Gerry Thornley: Good weekend for the Six Nations – if not for Ireland

Let’s cast off the green-tinged glasses, keep the leprechaun hats for next weekend and look at the defeat in Twickenham in the context of the bigger picture.

That was a darned good weekend for Test rugby and especially the Six Nations, the best of the 2024 tournament so far by some distance, with the highlight being the England-Ireland game.

England badly needed not just a win but a performance like that too; their best performance since beating the All Blacks in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

With one bound they have possibly broken free of the shackles that had been placed on them for much of the last five years. There cannot be any going back to kicking the leather off the ball now. They have their supporters and media aboard like no time since the 2019 World Cup.

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There was always a suspicion that they had the players to be much better than they’d been. Even so, for England to go into a game against Ireland at Twickenham as 12-point underdogs was some achievement. That took years of work, by them as much as Ireland.

Players and home crowd alike celebrated Marcus Smith’s match-winning drop goal as if they’d won the Grand Slam, which tells us much about the esteem with which the Green Machine are held.

There was no shame in this defeat and it does not make this Irish team a bad one. Each match assumes its own storylines. It’s the beauty of sport. It’s unscripted. That fourth-minute Ollie Lawrence try changed the narrative. It sent seismic shudders through Twickenham.

Thereafter, Ireland suffered in the collisions and across the gain line in a fashion not seen since the 24-12 defeat at Twickenham four years ago. That day Farrell lamented that his side had hardly fired a shot while Eddie Jones reckoned the referee could have stopped the fight.

This doesn’t normally happen to Farrell’s sides. Privately the Irish head coach will not be happy at all about that aspect of the performance. It won’t happen next Saturday against Scotland, which in some ways now has an intrigue and heightened sense of jeopardy for both sides after last Saturday’s unexpected defeats.

In some ways, for Ireland to withstand the ensuing storm and come within the final play of a smash and grab win without generating their normal attacking rhythm and at times adopting a more pragmatic kicking game was quite an achievement. Had they held on for the win, they’d have been lauded for doing so when not at their best, akin to the All Blacks in their pomp.

Ireland's Grand Slam dream dies at Twickenham

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That said, at yesterday’s review they will assuredly have lamented their kick-chase alignment and defending which contributed to the damaging tries by Lawrence and George Furbank.

Perhaps this contributed toward Conor Murray’s decision to kick for touch off Ireland’s last lineout rather than kick long through James Lowe and invite England to counter from inside their own half, so defending with 14 men in a line and requiring England to create something off the cuff.

Rob Kearney has expressed this view, while also suggesting Ireland attempting to run down the clock with pick-and-jams and one-off runners would have been far too risky.

The decision to kick followed an extended timeout for treatment to Chandler Cunningham-South, during which the Irish players would have discussed their exit strategy and probably received instructions from the sidelines. Murray can be heard asking Nika Amashukeli if the ball is still inside the Irish 22, meaning he could find a direct touch. It was clearly predetermined.

However, put in England’s position, you’d have preferred the option of attacking off a lineout 40 metres out with another injury ‘timeout’ to devise a strategy.

Besides, even if Murray had found touch ten or 20 metres further downfield, who’s to say England wouldn’t have scored the three-pointer required? One ventures that the squad’s review yesterday focused more on the lack of line speed and the soft metres conceded wide out when England then launched their last play off a throw to the front. From then on, Ireland were virtually doomed.

Although the Scots won’t see it this way, Italy recording their first home win in the Six Nations since beating Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico 11 years ago was a huge boost for them as well as the championship.

This was all the truer after the heartbreak of that draw with France when Paolo Garbisi’s penalty with the last kick hit the upright and should have been retaken had Christophe Ridley and his officials invoked the game’s laws.

Garbisi having previously hit the post with a conversion last Saturday, it might have been one blow too many for him and them had Scotland snatched a late win. The outhalf’s grubber for the finish by Louis Lynagh was a gem, as was the chip into space by Martin Page-Relo which led to Juan Ignacio Brex scoring in the first half.

Under Gonzalo Quesada, the Azzurri have found a more pragmatic balance to their game and to score two tries by finding space in the Scottish backfield suggested Italy had clearly done their homework.

Furthermore, since that unlucky defeat in Cork against their Irish counterparts, the Italian Under-20 side have beaten France away and thrashed Scotland 47-14 last Friday with 40 unanswered points in the second half. That was their fourth win in a row over the Scots.

In any event, presumably there won’t be any tiresome talk of Italy being replaced by Georgia or South Africa this week.

Last Saturday’s win in the Stadio Olimpico sets up the opening game between Wales and Italy in Cardiff nicely. Wales will be desperate for a first win and will need to do so while denying Italy one, or scoring four tries themselves, to overtake the Azzurri and avoid the wooden spoon.

For Wales to go toe to toe with a stronger French squad from a vastly bigger player pool and vastly more resourced league was also an achievement in many ways.

Fabien Galthié is a lucky coach. France could have been three defeats from three. Instead, in part through circumstances, Les Bleus had an infusion of new blood and now have three wins in a row. France and England have also set up next Saturday’s finale in Lyon nicely too.

Hopefully the title will have been decided by then. The worst-case scenario is Ireland retaining the title with a losing bonus point.

gerry.thornley@irishtimes.com