12 months is an awfully long time in rugby and the transition from 2022 into 2023 has proven to be no different. Since the start of last year’s tournament we’ve welcomed new (and old) coaches, seen northern hemisphere teams get big wins against southern hemisphere giants, welcome new players called up, and a certain team in azzurro make one or two people look silly for calling for them to be replaced in the Six Nations (not me though, I even have the receipts of singing their praises for the last three years). And it’s not just new eras within rugby that we’re welcoming, as this is the first post that I’m writing on a new laptop (snazzy, I know). With a World Cup not too far away, it’s one of the last chances for six of Europe’s biggest teams to put a marker down before heading to France in September with the Webb Ellis trophy on their mind. The fans flooded stands with pints in their hands and ready to cheer on their team with the travelling Irish hopeful belting out ‘The Fields of Athenry’ to get behind the Boys in Green, England supporters giving renditions of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ to carry their lads home, the Scottish faithful bellowing an impassioned cry of ‘Flower of Scotland’ at Twickenham, and the Welsh fans singing along to Tom Jones classic Delilah Max Boyce’s ‘Hymns and Arias’. With the dust having settled from the opening weekend there’s only one thing left to do and that’s give some reviews and predictions that will undoubtably age horrendously, let the grading commence!

Wales: Parts looked promising, other parts not so much…

Any Welsh fan watching on Saturday will agree that those 80 minutes were unarguably, a game. After the opening 20 minutes it looked as if it would be a result that mirrored a cricket score, but as the game went on it got somewhat better. The first half, put bluntly, was really bad. Wales made far too many defensive errors (which you cannot afford to do against this Ireland team), discipline was poor, and were too slow with their passing which came back to haunt them a few times, namely the intercepted James Lowe try. Things did improve in the second half as they responded early with a Liam Williams try, but the Irish defence stayed strong. The opportunities were there as Ireland’s discipline did start to go a bit shaky and Wales enjoyed a lot of possession and territory, but a mixture of not doing enough with the ball and a strong Irish defence meant that nothing could come of it and the campaign gets off to a poor start. There were some individual performances that deserve praise. I thought Joe Hawkins played really well and is starting to make that 12 shirt his own, Jac Morgan looked strong again, and Tommy Reffell, Dillon Lewis, and Alex Cuthbert impressed me when they came on. Many questions will be asked about who should start at Murrayfield next week, and I for one don’t envy Warren Gatland on making that choice.

Despite whatever was going to happen on the pitch on Saturday, it doesn’t overshadow what’s happened off it and the stories that have come to light in recent weeks. Everyone knows what I’m on about, and in all honesty it would be cowardly if I didn’t mention it. It sickens me to my core that any employee of a major organisation thought for so long that they could say the things they did and act in the manor that they did and attempt to pass it off as “banter”, let alone the people running the damn thing. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the all women who have come forward to share their stories of their harrowing experiences of bullying and harassment as well as the toxic and sexist culture that has existed within the WRU for so long and I sincerely hope that it’s the start of an enormous overhaul. Words don’t begin to describe how despicable this whole situation is.

Grade: E. Far from good, but signs of some potential.

Ireland: Big marker put down

What else can be said other than a perfect start. The Boys in Green haven’t won in the Welsh capital since 2013 but they weren’t put off by that in the slightest. They absolutely steamrolled Wales in the first half with tries from Caelan Doris and James Ryan coming in quick succession, James Lowe capitalising on some poor passing to score a try from an interception, and Johnny Sexton kicking 12 points from penalties and conversions. The passing was quick and and concise and they were willing to commit men against a Welsh team that were left chasing shadows for the first half. The attacking intensity wore off slightly in the second half, but what they lacked in attack they more than made up for with a great defence. Barring the Liam Williams try, they weathered Welsh storms by absorbing the pressure and turning the ball over fantastically, all leading to Josh Van der Flier’s late try to confirm the bonus point. All in all, it was a perfect game from Andy Farrell’s men as they displayed how dangerous they can be in attack and how tight a defensive ship they run when under pressure. It was the type of display that we as rugby fans would expect from New Zealand, and if it carries on for the rest of the tournament then the type of form that they’d want to carry into the World Cup. Is this the time they finally get further than a somewhat disappointing quarter final defeat? You wouldn’t bet against it. Up next for the Boys in Green is a visit from France in what isn’t unfair to call an early championship decider and I’m already beyond excited for it… so naturally it’ll probably be a snooze fest 12-12 draw.

Grade: A*. Absolutely perfect performance, star of the week!

England: What even is tackling?

I don’t know why I bother getting my hopes up. Expectations were high for the first game of the Borthwick era but it ended in (another) Calcutta Cup defeat. When England played a bit of rugby and strung some passes together it worked fairly well, but they didn’t do it anywhere near enough. They were wasteful with their chances and weren’t clinical enough, which was the exact opposite for Scotland. It wasn’t an issue of not having enough of the ball, it was just a matter of being wasteful when they had it. A number of unforced errors turned out to be England’s achilles’ heel at times, most notably the turnover from a poor ruck which lead to THAT first half Duhan van der Merwe try. Speaking of said try, while it was an incredible run the tackling, or lack thereof, was nowhere near good enough. Without taking anything away from van der Merwe, that should’ve been easily preventable if the defence did their job. Cynicism aside, there were some positives to take from the game. There were some great individual performances from Max Malins, Lewis Ludlam and Ollie Chessum, and the scrum greatly improved when Dan Cole came on (what year is it again?). There are lessons to be learned before another home clash next weekend, this time to Italy. You’d favour England in that one but with how both teams performed in their opening fixtures, eeehh I’m not so sure.

Grade: D+. Disappointing result, definitely should’ve done better.

Scotland: Duhan van der JESUS LOOK AT HIM GO!

The Scots came with a clear and obvious plan and executed it perfectly. They were never going to dominate in possession as that’s rarely their style when playing England but like last year’s encounter, when they got the ball they used it well and made the most of it. The team selection was perfect to execute this. While some eyebrows were raised at Sione Tuipulotu getting the nod over Chris Harris, he didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon. He looked dangerous every time he had the ball and timed his kick to perfection for Huw Jones’ try. All of the backs had a great game, perhaps none more so than Duhan van der Merwe. While there was some questionable tackling in the lead up to his try, it was still something special. The forwards had a great showing as well, especially the front row. George Turner and Pierre Schoeman made some great carries while WP Nell had some great scrummaging battles with Ellis Genge. With all this being said, I am reserving a bit of judgement for now. Don’t forget that this happened last year before a loss in Cardiff in their second game, and look how the rest of that campaign went. Looking ahead to Wales next week the main area for improvement would be possession of the ball. While not seeing much of it worked against England, Wales will have a huge point to prove after the Ireland game and if this Scotland team have the ball more often they could put up some serious scores this tournament and give France and Ireland some real challenges

Grade: B+. Very impressive, but don’t get complacent.

Italy: Capuozzo is king

We were this close to greatness, *this* close. There was a lot of hype surrounding Italy before this, and it was justified. They had a great 2022 with impressive wins against Wales in Cardiff during the last Six Nations and a first ever win against Australia in Florence in the Autumn. After two early French tries, the Italy of old would’ve collapsed, however this isn’t the Italy of old. They kept their heads up and kept fighting on. At 19-6 down it looked as if the floodgates may open, however a moment of magic from Ange Capuozzo for his try and Tommaso Allan’s penalty meant that the Azzurri were only 5 down at half-time. A gutsy performance in the second half had the French nervously wiping sweat from their brow. With a penalty try and penalties kicked by Allan, Italy had the ball deep in the French half trailing by 5 with the clock red, however in the end it wasn’t to be. The intensity from Italy was something else and they weren’t afraid to go toe to toe with one of the best teams currently in world rugby. They were strong in the lineout and maul as well as looking dangerous going forward. In the end, France were just the better team. They didn’t disgrace themselves in the slightest, and that kind of performance could get them some decent results this tournament. Usually a trip to Twickenham would be a foregone conclusion before a whistle has been blown, but these are strange times we’re living in. Don’t be too surprised if we see a shock result.

Grade: B-. Honestly, I’m impressed. Keep that up and you’ll get a few wins this year.

France: Did what was needed

Bit of a weird one, but maybe that’s because we’ve come to expect the best from France every time they take to the field. It wasn’t the absolute steamrolling that some may have expected, but they were far from poor. Their discipline wasn’t the greatest, a point which Shaun Edwards alluded to after the game, and that perhaps made it closer than it needed to be. With that being said though, they turned up the tempo when they needed to and made the most of their opportunities. Thibaud Flament was fortunate with how his charge meant that the ball went perfectly into his hands but sometimes you need a bit of luck, while Sekou Macalou and Matthieu Jalibert were important additions from the bench. It says quite a bit that the general consensus was that the performance overall wasn’t the best yet France still won with a bonus point. They’ll want to be much more disciplined next week, in all they gave away eighteen penalties and Ireland showed on Saturday how they can harm teams that give them even a sniff of an opportunity, but I imagine a Shaun Edwards grilling on the issue of discipline will trigger a bit of a response from Les Bleus next week in Dublin.

Grade: B. Not the most convincing and a little too close at times, but got the job done in the end.

Class Clown of the Week: England’s tackling for the van der Merwe try. I’m still not over how bad that tackling was, and won’t be for a while.