Late on Saturday night, Eddie Jones was asked whether he was planning to let his team take a break. He had just been talking about how “battered and bruised” they were feeling after another brutal match against Wales, in which Ross Moriarty in particular played with a ferocity that suggested some of the Englishmen must have done something to offend his mother. Order Moriarty to cut down a tree and he wouldn’t wait for you to hand him an axe, but set off shoulder‑first.
Anyway. Jones snorted, smiled, and shook his head. England, he said, have some hard training sessions scheduled for the next few days. But two weeks into the Six Nations, and two weeks away from the next round of matches, this is the moment for the rest of us to catch a breath. Because there has hardly been a chance to in the tournament so far.
On Sunday Scotland and France played another enthralling, exhausting game, the fourth of the tournament so far, along with England’s wins against Wales and France, and the Scottish victory over Ireland.
The Six Nations is always entertaining but the standard of the matches between those five teams has been quite brilliant this season, all the sharper and more intense, so the thinking goes, because so many of the players are competing for places on the Lions tour in the summer. None of them want to talk about it but you can see it in the way they are playing. However there is more to it than the lure of the Lions. England are ranked No2 in the world right now. An arrogant fan might even argue that the only reason they are behind New Zealand is because they haven’t played them lately.
You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find the last time one of the Six Nations teams was ranked so high at the start of the tournament. Following England, it sometimes feels as if they are so busy climbing what’s in front of them that they forget to enjoy the view of what they have left behind. England have now won 16 games in a row. It is already the longest winning streak in their history and it is getting close, all of a sudden, to the record set by New Zealand between August 2015 and October last year, when they won 18 straight.
Only don’t expect Jones, or his players, to start talking up this achievement. Jones genuinely does not seem to reckon much to such records, and besides, he never lets anyone look far past the next match. This is a trip they are taking step by step.
Which is why, when you do turn to look back over past 12 months, it’s a surprise to remind yourself just how far England have come. Something extraordinary is under way here, a formidable team are building, win by win by win. The Irish, Scots, French and Welsh have been watching the improvements made by their neighbours and planning a few of their own. Because that’s how rugby works. Everyone is always evolving. And right now it’s all about keeping up with the Joneses.
England have set the standard so high that the tournament seems to have been lifted to another level. For the first time in the history of the Six Nations, the tournament began with three of the teams ranked inside the world’s top five, with Ireland in fourth and Wales No5.
The two games England have played so far have shown that good as they are, it is only a narrow gap between them and the rest. France outplayed England for much of the 80 minutes of a match that they could, perhaps should, have won. Guy Novès has got the French running again.
Likewise the Welsh, most reckoned, produced one of their very best performances in a long while on Saturday. Which was one reason Rob Howley was not so very upset after it was over. Howley described himself as “proud and delighted” with the way his team had played until the final five minutes. As Jones said, England have already used up a lot of “get-out-of-jail free cards”.
Beyond Italy, where the plan, Jones said, was “to take them to the cleaners”, England face two matches which are shaping up to be harder still than the ones just gone. Scotland would have run France a lot closer if they had not suffered all those injuries during the match. As it was, they were seven points away from winning in Paris for the first time since 1999. It has been even longer since they beat England at Twickenham – the last time was in 1983 – but they will travel with more hope this year than they have on any other occasion in recent memory.
After that, England face Ireland in Dublin on the final weekend. And it was the Irish, of course, who snapped New Zealand’s streak in Chicago last autumn.
So, 18 months on from a World Cup in which not one European team made it to the semi-finals, there is a sneaking feeling that the best annual international rugby competition in the world is, for once, the one being played right here in the northern hemisphere.
England’s next generation can boldly go where no one has before
Three more wins, over Italy and Scotland at home and Ireland away, and England will have boldly gone where no other tier one team has gone before by registering a record 19 successive Test victories. While they were a touch fortunate that Wales let them off the hook in a fabulous contest in Cardiff, they now have a national record 16 in the bag and there is clear scope for further improvement. Competition for places is now fierce – always a tell-tale sign of successful squads – with Eddie Jones’s Italy selection an interesting signpost to his future plans. Elliot Daly, who took his winning try so well, has played much of his best club rugby at outside centre but Jones is very keen to see him at full-back. Robert Kitson
• Match report: Wales 16-21 England
• Blunt force forwards and stiletto backs do the business
As Wales fall behind leaders, those ‘below’ are getting closer
Wales barked loudly but still lacked bite. It was an opportunity missed against an England team missing four of last year’s back-five forwards, with Maro Itoje out of position. Wales have lost four of their last 15 fixtures in the Six Nations, all against England. Scotland away are up next (on Saturday, 25 February), a fixture that normally provides succour – but as Wales fall behind the leaders, those “below” them are getting closer. Paul Rees
• Match report: Wales 16-21 England
• Wales and England player ratings
French chutzpah breeds winning mentality
You could not help but admire France’s decision to turn down two shots at goal when the score was 16-16. They may get themselves in all sorts of bother by trying to play from too deep when the situation calls something more pragmatic but it was a bold call and, in the sense that they prevailed, it paid off. We hear plenty of their traditional ways but let’s not forget that starts with a certain mindset and it was hard not to be impressed by such bullishness. Gerard Meagher
Scotland wait nervously on captain fantastic
It may be going too far to say that Scotland would have ended their barren run in Paris had Greig Laidlaw not injured an ankle but they certainly missed his leadership. Not to mention his kicking. Laidlaw has developed into one of the finest captains in the northern hemisphere – his players were queuing up to praise his cool head against Ireland – and the extent of his injury will have a major say in how their Championship progresses from here. GM
Italy may not have hit their nadir
“An incredibly tough day” was Conor O’Shea’s assessment and he was not wrong. Italy were unfortunate to come up against an Ireland side hell-bent on avoiding the sluggish start of the previous week but things do not get any easier with a trip to Twickenham up next. O’Shea also said that there “is a lot to change in Italian rugby”, so things may get darker before any light emerges at the end of the tunnel. GM
Stander in good stead for the Lions
There is a school of thought that considers CJ Stander to lack a bit of finesse to go with his ferocity. While that may be the case, his performances throughout the season would suggest it matters little. Subtlety may not be his strong suit but his consistency and abrasiveness make among the leading candidates for the Lions blindside jersey. If he keeps making tackles and yards (and scoring hat-tricks) he will be increasingly hard to leave out. GM
View all comments >