The motives behind the ELVs were genuine, but the outcome spectacularly unsuccessful according to Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

"Rugby lost its way and a fair chunk of its soul when rucking was eliminated. The dynamic attacking action which encouraged continuity was considered too dangerous, both for players caught lying near the ball and in the battle for parental approval.

"The game became even more emasculated when the ELVs arrived and with them an obsessive desire to speed the game up with free kicks. Some ideas had merit like the 5m gap behind scrums and players not being allowed to kick the ball out on the full outside the 22m line.

"However, the greatest crime was reducing rucks to some sort of scrabblefest while the referee resembled someone blindfolded at a children's party trying to pin the tail on the donkey. Add to that approval for a minority of defenders to pull down rolling mauls and the game quickly lost its mojo and many of the facets which delivered its uniqueness."

Peter Bills delights in a feast of Top 14 action on trip to France - read his thoughts in the Independent.

"One of the intrinsic delights of rugby football in Europe remains for many people an undiscovered gem. Yet for the connoisseur, this enduring secret of the game is easy to find, simple to locate and pleasurable in the extreme. If you love rugby, then a weekend of club games in the south of France ought to be top of your "must do" list and with so many clubs within an easy drive of Toulouse, it is easy to do.

"...Saturday night at Toulouse offered a wide variety of choice in the field of restaurants and hotels, to suit most budgets. And if you like to keep fit, take your training gear because there is nothing better on a quiet, sunny Sunday morning than a run along the towpath of the Canal du Midi which threads its way through the city. Parts of it, lined by trees on either bank with the sun glinting through the fresh, new leaves of spring, are exquisite."

Former England international Brian Moore argues that just because you do not agree with all the ELVs does not mean you don't understand the game. Read his views in the Daily Telegraph.

"Finally, the most disingenuous and thus most objectionable ploy perpetrated the proponents of the ELVs is to say that those opposed 'do not understand rugby'. We do understand, we just do not agree.

"This claim is the last refuge of many a Turner Prize winner, dismissing criticism of their pile of rubbish as not being true art. It is the last desperate defence against those who see the Emperor's new clothes for what they really are. As I have been held up as one of those least understanding, especially by the Australian journalist Spiro Zavos, I ask this: who is likely to have a greater understanding of the game – someone who has played schoolboy, university, students, under-23, B, junior club, senior club, divisional, Hong Kong Sevens, international, British Lions, Five Nations and World Cup rugby; who has played and won, home and away, against every major international board country, or someone who may have played a bit and watched a lot?"

One of the easiest decisions facing the coach, Ian McGeechan, and the manager, Gerald Davies, is whether Brian O'Driscoll or Paul O'Connell should be the man who lands in South Africa carrying the Lions mascot, according to Tim Glover in the Independent on Sunday.

"The most obvious answer is O'Driscoll, the Ireland captain who inspired his country with crucial tries at key moments. He also has unfinished business with the Lions after a lamentable tour to New Zealand in 2005, when his world was turned upside down by a double hit in the opening minutes of the First Test.

"O'Driscoll would love the chance to lead again and he deserves it. That would leave O'Connell, a towering presence in the Irish second row, as vice-captain and leader of the pack. However, the punters have backed the lock forward and Irish bookmakers have stopped taking money on O'Connell being named as the Lions' leader."

Riki Flutey, one of the few members of Martin Johnson's England team to enhance his reputation during the Six Nations campaign, has spoken for the first time about his shame at being involved as a naive 21-year-old in an assault case in Argentina. Read his thoughts in the Mail on Sunday.

	England's Riki Flutey was the joint-top tryscorer in this year's Six Nations © Getty Images

"Flutey appreciated just how lucky he had been to be granted a second chance to follow the rugby career he had put at risk eight years ago. For in 2001 Flutey assaulted an 18-year-old Argentine student in the city of Rosario while on tour with Wellington Academy.

"...Flutey's dreams were torn apart when, in a moment of madness he still cannot fully explain, he got into an argument with Argentine student Gabriel Capotosti. The row ended with Flutey attacking the teenager, breaking his nose and fracturing his right eye socket.

'I got into a confrontation and just lashed out,' he recalled. 'I knew immediately that what I'd done was wrong and I was in big trouble.' Flutey was arrested and spent four days in a police cell while negotiations took place between his tour bosses and the Argentina authorities."

Rugby union is set to abandon nearly all the radical experimental law variations (ELVs) that have been trialled this season, according to Stephen Jones in the Sunday Times.

"Since their introduction to international rugby in the summer of 2008, there has been widespread criticism of the ELVs from players and coaches in the northern hemisphere. However, it now appears that the demand for them to be scrapped stretches across the rugby world.

"Our investigation of all the major unions indicates that among the experiments to be rejected is the measure allowing mauls to be collapsed, which has left the field packed with defenders; the “sanctions” experiment, trialled Down Under and fervently espoused by Australia, under which almost all penalties become free kicks; and the change by which teams can place as many players as they like in the lineout. The Rugby Football Union has described this last-named intervention as “messy, and leading to more kicking”."

A couple of weeks ago England would dive on a loose ball or drive it back into contact. Now they see it as an opportunity according to Mark Reason in the Daily Telegraph.

"Despite his public silence, the evidence points to the fact that the attack coach, Brian Smith, is beginning to get through to even the dullest of players (excepting, perhaps, the obstinate Danny Cipriani). The most noticeable change in England’s game has been the willingness of all the players to move the ball on quickly following a turnover.

"...Turnover ball is the most valuable possession because defences are not yet organised. But the players have to be prepared to take what some see as a risk and what Mike Gibson used to call “responsible speculation”. You have to be prepared to take the chance that in flicking the ball away from contact a member of the opposition might pounce and you may look silly."

Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll insists it was great to celebrate the Grand Slam win, but he is looking forward to settling back into club rugby. Read his thoughts in the Observer.

"It is hard to describe how I am feeling after last weekend. The overriding feeling is tiredness, as everything from the past few days – the emotion, the physicality of the match, and the partying afterwards – has all caught up with me. I felt unbelievably nervous on the Thursday as we travelled to Wales, and Friday was a very long day trying to relax at the hotel and waiting for match day. In the build-up to the game there was definitely an underlying feeling of how important the match was – not that everyone in the squad was constantly talking about the Grand Slam but it was obvious it was on people's minds.

"It has been a bit of a mad week since then. I tried to pop into Dublin to do some errands during the week and so many people were just sharing what it meant to them. However, despite all the hype and celebration, time moves on and it's time to get back to my day job. I was training with Leinster on Thursday and although I didn't play this weekend we have plenty more to do this season and there is more silverware up for grabs."

The Six Nations, the Triple Crown, the Heineken Cup and the Magners League are all Irish-owned. The Irish Times celebrates the recent dominance of Irish rugby by re-living the day leading up to their Grand Slam triumph.

"It’s incredible really. Lock, stock and barrel, the whole shooting gallery, is now in the possession of Irish rugby.

"...As Pádraig Harrington had explained to the squad, the trick is to keep the right side of their brains, the feminine side, relatively uncluttered. Kidney had invited Harrington to meet the management and address the expanded Irish squad at their three-day get-together in the Marriott Hotel in Enfield in December.

"Harrington spoke of his attitude towards mistakes and disappointments. Perhaps this contributed to the relatively relaxed atmosphere on match days, even on Grand Slam match day."

Former Australia boss John Connolly weighs in on the recent Australian Rugby Union election that saw Ron Graham elected President. Read his thoughts in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The plethora of phone calls I've received since Thursday from people concerned the ARU is being run on the personal agendas of chief executive John O'Neill just made my decision easier. O'Neill's dislike for Graham - a good friend of mine - stems back to his sacking in 2003, when Graham was a member of the board responsible for cutting O'Neill loose.

"There were extensive efforts in the week building up to the meeting to have NSWRU members reject voting the company line. And if not for the efforts of chairman Ed Zemancheff to pull his delegates into line, NSW could have been in trouble."

Saracens boss Eddie Jones there is only so much rugby a front-line player can take, read his thoughts in the Independent.

"So the question has to be asked: why are the people who run rugby in England even considering launching a new "third" competition next season? The EDF Energy Cup, or Anglo-Welsh Cup – call it what you will – ends in its present form in the middle of April, and while I'm sure the final at Twickenham will draw an excellent crowd, it should be allowed to die a natural death, never to return.

"I really can't see much value in a third tournament, unless it is set up specifically for young players – under-25s, for instance – and played on a Monday night. There is no need for a senior competition wedged into the gaps left by the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup."

Rugby's lawmakers are finding support for the new laws is dwindling in the northern and even southern hemispheres according to Shaun Edwards in the Guardian.

"Rugby's lawmakers are in town this weekend. Armed with a pile of statistics, they hope to win a few converts to the experimental law variations that have been in force up here since the start of the season. I can't say I wish them luck – and I don't know many who do.

"...The southern hemisphere guys who are in London this weekend will no doubt produce figures that show the ball is in play longer since the introduction of the ELVs. What they won't show is the time it spends in mid-air or buried under a pile of bodies and there are signs of such growing dissatisfaction that a move to throw the whole lot on the rubbish tip could be brewing with England, Wales and Ireland leading the way and South Africa, never a total convert, putting a little distance between themselves and the main supporters, Australia and New Zealand."

The continuing emasculation of forward play is the worst part about the modern game according to Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

"Every breakdown is a mess. Players who venture into that area are off their feet, coming in at angles, taking players out without the ball, playing the ball with their hands, releasing possession when support arrives rather than immediately - the offences are widespread.

"Players sense they have freedom to lie all over possession. A free kick is a minor concession or punishment while teammates regroup on defence in a single line across the park.

"Lawmakers have made rucking so hazardous they may as well have banned it. Rugby has suffered subsequently. There were hints the IRB had recognised the flaw, but getting them into action would be like asking both hemispheres to use the ELVs at the same time."

South Africa lead the way in this year's Super 14 and the ELVs are definitely working for them, writes Phil Wilkins on rugbyheaven.com.au.

"Led by European conservatives, argument has raged about the experimental law variations, essentially because their critics maintain that running rugby will bring about the demise of the big men, seriously threatening the massive-forward dominated game of the Six Nations tournament, with its crowds and riches.

"If the rise of teams full of gazelles was their fear, consider the two leading Super 14 teams - the unbeaten Bulls and the Durban-based Sharks, with five wins from six games.

"The player who crushed the Hurricanes, with five All Blacks in their pack, was the 118kg second-rower Bakkies Botha. His hand-to-hand combat power was immense. The Hurricanes believed they could out-run the Bulls. They scored two tries to one, but Jason Eaton's try came after the siren, the 19-14 scoreline flattering the hosts. Nobody left with any delusions about which team deserved the laurels. The Bulls' defence, especially in their own quarter, was ruthlessly magnificent.

"And this was a Bulls team without the world's finest lineout forward, the South African Test captain Victor Matfield, and the game's most lethal winger, Bryan Habana."

Perhaps the most attractive ingredient about new new Otago signing Michael Witt was that the former rugby league star qualifies to play for New Zealand in November, according to Wynne Gray in the New Zealand Herald.

"Many league players have switched to rugby but not many have successfully made the transition to top-drawer five-eighths.

Matt Rogers had some success with the Wallabies but he found he was better suited to fullback, Henry Paul ended up more in midfield with England while Berrick Barnes also has a much better grasp of the game at second five-eighths.

"Only Witt understands the whole package of reasons why he has made the switch. We can only guess. If he backs himself, as he clearly does, he may look around and wonder if he has a chance of making a squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup."

Jonny Wilkinson’s grim six month fight to make the Lions tour has been hit by renewed concern over the state of his left knee according to Peter Jackson in the Daily Mail.

"The ‘minor setback’ which forced Newcastle to withdraw him from their substitutes at Bath last weekend is now in danger of turning into a major one for both the player and the Lions, despite the delayed announcement of their 35-man squad. Players have until April 12 to book their seats on May’s flight to Johannesburg.

"Wilkinson is rapidly running out of games. After this weekend, Newcastle have only four matches left, five if they win their European Challenge Cup quarter-final at Saracens on the Lions deadline day. The chosen few will be named nine days later at the end of an exhaustive selection process headed by Ian McGeechan."

Lions coach Ian McGeechan feels that this summer's trip to South Africa will be the toughest test the elite tourists have ever faced. He spoke to Mick Cleary in the Daily Telegraph.

"McGeechan will put a lot of emphasis on personal relationships. Players will share rooms, travel as a group, even if not required for midweek matches, and have one common coaching set-up in charge.

"The Lions is such a short, sharp, intense experience that you've all got to be in it together,'' said McGeechan, who insisted on this reversion to old customs when interviewed for the post. The 2005 trip to New Zealand was seen as bloated. McGeechan, though, has adopted some of Sir Clive Woodward's organisational approach, which he said was "superb".

"You had to try out the two-team concept, with different coaches, to see if it worked,'' McGeechan said. "I wanted it more compact. We've got to be able to react to each other as well as to circumstances to have a fighting chance. We're all in this together.""

Spiro Zavos, writing on rugbyheaven.com.au, believes that the Waratahs could be in serious trouble if their backs don't start firing soon.

"The train carriage I was in coming back from the enthralling Waratahs-Crusaders contest at ANZ Stadium at Homebush Bay was quiet until a good old boy dressed in the Waratahs colours came in. "Cash in on the Waratahs demolition sale," he spruiked. "Waratahs caps for $5. They might win next week."

"No one took him up on his offer. On my way through Central Station, I saw him standing at the end of the platform rather forlornly and still apparently unsuccessfully trying to flog off his stock of caps.

"With the Waratahs losing back-to-back matches against the Brumbies and then the Crusaders, there is a sense among even their staunchest supporters that the dreaded Wara-wobblies (a strong start followed by an even stronger decline) might have set in rather earlier than usual this year. Compounding this pessimism is an almost universal acknowledgment that the Waratahs have not been playing the skilful and smart rugby you would expect from a team with the team of Wallabies and potential stars such as Kurtley Beale and Rob Horne."

Eddie Butler believes that the ELVs can finally be shown to be harming the game after the Six Nations, in his blog for The Guardian.

"I have a friend who is an economist, whose job it is to study numbers, compile data and analyse figures. He is an expert in statistics and his advice is: never trust them. They can be used to support whatever his clients wish.

"There is no doubt that the International Rugby Board will have a mass of statistical evidence to prove that its brainchildren, the Experimental Law Variations, have been good for us. It will reel off ball-in-play times that will support their introduction.

"This will be an exercise in saving face. We should not believe a word they say. The ELVs stink. They were designed by people with nothing but positive intentions in mind, their brief being to make the game better to play, simpler to watch and easier to referee.

"They have had the opposite effect. Kicking from hand has returned to the prominence it enjoyed in the days when you could kick to touch on the full from anywhere and claim the territorial advantage. The breakdown has become a hands-on, hands-in mess. The ball may be in play for longer but it spends its time in the air or wedged at the bottom of a pile-up."

Simon Barnes, writing in The Times, is glad that he can now stop clamouring for Martin Johnson to lose his job as England manager.

	Martin Johnson has turned his England reign around © Getty Images

"I can't tell you what a relief it is not to be writing a Johnson-must-go piece. England beat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday, leaving the victors amazingly in second place in the final RBS Six Nations Championship table, a strange and deeply unexpected achievement. And it means that Martin Johnson stays on as England team manager.

"Triumph might be overstating it just a trifle, but all the same, after five horrendous defeats in six games, to finish the season with a couple of wins and a few pretty tries is not nothing. But more importantly, it means that nobody needs to be blamed for anything. That lets me off the job of saying bad things about Johnson, and I'm very relieved.

"Not because I know him. Rather, because I don't. Nearest I got to meeting him outside a press conference was to nod to him when coincidence found us at adjacent tables in Brisbane. He was still a player then - playing, as it happens, with his baby daughter, Molly, lifting her up high and then bringing her down as if he had just won her in a lineout. Never showed that side of himself to opponents.

"But he has looked terribly vulnerable since he took on the England job. That has been hard to deal with. All our experience of the man is of the exact opposite. We know him as a player, as the never-a-backward-step man who took England to the World Cup."

Slipping standards plays rejuvenated hope: Eddie Butler reviews the fortunes of Wales and Ireland in The Guardian.

"Wales are usually pretty easy on the eye, but theirs was a campaign of slipping standards and erratic behaviour. There is an interesting balance between finishing within seconds of a triple crown and ending up fourth in the table. Because it all went wrong, the audit in the house of the 2008 champions could well become spiteful.

"Not so in the home of the new champions, for whom this championship will remain branded on the memory. Ireland weren't pretty, or adventurous, but there was nothing wrong with the levels of drama they served up in the games against France, England and, above all, Wales on the final day. New rugby, driven back into caution by law-makers who had quite the opposite in mind, survived thanks to the Ireland grand slam of 2009.

"Their success confirmed the role of the coach as more important than that of the captain. Ireland's about-turn at the Millennium Stadium came straight after half-time, when Uncle Declan had a chance to reconfigure a few minds. Wales, too, came out of the changing room after half-time against England and immediately struck."

David Hands, writing inThe Times, believes that the Six Nations' stunning finale cannot mask the inadequacies of the competing teams.

"That is why we have an enduring love affair with the Six Nations: for the history, the rivalry, the passion of players and supporters, the whole theatrical drama of it all. Does that make it good sport? In practical terms, yes, for its all-embracing qualities, for all those Irish youngsters who now want to emulate Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell rather than listen to tales of Jack Kyle and Karl Mullen, the brightest-eyed of octogenarians but who are pages in the history book since they won Ireland’s only previous grand slam 61 years ago.

"In technical terms, though, this has not been an outstanding tournament. Neither Ireland nor Wales, the best two teams (even if points differential pushed Wales down to fourth), found outstanding form on a consistent basis and there remains a gap in the standards attained here and those of the Sanzar unions. It is less than four months since we were counting the tally from the autumn internationals: Europe 1, Sanzar 10.

"Sure, Scotland had their moments against South Africa; Italy, too, against Australia, while Wales claimed the one scalp, that of Australia by 21-18. Down Under they will have watched the Six Nations and wondered how possession is sometimes slowed to a crawl, how players arrive at the decisions they do, how poor the kick-chase is in Europe and how England fail so frequently to finish what they have started."

There is a self-belief in this group that is a wonder to behold, writes George Hook in the Irish Independent.

"The Grand Slam of 1948 was the beginning of a golden era. For four years they dominated the championship and another clean sweep was only averted by a draw in Swansea. This team can now kick on and dominate Europe all the way to the World Cup in 2011.

"John Hayes and some others may not be there and replacements must be found. This performance will influence the growth of the game and guarantee money in recession times. The country will be the better for this and we will be able to look at the dark clouds knowing that our innate belief in the future can see us through."

John O'Sullivan hails Ireland's Grand Slam achievement, writing in the Irish Times.

"The Grand Slam famine is over 61 years after Ireland’s only triumph as Ireland produced a remarkable performance underpinned by high tensile mental steel to win a truly heart-stopping encounter that wasn’t decided until the final kick of the game.

"...There were many outstanding performances on the day but none eclipsed the contribution of Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and first half replacement Denis Leamy, who had a truly stupendous match. In the context though every single player contributed something to the win with Tommy Bowe, Luke Fitzgerald and Gordon D’Arcy coming up with some fine individual plays. The pack were simply outstanding to a man."

On a Cardiff evening of relentless tension and improbable drama, Ireland delivered their glorious Slam writes Patrick Collins in the Mail on Sunday.

"The roar which greeted Jones's failure went ringing triumphantly across the Irish Sea. For sporting success was never more timely or more joyous. Recession has attacked Ireland with singular savagery. Unemployment soars, unrest is threatened, national bankruptcy is fearfully mooted. The ancient agony of emigration raises its awful head, and an emergency Budget promises nothing but pain.

"A Grand Slam offers no solution to their problems, but it lifts the spirits, it raises hopes, encourages expectations, even permits heady talk of 'the indomitable Irishry'. In short, it helps heal the wounds and divisions, touching emotions which politics cannot reach. Its power should not be scorned or derided."

it was a wonderful match with a climax as good as any in Six Nations history writes Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph.

"If anyone still has doubts about the courage of the modern rugby player and the gladiatorial nature of the big games, the first quarter would have dispelled those reservations. The start was fantastically confrontational. Television doesn’t convey the intensity of the collisions, nor do the elevated seating positions offered at Twickenham, Croke Park, Murrayfield and the Stade de France. To understand the spectacle properly you have to be up close and personal.

"The Millennium Stadium provides that. It is entirely different and entirely visceral. To watch players bat each other out of the way as they fought to win or control the ball was to understand the slim margins operating in this match and the lack of time available for decisions and contributions."

There will be endless debate as to the true quality of this Ireland side but there can be none surrounding the achievement of a Grand Slam writes Stephen Jones in the Sunday Times.

"Rugby became a pastime only for supermen in Cardiff yesterday. This was one of the most thunderous, passionate and brutally hard occasions ever seen at the Millennium stadium, or anywhere else in sport, for that matter."

Munster man's late kick breaks Grand Slam drought and releases Blarney Army to turn Welsh capital green writes James Corrigan in the Independent on Sunday.

"Very few countries know how to celebrate quite like the Irish and this morning the streets of the Welsh capital will still echo to the sound of the Blarney Army's jubilation. Put simply, and without a trace of hyperbole, this was one of the island's proudest sporting occasions. If not its very proudest.

"But oh, it could so easily have been the cruellest. With the final kick of a gripping game that did things to the emotions that should really be illegal, Stephen Jones had a penalty to break Ireland's hearts once more. His effort from near the halfway line hung in the air for what seemed an age, before falling under the posts."

Ireland produced a performance of immense courage and resolve at the Millennium Stadium to end their long wait for Six Nations glory according to Paul Hayward in the Observer.

"This was a sub-standard Six Nations Championship, bedevilled by rule changes, aerial bombardments and dual-personality performances by France and England. Yet, right at the end, serendipity served up a contest of stunning ferocity, in which Wales fought to hold what they had (the title of Grand Slam champions) and Ireland battled for something that has eluded them since the powdered egg days of post-war austerity.

"This was not rugby, this was a battle scene from Lord of the Rings. By the end of the first half, it was reasonable to expect a cart to go around to collect limbs and body parts. Wales and Ireland ripped into each other from the gun. Within five minutes, Ireland's Donncha O'Callaghan and the Wales captain Ryan Jones had each other by the throat after Jones had tripped Ronan O'Gara."

A first championship in 24 years would be duly recognised as a fine achievement, but having given themselves this shot at immortality, it’s almost a win or bust scenario for Ireland according to Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times.

"Enough talking. Now, at last, the game of truth. It’s been a long time coming this week so, particularly after all the brouhaha, this evening’s little title showdown in Cardiff can’t come quickly enough. This may simply be the biggest game of these Ireland players’ lives, particularly if they win.

"The expectations are at fever pitch and everything is set fair. Cardiff is awash in sunshine, with temperatures soaring to un-seasonally high teens. It could almost have been Rome yesterday – well, maybe not – as the advance party of a 15-20,000 Green Army invasion landed.

"Opportunity knocks for Ireland to remove that 61-year-old monkey, and given there have been only four opportunities to emulate the heroes of 1948, it’s not stretching things to say that, for Irish rugby, such opportunities only come along once in a lifetime."

Gavin Henson has never lost when he and Tom Shanklin have started at centre. He will try to extend that run today against his nemesis Brian O'Driscoll. James Corrigan writes in The Independent.

"The last time these two sides met in a Championship decider was 2005 when it happened to be Wales stretching desperate hands across the decades to grab their own elusive Grand Slam. The hype was as overblown as the hwyl and, despite nobody knowing at the time, it had spilled on to the pitch to cover the two most famous players on view in its associated vitriol. Later that same year, in his infamous tome, My Grand Slam Year, Henson accused O'Driscoll of gouging him that day and of yelling in his ear: "How do you like that, you cocky little f****r?"

"O'Driscoll vehemently denied the claims, further castigating his Lions team-mate for accusing other players on that shambolic tour to New Zealand of being "in love with the sound of their own voices". Unsurprisingly, the majority in the game backed O'Driscoll. Henson was cast as the loner, as a pariah even, as an uppity 23-year-old blessed with all the rugby skills but lacking in a few of the union's traditional core "values"..."

Jonny Wilkinson offers his thoughts on England's latest turnaround in his latest column for The Times.

"Johnno has not gone for any short-term gains or short-term success. To be more specific, he has let a squad understanding develop, allowed players to find their roles within the team and started to build a better platform up front. Momentum is earned in this way; it is not bought or cheated.

"This does not mean that England will repeat against Scotland today their knockout blow against France last weekend. That France result was a special one, not one that you can expect week in, week out. And, as I say, England are still building.

"Ireland are a more advanced team in that respect. You sense that they have the ability now to find a way to beat almost anyone, and if they don't beat Wales today, it will be damned close and Wales will have played out of their skins."

Fear of failure may be the key to the Six Nations showdown between Wales and Ireland at the Millennium Stadium according to Rob Kitson in the Guardian.

"Someone was using a well-polished crystal ball when the 2009 Six Nations fixture schedule was compiled. This may not be remembered as the greatest championship in the tournament's long history but it will go down to the final minute of the final game in one of the world's finest venues. Regardless of who hoists the trophy at the Millennium Stadium this evening, the climax has been engineered far better than we have any right to expect.

"If you happen to be Irish, this is a day to clutch whatever lucky charms are still available after 61 years of tossing them aside in disgust. Keith Wood has even declared himself genuinely optimistic of a first grand slam since 1948, having spent long enough in the company of Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll to be aware how desperate they are to embrace their date with destiny."

Writing in The New Zealand Herald, Inga Tuigamala bemoans the lack of action from the NZRU in the recent SANZAR disputes.

"The Sanzar crisis is a major testing ground for the credentials of our top rugby administrators. Rugby is at a serious crossroads and by my reckoning, is simply in survival mode at the moment. It needs people with a vision and the ability to revamp the way it is run or else I fear the game many of us have treasured is in major trouble.

"The current Sanzar impasse is indicative of the problems. South Africa is sticking to its guns, wanting an even earlier start to the Super 14 seasons. Australia and New Zealand want a later start, and there are other issues of dispute. It's high time that the NZRU was much more assertive on the international stage."

The Times takes a close look at two of Wales' Joneses. prop Adam and lock Alun-Wyn.

"Anyone who has watched the players during the national anthems before a game will have noticed that Alun Wyn Jones gives Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau a real hammering. It is his way of dealing with the emotion.

"Perhaps only Lee Byrne in the Wales team has advanced as fast in recent years as Alun Wyn Jones, who, as well as playing for the Ospreys, is studying law at Swansea University. From being a promising but raw second row, he has matured into a formidable ball-carrier, who scored a try against Scotland last month. He calls all of Wales’s lineout throws, an area of the team’s play that has improved noticeably this season. He is a certainty for the Lions party this summer and a decent bet to pack down against South Africa alongside Paul O’Connell, the Ireland lock whom he faces in the final match of the RBS Six Nations Championship in Cardiff on Saturday.

"When Jones was named captain for the game against Italy last Saturday — making him the youngest forward to lead Wales for 75 years — the compliments came thick and fast. “I love the way he wants to play for his country,” Gatland said. “I like his workrate, his honesty. Plus he is a great player.” At this, Jones blushed slightly. When he was younger, he looked up to Martin Johnson, the former Lions lock and captain who is now the England team manager. It is in Johnson’s footsteps that he will hope to follow in South Africa. “He had an aura,” Jones said. “But I don’t want to be known as another Martin Johnson. I want to be Alun Wyn Jones.”

Writing in The Times, Stephen Jones takes aim at Warren Gatland's selection policy.

"Warren Gatland had the grace on Tuesday to do what so few top coaches ever do - apologise and admit that he'd got things wrong. That is something we have not heard this season from Martin Johnson, Frank Hadden or Marc Lievremont and all three have far more to be sorry about than the Welsh coach.

"Sadly, it may be too late. Gatland's decision to send out a mostly second XV against Italy, where two props were minced by the Italian front row, has rebounded and shattered the Welsh momentum. It has changed utterly the mental make-up of the match in Cardiff on Saturday when we have the monstrous occasion of Wales-Ireland and, possibly, the Green Grand Slam.

"Because they failed to take the points that were there for the taking in Italy, Wales now have to beat Ireland by a forbidding 13-point margin to take the title. Why on earth are so many people so sniffy about taking the title on points difference? If they are not there to win the Six Nations then why are they bothering?

Paul Wallace and Kyran Bracken debate the place of Ireland at the head of the Six Nations table in The Guardian.

	Has Declan Kidney forged the best side in the northern hemisphere? © Getty Images

"Wales – if you don't count the performance against Italy from what was essentially a second-string side – are probably capable of playing the best rugby in the northern hemisphere and England looked very good against France. But Ireland have shown so far that they have the best team, a great bunch of old pros who have benefited from an injection of youth, power and pace. They remind me very much of Argentina at the last World Cup, with game-breakers all over the side, and the youthful exuberance has rubbed off on people such as Peter Stringer and Gordon D'Arcy who look revitalised.

"They have phenomenal discipline on the pitch and a great appetite for doing the hard yards. The way they have been playing has not been pretty of late but if you have waited 61 years for a grand slam you will put up with that.

"During the first game against France I thought they played some excellent rugby, with their heads up and always looking to offload, but the pressure is coming on and they are having to do it the hard way. There have been some great moments and magic – even in a dour game against Scotland Stringer's fast break was absolutely exceptional and set up Jamie Heaslip's try."

Peter Bills has no time for slow, deliberate scrum-half play at the base of a ruck in The Independent.

"The failure of modern day players to understand the value of quick ball from the breakdown, frankly bewilders me. They stand there looking at the ball beneath their feet at the back of a ruck like some mother hen proud of the golden egg it has just laid.

"There seems not a trace of understanding that speeding the ball down the back line represents one of the few chances of breaking modern defences. Didn’t England prove that by their first try after a French turnover?

"If you can get the ball away from the breakdown at lightning pace, then you just about have a hope of escaping the suffocating blanket defences which blight the modern game, especially around the fringes. But to see international players playing the game like it’s a chess contest – I’ll move my pieces here, you counter by moving yours there, then I’ll wipe out one of yours there and you then do likewise – is banal to me."

Charles Bremner reviews the French media's reaction to Sunday's Six Nations defeat to England in The Times.

"Usually it's the British who like reminding the French of Waterloo and Trafalgar. Today, French commentators have been invoking the ancient humiliations to qualify the epic defeat that their rugby team suffered at the hands of the English at Twickenham yesterday.

"This is not about gloating (I'm Scottish and the Six Nations Cup has three sides from Great Britain). But here for any interested fans is what France has been saying about the 34-10 débâcle that England inflicted on les Bleus. The defeat was the second worse after the 37-0 rout by les rosbifs in 1911.

"C'était Waterloo!" said the headline on the front of L'Equipe, the sports daily. "Massacre in an English Garden," said le Figaro. Le Monde called it "un coup de Trafalgar" and said France had been "administered a spanking like in those strict boarding schools in 19th century England".

The countdown is on to the Six Nations, and Grand Slam, decider between Ireland and Wales in Cardiff this weekend, writes Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times.

"You sensed it would come down to this. The last game of the championship, at 5.30pm in the Millennium Stadium next Saturday, will pretty much see the whole shooting gallery up for grabs. It can be said now. The Grand Slam is on the table.

"For Ireland it is a tilt at only their second in history and the first in 61 years, but it comes against the 10-time and reigning Grand Slam champions, who still have their Six Nations title and the Triple Crown to defend, and in their 72,500-capacity ground. Oh yeah, there’s maybe a few Lions spots up for grabs, and the captaincy as well.

"...Ireland will want the whole booty and nothing but the whole booty now. They’ve earned themselves this shot at immortality."

England's team of 007s spy chance to get far more than a quantum of solace according to Simon Barnes in The Times.

	England celebrate scoring one of their five tries against France at Twickenham © Getty Images

"For months, nothing they did worked. Everything they touched turned to filth and corruption. Bad things led to bad things with the most devastating inevitability. But yesterday, in a match that was not so much extraordinary as unbelievable, England beat France 34-10 and ran in five tries.

"They looked unrecognisable, but they were the same guys, more or less: the same key personnel, the same manager. All that changed was the cycle of depression. All they did was break the pattern, the one in which error led to error, folly led to folly, calamity led to calamity.

"Perhaps this has been a half-decent team all along, just one that happened to be playing badly. Perhaps it was just that things got on top of them, that the penalties they conceded could lead only to more penalties, that the yellow cards they received could lead only to more yellow cards, that one woeful performance made the next woeful performance inevitable."

After a long wait, this was a tantalising glimpse of what is possible for the England writes Kevin Garside in the Daily Telegraph.

"Men in late middle age, temporarily unhinged by the fantastic inversion playing out in the spring sunshine, took to their feet like Morris dancers to execute the Twickenham jig of the embarrassing uncle. The All Blacks had turned up in white shirts and France played like last week's England.

"So, like Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez following the mugging of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Martin Johnson gets to say: "I told you so." The mist lifted to reveal a team of verve and imagination, of backs running at opposing forwards, of a pack hitting the line at pace and the tackle from the legal side, of balls passing swiftly between English hands."

Steve Borthwick defied his critics with a stand-out performance in England's demolition of France according to Richard Williams in the Guardian.

"If you wanted a symbol of England's victory yesterday, you needed to look no further than the bridge of Steve Borthwick's nose. For the first time since he was awarded the England captaincy last autumn, the big black scab there refused to break and bleed.

"This is the same wound that afflicted Martin Corry throughout his time as the squad's figurehead, coming to embody the travails of an honest forward called upon to emulate the qualities and the achievements of the incomparable Martin Johnson. In Borthwick's case the fact that he had been given the job by Johnson himself made his troubles seem all the more poignant."

Writing in the Irish Independent, Eamonn Sweeney believes that there is no team which deserves to close out the deal the way this team of O'Driscoll, O'Gara, Hayes, O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Wallace et al does.

	Ireland's Jamie Heaslip celebrates scoring at Murrayfield © Getty Images

"Eighty minutes to go. Eighty minutes to consummate the most successful era in Irish rugby since the 1940s with the crowning glory last achieved in those years soon after what we called the Emergency and everyone else called World War Two.

"Eighty minutes away from putting an end to the criticism which observes that, for all their excellence, their multiple Triple Crowns, their wins over southern hemisphere opposition, the current golden generation have under-achieved.

"And, because a lot is asked of those who have much to offer, it'll have to be full duck or no dinner next Saturday evening in Cardiff. There have been years when a Six Nations championship would have been regarded as good enough. But while we can conceivably lose to Wales and still win that particular title, that won't feel like victory. It has to be the Grand Slam now."

Ireland will chase a Grand Slam next Saturday in Cardiff, potentially their first in 61 years and only the second in their history after a flawed but character laden performance at Murrayfield according to John O'Sullivan in the Irish Times.

"Conceding six penalties in the opening 20 minutes, Ireland put themselves under unnecessary pressure especially as Paterson had yet to miss a kick in this season’s Six Nations Championship. He posted the first three opportunities presented, the first from the touchline, which should have been a salutary reminder not to transgress, but Ireland were serial offenders.

"South African referee Jonathan Kaplan was quite pernickety when it came to the breakdown as is his prerogative and he took an especially dim view of the visitor’s desire to compete for the ball. The Scots elected not to kick the ball out of play where possible, denying Ireland a platform that is generally lucrative."

That Ireland and Wales encountered stiffer resistance than they expected may be a good thing for the climax of the championship according to Eddie Butler in The Observer.

"It says something about the Six Nations, and possibly nothing too complimentary about its quality, that the two sides who will fight for the title on Saturday struggled to victories against the teams who vied only last week for the wooden spoon. This seems to be one of those championships that is losing its sparkle the closer it approaches what should be an utterly climactic final weekend.

"Still, when you haven't won a grand slam for 61 years, it's unlikely you'll give two hoots about having to grind one out at last. If the elusive tag of unbeaten champions comes reduced to atoms, Ireland will take it, no fear. They came to Murrayfield with nothing but a clinical job on their minds. The mere selection of Denis Leamy ahead of Jamie Heaslip in the starting line-up told of an arm-wrestle rather than a gallop."

The Welsh flanker on his short-lived retirement, how to make the perfect break, his training regime and what kit he uses - read his thoughts in the Sunday Times.

"The 33-year-old flanker brushes aside his short-lived retirement as a “mistake” brought on by Wales’s early exit from the Rugby World Cup in 2007, and “18 tough months of playing rugby”.

"He is now relishing being at the heart of a Wales team that is finally playing to its potential and being compared to the great Wales teams of the 1970s. “They’ll have to force me out next time,” he says."

Writing in the Sunday Times, Stephen Jones reports from Ireland's narrow victory over Scotland at Murrayfield insisting the exuberance of youth preserved their Grand Slam challenge.

"The dream lives on for Ireland after a nightmare of a match. They go to Cardiff well on course for their second Grand Slam and there is no shame in playing badly when paralysed by nerves, by the experimental law variations and by the fact that your key men were off-form, as were Ronan O’Gara, Brian O’Driscoll and several others yesterday at a wind-swept Murrayfield.

"And after the appalling decision of the Welsh management to field a weakened side against Italy in Rome earlier in the afternoon, Ireland can take the RBS Six Nations title even if they lose. They are not remotely in the same class as the Wales team who won the Slam last season but they may well be in the class of the declined Dragons this time around. Just like Colin Montgomerie trying to win a major championship, you do feel Ireland should be put out of their misery and claim the big one for only the second time in their history."

Ireland enjoyed a memorable sing-song with folk legend Christy Moore earlier this week and kept the party going on Saturday writes Brendan Gallagher in the Sunday Telegraph

"It was Cliff Morgan, choirmaster for Wales and the Lions as well as one of the game’s legendary fly-halves, who always maintained that a team that sung together normally won together and perhaps he had a point. If great things are to be achieved a side have got to be comfortable in their own company and that’s the benefit and value of evenings such as Monday when Moore dropped into their hotel

"The Irish supporters have been here many times before – fanciful dreams and barely suppressed expectation building slowly through February only, historically, to dissolve in the first warmth of spring. The Green Army always travel hopefully, to do otherwise would be a betrayal but their final destination has always seemed out of touch in the brutal world of modern professional rugby."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Wynne Gray takes aim at the blazer brigade within SANZAR and the IRB.

"Talk about sticking the cold steel up 'em, exposing the ineptitude of the Southern Hemisphere administrators in their own dungheap ... sorry the soon-to-be soaring grandstands and Eden Park surroundings which will host the 2011 World Cup final.

"It was a disconcerting/comforting day when the blazers rode into Eden Park the other day and delivered their plans, ideas and resolutions about the seventh global tournament. Gratifying to hear RWC officials unveil their choices for an event which does not kick off for more than 2 years. There will be areas for public discussion, points of contention and disagreement about some details like the late kickoffs but decisions have been made.

"It was disturbing to think that men often lampooned for their ineffectiveness had outdistanced their new-age Sanzar counterparts. It is an indictment when the RWC can outflank Sanzar, when those characterised as the doddering global administrators can hit the tape earlier than those smart young things from the Southern Hemisphere. Spanked them well and truly."

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mick Cleary previews England's clash with France at Twickenham and insists the time for factoring in the quality of the opposition as mitigation for an England performance is over.

"But make no mistake. For Martin Johnson's England, tomorrow's game against France is laden with jeopardy and significance.

"...If England find fluency through their half-backs, it will mean their pack has laid down a secure platform. England's kicking game, and the fierceness and accuracy of their chase, has been inadequate. All of this has to improve. So, too, the contribution of beleaguered captain Steve Borthwick. He has to deliver, so too the men around him. They have it within them to claim an important win."

The Times sought the opinions of a group of distinguished former players from the past 40 years to identify where it is going wrong for England and what they can do to keep all 15 players on the pitch.

"How is it that England, which is renowned as the most disciplined of rugby countries, has leapt to the top of the leaderboard in penalties conceded in this championship, outranking even Italy, who have so often held that dubious honour? Even though they beat Italy comfortably, England conceded more penalties and gave their opponents the same number of kicks at goal as they took themselves.

"It is a problem that hangs over England as they face France at Twickenham on Sunday, with tough questions being asked of the side's leaders, Martin Johnson, the team manager, and Steve Borthwick, the captain. But are they to blame? Should the erring players take responsibility, or are England suffering at the hands of overzealous referees?"

Following Nick Mallett's daft decision to play Mauro Bergamasco at scrum-half earlier in the Six Nations tournament, the Independent looks at other ploys that proved unwise.

"A feature of the Lions' troubled tour to Australia in 2001 was the on-going spat between Austin Healey (right) and Wallaby lock Justin Harrison. At Gosford, against Australia A, Harrison had chased the scrum-half out of a ruck after seeing him hit one of his team-mates in retaliation for a kick on Will Greenwood.

"They met again when the Lions met the ACT Brumbies a week later. Harrison kneed Healey in the thigh. The injury would force the England No.9 to miss the second Test yet he still managed to scored two tries against the Brumbies and after both the pair indulged in some verbal sparring. When the Wallabies called up Harrison for the decisive third Test, Healey described the lock in his newspaper column as a 'a plod, a plank and an ape.' Healey was later fined for his comments and publicly rebuked by Lions coach Graham Henry, and Harrison was to have the last laugh, stealing the crucial last minute lineout in the third Test to clinch an Australia series victory.

"...As acts of brainlessness go, the decision by France's most capped prop Sylvain Marconnet to go on a skiing holiday in the middle of the 2007 Six Nations with a World Cup to look forward to later in the year, takes some beating. Inevitability, the 30-year-old Stade Francais prop suffered a double fracture of the left tibia, which required an operation to insert a screw in the bone, ruling him out for five months and the World Cup in his own country."

Eddie Butler offers five key factors could combine to see the men in green snatch a rare piece of silverware - read his thoughts in the Guardian.

"1. The longevity of John Hayes - "...He does not charge like one in open play or rip up the set pieces, but Hayes is deceptive. The Irish scrum, for example, does not go anywhere. Hasn't for a long time. Opponents target it and Ireland hold firm, Hayes bearing the brunt of their weight.

"2. The coach's choice of lieutenants - "...Declan Kidney has conducted a revolution by stealth, but he has transformed Ireland. First, in the summer of 2008, he constructed his coaching team...and he has selected shrewdly on the field, keeping Brian O'Driscoll as captain when the centre appeared a spent force, bringing on Tomas O'Leary, Stephen Ferris, Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald, and always with his Munster pack as his rock.

"3. The rebirth of Brian O'Driscoll - "...Overweight and off the pace mentally, the career of Ireland's leading try scorer was going only one way...In one of the most memorable comebacks of the professional game, O'Driscoll has reinvented himself: lean, responsible and sparkling.

"4. The back five of the pack - "...Ireland's pack still has a single-strain monopoly about it, but a selective programme has let others into the Munster herd.

"5. 5 The dancing Mr D'Arcy - "...The 29-year-old is more than simply well-balanced and tricky in tight spaces; he brings a bit of attitude to the centre, a feistiness that contrasts with Wallace's seriousness and Brian O'Driscoll's new-found fatherliness."

England manager Martin Johnson is keen to see his side keep the home crowd on-side during their Six Nations clash with France according to Robert Kitson in the Guardian.

"As Martin Johnson openly concedes, there is no hiding place for England tomorrow. Defeat to an improving French side would not, in itself, be a disgrace but woe betide the hosts if another couple of players are sin-binned and their defence fails to scale the heights of Cardiff and Dublin. Twickenham supporters are mostly a loyal bunch but the fraying fig-leaf currently preserving English modesty is in some need of reinforcement.

"Johnson even felt it necessary yesterday to urge his players to supply the home crowd with something to cheer early on, tacit acknowledgement that England also have hearts and minds to conquer in the penultimate game of a frustrating Six Nations campaign."

Mark Souster, writing in The Times, ponders the reasons for Jonny Wilkinson's interest in a move to France.

"For years, followers of rugby and the career of Jonny Wilkinson have scratched their heads in disbelief at the England star's insistence on staying at Newcastle Falcons despite their singular lack of success. For the once golden boy of the English game, loyalty and a desire not to cut and run, however tough the going became, have been his watchwords.

"Lawrence Dallaglio, the former England captain, has at times publicly articulated the thoughts of many when questioning Wilkinson's rationale and his absence from the Heineken Cup. At every round of contract negotiations, the England fly half talked of his desire to stay and build success with the only club he has played for as a professional, of wanting to feature on Europe's biggest stage - only once has he done so - with the Falcons and of helping to build on the sporting dynasty begun by Sir John Hall, whose empire also included Newcastle United.

"So what, after 12 years, has finally made Wilkinson change his mind to decide even to consider leaving, to end his “blind” loyalty?"

Writing in the Irish Independent, Peter Bills insists that trying to play normal rugby for 80 minutes at that altitude is a killer for visiting sides.

	Will the Lions follow the lead of Stormers' coach Rassie Erasmus when they take on the Boks at altitude? © Getty Images

"For the Stormers' game at altitude in Pretoria last Saturday, Erasmus adopted a fascinating strategy, one the Lions might well consider emulating when they go there in June. Basically, for the first 50 minutes, Erasmus's team refused to play any rugby. They chose some heavyweight, experienced guys up front to win the ball and selected two arch kickers, Willem de Waal at fly-half and Percy Montgomery at full-back. Both kicked the leather off the ball in those first 50 minutes.

The Bulls did exactly the same thing, which led to a contest of aerial ping pong. It was ghastly stuff to watch but, in the Stormers' case, there was a shrewd ulterior motive behind it. Thereafter, from around the 50th minute, the Stormers suddenly started to open up and play rugby. They switched to keeping ball in hand, moved it wide and ran hard. In the end, they fell just four points short in a 14-10 defeat but, given that most critics had expected them to be overwhelmed, it was a moral victory for Erasmus's controversial game-plan.

"...This information should be of crucial interest to the Lions because I understand they will spend most of the week leading up to the Pretoria Test preparing at sea level in Cape Town. They'll only fly up there on the Friday, which is what a lot of teams tend to do these days. But few have tried Erasmus's philosophy and few have got as close to the home team at Loftus Versfeld. It is no coincidence that the Lions have been given an itinerary of two Tests at altitude. In 1997, when they last toured South Africa, two Tests were at sea level, a clear help for the tourists. This time the South Africans want to make it as hard as possible."

The Irish Times' Johnny Watterson talks to the frustrated, ambitious Denis Leamy about his return to the starting Ireland XV.

"Leamy’s injury concerns have been exacerbated by the blooming of backrows Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip in tandem with the form of David Wallace and also by Declan Kidney’s policy of keeping a squad internally competitive. The older Leamy watched from the physio table as two younger players appeared to consolidate their positions with strong performances in the first three Six Nations games. Heaslip, with 16 caps was born in 1983, 11-cap Ferris in 1985. Leamy, born in 1981 and initially out in the cold, has earned 10 caps more than Heaslip and Ferris combined.

“It’s difficult,” he says, “you’ve got to understand the boys are playing well. They got the opportunity. They got the jersey against France. They played very well that day and they kept the jersey. You can’t argue with that. Sometimes you’ve got to put your hand up and say ‘fair play’. Given the chances I’ve got I’ve tried to do my best for the few minutes I’ve come on. But to get a start is a big help because that’s where you can set out a stall and really put your footprint on a game."

Writing in the Independent, Chris Hewett reports on England's decision to recall 35-year-old lock Simon Shaw.

"It is a mighty long time since England felt the need to bulk up against the French: probably not since the mid-1970s, when the tricolore pack boasted such delicate little charmers as the heavyweight boxer Gerard Cholley and the lock Jean-François Imbernon, who liked to be known as "The Godfather". But for this weekend's Six Nations meeting at Twickenham, where defeat is simply not an option for the home side, Martin Johnson has ordered extra helpings of beef.

"...On the subject of the players under most heat from the public prints – Borthwick, Toby Flood and Danny Care – the manager was as unshakeable as he was immovable. All three, in his view, are going concerns, despite the vast tonnage of criticism piled upon them."

The Wasps fly-half would be advised to get his game back to its best at his club rather than sweat in the England pressure cooker according to Paul Rees in the Guardian.

"It is not as if Cipriani's performances for Wasps merited a recall, even if his selection last November, just weeks after he had returned from a serious leg injury, said more about England's problems in the outside-half position than the 21-year-old's form. Given the emphasis England have placed on defence this year, an outside-half suspect in the tackle was not going to be an automatic choice, although Andy Goode hardly offered much more in the way of security.

"It was only a few weeks ago that attention was lavished on Cipriani's tendency to have kicks charged down, a weakness that again manifested itself last Sunday. More than that, Wasps have not been playing with the fizz of recent years and they have yet to garner a try bonus point in the Premiership. Like England, Cipriani has flashed intermittently and is better off seeking consistency with Wasps, all the more so because of the intense pressure Martin Johnson's men are under."

David Hands, writing in The Times, believes that Nick Kennedy has been hard done by after being dropped by England.

	Nick Kennedy has been replaced by Simon Shaw © Getty Images

"Professional sport seldom has much to do with fairness for its participants but if Nick Kennedy does not have a raging sense of injustice at missing Sunday's game against France, it will be strange indeed. The London Irish lock has been growing into international rugby during this Six Nations Championship so to be supplanted by Simon Shaw will be very galling.

"If Martin Johnson wanted to change his side in midstream, now is the time to do it with two home games remaining and nothing to lose since England have only a limited chance of being in the mix when championship honours are decided on March 21. But of the two locks who have played in the last three games, Kennedy has been a greater contributor in an all-round sense than Steve Borthwick, the captain.

"This happened to Kennedy in November, when he made his debut against the Pacific Islanders and then made way for Tom Palmer before returning for the final autumn international, against New Zealand. But throughout the championship he has been the go-to man at the lineout and has become increasingly effective in loose play."

The Sunday Times' Stephen Jones is bemused by England dropping Nick Kennedy, enjoys Nigel Starmer-Smith's commentary and pays tribute to TV blondes.

"Johnson was not brought in for his diplomatic skills or his coaching skills or for the nuances of the game. He was brought in to follow his instincts and to bank on his experience. I find it absolutely incredible if Johnson truly believes that the Shaw-Borthwick combination is the best he can field to play against France. It seems that he is making excuses on a daily basis for a selection which, deep in his heart, he must suspect is the wrong one.

"Hail big Simon, but whether the return of this outstanding lock really galvanises England is another matter altogether. Again, it seems we have been treated this week to the party line, not to an England forward improvement and not to the real Martin Johnson. I find the second row selection not so much mystifying, as staggering."

Robert Kitson, writing in The Guardian, believes that the modern game is being stifled of its attacking charm by relentless defence and statistical analysis.

"It is increasingly likely that this Six Nations title will be won by a hunched bloke sitting in the stand, eyes trained on a monitor. More than ever we live in an age where prevention is nine-tenths of the law and defence is king of the road. Last year, Wales won a grand slam not so much because they played their opponents off the park, but because they stopped them crossing their try-line. Full stop. Shaun Edwards's mean machine coughed up only two tries in five matches and it made all the difference.

"This season is shaping up similarly. The most striking memory of Paris, at least to the television viewer, was the blue midfield blitz that gave Wales no room whatsoever on the few occasions they escaped the clutches of an outstanding French back row.

"Croke Park? We all know what a stifling occasion that was, with the honourable exceptions of Brian O'Driscoll's brave lunge beneath the radar and Delon Armitage's gather of Andy Goode's rolling chip.

"Italy have managed only one try so far this tournament, in the form of Mirco Bergamasco's consolation effort against England, who are yet to concede a try with 15 men on the field. It is tight out there, too damn tight."

John Leicester is not very impressed with the standard of rugby on show in this year's Six Nations and predicts more joy for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa when the hemipsheres clash later this year. Read his thoughts in the New Zealand Herald.

"You can almost hear the All Blacks licking their lips. The Springboks and Wallabies, too, for that matter.

"Rugby's top three nations, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, can hardly be experiencing any other emotion than expectant satisfaction as they look northward to the less than impressive spectacle being offered by Europe in the Six Nations tournament that is throwing up more spills than thrills. Much of it so far hasn't been pretty or terribly encouraging for hopes that European teams might mount a genuine title challenge at the next World Cup."

France coach Marc Lievremont is creating a team that will play without fear, according to Hugh Godwin in The Independent.

"Marc Lièvremont kept his hands firmly on the desk in front of him when he met the media after the recent win over Wales but he might as well have given them the "bras d'honneur". Arm bent at the elbow, fist pumping upwards; the Gallic equivalent of our two-fingered salute. By inflicting a first defeat on the Welsh in two years of the Six Nations Championship, Lièvremont's France stayed in the running for the title and they will jog into Twickenham this Sunday with confidence renewed.

"The list of sporting coaches who have railed against the press is as long as your arm, bent or otherwise. But Lièvremont, who became head coach of Les Bleus at the start of 2008, is emerging as a man who knows which fights to pick and how to win them. Wales were beaten at their own high-tempo game at the Stade de France and it was a vindication of Lièvremont's chopping and changing of personnel, with a dollop of luck thrown in. Now for Les Rosbifs.

"The way Lièvremont describes it, France are seeking a Mediterranean style of rugby, which means a great reliance on the set piece, and a natural place for spreading the ball wide. A penalty try conceded by France's scrum at home to Ireland last year was the blackest of marks as the Lièvremont era began."

The Western Mail reflects on Wales' unlikely triumph at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

	Wales' Aled Thomas celebrates his side's victory at the Rugby World Cup Sevens © Getty Images

"Training at Cornish Pirates, Exeter Chiefs and London Welsh will be a curious affair this week. So, too, at Neath and Newport in the Principality Welsh Premiership, while not even the plusher pastures of Cardiff Arms Park, Rodney Parade and the Liberty Stadium have welcomed too many world champions. Household names will be elsewhere, preparing for Six Nations skirmishes at Murrayfield, Twickenham and Rome, but the golden glint of World Cup medals will shine as much as the sevens rugby in Dubai itself.

"So how did it come to this? How did Wales – who did not even have a sevens side little more than three years ago after some WRU cost-cutting – turn themselves from 80-1 title outsiders into world champions? How did a team that had to pre-qualify in Germany beat mighty New Zealand (15-14 in the quarter-final) and sevens specialists Samoa (19-12 in the semi-final) and then avenge an earlier pool defeat to Argentina to win sevens rugby's greatest prize?"

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, former England hooker Brian Moore believes England are not far away from a performance that will oust the pessimists and show the wisdom of the appointment of Martin Johnson.

"At the moment, views range from Stuart Barnes's that fundamentally England are bereft of a forward-thinking strategy and that the whole tactical approach has to be radically altered to those of Johnson himself, who believes that but for minor setbacks in the last two games, England would be sitting pretty; played three, won three. As usual, the truth lies betwixt these extremes.

"The truth is not that England show no ambition or play without invention; rather that they cannot create sufficient quality first-phase ball and more particularly similar second, third and fourth phase possession to enable their backs to play. Use the dreadful description 'ambition' if you like, but a better way to encapsulate what it is that other teams do so well is to say that they play what is in front of them; wherever they find themselves on the field. Moreover, and this is a crucial point, they realise that slow ball should either be kicked, or has to have momentum put on it before it can be spread wide."

Newcastle fly-half Jonny Wilkinson is nearing a return to action after a five-month injury lay-off but England will not be on his mind according to David Hands in The Times.

"That is part of Wilkinson’s problem: his standing remains so high in the game after his record-breaking international achievements that any return to action creates the assumption that his form will immediately demand recognition by his country. He has always been totally realistic about his expectations and only when he is fit and ready will he contemplate the international game.

"There has been talk of Wilkinson, who has another year remaining on his Newcastle contract, joining ambitious Racing Metro in Paris, as well as Toulon or Bayonne in southwest France. There is a connection with Toulon, where the general manager, Tom Whitford, is a family friend and Philippe Saint-Andre will bring greater sanity to recruitment when he takes over as rugby director.

"There is no doubt, of course, that he is an expensive asset at a time when every Premiership club is having to cut costs and that, through persistent injury, his value has been as a brand name rather than leading an assault on the Premiership and on Europe. But it is only a year ago that he won the last of his 70 caps for England and, at 29, is young enough to add more."

Former Wales international Barry John believes his former side are in good hands with lock Alun-Wyn Jones handed the captaincy for the Six Nations clash with Italy. Read his thoughts in the Wales on Sunday.

"I don’t think there is any doubt that in the Ospreys second row we have the future as far as the leadership of the Wales side is concerned; and I’m talking about the 2011 World Cup for definite. To be captain you have to have total command over your jersey; you should really be the first name on the team sheet.

"Well, that’s what Alun Wyn Jones is at the moment, a fellow who has all the characteristics needed to captain Wales for years. Not only has he come through brilliantly in terms of his playing form in the last year, he also has intelligence and a good understanding of people around him. He seems to command a lot of respect."

Never mind the Grand Slam, Ireland are concentrating on Scotland at Murrayfield according to skipper Brian O'Driscoll writing in the Guardian.

"All this talk of Ireland winning the grand slam is in the media and certainly not within our changing room. I don't think there is any more pressure on the players now than after our first win against France. Nothing has changed for us. We still have a certain number of matches that have to be won against tough ­opposition. In the Ireland camp we are all completely focused on the Scotland game on Saturday.

"There has been a lot made of my comment in a press conference last month about a tomato. I can reassure you there was no deep and meaningful background to this seemingly philosophical moment. Some have even called it my Eric Cantona moment, but it was nothing but a bet from one of the Ireland boys. Each day we are in camp we receive the following day's schedule and within it our baggage master, Paddy O'Reilly, includes a thought of the day. The tomato comment was his thought of the day and in exchange for including it in the press conference I am pleased to say that one of the boys now has to do a rather unpleasant forfeit."

Win puts women in sevens heaven

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/09/2009

Greg Growden reflects on the recent success of Australia's women's side at the Rugby World Cup Sevens - read his thoughts in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Women's rugby in Australia has long been the forgotten sister of the local game, but that all changed on Saturday when our sevens team won the inaugural World Cup tournament in Dubai. Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill, who attended the tournament, was one of many to yesterday praise the sevens team, which defeated New Zealand 15-10 in a final that went to sudden-death extra time after the game was tied 10-10 at full-time.

"...This victory will give Australian women's rugby, which has struggled for funding, support and exposure, an enormous boost. O'Neill, who is travelling back with the team which will arrive in Sydney this morning, said last night that the team had, "ensured it will forever hold a unique place in the game"."

March 8, 2009

Clive Woodward should mentor Martin Johnson

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/08/2009

The vision and stature of Clive Woodward can help Johnson’s England reach great heights - so says former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio in the Sunday Times.

	A re-union of Woodward and Johnson has been proposed by Lawrence Dallaglio © Getty Images

"England are ranked eighth in the world which is about as low as a country with more players than anybody else can get...There is a problem, a deep-rooted malaise in English rugby and its name is not Martin Johnson. He is doing a good job in the circumstances but the circumstances are wrong. Under Johnson, England are becoming harder to beat and there is every chance they will beat the French and the Scots over the next two weekends. But how far are we intending to go on this journey? Are England likely to go to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand as the No 1-ranked team in the world?

"...Johnno is a bright guy who has what it takes to become an excellent England manager but he is a rookie who was thrown in at the deep end. Who does he end up working with? A team of mostly young, talented but in international terms, inexperienced coaches. The one thing Johnno lacks? Experience. While Clive Woodward left the RFU in somewhat acrimonious circumstances, I believe he should be brought back into the fold to support Johnson and help get England back to the top of world rugby. I believe Martin needs mentoring, someone more experienced than he whom he can bounce ideas off and in Woodward he would have someone who has been there, made the mistakes and come through.

"I mean, why would you ignore a man who did the job for seven years and has accumulated a vast fund of expertise? It just makes sense that when Martin wonders whether something is right or wrong, which will happen time and again, he has somebody of Woodward’s stature to turn to. People will say, “Oh, yeah, Lawrence and Clive got on well,” but that has nothing to do with this. I disagreed with Clive more than most players."

Italy could kick England's bid for 2015 Rugby World Cup into touch

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/08/2009

England's chance of hosting the 2015 Rugby World Cup is coming under threat from a buoyant Italy according to Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph.

"Italy, whose government has underwritten the £80million guarantee required by the IRB, will have access to the right-sized football stadia provided they can do a deal with the Serie A authorities, and they also tick the box of a "developing rugby nation". Following widespread criticism of the IRB's decision to side with New Zealand rather than Japan for the 2011 tournament, rugby's governing body is keen to demonstrate that it is capable of venturing outside the old Five Nations countries and the southern hemisphere big three of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. Italy, a member of the Six Nations since 2000 but with a chronically under-developed domestic league, is still viewed as an emerging nation on the world stage.

"In recent weeks senior RFU officials have had meetings with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham and London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, in an attempt to drum up support for their campaign. However, the Government, whilst indicating they would facilitate the bid and help with security costs, estimated by the RFU at around £8million, have stopped short of pledging the £80million guarantee."

For all their sins, England will beat France

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/08/2009

Defeats in Cardiff and Dublin hardly suggest England are in crisis according to Eddie Butler in The Observer

"The good thing about Martin Johnson is that he saves on the plinth. He stands so tall that you don't have to waste time undermining some great marble base to bring him crashing down.

"The man(ager) who would sort out England has managed only to watch a line of players, worker ants whose sense of duty has been short-circuited, trailing to and from the sin bin. Johnson, in one of the most revealing cutaways of the championship, was caught thumping himself with his giant fist, encapsulating all the frustration and self-destruction of England's performances in the Six Nations.

"Suddenly, his is a lonely job. Sir Clive Woodward, who owes every dubbed inch of his bloody knighthood to his former captain, spoke of Johnson's inexperience as a manager. This was a pat on the back from an old friend holding a drawing pin. Johnson, the majestic team leader of 2003 is on his own in charge of England 2009."

Can NZRU legally deny McAlister?

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/08/2009

Gregor Paul believes the New Zealand Rugby Union's existing rule about eligibility belongs to a different age and has been made to look awkward and ill-conceived. Read his thoughts in the New Zealand Herald.

"There is something the New Zealand Rugby Union board will have to decide if they refuse to make Luke McAlister immediately eligible for the All Blacks - would that be legal?

"It doesn't seem so. A collective agreement is in place for all New Zealand's professional players. Could it really be legal to have 140 players employed on one basis and McAlister on another? Wouldn't it be a restraint of trade if he was told he can't immediately play for the All Blacks when he returns in May? And wouldn't it be considered discriminatory to brand him ineligible?"

March 7, 2009

Return to traditional Lions values can restore the roar

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/07/2009

Former Ireland and Lions star Tony Ward hopes that this year's elite tourists can learn from the past - read his thoughts in the Irish Independent.

	Clive Woodward got it wrong as the Lions coach in 2005 according to Tony Ward © Getty Images

"If '97 launched the Lions into the professional age, the '05 tour from hell brought a deluded few back to reality with a bang. For those of us privileged to have worn the Lions colours and to have partaken in the unique touring experience, that debacle saddened us. Few tears were shed at the overall outcome to that tour.

"Clive Woodward the player was an outstanding Lion, but Sir Clive the Coach lost the run of himself, and with it the respect of Lions past and present. I toured with Woody in '80 and he was Jack the Lad; the archetypal rugby tourist. For whatever reason he lost that vital touring perspective in the build-up to and duration of that manic trip to New Zealand. Thankfully it was a line in the sand, with new Lions head coach Ian McGeechan and tour manager Gerald Davies intent on making Lions touring again what it once was. The appointment of the former Lions' legends was as inspired as it was essential."

Working on getting the right blend

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/07/2009

Writing in the Irish Times, Gerry Thornley finds that as transitional periods for Ireland go this one has a good mix of new energy and experience.

"Three of the players who started against England last Saturday – Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes – have now played 90 Tests or more in what looks like a foot race to become the first Irish player to reach a century of caps, while a further four have a half-century to their name. Yet at the other end of the spectrum, a half-dozen of the starting line-up at Croke Park a week ago had 15 caps or less to their name.

"This gradual restructuring of the team is nothing like on the scale of the game against Scotland in 2000, when Warren Gatland made eight changes from the team beaten a fortnight before by 50-18 in Twickenham, including five new caps. Even so, there’s probably never been such an infusion of relatively new players since then, albeit over a more protracted period of time."

Eddie Jones: You need three or four years to build a club

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/07/2009

As his time as Saracens supremo nears an end, Eddie Jones reflects on the pressures on the sport's leading coaches in The Independent.

"So the figures tell us that, on average, a Guinness Premiership coach can expect to stay in his job for around 20 months. It's a pretty brutal statistic, but I wouldn't say it surprises me: rugby coaching has had an increasingly unstable feel to it for a while now.

"I wouldn't say things are about to get better, either. Instant gratification, the "I want it now" syndrome, call it what you will – it's part and parcel of the way society as a whole is developing. And professional sport, rugby included, has never been entirely immune to social trends, even though the wages paid to top footballers make you wonder whether the economic downturn actually exists.

"I'm one of the coaches moving on at the end of the season, a couple of years earlier than planned. Twenty months? I didn't get close. My circumstances at Saracens are private and unforeseen, but without doubt, my first spell in charge of an English club has had its challenges."

Regime change in Rugby Union

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/07/2009

Rugby union is becoming more and more like football in its willingness to sack coaches. Chris Hewett examines a disturbing trend, while the Saracens coach offers a first-hand insight into the perils of having to deliver instant success. Read his thoughts in The Independent.

"Richard Hill ended a long and frequently heroic coaching association with Bristol last week, and the manner of his leaving was not pleasant in the slightest. Eddie Jones will walk away from Saracens at the end of the season, exasperated and unfulfilled, while Philippe Saint-André is about to leave Sale, one of the best top-flight teams in England, for Toulon, one of the worst in France. There is no guarantee that when Wasps begin their 2009-10 campaign in September, they will do so under the stewardship of Ian McGeechan. The same uncertainty surrounds Dean Ryan's future at Gloucester.

"In Formula One, they call it "musical chairs". In football, they call it normal. But big-time club rugby was never meant to be like football: everyone said so, from the owners and chairmen in their private lounges to the chief executives and Guinness Premiership administrators charged with growing a business from scratch in the face of considerable adversity. Football was "not the right model" at this early point in the union game's development as a professional sport, they insisted. "If we go down the football road, we'll find a brick wall at the end of it.""

Rees gives England clear sign of intent

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/07/2009

As Wasps flanker Tom Rees returns to action following a knee injury, David Hands of The Times believes all he has to do is stay fit for an extended period so that he can exert the influence that so many believe he can for his club and country.

"Comparisons of one era to another are mostly invidious, but Wasps are going through a period reminiscent of 14 years ago. At that time a troop of experienced players, led by Rob Andrew, headed north to begin the professional era with Newcastle Falcons and Lawrence Dallaglio, a young back-row forward, became captain and headed the drive into the most successful decade of the club's history.

"Now Wasps are enduring a transitional period, three of their internationals are heading for the Continent and Rees offers the potential as a leader to steer the club to higher ground. He will not talk about club captaincy, but he is the right material."

March 6, 2009

Last chance saloon

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/06/2009

Wales and Wasps coach Shaun Edwards puts forward his belief that England must beat France to silence their critics and move on in The Guardian.

"Four years ago France, with their coach under the cosh as his side wobbled unsteadily towards World Cup disappointment on home soil, were at Twickenham in the Six Nations and by half-time they were being blown away. England had scored two tries and if Charlie Hodgson and Olly Barkley had not missed a couple of kicks apiece, would have been out of sight. However, at 17–6 there were few reasons to doubt a home victory.

"Then the discipline question cropped up: England let theirs go while France got their act together. It seems that during the interval the defence coach Dave Ellis, once of Gloucester and now of Brive, read the riot act. In effect he gave the French a couple of seconds to contest the breakdown, then they had to get their hands out. And do it in a very obvious way.

"The referee, Paddy O'Brien, then a veteran of 37 Tests and now head of the international board's referees panel, clearly liked the change and turned his attentions to English indiscretions at the breakdown rather than French ones. Dimitri Yachvili kicked four second-half penalties, England lost by a point and France proved conclusively to any doubters that discipline can be coached – in fact can be coached on the hoof.

March 5, 2009

Can Sevens revitalise the game?

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/05/2009

Stephen Jones remains unconvinced by the lure of Sevens in The Times.

"On the subject of Sevens you may remember that I had to issue a retraction recently. I had become tired of the endless media handouts (written by people from exotic locations) declaring that Sevens was a fantastic way of developing top-class professional players when it palpably is not. Mathew Tait is just one player we tend to overrate because he has scored some sensational tries in Sevens when space was massive and lack of power did not count for much. There are other examples.

"Yet as I then graciously admitted, Sevens tournaments - and particularly the really exotic ones - are brilliant in themselves, as you lap up the whole atmosphere, glamour, friendship and spectacle of them. My first trip to the Hong Kong Sevens lives with me to this day.

"Sevens are also a brilliant promotional vehicle for the sport. It is vital to remember, in this era when the International Rugby Board are promoting the game all over the world, that at one time the Hong Kong Sevens was the prime vehicle for global promotion, the greatest meeting place for the burgeoning world game and for the minnows. Back then, the IRB sat, stupefied, on the sidelines. I can still recall the sense of wonder I felt at watching Papua New Guinea play, and play brilliantly."

March 4, 2009

Captain Sensible in uncharted waters

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/04/2009

Robert Kitson believes that Martin Johnson may be out of his depth as England manager, in his blog for The Guardian.

	Martin Johnson has struggled as England boss © Getty Images

"It is almost 11 months since Martin Johnson was unveiled at Twickenham as England's soon-to-be manager. Remember what he said that April lunchtime? By chance I found the cutting protruding from a sea of paper beneath my desk yesterday. "I'm aware there's a perception that if I'm involved it will all be OK and we'll be successful. But that's not the reality and it never was. I've got my eyes open. I'm not thinking I can turn up and it will work straightaway. It's about getting the right environment and getting the right people around the team in all the various roles. And, obviously, getting the right players and helping them to reach their potential."

"Digging a little further into a teetering stack of discarded intros I also happened across a crumpled charity leaflet. Last year Johnson, along with several other sports stars, supplied a picture with a personalised message on it to be auctioned in aid of Trinity Hospice. The former World Cup-winning captain's note was short and pithy. "If they are going to call you this superhuman and you believe it then you should also believe it when they call you a tosser" – NB: If you type "Martin Johnson" and "tosser" into a search engine you'll currently find 10 of the limited-edition prints on eBay.) Never let it be said Johnno was not braced for the peaks and troughs of his current role, nor that he does not possess a human side.

"The weekend defeat in Ireland, though, represented a personal watershed. Johnson the manager has now lost as many Tests – five – in four months as he did in five years as England's on-field captain. He did the job 39 times between 1998 and 2003 and won on 34 occasions. No wonder he is starting to look slightly peevish. For all his Captain Sensible talk last April, these are now uncharted waters."

Football plundering England's stocks?

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/04/2009

Owen Slot, in his column for The Times, believes that the dominance of football at mini level could be harming the development of young English players.

"Maybe the problem for England rugby is that they get too many second-raters. The cream of the country goes to football and rugby makes do with what is left.

"I’ve got some statistics fresh from the oven here which suggest that rugby is doing a good job – and it is - but there is an inevitability about the magnetism of football and it’s nothing to do with glamour, pay-packets or Baby Bentleys. The stats show that of the 1200 biggest rugby clubs in England the number of kids playing mini-rugby has swollen from 57,036 in July 2003 to 101,655 in July 2008. That constitutes a rise of 78 per cent in five years. Yes, impressive.

"But look at it another way. If you are a parent and you have a young boy who likes to run around, who you think would enjoy sport and would like to get started early, he can be playing mini-football almost anywhere in the country from the age of three. If he is enjoying it and is half-decent, then by the time he is five, he will probably be being trained and prepared to start playing seven-a-side matches for his local club. Competition generally starts at under-seven though there is no legislation on minimum age. In other words, a good five-year-old might well get a game.

"The chances are quite high, therefore, that he is already beyond the clutches of rugby. Due to legislation and insurance issues, rugby clubs cannot play a boy in any kind of a game until they are six though some allow five-year-olds to train."

March 3, 2009

Back to the future

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/03/2009

Spiro Zavos is unsure that a "State of Origin" match between Queensland and New South Wales is appropriate in the era of Super Rugby, on rugbyheaven.com.au.

"John Connolly, the doughty and successful coach of Queensland in their glory days of the "it's great to be an Australian, and even better to be a Queenslander" attitude, has proposed a rugby union state of origin match. The idea has some merit but it really reflects a back-to-the-future obsession when the main game for Queensland was to defeat NSW.

"Super rugby, with the shifting of players from one franchise to another, has taken the edge out of the fanatical (for Queenslanders, at least) rivalry.

"Scott Fava, who is in the Waratahs squad, has played for all four Australian Super 14 franchises, for instance. The rise of the Brumbies, too, has meant that when Queensland beat NSW (for the rivalry is more passionate among Queenslanders than it is south of the border) the team and its supporters cannot indulge in unmitigated bragging rights as the best state side in Australia.

"The thought struck me on Sunday, while I watched the Reds run the ball incessantly at the bulky Cheetahs, that the bright young coach Phil Mooney and the QRU's high-performance manager Ben Whitaker are re-inventing Queensland rugby. The days of the closed-fist forward packs and five-eighths who kicked incessantly are gone. The enforcers are being morphed into the entertainers."

Time for Johnno to muck in

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/03/2009

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mick Cleary puts forward his belief that England manager Martin Johnson needs to gain the respect on his players first-hand.

"True, there was a severe downturn in results during the autumn when record scores were posted against England by South Africa and New Zealand. But Johnson was new to the job, slack was being cut, and hope was on the horizon.

"Hope has turned to disenchantment, expectation to anger. The Six Nations scoreboard may be more favourable to England, with narrow defeats to the supposed form teams in Europe – Wales and Ireland – but the mood has darkened among the public.

"They wonder if Johnson is up to the job, if he has the leadership skills to cope, an unimaginable state of affairs given his track record as a player. But his credibility is taking a battering for one simple reason – his players have let him down.

"Why won't they listen to him? Why won't they obey instructions? Why do they behave like pillocks in the middle of Test matches? You could single out any one damning incident from Danny Care's wanton charge into Marcus Horan, Toby Flood's upfield chase and flop onto Brian O'Driscoll, Phil Vickery's poked hand through a ruck or James Haskell's indiscretion within 17 seconds of the second-half re-start."

March 2, 2009

England's cheating problem

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/02/2009

Simon Barnes takes aim at England's disciplinary problem, and has little time for their excuses, in The Times.

"The England rugby union team do not have a discipline problem. They have a cheating problem. There comes a point when a team break the laws of a game so often that you can no longer consider their conduct a series of aberrations, a collection of individual blunders or a problem of over-enthusiasm. So let's call a spade a spade.

"Breaking the laws of a game is cheating, there's no two ways about it. But let us leave the moral question aside here. Many people in professional sport believe that it is your moral duty to get away with anything you can; many spectators go along with that, at least if they support the team in question. The most obvious point here is that England are not only cheats, they are incompetent cheats.

"Cheating is worthwhile only if you get away with it. England are not getting away with anything. Their cheating brings them no gain. Quite the reverse: they are getting punished heavily for it. But by the most extraordinary process of sporting logic, the more they are caught cheating, the more they cheat.

"Once again, England lost any chance they might have had of winning on Saturday because they constantly broke the laws of the game and they got caught doing so. They have conceded 41 penalties in their three RBS Six Nations Championship games this year and they have received six yellow cards. While they have been short-handed, they have conceded 30 points."

Friday night rugby a saving grace

Posted by Huw Baines on 03/02/2009

Writing in The Guardian, Eddie Butler is thankful for the superb showing from France and Wales on Friday night as Saturday's Six Nations offerings plumbed the depths.

"When it was announced that the Six Nations was going to hold a Friday-night party in Paris, there was a groan. Change is not always welcome in our rugby. Well, thank goodness for that nine o'clock special, the France‑Wales game that made up for one of the most woeful Saturdays of rugby in living memory.

"At least Scotland-Italy had nothing to live up to, having been billed as the wooden-spoon decider. The action was poor from the outset, but nothing was as sad as the sight of so many empty seats at Murrayfield. This was depressing rugby in a time of recession. Instead of lightening the mood, sport reflected these sombre times.

	Sergio Parisse drops a goal at Murrayfield © Getty Images

"What, for example, has happened to Mike Blair? The scrum-half, who after the autumn series was vying for the Lions No9 spot and maybe even the captaincy, had another game of hesitation and slow delivery.

"Italy, badly beaten yet again and struggling to reach the standard required for the championship – not that this Saturday did anything but lower the bar – still held in their ragged ranks the best player on display. Sergio Parisse was captain, tackler, yard-maker, inspiration and drop-goal kicker. He could not have done more."

March 1, 2009

Scots workmen dig for victory

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Iain Morrison was far from impressed as Scotlan registered their first win of the Six Nations against Italy at Murrayfield. Read his views in The Scotsman.

"Scotland kick-started their Six Nations campaign with their first championship win over Italy in three years, although it was beer and sandwiches stuff rather than the champagne and caviar fare that was on the fans' wish list.

"...Other than the scores, the game had precious little to commend it. The ball spent too much time in the heavens above Murrayfield as neither side trusted themselves to attack from deep with the ball in hand."

O'Driscoll delivers decisive points

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Ireland's victory cannot hide a feeling of sheer relief according to John O'Brien in the Irish Independent.

	Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll forces his way over for a try at Croke Park © Getty Images

"As an occasion it promised nothing of the explosive drama we witnessed here two years ago and, in no way did it ever come close to delivering it.

"There was no comparable sense of intrigue about yesterday. No novel historical context, no questions about anthems or security arrangements to heighten the tension. Nor had Ireland any call on long-standing emotional grievances to push them closer to the line. To win they had to do it the hard way. In a way they had so much more to play for and you could be kind to Ireland by suggesting that the pressure they were under diminished them aesthetically. In 2007 they'd come off the back of a heart-rending defeat against France and, on the day, the mood of the England game was unique and positively surreal. The thing about one-off sporting occasions is that they can't be recreated on demand, though. Yesterday the dynamics had altered appreciably."

O'Driscoll inspires Ireland in battle of attrition

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

John O'Sullivan reports from Croke Park where Ireland kept their Grand Slam dream alive with victory over England. Read his report in the Irish Times.

"Ireland will reflect on this 80 minutes at Croke Park grateful for several outstanding individual performances but primarily for the fact that England once again displayed such gross indiscipline that ultimately proved their undoing.

"...England coach Martin Johnson should be livid because those indiscretions plus another ridiculously high penalty count effectively cost the visitors the match. His Ireland counterpart Declan Kidney will be grateful to have escaped on a day when Ireland huffed and puffed but lacked the vision to get around a resolute English defence. Kick and chase and lumbering carries around the fringes were never going to discommode England unduly unless the latter was done at pace. It was largely missing all evening."

Sin-bin city traps Johnson’s serial offenders

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Stuart Barnes insists England skipper Steve Borthwick is not up to the task of leading his country - read his assessment in the Sunday Times.

"Do not let the late try for England and the one-point defeat mask the realities of where England reside in terms of their international status. They were a mid-table member of the elite when Brian Ashton was dismissed; they are now thrashing around furiously in the shallows with the minnows, shorn of confidence, know-how, a kicking strategy, leadership and discipline.

"...The former captain has appointed another second row as his voice for the team. The new captain lacks the presence and clout to bring off the trick of leadership as Johnson used to do. A tall but unimposing man, he stoops and is brushed off in a manner anathema to giants such as Johnson and Dallaglio in their prime. He is doing his best; it is not enough."

Scotland relieve pressure on Frank Hadden

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Mark Palmer reports from Scotland's victory over Italy at Murrayfield - read his thoughts in the Sunday Times.

"Frank Hadden is a great one for context; for poking around behind the scoreline to check whether parts of the story have as yet gone untold. This time he will know better than to bother with the forensics. Game won, case closed. So pitiful were the Italians, so infrequently were Scotland required to drag themselves above the banal, that serious debate over where Scotland are going, and whether, indeed, Hadden should go, requires to be deferred for a fortnight.

"Yesterday brought only circumstantial evidence. There was sporadic cut and thrust from the Scotland backs, Max Evans and Simon Danielli in particular. The scrum and lineout were more convincing, there was more discipline at the breakdown, and, as a rule, more intelligence in the decision-making. Scotland never looked like losing. Italy, by contrast, never looked like winning."

Warren lifts our heads because we've still got points to make

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Wales fullback Lee Byrne picks through the pieces of his side's defeat to France.

"It took only a few minutes after the end in Paris for Warren Gatland (right) to stand up and say what needed to be said. For the first time in two years it was a losing dressing room for Wales in the Six Nations, it was deadly quiet and all the boys' heads were down. But Warren is not the type to let that atmosphere settle. He told us we cannot be disheartened, the Championship is still there to play for, and that immediately became everyone's focus.

"But I would be lying if I said I will be getting up in the greatest of moods today, St David's Day. I spent Friday night with the game going over and over in my mind, and when I got home to Bridgend yesterday it wasn't long before I was rerunning the recording of the match. I guess if we have proved one thing it is how difficult it is to achieve back-to-back Grand Slams."

England guilty as sin

Posted by Graham Jenkins on 03/01/2009

Paul Ackford offers a damning verdict on England's latest Six Nations performance in the Sunday Telegraph.

	England's Danny care is given his marching orders at Croke Park © Getty Images

"Another two yellow cards for England and another match defiled by indiscipline. Unless England improve their self-control they have no right calling themselves an international rugby team. The yellow epidemic has now reached 10 in four games under new team manger Martin Johnson.

"None of this should take anything away from a controlled and rugged performance by Ireland for whom Brian O’Driscoll was outstanding, but England did nearly as much to lose this game as Ireland did to win it. England’s penalty count (it hit 16 yesterday) was a national disgrace, and it calls into question the professionalism of players, coaches and management."