RBS 6 Nations 2016: 10 Big Questions Ahead of Final 2 Rounds of Games
The last two rounds of the 2016 RBS Six Nations are almost upon us.
England are on course for the Grand Slam with Wales in their way, but there are plenty of sub-plots to unravel outside the fight for silverware.
There are players yet to figure who could have a major say, coaches who have said too much already and there have been some troubling refereeing decisions, with more sure to come.
Here are the 10 key questions we await answers to as the tournament reaches its conclusion.
1. Can Ireland Register a Win?
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As they hoisted the trophy aloft in the darkness of Murrayfield nearly 12 months ago, you would have been hard pushed to find an Irish fan placing money on their team scrapping to avoid the wooden spoon the following year.
But Ireland head into the last two rounds winless and hovering a point above Italy at the foot of the standings.
There have been bright spots amid the gloom—the arrival of CJ Stander and Stuart McCloskey—but the injury toll has been too heavy to bear for Joe Schmidt’s squad, and there has been no sight of attempts to play a more expansive style.
The casualty list can be partly blamed for that, but even accounting for the missing bodies, Ireland have not looked themselves in 2016.
There is still time to offer optimism before a daunting trip to the world champions’ back yard this summer.
2. Will Manu Tuilagi Make an Appearance?
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Eddie Jones has been eager to reintegrate Manu Tuilagi into the England fold as soon as possible.
The Leicester centre has been feeling his way back from a long-term groin injury, as well as serving time out of the squad after his off-field brush with the law.
But Jones wants him back, and may need him sooner rather than later given the sort of form Wales’ Jamie Roberts has been in. Will he get a shot this weekend? Quite possibly.
3. Can Wales Wreck England’s Hopes Again?
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The hand on the detonator of English dreams has belonged to Warren Gatland more often than not in recent times.
Wales battered Stuart Lancaster’s Grand Slam hopefuls in 2013 and then stormed Twickenham during the Rugby World Cup to send the Red Rose brigade heading for the sofa.
They will now tip up in west London unbeaten and looking to end England’s winning start to life under Eddie Jones.
Wales are the more experienced side, but England look hungry.
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4. Will We Get Consistent Refereeing?
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In Week 2 in Paris, French players escaped censure for some appalling challenges on Irish players.
A week later at Twickenham, the same sort of treatment was dealt with in yellow cards, as James Haskell discovered to his cost.
It has got to the point where you can’t blame a player for not knowing where the line is.
5. Will Concussion Rear Its Head?
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This hiatus in Six Nations action has been filled with calls from a group of medical professionals to ban tackling in school rugby, per BBC News.
The issue surrounding concussions and how best to protect players at all levels of the game will not—and should not—go away, whichever view you take of the latest round of debate.
There are plenty of big hits still to come in this year’s championship, and it is a safe bet to assume at least one of them will result in a player needing his head examined.
6. Who Will Win the Clash of the Cousins?
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Saturday could provide us with a battle for the ages between two No. 8s, both built with no reverse gear.
Billy Vunipola has been the man of the tournament so far, while his cousin across the Severn Bridge Taulupe Faletau has topped every stat you want to look at.
Both men will be asked to do the lion's share of the ball carrying for their sides at Twickenham.
7. What Will Eddie Jones Say Next?
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Eddie Jones threatened to put a media ban on himself after the Ireland game following the storm over his comments about Johnny Sexton.
But we await to see if his word holds true and he remains tight-lipped in the build-up to England's clash with Wales.
Warren Gatland has been known to stir the pot once or twice before a big game, and the clash of this pair of outspoken coaches could be manna from Heaven for the press corps.
Who will Jones single out for a mention before this one?
8. Has This Tournament Really Been That Bad?
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The 2016 Six Nations has not been a classic. Far from it.
Ireland vs. France and Wales vs. France were crashing bores to watch, and the pundits have been queuing up to highlight the paucity of quality following a World Cup in which the southern-hemisphere big guns showed themselves to be streets ahead of the best teams in Europe.
With two rounds left and the title up for grabs, will we see the handbrake come off or will the boot continue to rule the day over expansive rugby?
Mick Cleary of the Telegraph conceded the tournament has not "seduced in the manner that the 2015 Rugby World Cup did."
He added: "Across six glorious weeks spanning September and October, there was barely a beat missed. The play was sharp and clever, enterprising and engaging in equal measure...Fast forward a few months, and that air of widespread positivity has evaporated."
But it's worth remembering that not even New Zealand's performance in the World Cup was the rugby equivalent of the Cirque du Soleil. They ground out a grubby win over Argentina, and Australia were lucky to sneak past Scotland.
The conditions also play their part. Yes, quality has been rare, but with two rounds to go, the high drama may still unfold to put us on the edge of our seats.
9. Can Anyone Find the Old French Flair?
9 of 10Guy Noves was tipped as the man to bring the fun back into the French team. On the evidence of the first three rounds, he has yet to locate where his predecessors had stashed it.
France have been dull for so long, it was always going to take the former Toulouse coach longer than one tournament to change the way the team plays.
But France have been painful to watch at times, and for now, we must continue to hark back to that grainy YouTube footage of the 1994 "try from the end of the world" (above) and Phillipe Saint-Andre's wonder score at Twickenham to remind us that, once, they were the smile on rugby's face.
10. Will England Pick a Proper No. 7?
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In case you were wondering, the man in the picture here is Matt Kvesic. If you regularly use the roads between the England team's Pennyhill Park Hotel base and Gloucester, you may have seen him clocking up the miles as he flits back and forth between the two places most weeks.
Kvesic is a genuine openside flanker, yet Eddie Jones has continued to ignore him, adding him to the training squad each week, then sending him back to his club—picking James Haskell instead and using the young Jack Clifford off the bench, a player who Jones also sees as a No. 8 for the long term not a seven, according to Gavin Mairs of the Daily Telegraph.
England's back row continues to look unbalanced in its current format, a problem papered over by the form of Billy Vunipola.
Kvesic can do no more than he has for his club. Last week, he outshone the league's best No. 7 when he overshadowed Wasps' George Smith, as the Telegraph's Paul Bolton wrote: "Kvesic took on and out-performed former Australia openside George Smith, the second most capped flanker in the world after Richie McCaw."
Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys added:
"I thought Matt was outstanding. His energy, his repeated efforts, his involvements in the game both as a carrier—he carried the ball strongly a number of times—but obviously his big part is around the defence.
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Kvesic himself has been quiet on his repeated omissions. Why talk when you perform like that? Everyone else is talking for him.
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