IT’S that time of year again when I suddenly take an interest in rugby union and the Six Nations Championship.

Apart from the Rugby Union World Cup, I find this competition the sport’s most compelling spectacle to watch – even the attritional clash between Ireland and England in Dublin on Sunday.

Because of the atrocious weather, there wasn’t a sniff of a try or the free-running attacking game Stuart Lancaster is attempting to instill in the psyche of his young England side. But it was a tense, nervy fascinating, kicking-led and ultimately enthralling encounter nevertheless.

I also enjoyed Saturday’s Scotland v Italy encounter, and it was nice to see our friends north of the border running in a few tries.

I often wonder why I take little interest in club rugby. This may be because the nearest team to Bolton of real quality is Sale Sharks, who play in Stockport, and I feel no local affinity to that club.

What also struck me was what a technically complex game the 15-man rugby format is, never more so than listening to that fine pundit and former England hooker Brian Moore.

Moore – not one to mince words – has a bee in his bonnet about the whimsical nature of refereeing at the scrummage even at the highest level.

A vocal critic of referees for many years, Moore took the relevant course to become one and qualified in 2010.

I have to admit, listening to Moore explaining his gripes during the England game did nothing to increase my understand of what goes on in a rugby union scrum, and I suspect it didn’t for many others who, like me, have never played the game.

But the authority with which he speaks, and the esteem in which he is held by the rugby fraternity, have convinced me that whatever he is saying, must be right. How crazy is that?

What he did say that I totally understood was that Cian Healy’s stamp on the prone Dan Cole’s ankle at one breakdown was an act of appalling and unprofessional thuggery which this week has rightly seen the Irishman banned for two matches, thanks to the evidence of the television replay.

Once again, this illustrates how far football is behind in dealing with, and punishing retrospectively, actions of unsporting behaviour which go unnoticed by the referee on the field of play.

More power to the slo-mo.