The 2022 edition of the Six Nations Tournament opened on Saturday February 5 in the United Kingdom. First in Dublin, where the Irish corrected the Welsh, 29 to 7. Then, in Murrayfield, in the second half of the afternoon, the Scots overcame the players of the XV of the Rose, winning 20 at 17.
In Dublin, weakened by absences, the Welsh conceded four tries to their opponents, who thus left with the offensive bonus. The Irish, disciplined and diligent, bent the rejuvenated XV of Leek, who only saved the honor at the very end of the match with a try from Taine Basham on a stolen ball in the 76thand game minute.
Twenty years after a historic rout (54-10) at Lansdowne Road, Wayne Pivac’s men have paid a high price for the absences of their emblematic captain Alun Wyn Jones, but also those of George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric , Josh Navidi or Ken Owens.
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Dubbed by Andrew Conway
“We can’t go back to the past to recover missing players, so we have to learn from today and do with the team we have today. No one will be happy with this defeat. We came here with the will to win and we are all very disappointed”reacted the Welsh coach after the match.
Opposite Ireland were remarkably clean in the contact phases – just five penalties conceded, all in the last half hour of the game – and recited their rugby, even if there was sometimes a little waste, especially in the first period. The locals got off to a good start. Mack Hansen, voted man of the match for his international debut, lit the first fuse and, a few seconds later, transmitted a jump pass to Bundee Aki, whom the center three-quarters had only to flatten in goal (7-0, 4and).
Two failures at the foot of Johnny Sexton – unusual for him – and some badly exploited good situations meant that at the break the score did not reflect the green domination (10-0). But shortly after returning from the locker room, a fine wide attack allowed Andrew Conway to pass Louis Rees-Zammit one-on-one and cross the line on his momentum, to give his team a little margin (17-0, 44and).
Two tries for the Scots, only one English side
Things got even more complicated for the Welsh when Josh Adams, starting in the center, received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Sexton (49and), leaving his teammates outnumbered. With a lot of patience, by chaining playing times, the Irish built a third try – the second for Conway – very easy with a surplus out wide (24-0, 52and).
A nice interval catch from Garry Ringrose, after a ball lost by the Welsh near their 22 meters, then allowed the Irish to secure the offensive bonus (29-0, 59and) and a comfortable success, despite the opposing consolation try at the end of the match.
At Murrayfield, Scotland got rid of England, after an uncertain match until the end. The XV du Chardon, which scored two tries against only one for the English, won thanks to a penalty from the opener of Racing 92, Finn Russell, eight minutes from the end. Last year, the Scots won in London for the first time since 1983 and won 22-12.
The Calcutta Cup stays in Scotland
Pending the meeting between France and Italy on Sunday, Scotland thus moved to second place in the standings, behind Ireland. After a 2021 edition where they had dominated English and French, Finn Russell’s teammates sent a clear warning to their opponents: they will have to be reckoned with this year. Despite a gala Marcus Smith (17 points, including a try), the XV of the Rose did not know how to take advantage of his domination, to the point of giving in to the realism of their hosts.
Eddie Jones’s men, too presumptuous despite the absence of many executives (Farrell, May, Tuilagi, Watson…), probably saw themselves as too good looking, trying to find a touch instead of taking the points two minutes from the end, when they were trailing 20-17. Too clumsy (10 penalties, 10 turnovers), they fell into their own trap when Luke Cowan-Dickie scuttled the English efforts by annihilating a test action (66and). Yellow card, penalty try, the case was closed.
Scotland retains the Calcutta Cup, the trophy awarded since 1879 to the winner of the match between the two neighbors. The XV of Thistle travels to Wales in a week while the English will try to redeem themselves in Italy. After its fine fall series, culminating in a success against New Zealand (29-20), Ireland is expected in France. The match is already announced as a first turning point towards the final victory. For Wales, on the other hand, the apprenticeship of young people will continue with the reception of Scotland, in a week, in Cardiff.
