Of course, with players such as Thomas Castaignÿde, Emile Ntamack and Christophe Dominici, they can run the hind legs off a cheetah. But as they proved in Cardiff when the game was still a contest, they have the patience and the mental and physical strength to slow down and, more to the point, grind down their opponents.Christophe Lamaison, whose remorselessly accurate kicking stifled the life out of Wales, is the key England must somehow get to him. They will have noted that defence is not his strongest suit.There were few other encouraging signs. France began nervously and Wales muffed a couple of good chances early on which, had they been taken, might have altered the course of the game. In their Twickenham mood, England would surely not have declined such inviting opportunities.
Despite their gargantuan size and tonnage, the French scrummage was not too comfortable. Like some misshapen dinosaur whose body has massively outgrown its head, the French scrum suffered from a serious imbalance and as a result was not always able to channel its strength into the required area. The new scrummage law clearly played its part in unsettling the French monster, but not much else did.So lame and tame was the Irish challenge that England's loose forwards were given the time and space to roam as they please. It is unthinkable that they will be afforded the same opportunities in Paris on Saturday, not least because France have, in Olivier Magne, the finest loose forward in captivity anywhere in the world. England's throwing to the line-out, where the French have an armed battery of jumpers, will also have to be spot-on. But France, like England, were untested last week; whether through their own efforts or as the result of the incompetence of their opponents is, as in theEngland-Ireland encounter, unclear.If I was horribly out of sorts with my prognosis on the Italian game, and I demand a little more time before final judgement is made, I have at least been consistent in my view that the only place for Mike Catt on an international field is in the centre.
It was pleasing to see him come good after so many false starts.Even more important than hisrunning on Saturday will be the weight and placement of his kicking on England's manoeuvres from left to right. Castaignÿde is, like Catt, an instinctive player unaccustomed to the restrictions and positional demands placed on him at full-back. France under pressure could be a very different side, but so, alas, could England.. All visitors beware. Eugene Cross Park is fast becoming an impregnable rugby citadel. Not only are Ebbw Vale an impressive physical force up front, rampant on the charge and solid at set scrums, they demonstrated in this latest tribal Gwent encounter marvellous sleight of hand and visionary back-play in scoring three spectacular tries that secured their victory All visitors beware. Eugene Cross Park is fast becoming an impregnable rugby citadel.
Not only are Ebbw Vale an impressive physical force up front, rampant on the charge and solid at set scrums, they demonstrated in this latest tribal Gwent encounter marvellous sleight of hand and visionary back-play in scoring three spectacular tries that secured their victory. Newport, in comparison, were themselves solid enough up front despite the odd creak in the scrums, but their back play was criminally abysmal. Ebbw Vale possessed the game's two outstanding players in Tongan full-back Siua Taumalolo and flanker Nathan Budgett, who must surely be close to a Wales call-up.Twelve months ago Ebbw Vale felt hard done by, out-manoeuvred and sidelined by the Welsh Rugby Union, or so they believed. Their loyalty to the Welsh cause had been ignored and overlooked and they missed out on the European Cup. Their success in this season's European Shield has, I suspect, cushioned that blow, and London Irish should be on red alert when they travel for their quarter-final tie in April.Ebbw Vale's disappointment with the governing body could have resulted in them losing all ambition. However, they regrouped, dug deep and can now proudly claim to be the most consistent Welsh club performers this season.
Their team has been strengthened at scrum-half by the much-publicised arrival of new Welsh cap Richard Smith, but on this occasion the pivotal scrum-half role was superbly carried out by Guy Easterby, this week named in the full Irish squad to face Scotland on Saturday.Newport were certainly first into their stride and should have scored a couple of early tries. Jason Strange got the scoreboard clicking with a 40-metre penalty, only for Shane Howarth to respond in similar fashion for Newport The opening try was as good as any scored this season. Great passing and support work by the Ebbw backs saw winger Rhys Shorney send Taumalolo over in the corner.Ebbw Vale were then cruelly exposed before the interval, losing both Andrew Metcalfe and Kuli Faletau to the sin-bin for professional fouls. Newport's return was a meagre couple of penalty goals from Howarth to earn them a 9-8 interval lead.Taumalolo and centre Ste-phen John set the crowd alight from the restart by combining smartly to send replacement Jonathan Williams over for another superb try to reclaim Ebbw's lead.