The 2009 vintage of the RBS 6 Nations wrapped up on the weekend with Ireland completing a truly historic Grand Slam, some 61 years in the waiting. Last year’s champions Wales tumbled down the table, finishing behind England (a somewhat surprising second place) and France, ahead of Scotland and Italy, this year’s holders of the Wooden Spoon.

With the Lions tour to South Africa around the corner, perhaps it would be interesting to cast an eye back over the Six Nations and see who stood out and who (apart from our French and Italian picks) might be potential Lions material. We may not have picked your favorites and we are sure to have missed out some, but here’s what we think:

England

England came under heavy criticism after winning only one of its first three matches in the 2009 campaign (and that against Italy). The light came on again against France, and England finished strong, ending up in second place with 16 tries and a +54 points differential.

Some standouts for England were:

• Delon Armitage – showed some great attacking flair and was solid in defence
• Tom Croft – a tower in the line-out and a workhorse around the park
• Riki Flutey – turned into a try-scoring machine
• Toby Flood – played very well indeed when called upon, making good decisions
• Joe Worsely – strong in defense, and can score too
• Danny Care – after making a silly mistake against Ireland, Care returned against Scotland with flair, making amends

Ireland

Sixty-one years is a long time to wait for a second Grand Slam, but Ireland finally got that monkey off its back with a thrilling win against Wales in the decider at Cardiff. Ireland shed its (undeserved) reputation as a choker, winning with a drop goal from Ronan O’Gara in the last minute. They weren’t overwhelming during every game, but wins are wins, and several players distinguished themselves.

Standouts for Ireland were:

• Tommy Bowe – again and again showed blistering pace
• Paul O’Connell – a great motivator and a power in the pack
• Luke Fitzgerald – still young and already a great center, scoring twice
• Brian O’Driscoll – BOD showed why he is still at the top
• Ronan O’Gara – ROG scared us at times with some shocking misses, but scored when it counted, to win it all

Scotland

Scotland struggled during the Six Nations, managing only one win against Italy. They scored only four tries during the tournament and relied heavily on the boot of Chris Paterson. There were sparks here and there, but they never seemed to ignite a fire.

Standouts for Scotland were:

• Thom Evans – showed some blistering pace and a super work rate in defense
• Alasdair Strokosch – no Scot tackled harder than Strokosch
• Chris Paterson – again, the boot of Paterson kept Scotland in games when nothing else was happening for them

Wales

Last year’s champions stumbled this year with France snuffing out the hope of a Grand Slam repeat, and Ireland taking it all in the final minutes at Cardiff. There was plenty of great play from Wales though, with the entire Six Nations championship riding on Stephen Jones’ penalty kick in the final seconds of of that last match.

Standouts for Wales were:

• Leigh Halfpenny – the youngster showed great speed and handling, scoring two tries and a penalty goal
• Lee Byrne – tough in defense and always a threat on offense
• Alun Wyn Jones – a workhorse all over the park and a good leader
• Shane Williams – where would Wales be without Shane Williams?

Italy

Poor old Italy, the Wooden Spoon holders again this campaign. Things didn’t start well against England with some questionable coaching decisions, and went downhill from there. Italy always play hard and are almost never a “given”, but the wheels fell off completely against France in their final match where they fell 8 – 50.

Standouts for Italy were:

• Sergio Parisse – always there for Italy, game in, game out and scored a well-deserved try against France
• Martin Castrogiovanni – sometimes out of favor, but a harder worker for Italy you will not find

France

France were hot and cold during this campaign, playing well to take out Wales, but completely falling apart against England. They ended up finishing third, just behind England and ahead of Wales. When things were hot, there was some very good play to be seen.

Standouts for France were:

• Morgan Parra – a very young scrum half played very well, putting up 26 points and good delivery
• Imanol Harinordoquy – always worked hard, never backed off
• Sebastien Chabal – you can always count on Chabal
• Dimitri Szarzewski – a top-grade hooker who gives the opposition fits, and he scored a try

2009 Lions Possibles

We can’t pick everyone, or fill every spot, but of the standouts we noted above, we think these may be possibles for the upcoming Lions tour:

England – Armitage, Croft, Flutey, Worsely

Ireland – Bowe, O’Connell, O’Driscoll, Fitzgerald

Scotland – Evans, Strokosch, Paterson

Wales – Halfpenny, Williams, Byrne

…at least, that’s what we think… Ruggerbits

To the delight of England fans everywhere, the team that showed up for the Round 4 match against France at Twickenham put on an impressive display of, dare we say it, rather exciting rugby (well, for the first half, to be sure). England shocked France by running up 34 points before France bounced back with 10 of their own. For us, Man of the Match was D. Armitage, who never stopped running.

England Rugby do have something to be proud of: the way the sevens team played in Dubai recently. England Sevens put on an impressive performance against Samoa in the Quarter-Final match, losing in “sudden-death” extra time. Chin up!

With all the hand-wringing and yellow cards, it’s a wonder England manager Martin Johnson can field a complete XV at the moment. It’s worrying, to be sure. Johnson is reaping the benefits of several years’ worth of a distracted and disjointed approach to development of the game in England. England is losing more often than not but still keeping it close in Six Nations play, but they are getting crushed by the top teams from the Southern hemisphere. What is going on? Does Johnson really have such a shallow talent pool to choose from? Is England coaching that poor?

Perhaps loyal RuggerBits readers can help out by suggesting the best possible starting England XV available right now. Have a go! We’ll be sure to pass along suggestions to the RFU.

Send us a comment with your selection.

England has come under some heavy criticism after falling to Ireland 13  – 14 at Croke Park on the weekend. The RFU suggest England are heading in the right direction, but let’s have a look back to this time last year, and see what the record shows us:

• 2-2-08 England 19 – 26 Wales
• 2-10-08 England 23 – 19 Italy
• 2-23-08 England 24 – 13 France
• 3-8-08 England 9 – 15 Scotland
• 3-15-08 England 33 – 10 Ireland
• 6-1-08 England 17 – 14 Barbarians
• 6-14-08 England 20 – 37 New Zealand
• 6-21-08 England 12 – 44 New Zealand
• 11-8-08 England 39 – 13 Pacific Islanders
• 11-15-08 England 14 – 28 Australia
• 11-22-08 England 6 – 42 South Africa
• 11-29-08 England 6 – 32 New Zealand
• 2-7-09 England 36 – 11 Italy
• 2-14-09 England 15 – 23 Wales
• 2-28-09 England 13 – 14 Ireland

Let’s see, that’s wins against Italy (twice), France, Ireland, Barbarians and Pacific Islanders, and defeats to everyone else, including getting crushed by New Zealand and South Africa. The totals are Wins 6 – 9 Losses.

Is that headed in the right direction?

Nothing quite like that speech from Agincourt to get your blood going, eh?

1991 was a fantastic year for England rugby, winning the Grand Slam for the first time since 1980. The side captained by Will Carling included such names as Teague, Underwood, Andrew and Hodgkinson. This clip shows the highlights:

One of several amusing adverts that can be seen on Welsh TV regarding Wales’ opponents in the Six Nations. Does everyone in Wales think like this?

Any true Wales fan will remember the match between Wales and England at Wembley Stadium in the 1999 Five Nations. England were the “visitors” that day at Wembley, and somehow Wales managed to come back and win 32 – 31 to deny England the Grand Slam.

More video highlights for you from the 2009 RBS Six Nations Round 2 clash between defending champions Wales and England.

England did win this match, but didn’t look as convincing as the scoreline might suggest. Things will be more difficult for England in their next match against reigning champions Wales. Check out some video highlights:

The 2009 RBS Six Nations Championship begins on 7 February, and it’s time to take a look at how the teams are shaping up.

First off: England v Italy at Twickenham.

Prediction: Italy in a tight contest.

While nobody would be willing to suggest that Italy are a threat for the Grand Slam, it is fair to say that they have been improving each and every year since joining the tournament in 2000 . Coached by South African great Nick Mallett, they always give a massive effort. Several players will be familiar to Guinness Premiership fans, and the squad boasts a total of some 241 Six Nations caps. Player to watch: Mauro Bergamasco, recently slotted in to play scrum half.

The Italy Squad:

High hopes abound for new coach Martin Johnson, but he will have his hands full after England were crushed in the Autumn Tests by South Africa and Australia. Their third straight defeat came courtesy of New Zealand All Blacks 32 – 6 in November 2008. Johnson seems to be pinning his hopes on young talent as some 20 of the England squad boast five or fewer caps, and the squad as a whole has some 237 Six Nations caps. Player to watch: Delon Armitage, earning his first cap and hoping to make a big impact.

The England Squad:

The MailOnline reports that England World Cup winner Mike Catt has criticised Danny Cipriani’s contribution to England’s autumn campaign and told coach Martin Johnson not to pick the London Wasps fly-half for the Six Nations. ‘I wouldn’t go with Cipriani,’ said the London Irish player coach. ‘What has he done at Wasps? He’s made one try and made one break, well done.

This comes at a time when Cipriani’s club Wasps have been forced to admit that urgent remedial action is required to cure his damaging habit of conceding possession and points by having kicks charged down. Martin Johnson admitted after the debacle against South Africa that something had to be done about a problem that had led directly to three tries in six Tests.

It remains to be seen who gets the nod at fly-half when England open the Six Nations against Italy.

The “official” anthem sung before England plays a match at Twickenham is God Save the Queen. Unofficially, when things are going very well for England during a match, fans will often sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot.