5 Players Facing Vital Finishes to Six Nations with World Cup Looming
The Six Nations has just two rounds left before thoughts can finally turn, unfettered, to Rugby World Cup 2015.
Players will all tell us until they are blue in the face that the here and now is all that matters, but in their hearts and minds they know what looms on the horizon.
Play well in these next two rounds, and you will leave impressions on the minds of the men who pick the team they will carry into the post-season, into those warm-up games and into selection meetings when names will be tossed around and performances remembered.
There is more than annual Six Nations pride and pots to play for in these coming weeks. These things are up for grabs every season.
A place in your country’s World Cup squad? That’s a far rarer beast.
Here are five men playing for such a thing.
1. Jack McGrath
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Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has shown loyalty to his current first choice props, Jack McGrath and Mike Ross.
Of the two, McGrath is the under the most pressure for his spot, with Leinster stablemate Cian Healy back and primed for action on the Irish bench.
McGrath has been retained so far and is likely to start against Wales, where he will face impressive youngster Samson Lee, who came through his first fiery test at the Stade de France with flying colours.
McGrath needs a strong showing against the Scarlets tyro and then another, probably against gnarled veteran Euan Murray of Scotland, to convince his coach that he should remain ahead of Healy when the big show starts.
2. Luther Burrell
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England’s midfield selection problems looked to have cleared somewhat, with Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph jelling brilliantly against Wales and Italy.
The Saints man had a decent game in Dublin, too, while most around him faltered.
But you still feel that sense of a short being kept warm for the return of a fit and firing Manu Tuilagi, whenever that might be.
Burrell needs to reassert his credentials as the man to play at No. 12 for England with a big game against the Scots at Twickenham before another test against the fleet of Wesley Fofana of France.
3. George Ford
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Ford’s inexperience was cruelly exposed by Jonny Sexton in Dublin.
However, you have to have some sympathy for the young man asked to go toe to toe with the Lions' No. 10 in the sort of mood and form Sexton is currently enjoying.
Still, the Bath pivot needs to show he can bounce back if his coaches’ thoughts are not to turn back to Owen Farrell or, perhaps, Danny Cipriani.
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4. Mathieu Bastareaud
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Bastareaud was dropped to the bench for France’s third game of the Six Nations against Wales, but he rose from it early in the piece as an injury replacement and probably had one of his better games.
It’s not Bastareaud’s fault that he gets picked, and he should not be criticized for playing to his own strengths.
But he is going to need to show those strengths can be the platform for the rest of the team to play if he is to be central to their World Cup campaign.
5. Liam Williams
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The Welsh three-quarter line has picked itself for a number of years now, when all players are fit. But this season, things have changed.
Both wings—Test Lions lest we forget—came under the microscope as their form dipped, and calls for Liam Williams to take the place of the great George North began to surface.
Williams got his chance after North’s concussion-induced layoff and sparkled against Scotland.
Over on the other wing, Alex Cuthbert struggled on. When North returned, it was not Williams who was sacrificed.
No, Cuthbert was relegated and Williams retained, with North being placed on the unfamiliar right wing. Now, Williams must maintain the form that has propelled him into this once-closed shop.
The aerial test that awaits from the boots of Jonny Sexton and Rob Kearney, with that other Lion, Tommy Bowe, hunting him down, will go a long way to determining Williams' World Cup future.
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