EDDIE O’SULLIVAN FEARS the enforced postponements of Italy’s final two games in this year’s Six Nations will compromise the integrity of the tournament.
With two rounds of the competition remaining, three teams – France, Ireland and England – are in contention for the title. Should France complete the grand slam, by defeating Scotland this weekend and Ireland on Saturday week, then the tournament organisers will breathe a little easier, knowing the best team has won fair and square.
However, the scenario will look a little differently if France lose to Ireland on Saturday week. In that context, you could have three sides – assuming England defeat Wales this weekend – in line for the championship.
Except that one of those sides – either England or Ireland – could potentially have a huge advantage going into the final game of the tournament against whipping-boys Italy, knowing precisely how many points they need to win the competition.
In many respects, this is nothing new. In the 2015 championship, three sides – Wales, England and Ireland – all had a shot at glory on the final day, Ireland prevailing after England narrowly failed to defeat the French by the requisite score.
What’s somewhat different this time is that the side who now faces Italy in their final game will have a week – rather than an hour’s – preparation time to figure out what score they need to claim the title. That’s a subtle but significant difference.
“In 2007, when we lost the tournament to France on the final day, they knew what they had to achieve because their match against Scotland followed our one against Italy,” says former Ireland coach, O’Sullivan. “The advantage is always with the team who has a target – in most cases, the team who is playing last.
“The scheduling of the fixtures cost us in 2007. Had our game against Italy followed France’s match against Scotland, then we would have known exactly what we had to do. We coughed up a late try in that Italy match, chasing an unknown target, which ultimately cost us the championship. Later that afternoon, the French knew the winning margin they had to obtain to lift the trophy. And they got there.
“Fast forward to today and you have two scenarios presenting themselves. Firstly, France could win their final two games and claim the grand slam. In those circumstances, you are left with two dead-rubbers, Ireland against Italy, England travelling to Rome.
“What will be at stake then? One team could finish second, the other third. Okay, it’s important to the players – their win-bonuses will be tied into their contracts. It’s more important to the unions – second place worth approximately €1.2m more than third spot.
“But will the public or broadcasters care about a couple of matches so far removed from the rest of the tournament? Italy, more than any union, need the game in Rome to go ahead at some point from a commercial perspective but how many of the 20,000 England fans who were originally set to go, will book flights for a second time?”
No one knows the answer to that or to a number of issues. Earlier today, the Six Nations organisers issued a statement confirming the Italy-England match had been postponed, ‘refraining’ from issuing the date of the re-scheduled fixture.
“You can’t blame the organisers for calling the games off,” O’Sullivan said. “When people’s lives are at risk, you have to make the right call.
“And I also understand the reasons why you can’t play the games simultaneously, like they do in the Heineken Cup, because from a TV perspective, that would be a disaster.
But the scheduling affects the integrity of the competition. If you have more than one team in contention, the team who plays last has an unfair advantage.
“Now, we could have an even different perspective. Should France slip up to Ireland or Scotland, then you could have three teams vying for the title. In those hypothetical circumstances, whichever side faces Italy in the final game has a massive advantage. They know what target to chase – and they will know it at least a week in advance of the fixture. That’s a huge thing. It has undermined things.”
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