Six Nations 2012: Home unions must ensure fans are never again treated like mugs following Saturday's fiasco in France Saturday was a cock-up waiting to happen and, once it did happen, handled with a calamitous lack of regard for the paying punter. It was a PR disaster. There should have been an instant communication apologising to fans for the distress and cost. Yes, that includes the word "sorry," and not a mealy-mouthed "regret." Get out there and experience the anger. It's for real, and understandably so. What's more, the image of one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sporting calendar took a battering. There was an urgent need for damage-limitation. It didn't materialise. There are practical matters that need to be addressed. The Stade de France cannot be allowed to stage late-night matches in the depths of winter unless it can guarantee proper pitch preparation. If it can't, and there is apparently some issue about underground methane deposits militating against the installation of undersoil heating, then afternoon kick-offs have to be mandatory. Mind you, the amount of hot air being spouted behind the scenes on Saturday night, as the blame game started and bucks were passed with more slickness than the English back line has managed this championship, ought to have melted the most frozen of pitches. If all this can't be put in place, then switch to the Parc des Princes, a far more loveable venue, albeit smaller. The 2012 RBS Six Nations championship has already thrown up some great story lines - Wales' continued surge and its hulking back-line, England's modest reputational repair-job and a bevy of Lions candidates to the fore in George North, Owen Farrell, Richie Gray to name but a few. In sport there is invariably a flip side and sure enough some have already been held to account, be it Andy Robinson's coaching team in Scotland or Italy's goal-kickers in Rome. These men are under instant scrutiny and they never duck that responsibility. It's time for a full and frank admission from the home unions. It was a stuff-up. There were some things that didn't go too well at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, the snow-clearance was patchy while the posts almost toppled when an overhead TV wire got wrapped around them. But the newest addition to the championship's roster did emerge with flying colours in one regard - there was no musical babble during stoppages. The response to last week's piece was overwhelming in favour of getting rid of the racket. Keep complaining. We'll beat it yet. There was some whistling during kicks, which I've never had a problem with. Silence must be far more intimidating for a kicker than a shrill chorus. Charlie "Charge-down," Hodgson may have perfected the art of scoring tries from well-time blocks but what's happened to the length of his touch-finders? Like many in the modern game, he appears to opt now for 30-40 metre kicks to touch. His drop-out restarts can travel 50-60 metres. Kicking longer is riskier in that it might miss its target. But let's see more torpedo punts spiralling deep into the opposition 22. It's far more threatening.