'We lost the Grand Slam because of the delay' - Former Ireland captain on Six Nations disruption
England enter coronavirus-enforced limbo in a strong position to lift the Six Nations title, but history shows that peril awaits when the Championship is subject to a lengthy interruption.
Keith Wood was Ireland captain in 2001 when his team’s final three games had to be postponed due to the outbreak of foot and mouth, a livestock disease.
In echoes of that year, the current Six Nations has been temporarily abandoned due to the spread of Covid-19 with rescheduled fixtures likely to be played in late October.
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England will eventually travel to Italy determined to avoid the fate of their predecessors from 19 years ago who arrived in Dublin on the brink of a Grand Slam only to be ambushed 20-14.
On that day they were caught cold by an Ireland team battle hardened by games against Scotland and Wales and armed with a point to prove.
“I’d heard some of the English guys say they’d definitely would have beaten us in the spring, but we were in great form then as well and I actually believe that we lost the Grand Slam because of the delay,” Wood told the PA news agency.
“We felt we had a good team and felt that if we’d played them in the spring, we’d have won then too.
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“Our first game back in September was against Scotland and we were totally undercooked. It was awful for us. Our gameplan was wrong and they absolutely beat the s**t out of us.
“But against England we played bloody well. It had been seven years since we’d beaten England and I was sat on the bench on that day in 1994, so it was a big day.”
Wood rampaged over the whitewash from an immaculate line-out drill to score Ireland’s only try and – earlier in the game – there had been another breakthrough at the set-piece.
“After 20 minutes Malcolm O’Kelly came up to me and goes ‘Woody, I’ve worked out their line-out calls’,” said Wood, who picks Peter Stringer’s try-saving tackle on Dan Luger as the game’s pivotal moment.
“I knew the calls were familiar and Malcolm said they were the same calls we used on the Lions! So we mopped up a lot of their line-out ball.”
While Wood would prefer to see this year’s postponed games replayed at some point, the Lions great cautions administrators against cramming them into an already-packed schedule if there is no obvious weekend.
“My issue with rugby is the constant number of games. The game is hard enough and there is too much on a small group of players,” he said.
“There are too many matches and out of this we will find out there may only be two or three weekends in a season when matches can be played, showing how taut the whole schedule is.
“The guys have to look at this period of huge disruption and take a week off, relax a little, eat some rubbish food, drink some beers.
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“Chill out and take it as bit of a break because there are no breaks in the game any more.”
Wood, who won 58 caps for Ireland and five for the Lions, believes the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the value of games such as rugby.
“I’ve often said that the great thing about sport is that it doesn’t mean anything, but never have I been more wrong because there is a big absence in people’s lives at the moment,” Wood said.
“Sport’s always been a great way for people to relax and that is more important now because there’s a crisis going on.
“People are going sick and it’s terrible – and there’s nothing to take you mind away from it. And that’s what sport does, so maybe sport is important.”
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You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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