking for the #rugbyunited hashtag on Twitter. Many like-minded folk are using this when posting about rugby. Meets at games are being arranged, friendships being forged and rugby's reputation for friendly rivalry and camaraderie being enhanced. Football looks on jealously......
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