The 2024 Six Nations is only a week old, but it has already provided fans with plenty to discuss, from star players to surprise performances to a comeback that almost threatened to go down as one of the best turnarounds in the Championship’s history.
After each round of matches, this short tactical analysis will list three key talking points from the on-field action, highlighting some of the things that fans will be talking about over the coming week and where teams and players are either doing well or can improve in their next outings.
France look to be there for the taking
Before the Six Nations had got underway, there were various pieces of analysis focusing on how France would cope without talismanic Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who has opted to sit this year’s tournament out as he looks to give himself a chance of featuring for his nation at the Sevens competition during the summer’s Paris Olympics.
After 80 minutes of action, fans had gained an answer to that question, and it was the one that followers of Les Bleus would have been hoping to avoid, with the team looking lost without their captain and making life very easy for Ireland in Marseille as a result.
Whilst there were a number of aspects of their display that would have concerned head coach Fabien Galthié and his coaching staff, the one that stood out most of all was their defensive lapses, with them being far too open and inviting pressure from their opponents, and the likes of Leinster lock Joe McCarthy and Connacht centre Bundee Aki really thrived in that and constantly succeeded in breaking through the gain line and securing territory for their side.
It was not only the powerful ball-carriers that benefitted though, because the lack of intensity that France showed meant that key creators like fly-half Jack Crowley were able to constantly exert their influence on proceedings without being too challenged, and that was one of the reasons that the Munster player put in a really confident display as he looked to show that he can be Johnny Sexton’s replacement in the half-back pairing.
France did improve in the second half, to their credit, but they still looked well off the pace, and it shows just how much they relied on Dupont to be the glue in the side. Without him, they looked a shadow of the side that fans have come to know in recent years, and they will need to find a way of operating without him quickly if they are to avoid a repeat at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon.
England’s front-foot defensive approach under Felix Jones
For many, England’s performance against Italy on Saturday went exactly as expected, with the team in a clear transition after the retirement of several key names and therefore their poor display was to be expected.
However, despite the disappointment over how disconnected they were, there were aspects of their game that they can draw positives from, and one of those was their constant desire to get on the front foot whenever they didn’t have the ball. There were plenty of occasions when individual players could be seen anticipating play and stepping towards the ball early in order to limit the time that Italy had, whilst their kick chase was also something that they have clearly worked on with the same principle of winning the ball as high up the field and as early as possible in mind.
It was far from perfect, with England looking very new to these tactics and mistakes such as players being caught offside or committing to the same opponent, subsequently leaving gaps open, were common. However, it seems like new defence coach Felix Jones has arrived with a clear idea in mind of how to give England a platform to build their attacks on, and the early signs in that regard are relatively positive.
Aaron Wainwright shows his true quality
Scotland travelled to Cardiff knowing that history was not on their side, with their last win in Wales coming in 2002, and that perhaps played in their minds as the match unfolded in that it was the archetypal game of two halves. In the first, Scotland were dominant and built an immense lead, but the second saw them fail to score at all and only managed to come away with the win after staving off a comeback and staying ahead of their opponents by one point.
From Wales’ point of view, they would have been disappointed with their showing, with them making life very easy for the visitors and looking very raw and disjointed. Their defensive play in particular left a lot to be desired, with it not being too hard for Scotland to build their lead and to get points on the board.
However, there would also have been pride at the way that they recovered from that disappointment to almost snatch what had appeared at the break like an unlikely victory, and the two bonus points that they did manage to secure were very well deserved after their efforts.
There were many who contributed to their comeback, but one player who needs to be highlighted is Aaron Wainwright. Quite simply, everything that Wales did well in the second half came through the Dragons back rower and he looked dangerous every time that he got on the ball, with him both punching holes in the Scottish defensive line and helping to make dominant tackles as soon as the visitors looked like breaking out from their own 22m area.
Wales will be looking to improve on what went wrong in the first half of this game when they take on England at Twickenham on Saturday, and Wainwright looks like being someone that they will need to have in the squad in some shape or form if they are to have a chance of coming away with a positive result.