The 2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship was ultimately decided by events on the opening night when Ireland beat France in Marseille.
Although the Irish subsequently lost to England at Twickenham, they still successfully defended their title by a margin of five points from runners-up France, while Wales hit rock bottom with a wooden spoon.
Here, the PA news agency looks at five things that were learnt from the tournament.
Ireland back on track after World Cup woe
Ireland emphatically bounced back from familiar Rugby World Cup quarter-final disappointment to underline their status as the northern hemisphere’s top Test side by clinching a second successive championship title.
A record win away to France set the tone for another dominant campaign, with only the finest performance of Steve Borthwick’s reign as England boss – and a last-gasp drop goal – scuppering the pursuit of back-to-back Grand Slams.
Ireland will now turn their attention to backing up widespread claims of being the world’s best. A tantalising two-Test summer series against world champions South Africa should settle that debate. Mouthwatering autumn matches against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia will follow before head coach Andy Farrell temporarily departs his role to take charge of the British and Irish Lions.
England find their mojo
Finishing third at the 2023 World Cup was a significant achievement, but Steve Borthwick’s reign has really been given lift-off by the last two rounds of the Six Nations.
Toppling defending champions Ireland was their greatest win of the last four years, and it was in the result only that they failed to back it up against France, losing to a Thomas Ramos penalty with seconds left.
England have their mojo back, emboldened by a new-found appetite for attack, and they can look ahead to their summer tour to Japan and New Zealand with genuine excitement. Given how grim it looked when they were beaten by Scotland at Murrayfield on February 24, it is a remarkable turnaround.
Warren Gatland’s Wales in freefall
Wales have gone from World Cup quarter-finalists to finishing bottom of the Six Nations in just five months as they suffered the ignominy of a first wooden spoon since 2003.
Head coach Warren Gatland said that he offered his resignation – which Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney rejected – immediately after a demoralising home defeat against Italy. It was Wales’ fifth successive loss of a tournament when they ultimately propped up the table by seven points.
Gatland’s post-World Cup rebuilding job is an extensive one, and while there was promise provided by newcomers like Cameron Winnett and Alex Mann, Wales ultimately could not overcome the absence of such key performers as Dan Biggar, Liam Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit, Jac Morgan and Taulupe Faletau. George North has now followed Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny into Test retirement, and Wales’ next game is against world champions South Africa. A long and painful road lies ahead.
A familiar story for Scotland
It was a missed opportunity for Scotland to post their best finish of the Six Nations era after somehow managing to end up with just two wins from five despite being well in contention in each of their matches – and establishing commanding positions in four of them.
Concentration issues proved costly in narrow defeats by France, Italy and Ireland, while they were fortunate not to pay the penalty for an alarming second-half collapse in the opening match against Wales.
Gregor Townsend’s side had chances to put the French away, before being left to rue the officials’ controversial decision not to award them a late match-winning try; they had victory firmly within their grasp in Rome before losing their way badly in the second half; and then in Dublin, a poorly executed lineout in front of their own line ultimately undermined a spirited away performance. Scotland must find a way to cut out the flakiness that continues to hold them back from being considered a truly top-class side.
Italy deserve the highest acclaim
While Ireland were once again crowned kings of the Six Nations, a strong case could also be argued for Italy as team of the tournament.
They might have finished only fifth, but their level of improvement under new head coach Gonzalo Quesada was something to behold. Italy had collected the wooden spoon for eight successive seasons, yet this time around there was a quality, purpose, direction and dynamism about their rugby that underpinned victories over Scotland and Wales, an away draw against France and narrow loss to England.
Michele Lamaro was an an inspired captain, the centre pairing of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello proved on a par with any midfield partnership in the competition, newcomer Louis Lynagh looked a Test natural, Paolo Garbisi ran things impressively from fly-half and there was so much better tactical appreciation and execution from Italy than for several seasons. They were a joy to watch.
Nyeem Young to lead West Indies Academy squad named for Ireland tour
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has unveil the squad selected for the upcoming West Indies Academy tour of Ireland, slated from June 8th to June 29th, 2024.
This tour will comprise five matches, encompassing three 50-over matches and two four-day matches against Ireland’s Emerging Men’s Team. It signifies a reciprocal tour following Ireland's visit to the West Indies in November 2023.
“We continue to be methodical in our approach by exposing our academy players to various opposition and conditions across different formats. This is key to their development and fosters resilience and adaptability," said Miles Bascombe, CWI Director of Cricket.
Nyeem Young will continue as Captain, with Teddy Bishop as Vice-Captain for both formats.
"Nyeem’s leadership qualities have been evident throughout his tenure, notably steering the Academy team during the Super50 and West Indies Championship campaigns. His continued captaincy is a testament to his exceptional leadership skills and contribution to the team,” noted Graeme West, CWI’s High-Performance Manager in reference to Young.
Regarding Bishop's selection as Vice-Captain, West highlights, "Teddy Bishop's elevation to Vice Captaincy underscores his growing stature within the team. His adept handling of leadership responsibilities during Young's absence and his invaluable experience with the West Indies A Team and Senior Teams make him an ideal choice for the role."
The full squad is listed as follows:
Nyeem Young - Captain
Teddy Bishop - Vice Captain
Kadeem Alleyne
Jewel Andrew
Ackeem Auguste
Joshua Bishop
McKenny Clarke
Joshua James
Jordan Johnson
Leonardo Julian
Johann Layne
Ashmead Nedd
Kelvin Pitman
Ramon Simmonds
Carlon Tuckett
Team Management Unit:
Head Coach: Ramesh Subasinghe
Assistant Coach: Rohan Nurse
Physiotherapist: Neil Barry
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Shayne Cooper
Manager & Team Analyst: Kesh Ramphal
Fraser Brown ‘hugely proud’ of Scotland career as he announces rugby retirement
Fraser Brown declared himself “hugely proud” of his Scotland career as he announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 34-year-old Glasgow hooker has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the World XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last May and he has now conceded defeat in his bid to return to action.
Brown won 61 Scotland caps, with the first of them coming against Italy in 2013 and the last in the Six Nations match at home to Ireland in 2023, the same game incidentally in which Stuart Hogg won his final cap. The front-rower went to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
“When you have a serious injury like I did with an ACL at the end of your career, it is always going to be hard to come back from,” Brown told Scottish Rugby.
“That probably made it a little easier to announce my retirement but it’s still a surreal and strange feeling.
“I’m hugely proud to have played so many times for Scotland during my career. To get one cap was great, but then my second one came against the All Blacks at Murrayfield which was such a special occasion.
“To reach 50 caps was a big moment as I had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career and to be part of the growth process of the team which has resulted in where they are now has been cool.”
At club level, Brown made 141 appearances for Glasgow after joining from Edinburgh in 2011.
The hooker helped them win the Guinness Pro12 in 2015 with victory over Munster in the final in Belfast, while his last appearance for Warriors proved to be last season’s Challenge Cup final defeat by Toulon in Dublin.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith paid tribute to Brown, saying: “Fraser is the epitome of a modern professional and someone who should serve as a role model to any young player starting their journey.
“The respect with which he is held, not only within the Glasgow Warriors community but within the wider rugby family, should serve to underline the achievements he has earned throughout his career and the manner in which he has achieved them.
“His work ethic and determination to bring the best out of the people and players around him has been clear to all throughout his career.
“I wish him the very best for whatever comes next and I know he will apply that same work ethic and determination that made him one of this club’s most distinguished Warriors.”
Brown becomes the second experienced Scotland front-rower to announce his retirement in the space of a month after Edinburgh prop WP Nel recently revealed he would be hanging his boots up at the end of this season.
England tap into knowledge of Brian Ashton to play entertaining brand of rugby
England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.
The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.
A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.
And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.
“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.
“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.
“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?
“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”
While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.
The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.
“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.
“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”
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