Why Scotland star believes ‘f–king tough’ Six Nations is ‘harder’ to win than the World Cup
Scotland star Jack Dempsey with an inset of Siya Kolisi with the William Webb Ellis Cup.
Scotland and Glasgow number eight Jack Dempsey claims that it is more difficult to win the Six Nations than the Rugby World Cup.
Dempsey points to the fact that South Africa have won the last two global tournaments despite losing a pool match as part of his reasoning.
He believes that you cannot afford to lose a game in the Six Nations if you hope to win it and that the pressure of playing away from home and not at a neutral venue makes the annual northern hemisphere more challenging.
The Australian-born loose forward, who qualified to represent Scotland through heritage, made the bold claim when discussing how the national team can replicate Glasgow Warriors’ domestic success at the highest level.
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This comes off the back of Gregor Townsend and Franco Smith’s contract extensions with Scotland and Glasgow, respectively.
“Well, honestly, all BS aside, it’s about 80 minutes on the day,” Dempsey said when asked by Scotland Rugby News how Scotland can repeat Glasgow’s success.
“So let’s talk about the Six Nations, right? So there’s 80 minutes, five times. That’s what it is, right? The team that’s going to be out there, the 23, isn’t going to be too different to the 23 that are in your heads, right?
“We’re not going to bring in some random bloke from some place. So the players are the players. And it’s whether your opinion thinks that those players are good enough.
“We can all say that on their day, that’s the thing they always say, on their day, Scotland can beat anyone, right? That’s the thing. So to answer your question, what do we need to do to go to the next level? We need to just play five games at our best five times. That’s it.”
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He adds that Ireland’s consistency is what makes them such a strong team in the Six Nations, while like Scotland, France are guilty of fluctuating with their performances.
“Like it sounds juvenile, doesn’t it? Like it sounds very basic,” he continued.
“But when was the last time Scotland did that? That’s what the answer is. The thing is Ireland really never play below like a seven out of 10 and that’s why they are so hard to beat.
“But France is a bit like Scotland in a way where they’ll be fluctuating. But because of their depth and because of the athletes they have, they can reach higher highs. But, you know, we’ve beaten France in France before.
“We’ve, you know, should have beaten them in Murrayfield the other year, you know, at the end. But it’s just one game at a time. The difference is you come here, we got 20 odd games where you can iron out stuff, and then you play all this stuff in Scotland, mate. You just got to get 25 blokes together and play five games in a row.”
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Six Nations is more difficult that World Cup
This led Dempsey to the claim that the Six Nations is a more difficult tournament to win than the Rugby World Cup.
“I’ve said this before, last time I was with you boys. I think it’s honestly harder to win a Six Nations than a World Cup because South Africa won the last two World Cups, right? How many games did they lose? They lost one in each,” he said.
“To win the Six Nations, you have to win it all, you know. If not, you have to rely on bonus points and all this other stuff. And it’s not a knockout.
“And it’s home and away and alternates every year. World Cup, random, unless you’re the host, you’re in a random place where it’s a neutral field pretty much, unless you’re coming up against the host.
“You can lose a game in the pool, which could help you in the quarters depending on who you pull. It’s f****** tough, mate. It is. But to answer your question, you got to be healthy, you got to be fit and you’ll be ready to go and you’ll play five in a row and you got to be up for it every time. That’s it. That’s the answer.”