At last the central facts have squeezed out of the Six Nations information machine. We can only imagine why we had to wait till 14.38 on Tuesday 23 March when a competition is due to start eleven days later. And there was no hint of an explanation or apology from Dublin.
Perhaps nobody could find a pen to sign the contract with one of the TV companies who have come aboard.
Fi Tomas of the Daily Telegraph was the first to post the long awaited news of the arrangements. They contain elements both surpassingly good and worryingly unfulfilled.
Many games will be shown on terrestrial TV (plus BBC iPlayer), England’s final game to appear on BBC2.
The other side of the coin is the ongoing lack of a sponsor. Contrary to hopes expressed by Ben Morel, the 6N CEO, no company has stepped forward to back this splendid competition. It makes a striking contrast with the Premier 15’s acquisition of Allianz as their principal partner.
One danger of live sport on free-to-air television has always been that viewers will see only the crème de la crème. If the only England game to be offered on BBC2 turns out to be against France (as is highly likely), it will mean that channel will have shown those two nations in combat three times in succession. Compelling though the these Crunches are, they don’t represent the overall standard of the competition. Viewers unfamiliar with it will be less impressed if they are then offered a one-sided game of the 80-0 variety.
An Extra Crunch
France Rugby announces an extra game to be tagged on after the end of the 6 Nations. They will play England on 30 April at Villeneuve d’Ascq, Lille. Kick-off to be determined. That is precisely six days after the final round. Since it seems inevitable that the two nations will meet on 24 April, we can understand why a home-and-away arrangement has not gone ahead.
France and Ireland have announced their squads, both 35 strong:
France:
Annery
Arricastre
Banet
Bernadou
Boujard
Boulard
Bourdon
Chambon
Corson
Deshayes
Diallo
Domain
Drouin
Dupouy
Fall
Ferer
Filopon
Gros
Hermet (c)
Imart
Joyeux
Khalfaoui
Lahbib
Mayans
Ménager M
Ménager R
N’Diaye
Neisen
Peyronnet
Pignot
Sansus
Sochat
Sylla
Thomas
Touyé
Traoré
Trémoulière
Ulutule
Vernier
Once again, this looks a formidable line-up. Significantly several of the 7s squad are retained. No question here of separating off for Tokyo.
Ireland:
Boles
Breen
Caplice
Considine
Dane
Delany
Djougang
Doyle
Feely
Fitzhenry
Flood*
Fryday
Griffin
Higgins*
Hogan
Hooban
Hughes*
Jones
Lane*
Lyons
McDermott
Molloy
Moloney
Moore*
Murphy
Murphy Crowe*
Naoupu
O’Connor
O’Dwyer
Parsons
Pearse
Peat
Sheehan
Tyrrell
Wall
*uncapped
Three injured players miss out, Ciara Cooney, Edel McMahon and Larissa Muldoon. The five uncapped players all belong to Ireland’s highly promising 7s squad.
