Six Nations: Full Contact - Has It Re-energised the Sport?

I've been sceptical of Netflickian sports documentaries done like this for a while now. I've heard that 'Drive to Survive' has saved Formula 1, even brought it to levels it hadn't before seen. It's exceptionally compelling television. It almost got me interested in F1. Almost. 'Break Point', its tennis version, and 'Full Swing', its golf version, have left me desiring something better. Individual episodes of those have been fantastic. But the shows as a whole have been lacking in the nitty-gritty and in the tension. They don't tell their stories, all rather compelling, in the same way other fantastic episodic sports documentaries have, like 'The Last Dance' or 'Last Chance U'. I hoped 'Six Nations: Full Contact' would revitalise interest for rugby and open it up to new audiences, further pushing the power-brokers to take some very logical steps to grow the sport that I won't get into now. That metric, though, cannot be measured now. Now, the programme is to be enjoyed and discussed.

Opening with the Scotland-England rivalry is smart because it blends bloody history, odious enmity and typical Scottish jocosity. There's also a trophy on the line, the Calcutta Cup, which always adds spice to a fixture. However, the game's key moment - the astounding try scored by Scottish winger Duhan Van der Merwe that ended up being named World Rugby's Try of the Year - was edited by Netflix so poorly that you can't make sense of just how fantastic a score it was. It did not give me a good feeling for what I was about to watch for my evening. The same poor editing happens when Hugo Keenan scores his fantastic try - another contender for the award won by Van der Merwe - against France, shown in the third episode.

The World Rugby Try of the Year, not that you'd be able to tell from how it's edited.

Finn Russell, a maverick of a player who I learned is a stonemason by trade, was a great choice to anchor the episode. So, too, is Ellis Genge for England's episode. He isn't the traditional English rugby player, coming from neither a place of privilege nor a rugby family. I liked his quote that "we have to go through a bit of a pain as a team before we can achieve what we can achieve". Great character-building one, that. But each episode is confusing somewhat because it doesn't focus on an individual team. It would work far more cinematically if it did that, unadulterated. But it doesn't. It tries to juggle too many teams and characters equally, meaning we never understand anyone with the exception of the individual players highlighted most in the episodes. They choose players well in that regard, with Genge and Ireland's Andrew Porter coming off particularly well. But they left a lot to be desired still.

I'm skewed watching this by the fact that I watched this entire Six Nations when it was happening live and I know how exciting this as a tournament was and all the storylines that should feature. So I may be overly critical. But this is a chance for a sport I love to find a bigger, more passionate audience. More should have been made of the gladiatorial element of rugby and its bellicose nature. This quote from Finn Russell's partner in the first episode sums it up perfectly:

"I feel like you are going off to war sometimes."

And yes there are the intense tackles and music to accompany said tackles and sharp editing when said tackles occur. But it mostly misses the mark.

Rugby in the Northern Hemisphere has rarely been in such rude health. The Irish and French international teams, both admittedly having bottled it somewhat at the Rugby World Cup last October, were ranked as the top two teams in the world. This has never happened before in Europe. Club teams like La Rochelle, Leinster, Munster, Toulouse and Saracens continue to push that game to new heights. The standard has never been better. Or, to put it more "business-like", the content has never been more exciting, more breath-taking, more marketable. The level of the sport now, practically packaging itself into highlights reels, is begging to be marketed well and sold well to attract new audiences. Matches need to be accessible, coverage needs to be accessible, highlights and journalism need to be accessible. 

The effortlessly cool French coach, Fabien Galthié

More should have been made of this French team anyhow because of how supremely talented they are. Yes, Ireland were ranked above them in this competition and beat them, but the storied 'French Flair' that is a hallmark of their national style-of-play is at an all-time height. Their coach is the eminently stylish, Jack Nicholson-esque Fabien Galthié whose Parnassian quotes pour out as if he's the poet laureate of the competition. He nonchalantly says things like "this team are contaminated by ambition" and "rugby is the art of passing the ball with arabesques" as if he says this every day. He compares rugby to "virtuous combat, like Napoleon cutting across fields with armies". Like, come on. Rugby coaches are normally character voids - Warren Gatland and Steve Borthwick get considerable airtime when they have the personalities of a cotton swab - but Galthié is a charismatic wordsmith and he needed more time. Give the man his own 6-episode show, please. I'd watch him butter bread just to see how he goes about it. Andy Farrell, the inspirational Irish head coach, deserved more air-time, but Ireland as a whole deserved more air-time considering they won the whole damn thing.

Andy Farrell and Kieran Crowley, Italy's all-swearing coach, have a great moment as they chat on the pitch before their sides' encounter in episode 5, talking about their various teams and the characters within it in a very laid-back, un-media like way. It's an insight diehard rugby fans rarely get into the game's inner sanctum. More should have been done for newcomers to the sport, of course, but more simultaneously had to be made for the sport's obsessive fans. This was the angle I came from, and there was very little for me on that front. 

The tournament this year won't be the same without Antoine Dupont, the single most talented and exciting player in world rugby.

It's worth noting that this documentary series has been struck by rather unfortunate timing in a lot of places. Many of the places interviewed have, for various reasons, bowed out of the 2024 Six Nations and possibly editions beyond those. Antoine Dupont, the French captain and world's most talented player, is playing Seven's rugby for the upcoming Olympics. Stuart Hogg, Scotland's captain, has retired. Owen Farrell, England's captain, has bowed out from this year's competition for his mental health. Louis Rees-Zammit, the astounding Welsh winger, announced he's leaving the sport to have a crack at the NFL. The producers must be counting their lucky stars they didn't put more emphasis on Johnny Sexton, Romain Ntamack and other players who will miss this edition and more. In an effort to try and attach new fans to hallmark players, the documentary has unwittingly suffered here. The competition suffers when all these players are absent. The timing here, though, feels like it's just another nail in the coffin.

I enjoyed this programme exclusively because I enjoy rugby. I didn't enjoy this because it was captivating. A riveting, exciting international tournament with exceptional physical prowess and skill on show. This was a tournament begging to be marketed well. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case. This is a poorly-edited highlights reel that can't have done anything to attract new fans to what, the documentary proudly tells the viewer on multiple occasions, is the oldest international rugby tournament in the world. That history could have been done more justice.