Scotland developing into exciting team, Points mean prizes

Excitement has not been a word routinely associated with Scotland in recent years, but this young team have it spades. Not least their tyro at full-back, Stuart Hogg, who put in another virtuoso performance at the Stade de France.

The Glasgow Warriors man had the French defence scrambling as he ran 88 metres with ball in hand and made the break that led to Dougie Fife’s try, spotting a mis-match against prop Rabah Slimani and exploiting it ruthlessly.

#FRAvSCO Try Dougie Fife via @ultimaterugby https://t.co/G7ouDxSnbi“

— Paul Tait (@Argentina2023) February 7, 2015

He was aided by another fine performance from the Alex Dunbar-Mark Bennett centre axis, while wing Tim Visser came within a finger tip of grabbing a late interception that would have surely secured a memorable win.

As it is Scotland sit fifth in the fledgling table, but may well fancy their chances against a shell-shocked Wales team.

Injuries underline England’s strength 

Victory for England over Wales in the Millennium Stadium was as outstanding as it was unexpected. Stuart Lancaster’s side were supposedly depleted for the trip to Cardiff, yet the changes that were made, while enforced, turned out to be inspired.

Dan Cole was exceptional in the front row, as England gained the advantage at scrum time, while the all-action James Haskell was his usual self in the back row.

Haskell’s performance was exactly what was needed to nullify Wales’ threat at the breakdown, and should really have been topped with a try had he not rebounded off the post.

In the backs, George Ford arguably came of age in a white shirt as he silenced doubts over his kicking ability under pressure with the late penalty that put the seal on the win.

Outside Ford, club-mate Jonathan Joseph was immense, helping to set up England’s first try, excellently scoring the second and otherwise answering every question asked of him in defence.

There is no doubt that those who played in Cardiff will line up at Twickenham on Saturday to face Italy, but after that Lancaster will have a few decisions to make.

A two week-break ahead of the trip to Ireland will give those currently injured a chance to discover their fitness. On this evidence though, they will find it difficult to oust their understudies.

Wales still don’t have a plan B

When Wales are on song they are a very, very good side, and for the first 40 minutes against England they definitely shaded the contest.

But once they were put under pressure in the second half, they were unable to respond. And while they struggled manfully in defence to keep England at bay, what will have been more concerning to Warren Gatland is that they made no significant inroads into opposition territory after half-time.

The English worked tirelessly to deny the likes of Jamie Roberts and George North space in midfield, but having done so Wales looked short of other ideas.

England totally and brilliantly outplayed and outclassed Wales second half. We just don’t seem to have a plan B. Back to a drawing board ?

— George Benjamin (@BramleyLodge) February 6, 2015

Toby Faletau attempted to inject some pace and urgency around the breakdown but ploughed a fairly lone furrow. 

By contrast, Leigh Halfpenny’s regression into the role of specialist kicker appears to be continuing as the Toulon full-back offered little in the way of an attacking threat.

Halfpenny even uncharacteristically missed a shot at goal, and was generally outshone by his opposite number, Mike Brown. All of which made the fact Liam Williams stayed largely on the bench all the more bizarre, especially with North’s concussion concerns.

Worries caused by Wales’ fanatical allegiance to their direct game plan are nothing new, but are beginning to look increasingly alarming so close to a World Cup. 

Unions lag behind clubs when it comes to the issue of concussion

Given the steps being taken in most quarters to protect players from the threat of concussion it was bizarre to watch as North was allowed to remain on the pitch in Cardiff despite suffering two heavy blows to the head.

The second, coming via a clash with Richard Hibbard, clearly left the Northampton wing unconscious as the tumbled to the turf.

Champion boxers have stayed down from smaller blows, and it was worrying therefore, that he was give the green light to risk further damage by playing on.

At a time when clubs such as Saracens are doing more than ever to ensure their players safety on the field of play this is a situation that should not be allowed to continue.

It is not something that is confined to Wales either. Barry O’Driscoll was forced to resign from his position as chief medical advisor with the IRB over its attitude towards concussion.

I was appalled by the treatment of George North by the Welsh medical team on Friday. Nobody that saw the replay can be neutral on concussion

— George Hook (@ghook) February 9, 2015

And he told The Telegraph over the weekend that Friday night’s incident in Cardiff was merely another example of the state of the game superseding medical advice.

“I am afraid it is very difficult to come to any other conclusion that it is not the state of the players’ brain but the state of the game that is determining a lot of these cases,” he said.

It is hard to disagree. Surely there needs to be a more uniform protocol, whereby any player suspected of having a concussion leaves the pitch to be assessed by a doctor.

After all, player safety should be more important than results.

Points mean prizes

For all the exciting rugby that was served up over the weekend, one constant was the importance of a world-class kicker.

In Paris on Saturday Scotland would have led at half-time had Greig Laidlaw sent his conversion sailing a few more inches to the left. They might have gone in at the break even further in front had Hogg found the right line with his earlier mammoth effort.

And while you cannot fault him for missing from well over 50 metres, it is on such fine margins that games are won and lost. Who is to say what the French reaction would have been had they gone into the interval with a four-point deficit.

In the end they were thankful to the reliable boot of Camille Lopez who booted all of their points from the kicking tee.

It was a similar story in Cardiff, too, where Halfpenny’s miss proved immaterial thanks to Ford’s late penalty. Yet, had Halfpenny’s first-half three-pointer sailed over – and it was well within his range – England would not have been leading when Ford stepped up in the dying moments.

It is a different kind of pressure to kick for a win when you are trailing, and the Bath man has been found wanting in that scenario already this season.

Bonus point

The Six Nations was not the only international rugby event on this weekend, as the Wellington Sevens took place in New Zealand.

And South Africa’s Werner Kok evoked memories of George North’s famous pick up and carry of Isarael Folau during the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in 2013, as he set off on a run with the ball and a French defender in hand.

Unfortunately, unlike the Welshman he was unable to keep hold of possession.