Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“Unfortunately they did which cost Wales 4th in the IRB rankings....”
I'd rather have the silverware to be honest. Well done Lancaster and England on 4wins out if five , a fine turnaround after the world cup shambles. Here's my summary of the tournament.
Wales - very pleased overall. Not as much style as the slams in '05 and '08 but more substance. Which might just give us the edge to win a game or two against SH opposition this year. Title achieved with Sam Warburton only on the field for 2 and a half games. Tipuric and Shingler both proved able deputies and that we have some strength in depth , along with Ryan Jones for our back row. Ian Evans has been a revelation in the second row , so pleased to see him overcome injuries which have blighted his career to date.
Backs are coming along nicely. As mentioned , Phillips strength is like an extra back row forward with physicality. Which slows our ball down from the breakdown too often. Priestland at ten can still be erratic in attempting to control a game and we need goal kicking as RP is quite consistent. The centre partnership looks to have developed a great Iunderstanding and our young , massive wingers can only get better.
England - a huge amount of progress made since the world cup. They look far more structured in a game plan than I can remember at any period since their WC win. Farrell and Morgan look like talents who can go very far in the international game. Others , like Foden and Ashton have suffered a little from second season syndrome where oppos are targetting the threat they offer in attack.
France - worrying that they seem so lacking in creativity nowadays. Their pack seemed to be matched fairly comfortably by Wales , England and Ireland at least in this tournament. They really should've pushed on after going so close in the WC final but they've gone in the opposite direction of England with a new coach.
Ireland - need to be finding the next generation of O'Connell and O'Driscolls quickly. You can tell from today , what talisman both this two are in their forwards and backs respectively. Some excellent backs have come thorough over the past few years in Earls and Kearney but their front and second row strength is on the wane.
Italy - a well deserved win today. People might cite a lack of progress in terms if consistent results but the French won little in their first few decades when they joined the home nations to make it five.
Scotland - a feel sorry for them that the talent isn't there in sufficient numbers. Difficult enough when you only have two professional sides but perhaps a change of coach with fresh ideas might improve the teams performance. Long term , as with Wales and England now , it might be good to give youth their head.
I thought this was a very good tournament overall in terms of quality and decent times to watch. Just hope enough teams can push on and do well on their summer tours and in next seasons autumn contests against the south.
”
.......... No. 
