It's not cricket!

Six Nations: Final round fixtures postponed until October                                Image: Express Sports

It came as little surprise that games in the final round of the Six Nations were to be suspended until October following the coronavirus outbreak.

If only that were all. It is going to get worse for loyal rugby fans.

The Six Nations tournament is likely to go behind a Sky paywall from 2022. It's just not cricket!

The government is reported to have rejected the chance to ensure the Six Nations fixtures remain only on free-to-air TV by turning down a call to include the tournament as a category A-listed sporting event which include the rugby union World Cup final, the football World Cup, Wimbledon, the Grand National and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is sad but realistically Rugby Union is not what it was. Today, money talks. Winning is all.

Before their game with France, England coach Eddie Jones warned France to "expect violence in England’s Six Nations opener, doubling down on his pledge to unleash 'absolute brutality' on Fabien Galthié’s 'bright young things' in Paris."

One would have thought that England Rugby would be embarrassed by such comments. Instead Jones' contract was extended to continue his role until the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The highest paid coach in world rugby, Jones is on a salary of £750,000 per year although he has agreed a 25% pay cut as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sadly for the game and the enjoyment of fans, winning often follows dull games bogged down by tedious scrums. As former international hooker Brian Moore put it in one of his less biased comments: "Instead of being a means of restarting the game it has become a way of winning penalties."

The extent of the change can be seen when watching highlights of the 1990 Calcutta Cup recently broadcast  by the BBC in their Live rewind series with commentary by the late, great Bill McLaren. There is no hint of favour or partiality, unlike many of today's games when commentators appear to regard themselves as extra players for their favoured team.

In the 1990 game there was none of the excessive hugging, ritual tapping and patting celebrations which greet scrum penalties; just enjoyable, running rugby flavoured with some rye comments on play rather than on commentators' National teams.

Another aspect of the game needing urgent attention is the ritual spitting picked up from over paid professional soccer players. Hopefully players will become more aware of the health risks of such behaviour after the coronavirus pandemic and exercise more self control.

There are few fixtures that draw the nations together like the Six Nations. The government should think again.

Rugby descends to thugby

Jones defended his Prop's racist slur before dropping him. Source: Telegraph

Using brutality rather than skill England have the Six Nations rugby Grand Slam in their sights. Under their new coach Eddie Jones they aim to be the ‘most dominant team in the world’. If their aim were based on arrogance the other five nations, not to mention the Southern hemisphere would be left standing. Jones has found himself in like company but the All Blacks and the rest of the Southern hemisphere must be laughing their socks off.

For outsiders everything about the England team's performance has become a bore, ruining enjoyment of the game. Not only the team. Whenever they play compete, the BBC and ITV become the English Broadcasting Corporation. Viewers are subjected to a constant barrage of  England, England, England as if nothing matters but an England victory showing the utmost discourtesy to opposing teams.

Unlike in the days of the late, great Bill McLaren, biased commentators and their supporting pundits, notably Brian Moore, ruin the game with their inability to see beyond England and their presumed right to win every time, no doubt based on the resources they have to draw on which dwarf the resources of the rest of the Six Nations. If the competition were a handicap there is little doubt about who would carry themselves home with the Wooden Spoon every time.

In their match against Wales, one of England's exponents of Jones' brutality tactics was sighted on two counts but no action by the Rugby authorities was deemed to be necessary leaving the offender available to take England's brutality to France in the hope of an undeserved Grand Slam to the detriment of the sport.

Allez les bleus!

Legitimate target

England v Ireland: Jonny Sexton will be targeted - Eddie Jones, BBC Sport

The cold dark months of Winter are not my favourite months but a few things make February more bearable. The days are drawing out, the garden is preparing to burst into life and we have the Six Nations.

An ancient Briton by birth, I am not without some English blood in my veins which makes the performance of the England rugby team all the more disappointing with their "winning is everything" attitude to the game. Perhaps it is because they give the impression that they always deserve to win that they appear so arrogant. The depths of their financial and human resources indicate as much but better a good game than win at all costs. In such circumstances the real losers are obvious.

Regrettably England's new coach Eddie Jones is from the England mould. His interview for BBC Sport is a new low in English rugby. Teams want to win but not so obviously at any price. Jones admits that his attitude is to be "physical, fair and brutal" with emphasis on the brutal - so long as it is legal! Brutality: cruel, harsh, and usually violent treatment of another person.

He says Ireland's Johnny Sexton will be a 'legitimate target' during Saturday's Six Nations match at Twickenham, as was England's fly-half Jonny Wilkinson when Jones coached Australia.

Eddie Jones' attitude to the game has made himself a legitimate target. England should send him back to the Southern hemisphere where he belongs taking his brutality with him.

England Expects

According to The Telegraph it appeared that even in defeat England were the winners in the 2010 Six Nations climax in Paris on Saturday “taking the shine off France’s grand slam triumph”. Of course victory would have been complete if the referee had been on England’s side too - and let’s not forget the rain unfairly falling as it was only on the English to disadvantage them. Martin Johnson did his best to sort out the referee at half time but to no avail and his second bite after the final whistle was a late run.

With fifteen players on the pitch, equivalent to sixteen or even seventeen when ‘St.’ Jonny is on, plus three in the studio and, most important of all, the two commentators, Eddie (surely I'm English) Butler and Brian (only my opinion counts) Moore something went badly wrong. Could it be that the French didn’t understand that the English have a divine right to win?

During the 2010 tournament there have been many fine tributes to the voice of rugby, the late Bill McLaren. Did fair play die with him? Whilst naturally wanting our home team to win, a good game was more important. This was evident in Bill’s commentary. Saturday’s match was the complete opposite. It was ruined by one-sided, self opinionated drivel. It’s time for the two stooges to go.