This has not been a vintage tournament for half-backs.
For England, the distinctly average stop-gap Lee Dickson was
eventually found out against Ireland and Ben Youngs thankfully returned to somewhere near form. Owen Farrell is ready to play international rugby but his passing
is too often behind the man.
Mike Blair also returned to his form of 2009 but his teammates
were too often slower in thought and deed. Greig Laidlaw is arguably not the
answer at fly-half though he did provide much needed direction even if
direction did not manifest itself in penetration.
Conor Murray impressed me as an all-round scrum-half and will hopefully recover quickly
so that he can push his case for the Lions. Sexton confirmed his place as the
most capable and rounded fly-half in the competition.
For France, several combinations were tried and more often
failed. Yachvili missed out through injury though Parra should have
automatically replaced him and not Julien Dupuy. Lionel Beauxis sadly failed to
produce his early season form and PSA should surely stick with Francois
Trinh-Duc.
Italy have no half-backs of value except perhaps Bennvenuti.
Burton plays so deep and so lateral his backline has no chance.
For Wales, Mike Philips seemed to find the right balance
between passing, kicking and utilising his strong running game, a balance that he
lost for a season. His performances have been tidy, understated, and classy. Wales’
success has come in spite of Rhys Priestland and not because of it. He fell
apart at Twickenham and I feel he is too keen to kick the ball. His confidence
and composure from the world cup was non-existent. This was no doubt related to
his aberrant goal-kicking.
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