



THE RUGBY WEEKEND REVIEWED - by Rupert Bates
What a weekend of rugby. As an Englishman I was delighted to see England’s victory over Wales in Cardiff. The only blemish and it was a 30-mile blemish, was the scheduling for the great god television. Yes under lights and a closed Millennium Stadium roof gave it a certain frisson and extraordinary noise levels, but the decision to play on a Friday night was always going to end in traffic gridlock, especially as driving is often the only option, given the appalling train service and not helped by some rip-off hoteliers insisting on two nights money for one. Shameful behaviour.
DOMINGO NOT PLACIDO
But the best performance of the opening weekend came from France in a terrific contest against Scotland in Paris. French flair is one of rugby’s great clichés and it is true there are few finer sights in sport than their players, all gliding pace and dextrous hands, smart angles and support lines, sweeping up the pitch. But the coal of French rugby has always burnt fiercest in the front-row. It is the pug faces and battered noses that are the real pin-up boys across the channel. Step forward Thomas Domingo, William Servat and Nicolas Mas – a front-row straight out of central casting, who had their Scottish counterparts on toast. The re-sets may get a bit tedious for some and there are all sorts of dark arts practiced, but there is something elemental, gladiatorial, as the front-rows crouch. Marching the opposition pack backwards is as thrilling as Maxime Medard in full flight. Plenty for Scotland to take heart from and such was the performance of Richie Gray, the second-row must have felt nearly seven feet tall.
TWITTER TWITS
An interesting development on Saturday night, as I followed the Six Nations reaction on Twitter. And let’s forget the tweets of Everything Rugby’s very own Tom May (@tommay1), who had his phone pinched by a mate who posted rogue tweets to embarrass the Toulon centre.
On a lighter Twitter note, one of many rugby men worth following is @davidflatman, whose Twitter profile picture is Kojak. Flats obviously knows his rugby and his media career, currently as an Independent on Sunday columnist and Sky Sports pundit, will continue to thrive. But the razor-witted Bath prop is also absolutely barking on any numbers of subjects that get inside that loose head of his.

