Six Nations highs and lows
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A number of candidates, as ever, but for sheer effrontery, Dimitri Yachvili's blind-side effort against England in the final match knocked its rivals into a cocked beret. The maverick French scrum-half needed the razor wit of a born opportunist and the precision of an architect to conjure up the score, and it earned France a second Grand Slam in three years.
NON-TRY OF THE TOURNAMENT
Jason Robinson, the England full-back, ran rings round the Welsh during his electrifying 70-metre rampage at Twickenham, only to forget the important bit - the scoring pass. Had he off-loaded to any one of half a dozen colleagues, it would have been a five-pointer to set before the Gods. Sadly, Mr W Whizz Esq ended up running rings round himself.
MYSTERY OF THE TOURNAMENT
An inexplicable outbreak of blindness, affecting the vast majority of referees and touch-judges. There were more forward passes during the championship than in the average Superbowl, and many of them resulted in tries that should never have been awarded. Officials can spot a microscopically small line-out infringement at a thousand paces, but not a Joe Montana-style bullet pass. Weird.
SCANDAL OF THE TOURNAMENT
The broadcasting schedule, which treated Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales as though they did not exist, and made insomniacs of England and France. As last weekend's "Super Saturday" dragged into not-so-super Sunday, with an official banquet in the small hours and hundreds of punters missing the last train into central Paris, the thought occurred once again that television kills at a touch.
BAD JOKE OF THE TOURNAMENT
The sound of licensed hospitality providers, who charge massively over the odds for Twickenham tickets, bleating about unlicensed hospitality providers who, quite disgracefully, charge massively over the odds for Twickenham tickets. The new black market is even more unpleasant than the old one, which is some achievement. A wonderful thing, capitalism.
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