With round two of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations in the books, there has once again been plenty of talking points to discuss from the weekend. The action began with France securing a narrow 20-16 win over Scotland, with Gregor Townsend’s men feeling that they were denied the win by an officiating decision.
Coming in the closing play of the match, Scotland had France pinned back on their try-line, and were hammering Les Bleus with short picks and drives. Sam Skinner looked to have drove over for the match-winning try, yet the referee refused to award the Edinburgh lock the score after a lengthy chat with the TMO. Giving his thoughts to Gambling Zone, former England wing Chris Ashton believes that Scotland can rightly feel hard done bye with the decision.
“I think it was a try and Scotland can feel hard done by that they didn’t win the match. These types of incidents make it harder for rugby to grow as a sport and make it harder for the game to increase in popularity. If you’re a casual rugby fan watching the game at home on Saturday and that happens, you’re thinking to yourself: “Woah. Hang on, the ball is on the line but the ref hasn’t given a try.”
“You have to understand what the referee is saying, how he communicates with the TMO and how that is presented. If the ref doesn’t say: “I’ve not seen the ball grounded, can you prove otherwise?” Then you have to find that definitive angle and what happened on Saturday proved that there wasn’t one. I think everyone that was watching could tell that the ball was on the ground. I’m not sure how the ref couldn’t see it to be honest, he was more or less in the ruck, so I’m not sure how he missed it.
“I was disappointed for Scotland. I was hoping they were going to beat France at home. Its always easy to see in hindsight, but Finn Russell didn’t even have a look out wide; he was so focussed on the ruck that was happening in front of him, which is really unlike the way that he normally plays because he normally sees everything. If he had just looked outside, there were three or four men out wide.
“Finn made the point afterwards where he said they can’t rely on a referees decision to win them games, but I think Scotland would have been kicking themselves afterwards they had opportunity elsewhere to win the game without controversy.”
Another major talking point, saw England fly half George Ford miss his chance at a conversion. This was not due to a misplaced kick, yet he was altogether denied the shot at goal following Rio Dyer and Elliot Dee’s charge down. The Welsh players closed down on Ford, with the Wales hooker booting the ball off the tee, much to the chugrin of the Sale Sharks halfback.
Following the multiple replays, it’s clear that Ford’s sideways step prompted the Welsh charge down, with the referee more than happy for the disrupted kick at goal to go amiss. Speaking on this bizarre event, Ashton expressed how the England fly half needed to be a bit more urgent in his goal kicking.
“I think the confusion came because George wanted to run the clock down to help the sin bin time go down. He wanted to use the full minute to help his team restore numbers as quickly as possible. The problem was, George was far too casual about how he went about it. He took too long, and it was almost like he forgot to take the extra step because it was a easy kick for a player like George.
“This happens when kickers don’t go through a full routine because you just want to take the kick quickly and get it through without it being charged down. It seemed like he just forgot that he wanted to use that extra step.”
Ashton then pivoted from the bizarre, to focus on the brilliant performances from the weekend. First, he gave his expert wingers insight on Ireland newcomer Calvin Nash, who impressed all onlookers with a try in Ireland’s 36-0 win over Italy. Ashton gave his verdict on Nash, and his fellow Irish winger James Lowe’s strong performance against the Azzurri.
“Calvin has been in good form all year. He has had a great season at Munster and is such a strong carrier. I think that he has done well in his first few international games. He has been helped by the fact that he is going into such a strong Ireland team.
“Everyone knows their role in the team, and they are so efficient. The team are creating spaces around the edges of the pitch and it’s a really nice team to be in if you play as a winger. I think he has done well.”
“James Lowe has been outstanding for Ireland. His all-round game as a winger works perfectly for the Irish set-up. His kicking ability, the way that he’s reading defensive situations and finishing tries from ten metres out taking four players with him. You don’t usually see a team using a players full set of attributes but Ireland are definitely doing that with Lowe. Whether that is clearance kicking, carrying, linking or catching high balls, Ireland get the best out of the back three players. The system really works for them.”
Then turning his attention back to the England vs Wales match, Ashton picked out two back-rowers who stole the show at Twickenham. Player of the Match Ben Earl and Leicester Tigers flanker Tommy Reffell were both excellent in the fixture, which Ashton rightfully recognised.
“I think Tommy Reffell deserves to be mentioned after some of the performances that he has put in for Wales. He has always been a breakdown and turnovers specialist, but he was hitting lines and getting himself all over the place at Twickenham at the weekend. Winnett has impressed me for Wales also.
“When you consider that he’s only played fifteen professional games of club rugby, he’s making breaks every week and hitting lines that you would expect from a really experience player. Ben Earl was great again for England so far in this six nations with a man of the match display against Wales.”