France’s Six Nations success is sure to stir Springboks’ emotions as reigning world champions

Jonathan Bradley

Six Nations champions France will find stern opposition to their pursuit of World Cup glory

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Six Nations champions France will find stern opposition to their pursuit of World Cup glory

March 21 2022 04:30 PM

The Six Nations, we are often told, is made by its rivalries. The niggle, the needle, the bluster, whatever you want to call it, it’s an integral ingredient thrown into the pot each year.

It says, plenty, therefore that the reaction to France’s success this season was virtually wholly positive.

The style in which Les Bleus earned their first title since 2010, with perhaps the best player in the world in Antoine Dupont acting as the fulcrum, ensured it was hard to find too many begrudgers out there on Saturday night. Even Ireland, themselves winners of a Triple Crown, could have no complaints to be sat taking second billing to Fabien Galthie’s squad who had delivered so satisfying a ‘Grand Chelem.’

If France have definitively shown that they are at present a cut above the rest in Europe, and are now ranked second in the world having leapfrogged the same All Blacks side they beat brilliantly last November, there will still be one nation arching an eyebrow at any notion that they are favourites to lift the World Cup on home soil next year.

South Africa have had an undeniably odd time since winning the William Webb Ellis trophy in Yokohama two and a half years ago, not playing a game at all in 2020 before the controversy and acrimony of what it should be remembered was still a victorious series against the British and Irish Lions.

The remainder of their 2021 wasn’t particularly impressive, winning only as much they lost in the Rugby Championship before ending their year on a sour note with defeat to England in Twickenham. Such is the focus drawn by a Lions tour on the schedule, though, the period should still have been viewed as a success.

And, as Ulster are about to find out, their domestic-based players certainly appear to be rounding into form too.

There was an understandable concern at the early returns of the big four franchises in their great European migration, with the Lions, Sharks, Bulls and Stormers only serving to ensure the United Rugby Championship featured more of the unwanted mismatches that were so damaging the PRO14 as a television spectacle.

The huge impact upon cross-hemisphere travel of Covid-19 that ensured they would all start the season with lengthy road trips was a sizeable blow.

That their first attempts at playing host then ended with sides spending weeks in hotel quarantines without playing a match was an unmitigated disaster.

It was hard to avoid the conclusion that what was once a dream scenario for league organisers was quickly becoming a nightmare.

But while the festive period and European window saw them quietly start to amass points in local derbies, since the new year dawned there has been much-needed signs of a stirring.

Within the first 10 days of January, the Bulls thumped Zebre in Parma with the Sharks winning convincingly away to Benetton.

Even in defeat, the Lions did credibly against Leinster in Dublin and the Stormers took a losing bonus-point from their visit to Galway.

But back on home soil over the past fortnight and their results have been as dominant now as they were abject earlier in the season. Eight wins from eight played, the victories have come with an average margin of over 25 points with only Munster keeping things to what could be considered close.

As they embark on their own two-game tour that sees them play the Stormers this week and the Bulls the next,

Ulster will have been watching with interest as their long-time stablemates fell victim to some combination of pace, power, high temperatures and altitude.

It is obvious that in an ideal future, South Africa’s inclusion becomes the rising tide that lifts all boats — neutral television viewers won’t want to watch the Bulls and Stomers put 50-plus points on over-matched opposition week in, week out any more than they did Leinster — and the league still needs more supporters keen to watch teams from countries which are not their own.

But with the Sharks, Bulls and Stormers all in the play-offs if the league ended today, we do at least look to have a much fresher feel to the season’s conclusion than has been in the case in recent years.

The league, still hamstrung by TV and sponsorship deals that are dwarfed by those available in England and France, desperately needs this latest iteration to be the successful reinvention that none of the Celtic League, the Pro12 or the PRO14 could ultimately provide.

As Ulster landed in South Africa on Monday afternoon, the past weeks show that could be closer than ever looked possible last autumn.