By David van der Merwe
The first round of the 2012 Six Nations has come and gone. Many match reports have been written and many more debates have been going over a pint of lager or over a "braaivleis" fire. (Barbecue for the non Afrikaans). Here is a quick round up of my predictions before the weekend and the actual out come.
FRANCE vs ITALY
The prediction for this game was France to win by 14 or more. And France didn't disappoint me. They took the game 30-12, a 18 point win with 4 tries to them. France always had the better of Italy but at times they did make it difficult for themselves. The game was only sealed after their 3rd try. Yachvili's missed opportunities at goal makes the score look good for Italy.
Italy as predicted played with a lot of heart and took chances a better team wouldn't have. This time round it didn't pay off and they got only a drop goal and 3 penalties. Both Kris Burton and Tobias Botes looked good in the fly half position and the Italian scrum asked questions as usual. In the end though not enough to get Italy the win.
SCOTLAND vs ENGLAND
It turned out that it was indeed not the curry but my gut speaking to me when I predicted england to win this one by 10 points. The curry might have influenced the margin as it turned out they won by only 7. Final score 13-6.
England's youngsters did struggle to get going and made some very basic errors. On the defence they looked suspect and missed 1/8 tackles. When they did get running however they questioned Scotland's defence and it payed off. England retained the Calcutta Cup and started their Six Nations Title defence with a win against the odds.
Scotland can only blame themselves for losing this game. They broke the English defence with regular ease but could handle the ball after that. Chance upon chance was knocked away or not taken cleanly. And if you want to win games you need to score tries. Scotland haven't scored a try in 4 games now.
England will take a lot of encouragement form this game and will grow in stature. Watch out as they will challenge the other teams. Scotland on the other hand have a lot to do. Back to the drawing board is getting old now and Andy Robinson will have to do something with his team. Maybe work on the basics?
IRELAND vs WALES
Ireland looked brilliant in the first 5 minutes and fooled many a fan in believing that they would run away with the game. But their defence was about as good as that of the South African border control with Zimbabwe. In other words non-existing. Wales broke the defence at will when they went on the attack. When Ireland did keep ball in hand they threatened the Welsh lines and this made for a good game.
Both teams will be pleased with their attacking play, but they will need to work on the defence and discipline. This might just cost them in future games. The referee must please explain to me how the Wales yellow-card was not a red card and also how the Irish one was indeed a yellow. But that debate will go on for the rest of the week.
So I got 2/3 this weekend let's see how I will do for the coming one. My preview will be up by Thursday. Let Dave know how well your predictions went by posting a comment below!
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7 February 2012
