Signs of the past, present and potential future of Welsh rugby all lie within a hundred metre block in Cardiff.
Gatland’s Gate separates West Gate Street from the Principality Stadium. The Cardiff Arms Park, the site of wonderful Welsh memories and a beacon of hope for the future, is a few paces away.
That’s Matt Sherratt’s domain, the man who replaced Gatland after two matches in this Six Nations on an interim basis. All eras of rugby collide in Cardiff.
Wales are 16 Test matches without a win. The hope is they find a way to halt that slide against England on Saturday. It would be some resuscitation should Sherratt steer them to victory; he doesn’t want the job full-time, but he may have little choice should Wales stop England’s title charge this weekend.
There will also be a handful of Welsh players knowing this is one of their final auditions for a spot on this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour.
And that’s just one potted story of the six teams as we head into the final weekend of Six Nations.
There are storylines everywhere, underpinning the matches in Rome, Cardiff and Paris. The smart money is on France to win their first title since 2022 and they’ll need a Constitution Hill-esque collapse not to end up with the silverware. They know if they beat Scotland then the championship is theirs.
England will be hoping the auld enemy will do them a favour by knocking over Fabien Galthié’s side in front of a packed Stade de France. If England beat Wales with a bonus point, and France falter, then they could yet take the title. Watching both matches will be Ireland. They’re first up against Italy in Rome; and will be licking their wounds from last weekend’s lesson from France, but hoping results fall in their favour for a record third title on the bounce.
And then there are the hosts of potential Lions, all trying to catch Andy Farrell‘s eye.
Tom Hamilton believes that Ireland’s game vs. Italy “will be key” for the Irish players to stake a claim for selection for the Lions tour in June.
It has been a Six Nations where we’ve seen modern greats falter, losing runs continue, signs of resurgence in English rugby, the arrival of Louis Bielle-Bierray and the great Antoine Dupont light up the tournament before snapping his ACL against Ireland. And yet we’re still waiting for that final flourish this weekend.
The greatest “Super Saturday” in living memory was back in 2015, where Ireland took the championship on points difference, England falling short by a single score. We could yet have a repeat this weekend, but it needs teams to rip up both the script and form book.
The weekend starts in Rome on Saturday afternoon. Italy have been a disappointment this tournament. Back before the first tackle of the tournament was put in, the championship was launched in an exhibition centre for modern and contemporary art in Rome. Grand Roman statues and eye-wateringly expensive pieces of art flanked modern rugby greats.
It was to mark Italy’s 25th year in the tournament. They talked of promise and potential and their hope of troubling the top table. But so far, their return is one win, coming against Wales in the wind and rain back in Round 2. Since then, they’ve been hammered by France and then comfortably beaten by England. It’s hardly been the birthday party they dreamt of. They make seven changes for Saturday’s match.
They will face a much-changed Ireland, with interim head coach Simon Easterby making six switches from the side that slid to a 42-27 defeat to France. Notably, Jack Crowley, who has been linked with a move to Leicester, gets his chance to shine at No. 10, a switch which comes as a blow to the incredibly talented Sam Prendergast who has pushed his Lions credentials this tournament.
It will be the final time we see Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray in the Irish green, two old warriors bowing out after this tournament along with Cian Healy.
And there are those Lions spots for the taking, too. Warren Gatland, who led the Lions on the 2013, 2017 and 2021 tours, believes as many as 20 Irish players could be picked by Farrell for the Australia series this summer.
While the likes of Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park are nailed on, this is still an essential match for some to push their case, no more so than Caelan Doris who will be hopeful of captaining the tourists. This time last week, Ireland still had eyes on the Grand Slam. Then came France, and now they’re outsiders for the tournament, needing Wales and Scotland to help their cause.
“A lot has been made about the various permutations at play, and it certainly makes for a dramatic day of international rugby,” Easterby said. That’s the beast and beauty of this championship.
While Ireland keep everything crossed that the various ramifications for a third championship in a row go their way, Italy know a win will keep them from the ignominy of the wooden spoon. The bottom spot in the table is something Wales will be looking to avoid for the second year running when they host England in Cardiff.
Wales started the tournament with defeats to France and Italy. The latter pushed Gatland to resign, knowing he had reached his own mental limit in a sea of defeats and negativity. In came Sherratt and Wales have since showed improvement against both Ireland and Scotland. But they were valiant losses. The showing, though, has encouraged the likes of Sam Warburton to predict a Wales victory this weekend.
It is some turnaround considering where they were a couple of weeks ago. “I would love to sign off [with a win], not for me but for the players and staff who have been here for a long time. It would be huge for them,” Sherratt said.
“There will be emotion on Saturday. It is getting that balance between heart and brain. There will be stacks of heart. We need to get our game on the pitch. If that win comes, it would give everyone a massive lift, especially against England at home.”
England head to Cardiff needing a bonus point win to keep up the pressure on France in the final match. Steve Borthwick’s side started with a defeat in Ireland and it looked ominous for them. But somehow, they ground out one-point wins over France and Scotland, and then backed it up with a comprehensive victory over Italy in round 4.
Against Wales, Borthwick has continued the juggling in the backline with Marcus Smith returning at fullback, Elliot Daly and Tom Roebuck on the wings, and Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman in the centres. You’d have been hard pushed to find anyone who would’ve predicted that lineup. It could also be the day where a great international career is launched, with 20-year-old Henry Pollock on the bench.
They’re excited about him at Twickenham, and hope he will be the first of several graduates from this excellent England Under-20 side.
There are also plenty of Lions ramifications with Maro Itoje up against Doris for the captaincy, and other players like Freeman, Will Stuart, Ben Earl, Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell hopeful of making the tour alongside guaranteed tourists like Tom Curry and Itoje. But thoughts can wait, England need to win and win well to stand any chance of lifting their first Six Nations title since 2020.
“Our aspiration is to win the tournament,” Borthwick said. “The team’s really clear on what we need to do to put ourselves in that position. We want to do it by playing the way that we want play, by playing fast, by getting the ball to our players with strength and pace and athleticism.
“That’s exactly how we want to play this week.”
If England win, then they’ll need a favour from the auld enemy in Paris. Stranger things have happened, and Scotland will be looking to finish this championship on a high note, and with the longest of shots of winning the whole thing.
To do that, they’ll need Italy and Wales to win, and a 52-point victory over France. Best of luck.
They’ve been forced into two changes with Gregor Brown and Matt Fagerson starting, as Gregor Townsend looks to gatecrash the France party in Paris. Several of this Scottish team will have hopes of making the Lions tour, but several of them have one foot on the tour, and another in the departure lounge: they’ll need to impress this weekend for an unpredictable Scotland.
Townsend’s side started well against Italy, but then fell to Ireland and England, before getting past Wales last week. You feel they’ve been stuck in rugby statis, despite some pre-tournament hopes of Scotland ending their long wait for a championship.
“We know very well what can happen if we allow them to take the lead,” Townsend said. “They scored 70 points against a very good Italy team. 40 points against Wales, against Ireland… And I think they could have scored 40 or 50 against England. It’s probably the biggest challenge in world rugby at the moment. But we’re looking forward to it!”
France are ready for their expected coronation, but the talk this week has been around the absence of their rugby king Dupont.
Their win over Ireland last week came at a brutal cost, with Dupont injuring his ACL and Pierre-Louis Barassi also sidelined. Galthie criticised Ireland post-match for the way Dupont was injured, and Easterby said those comments created a “s—storm” this week.
James Regan believes that Steve Borthwick has done a good job with this England team since the Autumn series last year.
There’ll be bad blood there for a while.
“It’s something that has marked us and will remain with us,” Fabien Galthié said. “Sometimes the result, sometimes moments of life too…This team has never been spared from difficult moments, but it moves forward and it fights.”
The practicalities of replacing Dupont means the outstanding Maxime Lucu starts at scrum-half, while the great Gael Fickou returns at outside centre. Paris will be bouncing on Saturday night. We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for the French golden generation, who have a miserly return of just one title since 2011.
This all comes on the same year we’ve witnessed the breakthrough brilliance of Bielle-Biarrey on the wing.
Even without Dupont, you feel it’s France’s tournament to lose, and even though he’ll be in the stands, he’ll still be inspiring his teammates. “We’ve lost our captain, a charismatic player, even beyond our team,” Galthié said.
“His presence in the walls with us and his absence on the pitch will fuel us and build our determination to win.”
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Source: espn.com