Six Nations Saga – Tilly J

Six Nations Saga – Tilly J

The Six Nations, an annual rugby union competition cherised by many, has once again delivered two weeks of enthralling action, filled wirth stunning displays of agression, grit, and determination. As teams battled it out on the field, emotions ran high, and the stakes were raised with every match played, so far. Amongst this fortnight of blood, sweat, and tears, there has been many controversial decisions made by the empire, that may have changed the whole course of the match.

Scotland vs France, Murrayfield:

Even the drama started before kick-off when Scotsman Kyle Steun dropped out for the birth of his child, handing Harry Paterson his debut at full-back. Soon into the game, the visitors were infuriated by a supposed high tackle from Duhan van der Merwe, who then stole possession on the Scottish line, rubbing salt into the French wounds. In the seond half, Uni Antonio was sent to the sin bin with a yellow card for a no-arms tackle against Matt Fagerson. In the end, France held off Scotland for a scrappy 20-16 win at Murrayfield after a lengthy controversial TMO call not to award the home side a try with the last action of the game on Saturday.

England vs Wales, Twickenham:

A tense match throughout the 80 minutes, but this reached reached its climax when George Ford’s conversion was ‘sabottaged’. When Ford lined up a shot at converting Ben Earl’s first-half try, Wales raced off the tryline and dislodged the ball, nullifying the attempt. Kiwi referee James Doleman dismissed Ford’s protests and deemed the conversion as failed, explaining that Ford had moved and that counted as starting his approach to the ball. Sale fly-half insisted that he has simply adjusted his feet and Ford appeared to have shifted sideways rather than moving forwards. England were furious with Doleman’s conversion call and for a baffling scrum penalty against them that ultimately led to a Welsh try. England rallied from a 14-5 half-time to a 16-14 victory, with the help of Freddie Steward’s masterful high ball and penalty conversion from George Ford.

So Far… :

1st Place – Ireland (10 points)

2nd Place – England (8 points)

3rd Place – Scotland ( 5 points)

4th Place- France (4 points)

5th Place – Wales (3 points)

6th Place – Italy ( 1 point)

Predictions:

I think that Ireland will be crowned with the Six Nations Champions, as well as winning the Grand Slam ( basically a repeat of what happened last year). 2024 has granted the Irish determination, speed and skill, bouncing back from their World Cup journey and ‘Life without Jonny’ . This year has seen the departure of Antoine Dupont from rugby union to pursue his dream of playing rugby sevens in the Olympics so Les Bleus are facing immense pressure without their star scrum-half. Masses have changed since the World Cup, with Farrell, Sexton and Ntamack not playing, making this the tournament for Scottish skipper Russell a stamp of his authority as the play-maker of the championship and proving himself to become a Lion.