I first remember watching the Five Nations as a teenager, back in the eighties. South Africa had only introduced television in 1976, with the apartheid government, in its Calvinist zeal, deeming it evil. Given the Kardashians and plethora of similar series, they may have had a point. My folks, bless ‘em only got a big, fat, shiny set replete with bunny ears and no remote in 1980, so my dad could watch the British Lions series.
‘White’ South Africa in those days was a shambles of ethno-nationalism, with Afrikaners dominating politically, English-speakers controlling much of the economy, a large Portuguese community that migrated here after Angolan and Mozambican independence, pockets of Italians who’d who stayed here after the Second World War (prisoners from North Africa were transferred here), very strong, if relatively small, Belgian (ex-Zaire), French (built our nuclear capacity and key dams, and gave us fighter jet and missile technology), German, Lebanese, Jewish, Zambian and Zimbabwean ‘whites’ (who still called themselves Rhodesian in the main), and a whole heap of first generation Brits, who came over in the sixties and seventies to work on the power stations, dams, mines, telecoms etc that the apartheid government was building.
The point? Amongst all these groups there was fierce sporting rivalry (and a fair amount of pub violence too), largely in football, which attracted huge whites-only crowds back then, but also spilling over into rugby. What of the rugby? The hair was big, the shorts were, er, not, the players largely looked normal-sized and there were no television match officials. It was glorious chaos. In South Africa, we had only the Currie Cup – a ferocious tournament at the time – and a handful of tours, with isolation starting to bite.
With an English mum and dad of English heritage, I naturally supported England in all matter sporting, so the early eighties were alright. Bill Beaumont led a grizzled pack full of policemen and other thugs magnificently! The Welsh wizardry of the 70s was waning, but still spoken of in hushed tones by our parents, Andy Irvine was my favourite Scot, Ollie Campbell and Tony Ward great Irishmen, but my oh my, it was Jean-Pierre Rives, the one and only J-PR, who stole hearts with his frenetic, fearless and gallant approach to rugby. It was a great time to be exposed to northern rugby. And Bill McLaren. The greatest sports commentator of all time? Certainly best UK one, in my books.
Watching those matches as the eighties meandered into the nineties, Scotland’s final hurrah in 1990 with the Grand Slam and a win over England (who I was backing, whilst my best mate rooted for Scotland) are some of my favourite sporting memories.
Fast forward to 2025, the Six Nations, the razzmatazz, the massive players, the huge squads, tactical subs, endless law changes, endless TMO reviews and endless bickering by fans on social media – it’s just not the same, is it? No. It’s completely different: and just as compelling. The skills on display, the crowds, the anthems (Flower of Scotland for me, just ahead of Land of Our Fathers and La Marseillaise) and the ancient rivalries, along with the addition of Rome and Italy make it a special tournament, to be treasured. Not to be fucked with. No relegation and promotion. No Springboks. Just as is. Progress and change be damned – the tournament is a beacon in a sea of endless repetition and tinkering.
And this year’s tournament promises to be a great one. France and Ireland or vice versa are favourites to win it, although most don’t expect a Slam, while Scotland (assuming they can keep 23 players fit) have a wonderful set of backs who can turn a Test on a tickey. The English media’s schizophrenic lurching between bombast and blubbering belies a side not far off being very, very good – capable, in my books, of beating any of the others on their day. In either hemisphere. Wales are rebuilding and will hope their arrested development turns the joke on someone else, whilst Italy have proven that on their day, they can play some magical stuff and trade it with the best. So as 2025 dawns, may young fans (of all ages) around the globe marvel at the likes of St Maro, Marcus Smith, Rabah Slimani, Julien Marchand, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Antoine Dupont(!), Damian Penaud, Sebastian Negri, Juan Ignacio Brex, Ange Capuzzo, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Rory Darge, Jamie Ritchie, Darcy Graham, Finn Russell, Christ Tshiunza, Jac Morgan, Liam and Tomos Williams amongst so many others. Let these names be spoken of in hushed and fond tones as arguments echo down the ages, rivalries remain, growing stronger and closer: let the Six Nations speak on the field. Let’s enjoy one of the great sporting spectacles!
Reminiscences by deebee7, of course.
Onna telly this weekend
Showing matches that are televised in the UK and Ireland or on popular subscription services. Bold indicates that it’s on a free to view channel. Times are in the UK zone, so adjust as necessary.
Friday 31st January
| Scotland v Italy (U20s) | 19:15 | iPlayer |
| France v Wales | 20:15 | S4C, STV, ITV1 |
Saturday 1st February
| Scotland v Italy | 14:15 | BBC1 |
| Ireland v England | 16:45 | STV, ITV1 |
| France v Wales (U20s) | 20:10 | iPlayer, S4C |
Ovally Balls 
Hansen had blood?
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This will please Thaum. Head injury on knee
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That was a close knock-on
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Easterby appears to have just eaten his microphone.
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Aye, it’s an odd blood reversal that makes you limp. I’d as soon he stayed off, tbh.
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Oh, that was a lovely tap-tackle by Bundee.
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Is it me, or has James Lowe lost a bit of timber?
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England player getting a team yellow. Marcus Smith is the victim!
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Bugger. That was coming though.
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A Curry getting medical treatment?
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B Curry I think.
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Why can’t we hang on to or pass the fucking ball?
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How have England not conceded any points??
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TRY JGP … if there wasn’t a forward pass.
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I shouldn’t have typed anything.
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Not forward! Yay!
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I think it was just perfectly flat Thaum.
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Oh, that was a hell of a line by Earl.
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Entertaining mixture of good play and mistakes from both sides. Bit old-fashioned in some ways with the ball bobbling around a lot from dodgy passes, dropped balls and loose play after kicks.
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Ten minutes to breathe.
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All good fun so far, heading off for a smoke and a coffee before Eddie Jones fires up.
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Why didn’t he let that go dead?!?!?
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Very marginal forward pass called there, certainly unlucky by today’s standards.
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Think maybe he’d touched it?
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@CMW – or yesterday’s standards.
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Yep, touched his fingers on the way thru, so 5m scrum anyway.
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@Refit – Indeed.
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Lowe always has such an objectionable grin on his face in the pretend fights. I prefer my pretend fighters to look angry when they’re pretending to fight.
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It would be lovely if we could get out of our half for a minute.
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TRY Aki! Whew!
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Quite the finish by Aki.
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Shame that Prendergast can’t kick.
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Fair play to Smith, he tried to make that tackle, but it was never going to happen.
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Bloody hell, Ireland have won 16 lineouts???
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“Lowe always has such an objectionable grin on his face”
Think you could have stopped there to be honest.
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England not getting the rub of the green just now.
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Oh, that was a great kick by Prendergast, utter chaos for England.
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Just skipped over Curry getting hit in the head then? Cool.
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Refit – I thought the tackle was perfectly low, but it was a bit of a whiplash thing?
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Swap that pen for Lowe being a dick.
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Thaum – on the replay, you clearly saw the tackler’s shoulder hitting Curry’s face.
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TRY Beirne! Lovely one!
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Beirne almost over-ran that. Lucky it wasn’t forward to him.
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Refit – fairy nuff; I missed it.
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Great break – shame it was Lowe that made it.
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Good try.
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Oh, I really don’t like that team-change graphic they just put up. Almost impossible to tell all the players that have changed.
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Can we fire Murley into the sun?
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Murley might not be looking so much like the golden boy he did after scoring that early try.
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Yikes! Properly shinned that box-kick.
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