Decider will prove this tournament needs no tinkering

Sometime soon, somebody is sure to raise again the question of the Six Nations, where it could be heading, what can be done to protect it from the ratings driven demands of BBC television which, predictably, wants more for the £70m it has paid to secure sole broadcasting rights than tradition happily allows.

"We have a very good tournament here, and we should look after it," Scotland's coach Ian McGeechan said after a commendably combative performance by the men in blue failed to prevent England running up their 21st consecutive victory at Twickenham.

Protect the Six Nations from what? Arrogant suggestions of a two-tier championship, more Saturday evening kick-offs and more Sunday matches, a contrived fixture list that will probably see England and France meet on the final weekend for the next two seasons? McGeechan smiled. "The fact that Ireland and England are playing a Grand Slam decider in Dublin next week is good for the tournament," he said. "Wasn't it meant to be all about England and France?"

That it was, and isn't, is clearly to McGeechan's satisfaction, proof in his mind that tinkering with the Six Nations format would not necessarily amount to progress, in fact quite the opposite. "Sometimes you can create tournaments that are superficial," he said. "Which is why I say again that we should do everything to protect what we have got. I think you all know what I mean," he said.

On a day when Wales came agonisingly close to denying Ireland a full measure of importance in Dublin next Sunday, there was never a hint that Scotland's brave effort against immeasurably superior opposition would amount to more than commendations for commitment and unrelenting effort. "I don't think the score reflects how well we played, doesn't do us justice," McGeechan said. "It says a lot for the stubbornness and intelligence of our players that they were able to draw level with a penalty when we had only 13 players on the field."

Shortly before the game, I filled in a card that promised some prize or other for forecasting exactly the time of the first score. I settled on eight minutes 44 seconds, which prompted the organiser of this scheme to suggest that I was being unduly pessimistic. Presumably this was on the basis that Scotland had won only twice at Twickenham in 65 years, and that one bookmaker was reported to be laying England at 50-1 on. Anyway, I was well out in my reckoning, Jonny Wilkinson putting England ahead with a penalty inside four minutes of play.

England's victory was no more that their supporters expected, many of whom travelled to Twickenham with that air of smug satisfaction that develops around all successful sports teams. The Irish may dent this in Dublin but the majority of England's games these days seem more like celebrations than genuine sporting contests.

"We know England are going to win," a fellow traveller said, "so it's just a case of how many." Incidentally, this fellow normally follows football. "I go to Twickenham just to see England prove time and time again that they are the best." He could have added that opportunities to watch Wilkinson and Jason Robinson ought not to be missed. The accuracy of Wilkinson's kicking is phenomenal and Robinson is the most exciting broken field runner in the game today. "He can score from anywhere," Clive Woodward said. Robinson makes few demands on the audience. It isn't necessary to appreciate some subtle role in the tactical scheme of things. He is, quite simply, swift and elusive, a scorer of great tries.