RUGBY COLUMN – MARCH 10
By Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING a second consecutive weekend without a competitive game, Ireland are set to resume their Six Nations campaign against France at Saint-Denis next Saturday.
After a much-needed rest week in the wake of their crushing third round defeat at the hands of England on 23 February they were set to host Italy at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday afternoon, but the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) put a stop to this proposed encounter.
While this epidemic has spread slowly across the globe – including on these shores – Italy is the worse affected country in Europe. The Azzurri’s final round meeting with England has also been postponed and with summer tours factored into the equation, we may have to wait until October for this year’s Championship to come to an end.
In the absence of Ireland and Italy, England and Scotland opened up the whole series with respective victories against Wales and France. Building on their success over Italy, the Scots brought Les Bleus’ Grand Slam hopes to a halt with a surprise 28-17 win at Murrayfield.
France remain in contention for pole position in the table as they find themselves marginally behind England on score difference. As a result of claiming a major scalp in Edinburgh, Scotland leapfrog Ireland into third place.
Though this makes grim reading on one level for Ireland, this is the inevitable consequence of having a game in hand. Had Andy Farrell’s men played Italy at the weekend – and claimed a bonus-point win – they would have moved to the summit with a point to spare over both England and France.
If they can get the measure of Fabien Galthié’s charges, the prospects of a fourth Six Nations triumph in the space of seven years will become a live possibility for Ireland. There is still a chance this forthcoming test could be delayed because of COVID-19, given the French government have signalled their reluctance to host public gatherings holding more than 1,000 people.
Yet at the time of writing, it was set to be staged in Paris at 9pm local time (or 8pm Irish time) on Saturday.
Closer to home, the Newbridge College juniors will look to match the heroics of their senior allies when they face Terenure College in a Leinster schools semi-final later today (kick-off 3pm). Dave Brew’s outfit caused a seismic shock at the quarter-final stage by knocking 2019 champions St Michael’s College out.
At the end of a thrilling contest, Michael Collins’ penalty handed the south Kildare side a superb 20-18 victory. This served as the preamble to the Newbridge senior team’s own dethroning of Michael’s – a stunning comeback win in the penultimate round on a scoreline of 25-22.
With an all-Kildare decider against Clane’s Clongowes Wood College now lying in wait, it would cap a remarkable 2020 for the school if they could make it to a second showpiece. They will first have to negotiate their way past Terenure, who ousted Kilkenny College and Cistercian College Roscrea en route to the last-four.