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Rugby World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward has claimed that there are now two ‘clear’ tiers to the Guinness Six Nations.
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France were crowned Grand Slam champions to claim their first title since 2010 after emerging emphatic 25-13 winners in Paris, although a jittery performance caused by the nerves of the occasion prevented them from pulling clear at any stage.
It is the third time in five years England have ended the tournament nursing three defeats, a poor return that raises questions over Jones’s suitability to continue just 18 months out from the World Cup.
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A big win over the All Blacks in November gave the French the favourite’s tag heading into the Six Nations and they embraced it, with the win over England seeing them finish a point above Ireland.
The English finished third, an improvement on last year’s fifth place but one unlikely to ease the pressure on coach Eddie Jones after a second straight championship in which they lost three games.
It’s been a difficult couple of years for England and now their former coach sees there as being a clear division within the tournament.
“My take is that there are manifestly two divisions. There are France and Ireland and then there are the rest,” wrote Woodward in his Daily Mail column.
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“France and Ireland are forging ahead in their understanding of the modern game, their skill levels and attacking intent and the tempo they attempt to play the game at.”
“The French have lit up the rugby world. Stars such as Antoine Dupont, Cameron Woki, Gregory Alldritt, Romain Ntamack and Damian Penaud will eventually be remembered as legends of the game when they retire but, make no mistake, they are more than a random gathering of freakish talent.
“France under Fabien Galthie have fearlessly and systematically selected young tyros they believe in, while Edwards has got them fit and remodelled their defence.”
“Ireland, meanwhile, have a relentless pace and array of skills that reminds me of Farrell’s great rugby league side at Wigan when he was skipper,” wrote Woodward.
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The tables have certainly turned since the early 2000s. Readers of a certain vintage will remember during Woodward’s reign as head coach, that some voices within the sport were calling for the Six Nations to be split into two divisions, with England and France on one side and the rest on the other.
The rise of Ireland and Wales in the proceeding two decades, and more recently Scotland, put pay to this rather narrow and arrogant view of the competition.
additional reporting AAP
sir woodie compliments france on playing young players and does not acknowledge EJ for same. marcus smith, steward, genges, furbank, simmonds, isiekwe, randall.
these english young players are not at the skill level of the french.
t's not EJ job to upskill them. they dont have that much time in camp. France and Ireland are given that time, not England. Woodie knows these issues and yet trashes EJ..
Ireland is playing the same old , 30 ++ year olds and are doing well.
England's defence in 22 pretty rubbish. who is defence coach.
kick chase the english team of 2016 was so good at, non existent.
Wait - you want to EJ to be acknowledged for picking/playing young players, even if they're not at the same skill level, but it's not his job to upskill them? It's not a coach's job to upskill their players???
The Pink Poppies and EJ deserve each other; a pair of dinosaurs. Every ten years they win against the All Blacks and that, they think, that makes them first division.
@ Sean AND, two levels of grammar (typing)! What?
As they say in Pyongyang and Tokyo, "People in grass houses shouldnt get stoned.".
@ Bryan That racist decision to get rid of the best coach you have ever had would have to be the biggest problem.
Seems like there are also two tiers of rugby pundits aswell
This falls into the bleeding obvious category but remember the Wisdom of the Sufi.'Everything passes'.
Woodward is a twit. There have always been two tiers in the 6N, it’s just that England now apparently find themselves alongside Scotland and Italy…and Wales. Nobody cares what Clive has to say, he’s a voice with a bright red clown nose attached to it.
Being Scottish and we have plenty problems of our own 2 things amazed me yesterday about England, firstly playing Steward on the wing when he is the best full back in the competition and there are so many better than good fast wingers in the English premiership that never get a sniff under EJ. Secondly why use Genge as a kick returner from the fullback position when he has a big enough job scrummaging against the biggest pack in the competition plus his other carrying and tackling jobs and Dombrandt is sitting on the bench.