Grand Sham
17 Mar 2008
Wales need a reality check after winning the Grand Slam.
While the Dragons’ turnaround since the World Cup has been remarkable, their Six Nations triumph needs to be put into perspective. They are not suddenly world-beaters, as their press is making them out to be. If a World Cup were played next month, they would not win it. All Wales have done is win a competition full of mediocre competitors.
France, the defending champions, used the Six Nations to experiment. In the first four matches, coach Marc Lievremont gave out 13 new caps. Yes, he selected his best XV for the title decider against Wales, but that team had never played together. They were never going to beat a Welsh side that had built up momentum over four matches. Hopefully, Lievremont will take the tournament a bit more seriously next year.
Great things were expected from England after their surprise World Cup final appearance, but they delivered another below-par Six Nations effort. According to media reports, there was so much unhappiness in the dressing room that several England players considered retiring from the international game. Coach Brian Ashton – given a stay of execution after the World Cup – was again in the firing line, with questions raised over his ability to manage a team. Ashton was also slammed for axing Danny Cipriani from the side to play Scotland, after the 20-year-old was seen leaving a nightclub just after midnight. England, sans their play-maker, went on to deliver an appalling performance at Murrayfield. Ashton, when defending his record this season, will point to wins against France in Paris and Ireland at home. However, there were also the losses to Wales (when England blew a comfortable lead) and Scotland (who were beaten by Italy a week later), and the narrow, unconvincing win against Italy.
Ireland were even worse than England, which says a lot. They beat Scotland and Italy, which was expected, but were outclassed by the rest of the field. The Irish are an aging team low on confidence and bereft of ideas. It’s sad to think that just over a year ago they had thrashed England 48-18 and were serious World Cup contenders. The reality is they peaked in 2006 – when they beat the Boks – and have been on the decline ever since. Coach Eddie O’Sullivan has had seven seasons with the national team, and the IRFU would be crazy if they gave him an eighth.
Meanwhile, Scotland and Italy simply don’t have sufficient talent or depth to win the Six Nations. They are competitive because their players have big hearts, but passion doesn’t win titles in the professional era. Scotland will be proud of their win against England, and horrified with their loss to Italy a week later. Nick Mallett was delighted to claim a victory after his side had limited the damage against the big guns, and rightly so. One Six Nations win for a team like Italy is very good; two would be outstanding.
Considering the above, Wales were simply the best of a bad bunch. Any one of the Tri-Nations teams would have won this Grand Slam had they been involved, and even Argentina could have done it.
The fact is we will only know how good Wales are in June, when they play the Boks in two Tests.
By Simon Borchardt
39 Comments
17 Mar 2008, 08:38 am
Klap ‘em Bokke!
17 Mar 2008, 08:47 am
I think you’re wrong Simon – the Welsh are a very good team with a number of outstanding players. I hope you’ll acknowledge your mistaken assessment after they have played the Boks in June.
17 Mar 2008, 08:54 am
What has made the Welsh decidedly better is the arrival of one Kiwi….namely Warren Gatland.
Gatland is an excellent coach. High underrated and understated. He is a rugby genius. He took Ireland from nowhere to a force in world rugby. When he was fired/sacked, Eddie O’Sullivan, inherited a good side and was made to look a decidedly better coach than he really is. Look at Ireland now!!!!
Gatland then went to New Zealand and won the NPC (If I am not mistaken) and then came to Wales and led them to 6 Nations glory.
Gatland is a genius.
The 6 Nations Trophy, Grand Slam and Triple Crown belong to a Kiwi.
17 Mar 2008, 09:04 am
2 Yes Wales are a much better side! They gave France a good lesson. If the french coach wants to experiment then let him!
Simon what you are saying is that they arent such a good side? They won every game! Thats brilliant! It doesnt mean that they will easily beat a southern hemisphere side but that they are no longer the wipping boys!
17 Mar 2008, 09:11 am
Good to see Mallett winning with Italy too….
17 Mar 2008, 09:16 am
Simon, they might not beat us, but they’re still a very well-coached side. And they have a couple of potent game-breakers. Martyn Williams is sheer class. I’m very weary of bold predictions against them.
17 Mar 2008, 09:24 am
I agree with you Simon.
Everyone always talks whoever tours here during the june tests but lets face it:
Wales is just not good enough to beat the boks and i dont see it happening in the near future.
They are an average team who struggles to win their home games against the southern hemisphere teams EVERY year.
We will beat them comfortably in June.
17 Mar 2008, 09:33 am
wales are always gonna have problems with depth. june tests are at the end of their season, bound to be some injuries. if that is the case, i expect the boks to take em easily.
quite funny, jakes first test as coach was againt a much vaunted irish side. pdv will have a similar scenario, difference being that the boks are now world champs and not world chumps like they were when jake took over.
17 Mar 2008, 09:53 am
I say this now, for the umpteenth time: None of the 6N teams would win against a full strength Sharks, Crusaders, Blues or Hurricanes S14 team.
17 Mar 2008, 09:54 am
I agree. Wales would lose to the Crusaders in Christchurch if the teams met this weekend.
17 Mar 2008, 10:01 am
You would underestimate Wales at your own Peril SA. Their forwards matched if not beat Englands, and with their midfield, Hook, and Williams, they have some of the most penetrative backs in the game. I hope the bok players do not have the same attitude as this writer as there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. I think under Gatland’s coaching skills, Wales are on a sharp upward curve, with depth being their only major problem. Careful SA, you may be world champs, but arrogance will cost you (remember the Baabaas?).
17 Mar 2008, 10:02 am
Jey Simon!!! You stole my line, as in Wales the pick of a bad bunch!!!! Are there no originality left in this world. Have to admit, most probably the best line in the whole piece and gives light to an otherwise boring article. But keep up the good work. I’ll try and give you another line tomorrow!
17 Mar 2008, 10:30 am
Simon, to be fair the Boks would probably also lose to the Crusaders in Christchurch…
17 Mar 2008, 10:34 am
The Boks would lose to the Crusaders at Loftus.
17 Mar 2008, 10:52 am
14.
So you are the same guy that predicted that the All Blacks would win the world cup in 2007 and you still want people to take you predictions seriously?
17 Mar 2008, 11:20 am
New Zealand wont win the world cup in there own back yard in 2011. they’ll choke again Tackler!!!
17 Mar 2008, 11:21 am
Im not at all nervous about playing Wales! Norhtern Hemisphere rugby is a joke at the moment
17 Mar 2008, 11:25 am
As much as I agree with Simon, I also have to throw in a little caution. You could say the same for SA’s World Cup win, with both Australia and New Zealand being beaten. It is not Wales’ fault that the top teams did not perform. They took their chances. We underestimate them at our own peril. And as the Super 14 is showing the WC victory does not automatically solve some of the fault-lines in our rugby.
17 Mar 2008, 11:54 am
best of a bad bunch….exactly
WALES YOU SUCK!
17 Mar 2008, 12:36 pm
Knersboy – Yeah but that Bok team that clapped the Irish in 2004 were really hungry.
I still remember what a great centre combo Julies/Marius Joubert turned out to be, it seemed that everything White did then just worked.
The worrying factor is, if it was England touring in June, i think they would take us. That Cipriani is something else man, we have no one in his class or league, plus htey have the main man Wilko.
Wales also have 2 very talented flyhalves.
Right now i am worried about the Boks.
17 Mar 2008, 12:41 pm
I’m waiting for Big Hit to come in and savage Simon’s piece. How dare he suggest that England coming second in the Six Nations, losing to Wales and Scotland, is not an achievement. Don’t you Saffa journalists know that the Six Nations is most important international competition outside of the world cup where the true power of rugby resides?
Well done to Italy for beating my boys at the weekend. They played better on the day. Parisse is some player, isn’t he? We now have to wait 12 months to prove that we are better than them. Just like England will have to wait 12 months to prove they are better than Scotland in a one off game, hey Big Hit?
Cipriani did ok against Ireland at the weekend on attack and organising his backline. But did anyone see the metres Ireland gained when they put their big ball carriers down his channel? I’m not a coach, but Cipriani is going to be given a full examination when England play NZ in NZ later on this year, especially as NZ’s ball carriers have pace to go with their power.
Oh, but I forgot, Wilkinson will be a 12 to look after little Danny, hey Big Hit? The last time Wilkinson played at centre against an AB team in NZ was an unmitigated disaster.
I hope England take a full strength team down to NZ. There’ll be no excuses then.
17 Mar 2008, 12:42 pm
Cipriani played 1 game at Flyhalf, how can u say he is something else! U guys get too exited too quickly.
17 Mar 2008, 12:48 pm
leeanthonyw,
I see Big Hit has got to you. Cipriani hasn’t proven anything yet. He had a decent game against a woeful Irish team and yet all of a sudden you’re saying he’d saly the Boks.
The Boks manage to take Carter out of the game some of the time they play the ABs because the bok forwards don’t allow the Kiwis to lay the forward platform for the backs to play off.
Looking at England right now, why do you think the English have the required forwards to lay a suitable platform? If they couldn’t do it against Italy and Scotland away from home, how the hell do you think they would do it in South Africa?
If the England team that played against Ireland played the Bok team that last played Wales, the Boks would win by 20 points. Easily.
17 Mar 2008, 13:04 pm
If we match their passion we will beat Wales on grounds of our superior skill
Simple as that
17 Mar 2008, 14:17 pm
“Wales need a reality check after winning the Grand Slam.
While the Dragons’ turnaround since the World Cup has been remarkable, their Six Nations triumph needs to be put into perspective. They are not suddenly world-beaters, as their press is making them out to be. If a World Cup were played next month, they would not win it. All Wales have done is win a competition full of mediocre competitors.
France, the defending champions, used the Six Nations to experiment. In the first four matches, coach Marc Lievremont gave out 13 new caps. Yes, he selected his best XV for the title decider against Wales, but that team had never played together. They were never going to beat a Welsh side that had built up momentum over four matches. Hopefully, Lievremont will take the tournament a bit more seriously next year.”
You saying that they dont deserve their status is like saying RSA did not deserve the world cup.
The springboks benefitted from seeding process that did not reflect team current team strength.
This is farcical!
You tell other that they should put their glory into perspective but much can be said about RSA success at RWC2007.
The seedings will be different and based on team strength closer to RWC and not based on previous RWC placings.
IF, and I say a big IF, RSA faced Aus or NZ in the RWC2007 they would have got beaten…trinations 2007 proves that.
At least NZ would have and SA was not convincing against Aus in SA.
My point with this is you dont going telling people how they dont deserve their accolades when you cant look at yourself.
You will get all defensive!!!
17 Mar 2008, 14:20 pm
10 Simon
That is speculation and will never be proven…so shut it.
You pull things out of your ***!
RSA does not deserve the RWC2007 they did not play Aus or NZ!!!
17 Mar 2008, 14:38 pm
wallabie – The point is England squeezed the life out of the wallabies and the French managed to turn up the heat on the ABs. The Boks would have beaten both the ABs and the Wallabies in those quarters, so i think your talking nonsense. You both were shown up and during those 8 weeks the Boks peaked, simple!!
The Boks were way better prepared for RWC2007 than the wallabies/ABs
17 Mar 2008, 15:12 pm
wallabie
Shut up you aussie moaning minnie you are sounding like the poms i at least thought that you had more than a blank between your ears you could not beat the poms and that is it take it like a man not like a australian rodent
17 Mar 2008, 16:50 pm
I think the welsh are looking good, to beat any french side with the talent they have at the moment should say plenty. Gatland and Edwards are obviously good.
The boks need to respect them, make all the right noises, talk them up and then go onto the field and **** hulle.
17 Mar 2008, 18:19 pm
Sit vir Tonderai op en gee die res vd bokke die dag af.
17 Mar 2008, 20:42 pm
I not concerned about Wales at all. I am more concerned about the Boks not firing when Wales arrive.
(1)Having to revert to the ‘old’ rules.
(2)The players first time with new coach.
18 Mar 2008, 01:34 am
21 – 6 nations!? where the true power of rugby resides!? I read that correctly right!? Lmfao! Send your NH teams so we (SANZAR) can show you what power is, and where the true power of Rugby is! By the way, who won the wc the most? NH or SH? and then mr Wallabie, didnt we send our “B” team to aus and nz, then got threatend to be kicked from SANZAR? Using the trinations ’07 to determin if we truly deserve the wc? a bit unfair since our “B” team gave your team a run for their money. It was a well thought out plan to get to the bigger prize… The WC. And we didn’t have to beat you, since eng did it for us… And we beat them TWICE!
18 Mar 2008, 01:39 am
#32
Actually your b team was sent after the ABs beat your best team you could put on the paddock at that time at home.
I remember many of the posters here at that time saying Jake has given up the tri nations already by sending the b team.Maybe if the ABs lost that game the maybe Jakle would have sent a full strength team to take the tri nations,but who knows
18 Mar 2008, 01:42 am
And by the way, i think it was aus and nz who labled our springboks we sent as a b team in the trinations 07… Compare apples with apples mate.
18 Mar 2008, 01:44 am
Yeah, who knows
18 Mar 2008, 01:49 am
But as usual, we saffas get a good lead, then end up loosing the game for some reason… We lack that finnishing touch that nz has.
18 Mar 2008, 01:52 am
Hurricane, what do u think of the new s14 thats being planned where a team from japan joins?
18 Mar 2008, 01:56 am
Comment 36 was aimed at mostly the damn Bulls!
18 Mar 2008, 15:03 pm
How much Northern Hemisphere rugby do you tri-nation lot watch? Not much if most of your comments are anything to go by – and before you say anything, I watch every S14 match. Quite frankly I am waiting to see what all the hype is about, Crusaders apart, all the tri-nation teams are rubbish. I’d even be prepared to say that even Worcester, Leeds and the Newport-Gwent Dragons would beat most of them. Still what do you expect of three countries that are changing the rules to avoid tackling just so the pretty boys can look good running in un-opposed tries. See you in the summer softies.
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