Poor rugby is surely better than no rugby?

The old saying “half a loaf is better than no bread,” seems to have little appeal to many rugby journalists. While some of us are thankful to have had any matches to watch this miserable autumn, many of them have been severely critical of the quality of the play.

Well, of course, they have a point. Some of it has been poor, much lacking in ambition and adventure. There has been a lot of kicking from hand, often ill-directed, even aimless. Interpretation of the revised law at the breakdown has resulted in too many penalties, for which referees, rather than players disregarding or breaking the law, have been blamed.

There have been too many reset scrums and some referees still eat up time by conducting a tutorial before the scrums can engage. The eagerness of television match officials to interfere rather than waiting for the referee to ask for advice, and the long delays while they ponder decisions that referees in the amateur club game make in a few seconds disturb the continuity of play. But also, give players a long breather, enabling defenders to hold at bay the fatigue that has always offered opportunities to attack with ball in hand. So, yes, some of the complaints have been reasonable.

On the whole though, they have been overdone. All outdoor sport is conditioned by the weather and many of the matches have been played in vile conditions. TV coverage of every game, admirable in itself, has meant that too many have been staged in the evening. A November night is not, to put it mildly, what you would recommend as ideal for running rugby. Likewise, preparations for these matches have been unusual. Squads have been cocooned. Players have been short of match practice.

Nevertheless, there has been some good and entertaining rugby, whatever the Mona Lotts in the Press-box may say. Surprisingly some of the best has come from Italy. Though, sadly from their point of view, never for a whole match. They played well in the first half against England, Scotland and an inexperienced French side. Their back division showed more flair than the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh backs have this tournament. If Italy could play eighty minutes like these first forties, there would be no more talk of relegating them from the Six Nations.

To be fair to fellow-hacks, some of the grumbling is like the sigh of a disappointed lover. This is especially the case in England. Those who write for London newspapers have high expectations and, often, judge by demanding standards. They expect England to win and win with style.

This doesn’t seem unreasonable, even to a Scot. There are twelve professional clubs in the English Premiership, there are four professional clubs in Ireland, four in Wales, and only two in Scotland. Of course, England should usually have the best team in the four Lions countries.

Then this England team – Eddie Jones’s England – has previously been very good indeed. If they won this year’s Six Nations title without having to shine very brightly, it is only some thirteen or fourteen months since they were truly brilliant in their World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. It’s not surprising if hacks and fans alike long to see them play like that again, and are disappointed, aggrieved and even angry when they not only fail to do so, but seem content to play with a sad poverty of imagination and ambition. To see their captain Owen Farrell and his half-back partner Ben Youngs repeatedly kick good ball away, often apparently aimlessly, is depressing.

Well, England have a chance today to show they can still play in a better style and shine brightly. Domestic rugby politics has deprived the French coach Jerome Galthie of his first XV, the team that defeated England in Paris back in February. So, he is bringing a mostly young and inexperienced side to Twickenham. It is even less experienced than the one that beat Italy last Saturday, for the Top14 clubs’ stipulation that players should be available to Galthie for only three matches in this tournament has meant that scrum-half Baptiste Serin and winger Teddy Thomas have had to be left at home. I haven’t done the sums, but I guess that Ben Youngs may have more international caps than this French XV put together.

England should, of course, win and do so comfortably, therefore also, one hopes, with style. Yet, given that France come to Twickenham again in the real Six Nations in the Spring, I suspect that Galthie may not be too unhappy with how things have turned out. He could, after all, have juggled his earlier selections to ensure having more of his stars available for this match. As it is, he is fielding a mostly young team that has everything to gain and nothing really to lose because the world expects them to lose. He will learn a lot about the reserves he is fielding, most of them likely to be candidates for the next World Cup squad. Then when the French first XV return to Twickenham for the Six Nations, that team will remember only that they beat Eddie Jones’s boys last time they played them. You might even say that Galthie is in a “heads I win, tails you lose” position with regard to Mr Jones and this afternoon’s game.

Elsewhere Scotland go to Dublin hoping to end a run of three defeats at Irish hands, hoping also to recover the ability to score tries from more than a few metres out. I would be more confident of victory if Finn Russell wasn’t missing due to injury. They haven’t exactly sparkled without him. On the other hand, Ireland haven’t particularly sparkled this autumn either and are missing Garry Ringrose, to my mind the best 13 in the Lions countries.

In Cardiff, or rather Llanelli, the Principality Stadium is still doubling as a Nightingale Hospital; Wayne Pivac has shuffled his Welsh pack of cards again. Italy may at last bring the long-awaited, much-needed win against a Six Nations country. If they can play for 80 minutes, as they played for 40 in Paris, they might just do it. Reason, however, suggests that Wales should win and take a little more weight off Pivac’s shoulders.

Let us hope that all three matches are a bit more exhilarating than most were in November.