We Get Matt Williams’ Take Ahead Of The Guinness Six Nations Restart

The leaves are falling, the Halloween decorations are up, and that means it’s almost time to hit the field for the Guinness Six Nations...hang on, what?

 

Yes, in yet another strange twist in an extraordinary year, the world’s greatest rugby tournament will end not with a St Patrick’s weekend spectacular, but a Halloween howitzer – and there’s even an extra game for Irish fans to sink their teeth into!

 

With Italy on their way to Dublin this Saturday – with live coverage from 2.30pm on Virgin Media One, Virgin TV 103 – and France awaiting in Paris a week later, Andy Farrell’s men return to action with lots on the line; the title itself not out of grasp just yet. We reckoned it was high time we caught up with on-screen pundit Matt Williams, to get the lowdown before it all kicks off again!

 

It’s weird to talk Six Nations in October, weird having no fans at games, weird having so little domestic action before internationals. Will it be weird once the whistle blows?

 

From what we’ve seen so far, both in rugby and across all sports around the world, I don’t think any of that seems to matter. They’re competitive beasts on that field, and that doesn’t change whether there’s people in the stands or not! That competitive spirit makes up for any of the other changes – so the quality of the games won’t be any different.

 

It’s the end of the tournament – but could it be a new start for Ireland?

 

Yes, I think it’s a reset button — and from an Irish point of view, a reset is what we were looking for. Ireland weren’t fantastic in the first three games. They played in a very similar way to how they did during Joe Schmidt’s time, which had famously stopped working towards the end. There needs to be a change in their thinking, and the planning from the coaches. They’ve now had a very long time to think and plan! We haven’t seen growth since beating New Zealand in 2018, and we need to see this team move forward.

 

Where should we be looking for that change?

 

The big thing we need to see is something new in attack; we need to see it evolve, because the other teams have Ireland picked. That was absolutely put on display against England in Twickenham; Ireland did what they’ve been doing for two or three years, and in every aspect of the game England knew what was coming.

 

Our kicking game is often a focus of those discussions – could we see a change at half-back, especially nine?

 

In January, I would have said John Cooney deserved to start ahead of Conor Murray to begin the Six Nations. It’s very unfortunate that his form – so wonderful at that time – has deserted him since the break. Jamison Gibson-Park seems to have leapfrogged both Cooney and Luke McGrath in the pecking order, but I don’t know if we see a change, simply because I’m not sure we have a nine playing that well – even if Conor isn’t playing well enough himself. You look at France, where they have a lot of excellent halves to choose from, and it’s not the case here right now. Even at 10 – Johnny Sexton is still a great player, but age doesn’t wait for anyone. Joey Carbery might have had his chance but for his injury issues.

 

Let’s move just in front of them, to the back row. What way do you think Farrell’s selection will go?

 

It’s a dilemma – but a really lovely dilemma to have. It’s about how you balance it out; how do you get the right combination? I always believe in treating 6,7 and 8 as specialist positions, and I think they’ve got to make some very deep decisions there. I’d have Will Connors at open-side, CJ Stander at eight, and Caelan Doris at blind-side – so Peter O’Mahony would miss out. You’ve got to pick teams on form, and those are the form players for me; the two Leinster players have been outstanding, and CJ’s done enough to keep his spot.

 

But if you’re going to pick an open-side like Connors, I think you have to play a game that suits him. When you watched the Wallabies and New Zealand, MIchael Hooper and Sam Cane both had great matches, and that’s what Ireland can do too – but you have to play a running game, bringing your 7 into attack as well as defence.

 

So, across the two games, what do you think Andy Farrell will be looking for?

 

You’d expect Ireland to win against Italy, and I think they will win that game, but then comes the French game, which is a huge one. It’s a big match for France, who could win the title, but all going well it could be the same for Ireland too. That’s going to be a real challenge. I’m not so worried about the scorelines – I mean, obviously we want to win – but it’s the processes and the performance that they put on the field that’s important. We need to see Ireland grow, and change, and evolve, and move into the Autumn playing the right way.

 

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