Rugby Six Nations: Ireland and Wales back on track

I think I mentioned before that it is very hard to follow the action in world rugby in germany since there is no tradition whatsoever. And because of that there are no matches shown on TV. But this seems to change a little bit for the better because a German sports station (DSF)is covering the Six Nations this year after they seemed to have some success with their World Cup broadcasts last year. I have to admit that compared to their normal program - especially their football coverage - the rugby matches are very well commentated and the commentator is very well prepared. Andreas Renner is able to give enough explanations for newcomers who are watching their first rugby match, but his knowledge of the game itself is so good that he can also give facts to the team and the players on the pitch which makes it interesting for people who are into rugby as well. There is a colour commentator as well, usually a German national team player or a coach, sometimes the Sevens national coach. I am very happy that the Six Nations get coverage on German TV and I still hope they will do the same when the time comes for the Tri Nations.

Ireland vs Italy 16-11
The first match of this years competition wasn't that much of a thriller, Ireland was pretty much in charge during most of the game. The best phase for Italy came when they were reduced to 14 when one of them got a yellow card only 10 minutes from half time. The scoreline looks closer than the match really was and Ireland secured the win very safely.

England vs Wales 19-26
It was a competely different story for the second game of the day. When I tuned in England were already up 9-3 and they looked very convincing. Especially Toby Flood was everywhere. Wales didn't seem to be able to cope with the fierce English attack and especially the English wingers were very threatening during most of the time. But in the last 20 minutes England somehow lost control of the game and Wales came back with two tries after putting the English backline under a lot of pressure.

Since this is my first Six Nations I'm not really sure what to make of those results. Considering that the Welsh and the Irish performances during the 2007 World Cup were disappointing (if you believe in what the newspapers were writing back then) their victories today must have been a step towards the right direction. England on the other hand came in as the runner-up in the World Cup and lost. So this must be seen as a setback, I suppose. I wasn't expecting too much from Italy although they only missed the World Cup quarterfinals because of a narrow loss against Scotland.