[Closed] 6 nations thread, let the arguments commence

I reckon it will finish in this order.......

England

France

Scotland

Wales

Ireland

Italy

I think Wales will be lower and Ireland higher, cant see england winning either, France for me. Although I havent looked at who's playing who where.

Turns out England have France at Twickers so I may have to change my mind

millenium magic is on in a couple of weeks mate.

educate yourself to man's rugby........... 8)

mans rugby my arse, run and wiggle you mean? Sorry I find it extremely dull.

as i do union, and your pin up henson moreso.

Ton is correct 13 man better than 15. 😉

Too early to start predicting, still time for injuries to make a difference but England must be in with a good chance alongside France,

as i do union, and your pin up henson moreso.

the new object of my desire ex run and wiggleist too!!:

[img] [/img]

League isn't rugby - a fine game but it stopped being rugby when they took out the flankers & stopped scrummaging!

Anyway, My mate (who is usually spot on in these things) reckons a 4th place finish for Wales. Not sure about England TBH, if they can give Wales a hiding (not a foregone conclusion) then they may just go on to do well. Still think France are the best bet.
Scotland will surprise us i think - a winning series against the Argies has done them the world of good.

tough cookie that sonny bill.......... 😀

i fancy france
england will be crap i reckon.

France - who knows? Has leivremont worked out whet the team should be yet. Teh hardest to predict of the teams.

England - badly damaged by injuries. Will do reasonably well but I would be surprised if they win. Too many old slow dinosaurs in the side still - but partly forced by injury. No defence to a fast and loose game.

Scotland - can they actually hit somewhere near their potential? Thats the team that beat Ireland / Argentina / SA not the team that lost to Italy and Wales. Major weakness in the centres and the whole of the backs are uninspiring. Best pack of the 6n as a unit.

Wales - In big trouble. Badly weakened by injuries and don't seem to be a happy camp. I think they will struggle.

Ireland - a fading force.

Italy - mixed bag. I expect them to win at least one game ( but its not Scotlands turn tight!)

I look forward to a close contest with some great matchups.

Final order

France
England / Scotland ( could be points difference)
Ireland
Wales
Italy

Wales wont do much but I could still see them beating England at home however loosing Gethin and especially Adam seriously weakens wales, if those two were fit I'd be confident of beating England.

Major plus for Wales is that Biggar and Bennett are not in the squad.

No no no it doesn't work like that for Scotland, you can't predict we will finnish 3rd, you have all just gone and jinked it for us. We are now destined to finnish last and it is all your fault. I'm off to cry in a corner now. You big bunch of spoil sports.

Will England beat Wales? In Cardiff? Recent history says no, but this may just be England's year. Tis a pity the welsh Lions front row are injured as i'm sure they would hammer their opposites. Once that match is over, my interest goes back to the Premiership.

I had lunch with Richard Hill today
that is all

I have recently found myself a girlfriend of South African origin. She seems to be viewing my increasing excitement at the upcoming Six Nations tournament with a certain sort of humor...she did ask what the fuss was all about given that there were no southern hemisphere teams in the tournament?

Suddenly it all seemed like much less of a big deal.

Rugby is shite.

France
England
Scotland/Wales/Ireland
Italy

Hows that for sitting on the fence?

France; Biggest pool of potential players,but don't have the blend.
England;beset by injury,pack will struggle,and despite what they claim,I feel that is still the cornerstone of the English game mentality.
Scotland;Increasingly nasty pack,nae backs,and I mean NAE backs.We seem to be able to grow back rowers and props just now,but no stand-offs of any guile.
Wales;Will they raise a team with their injury worries? I don't rate Gatland either,he will have his favourites who will play despite lack of form.
Ireland; getting on,with no real bite,in Europe their increasing age is beginning to show,I expect that to translate to the 6N.
Italy; Still a minority sport.

Rugby league;So much on the bones of it's arse it is little more than a feeder sport for the Aviva,with their best players viewing it as a window for either Oz or Rugby Union.Moved to Summer and Fridays to avoid losing MORE fans to RU.Alright to watch while waiting for the real game to start,I suppose.

I think Wales are in for a beating, I dont want to watch but I cant help myself. Why can we never manage to play a full strength team? Gatland is right about Hartley the guy is an oaf and a red card about to happen.

Biggar needs to go back to the premiership and cant believe Ospreys have let Hooky go.

Despite Scotlands good recent form I fully expect them to revert to type for the 6n's.

Looking forward to the opener though, love the banter with my welsh mates.

I fear it may not go well on a Friday evening soon....

Bugger. It's come around quickly - when are they playing at Twickers?

I shall watch each Welsh game nervously and, I fear, ultimately with disappointment.

So, instead, I shall cheer for anyone who comes up with decent attachking play and doesn't kill the ball in endless rucks.

And then we can get on to Wigan doing the cup/league double this year.

Might actually get my son to watch some of the games - he's finally working out that maybe watching the professionals play might give him a clue on where he should be on the pitch 😆

Other than that Duckman + 1

Wales;Will they raise a team with their injury worries?

Am I missing something because wales are only really missing Adam and Gethin from potential first 15 arent they... form is another matter but they are not too many injuries.

Byrne
1/2p
Hook
Roberts
Shane
Jones 10
Phillips
Powell
Warbaton
Jones 6
Jones 5
Davies
A N Other (Mitchell?)
Rees
James

should make england work hard as long as the ref allows lots of messing about at scrum time

I'd say it's almost as crap as cricket.

A.A How many of those players are just back from injury? And please tell me Mongo ain't starting 😀 He had a good game on Sat,but has not really looked like a premiership,let alone international this year. There looks like a good reason he likes to go everywhere in a golf buggy,and has obviously made lots of trips to get munchies from a 24hr garage.And I am afraid your front row is going to get eaten.(perhaps by Mongo,if the garage is out of pork scratchings)

A.A How many of those players are just back from injury?

Lots Shane, Byrne, 1/2p and Roberts and Jones 6 has played 6 once this season I think, rest of the games at lock.
Phillips has been shit too.

Powell is easily of a good enough standard to play in the Aviva premiership and is the best 8 wales have available, playing Jones 6 at 8 and putting in Lydiate is the other option but Jones lacks the ball carrying ability.

fat bugger though!!
[img] [/img]

Say what you want about the big dumb oaf but physic has never been a problem.
Front row could be an odd encounter, James is a better scrumager than gethin and am happy enough with him against Cole, Rees will be fine compared to the Kiwi gouger but any 3 avaibale is going to be rinsed by Sheridan which will mean the other 2 will be passengers.

France - Should be good but can't always be guaranteed to turn up.

England - Great AIs, have had a few injuries since, hopefully Johnno won't revert to type and pick the same old tried-and-failed donkeys.

Wales - Looked muck in the AIs, didn't get a team into the HEC quarters, back row is dirt. Should still put in a decent performance.

Scotland - Good finish last year but not much depth and both Magners sides are doing very badly.

Ireland - Terrible form in the AIs, injuries in the back row and back 3, need to clear out a few old lags in the forwards.

Italy - Same old same old, may surprise somebody at home.

In my defence,I don't go looking for pictures of the welsh team with their tops off,anything you are not telling us? He looks significantly chunkier than that on the box.I think Wale's just back from injury players will struggle to find their feet at international pace.Blair last year being an example of that.

Hang on,how old is that pic? It's just I am sure he has his car keys in his hand 😈

I have seen Powell in a few club games on the telly recently and he looked impressive.

Powell is thick as a hobby horse and hits about 3 rucks per game but Wales really need some go-forward ball from their back row and he does provide that.

Powell is thick as a hobby horse and hits about 3 rucks per game but Wales really need some go-forward ball from their back row and he does provide that.

exactly

Ireland have France and England at home so I'm going for:
Ireland
Fra
Scot
Eng
Italy
Wal

Shandy - Member
Powell is thick as a hobby horse and hits about 3 rucks per game but Wales really need some go-forward ball from their back row and he does provide that.

And the problem with that is?? The one thing that you don't want is for Powell to be tied up in rucks when there are other players who should be doing that.

He's been playing very well in the last few weeks - deserves a starting place.

Pigface - Member
Gatland is right about Hartley the guy is an oaf and a red card about to happen.

More to the point, he is always the first to pop up in the scrum and of course the refs are supposed to be sorting the scrums out this season..... Having said that, in the last Northampton game he must have popped up about a dozen times before a penalty was given. Against the opposing hooker!

I think even England are aware of Hartley's shortcomings,hence Thomson still lurking.One thing about playing Powell,I think Warbaton is going to have to do a LOT of running(which he can do).I can't see how Wiliams and Powell could have fitted into the same back row this season.It is one of the few areas that we can outmatch most of the N/hemsphere and I am hoping Robinson uses them accordingly

I also think it is between England and France with the rest of the home nations too close to call.

Would have said, as for the last four years or so, Ireland would be the only home nation in with a shout for a slam, but the injury list is worrying. I predict a meh-like 3rd or fourth. Beating England in Dublin will be enjoyable though. I struggle sometimes to remember losing to them.

Terh IRB rankings make for interesting reading
4(4) ENGLAND 82.48
5(5) IRELAND 81.79
6(6) FRANCE 81.66
7(7) SCOTLAND 81.20

9(9) WALES 77.04

12(12) ITALY 73.31

Not much between the top 4 6 N teams is there?

England will be badly weakened by the loss of Lawes and Croft - thats their speedy forwards gone. The backs will struggle as they will not get much good ball as the old slow lumbering forwards will not be able to get it. Too many penalty machines in there which will cripple them.

Scotland have been underestimated by a lot of folk but they are too limited in the midfield - a shame as they have such a great pack there will be lots of ball to play with.

Can't believe everybody is putting Italy last. I reckon if they try hard enough they've got it in the bag......Well, they could come 5th!! 😉

Forza Azzurri!

Yup,got that one right TJ,Morrison? DeLuca? 😕 Since they don't want them can we please have Simpson-Daniels and Hipkiss,oh and is Scott Hamilton qualified for home nations yet?

I think even England are aware of Hartley's shortcomings,hence Thomson still lurking

I reckon gatlands comments were made in the hope that it will encourage england to pick Hartley rather than Thompson who is a much stronger scrummager and really go for Wales up front.

Hope Warbaton gets a run of games for Wales as he looks like he could be very good.

duckman - Member

Yup,got that one right TJ,Morrison? DeLuca? Since they don't want them can we please have Simpson-Daniels and Hipkiss,oh and is Scott Hamilton qualified for home nations yet?

Just when morrison was starting to look like an international he gets injured., Teh cupboard is mighty bare.

Can we have Cipriani? He sounds Scots

The comments about Hartley were tied to the Cardiff Blues game where he got right under the skin of some of the Blues players, including Tito, and lead to the Blues scrum half getting a 12 week ban for hands to the face.

I know what they were about, just wondering why Gatland bought them up.

why Gatland bought them up

Because he's a cock, that's why. Seeing him eat humble pie is one of the best parts of the 6N. "Of all the teams in the six nations, I'd say our lads dislike the Irish the most"...anyone remember this pile of shite before they were beaten yet again.

Knob.

Can we have Cipriani? He sounds Scots

As Scottish as the "We" who posted that.....

😉

Because he's a cock, that's why.

true enough

Seeing him eat humble pie is one of the best parts of the 6N. "Of all the teams in the six nations, I'd say our lads dislike the Irish the most"...anyone remember this pile of shite before they were beaten yet again.

Not sure how the two are related, had he said they were the team they most expected to beat, it would lead to humble pie. Also there's a chance he was telling the truth. Familiarity breeds contempt (and the scots are too rubbish to worry about)

Not sure how the two are related

Seeing someone like him eat humble pie is always fun. He's the only thing I [i]don't[/i] like about Welsh rugby a_a. I just thought it was a very Alex Ferguson/football manager type comment at the time. Ne'er mind - I'm over it now 🙂

Actually there was a Cipriani who played back row for either Watsons or Heriots a few years back,impossibly handsome and talented at rugby,I hated him,and couldn't get near enough to him to do anything about his good looks 😀

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8579247.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7958649.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9384279.stm

Foden - Hook England
Ashton - Stoddard England
Tindall - Roberts Wales
Hape - JD Even
Cueto - Shane Wales

Flood - Wellies Wales
Youngs - Phillips England

Sheridan - James England
Hartley - Rees Wales
Cole - Mitchell England
Deacon - Bradley Even
Palmer - AWJ Even

Wood - Warburton Dont know
Easter - Powell Kind out two polar opposites I'm hoping will cancel each other out Even
Hask - Lydiate Wales

In summary Wales are screwed, especially with cant tackle on one wing and wont tackle on the other.

AA - not if they can move the ball around at speed and swarm the breakdown..

Serious lack of pace in the backrow and centres from England - I see a lot of recycles with no go forward and a lot of slow ball for England.

Harry them at the breakdown and get penalties and turnovers. Force them to give away penalties at teh breakdown on your ball by good rucking.

I foresee a dull game mind you.

when was the last time Wales got quick ball into mid field? Wales will also be humiliated in the scrum and are never strong in the lineout.

So - how you rating Scotlands chances chaps?

Hugo Southwell
Nikki Walker
Joe Ansbro
Nick De Luca
Max Evans
Dan Parks
Rory Lawson
Allan Jacobsen
Ross Ford
Euan Murray
Richie Gray
Alastair Kellock capt),
Nathan Hines
John Barclay
Kelly Brown

Substitutes: Dougie Hall Moray Low , Richie Vernon , Ross Rennie (Edinburgh), Mike Blair , Ruaridh Jackson , Sean Lamont .

I am happy with ther selection. Pace and power in the forwards - a match for anyone in the world. Pace to come off the bench as well
For the first time ecer since I started supporting Scotland back in the 70s Scotland have a pack that is as big and strong as anyones - and often bigger.

Special mentions to Gray - showed how good he was by playing Shaw off the park in a recent game - only 21. 6'10", 20 stone of athlete. Seriously quick for a big guy and with great ball skills, Scored a try this season with a dummy and a run to the line outpacing a back. I think he will be a great for years to come.

Kellock - no surrender! A giant of a man in all ways

Ford - an extra flanker in the loses. Playing really well this year.

But the backs - well its as good as we have got. Nick De Luca is a limited player but on the top of his game and will help protect Parks, I like max on the wing - give a free roles to Scotlands only dangerous strike runner. Ansbro has a bit of pace to him and he knows this is his opportunity, southwell and walker for solidity in Defense.

Scotland should get plenty of good ball - but can they use it? Its the opposite issue to England really - they have some great backs but getting decent ball to them will be hard.

Is kelly Brown the ugliest man in the 6n?

Only one Gloucester player in the scots line up for a change!

I think France or Ireland will be fighting it out. Would like Wales to be up there but not sure after recent performances. Can't wait until Friday morning trainride to the 'diff for the opening match with a load of mates who I've not seen in ages - awesome!!

AA- if you say wales are screwed especially with "can't/won't tackle" on the wing but still rate him above Cueto not saying much about Cueto or in fact England is it?

Cant tackle is Stoddart wont tackle is Shane and yes he's still better than Ceuto

Hugo Southwell
Nikki Walker
Joe Ansbro
Nick De Luca
Max Evans

all shite, dont think either that just because Walker is big he's any good in defence he's not.

10 is very poor defensively but has a good a good kicking game. Murry hasnt played much this season has he? and I'd be worried about Hines at 6, rest of the pack is very good. Could suprise France this w/e if all goes well or could get a right thumping.

A-A guess you've seen news re Henson bolting to Toulon to join Wilko et al?

Back up at 10 whilst everyone else is playing in 6 nations?

Hope Scotland can have some consistency and win at least 2 games. Otherwise think the French will have a hard time with away games and the English may do well.

Irish are getting too old, Italians may suprise us all but Welsh will all depend on what they do in 1st game against England, win and it could be good, lose and it may all go belly up.

AA - I don't think anyone thinks thats a world beating back line - but I understand why its been chose. Max Evans is a decent player - the only dangerous runner we have really.

Who else - thats the issue? I don't know of any backs who are missing out. Jackson at 10? A limited player in his own way and prone to be flacky. Cairns in the centre? not in good form. alec Grove? Not impressed.

Murray is a bit of a worry - not played a lot as you say and been distracted by cointract rows - howevfer that may work in his favour.

Hines will be fine at 6 because of the rest of the pack. It works as a unit.

Murray is a bit of a worry - not played a lot as you say and been distracted by cointract rows - howevfer that may work in his favour.

Yeah and failing in the final of the open wont have helped 😀

ah dear Ill get my coat..

Bring on Friday.. going to hand Wales their a$$ on a plate 😀

Hines at 6 is genius,he has been cutting about France like a young 'un this season.Backs are limited,a wee bit suprised Sean Lamont didn't start.On the bright side,while Walker has a turning circle like a tug,at least he isn't Danielli.Loving the front row; back to two squat stocky guys holding up a 16 stone monster,with a 20 stone,mobile youth and a VERY angry man pushing them on.
And with all due respect to those on here who played in the backs (numbers 7-15 IMO)Scotland WILL not be playing an expansive game this year.(I hope)

Beer has been laid in for tomorrow night,cannae wait! If Wales can get some forward ball against the English pack,we are in for some game.

anagallis_arvensis - Member
Cant tackle is Stoddart wont tackle is Shane and yes he's still better than Ceuto

He is perhaps the only world class player that Wales have at the moment. He'd be close to getting into most world teams surely. Toulon looked terrified every time he got the ball a few weeks ago, and he must be the only chance Wales have of winning this game because they have no creativity anywhere else.

Without him, the Welsh backs just pass laterally until they lose the ball. I can't see that the introduction of Jon Davies will change that.

If Wales can get some forward ball against the English pack,we are in for some game.

Based on the last few games, the Welsh forwards could have 90% of the ball and they'll still lose the game because they seem to have forgotten how to score.

Maybe since the autumn, Gatland may have shown the team where the tryline is.

JonDavies ahas looked very good in the games I have seen him play.

I rate Cueto just about the only saes back that shows a bit of flair. I wouldnt say Shane wont tackle he is just so small that he rearely does anygood when he tries.

Scots pack look good but will any ball get past Parks before being hoofed away.

Have a really bad feeling about tomorrow night 😯

Pigface - Member
I rate Cueto just about the only saes back that shows a bit of flair.

I'd be happy to see Cueto playing in the Welsh team instead of Stoddart (if that was allowed!). Foden and Youngs are pretty good. I wouldn't worry about them playing in a team I support, and Youngs on current form is a damn sight better than Phillips.

TJ, I'm undecided on JD, despite having seen him play many times. I suppose that's the problem - up a against a good defence he becomes anonymous.

Intertesting one to call this year. In truth 5 of the teams are pretty well matched and those games could go either way.

If Wales lose to England (and I think they will) it could be a awful year for them. If they win then I can see momentum building. Ireland are on the slide but are perfectly capable of beating anyone on the day.

Scotland are learning how to win and close out games. Defensively they are hard to break down, the pack is an excellent unit, but boy is the backline impotent.

England have some good players (Youngs in particular) but will win or lose most games by only a few points so difficult to call.

France - well as always could be anywhere from awesome to awful

Italy - whitewash I think

Cannot wait 🙂

Cueto just about the only saes back that shows a bit of flair.

😕

Foden & Ashton have been dynamite for Saints and looked pretty sharp in the AIs.

Foden and Ashton are miles better that Cueto - he is useless. Nearly as useless as Monye

I think we may see some unusual tactics (in the modern game) from Scotland - lots of kicking to touch and then attacking the French lineout even on attacking ball - we have 3 excellent lineout forwards to try to steal the ball and loads of power to neutralise it if the French try to drive the lineout.

The idea will be to take the ball off the French and to pin them down at their end of the park.

Going for the counter ruck as well - The Scots forwards should be there at the breakdown in numbers due to the pace. If we can get the turnovers or force them into giving away penalties..........?

The other thing I think you will see is trying to put a lot of pressure on the stand-off. expect to see him with some ugly begger of a forward in his face all day.

Could come unstuck if the kicking is not good and we give the French counter ball. Southwell has a huge boot on him as well.

It so nice not to have the smallest pack for once 🙂

I am amazed by the fact that Parks is the best Scottish no10 that can be found! There must be a better player with Scottish ancestry somewhere in the world.

Cueto - he is useless

I really can't agree with that. He isn't as good or exciting as Foden and Ashton but he does do a job. He is solid in defence and rarely makes mistakes. His attacking play has gone off the boil in recent seasons but he did seem to wake up a bit in that regard in the AI's.

Overall, I'm happy enough with him in the team.

I like Flood, Youngs, the back 3. I'm concerned about the centres.
In the pack we would undoubtably be better with Croft and Lawes available, but they aren't so we have to make do. Wood is an excellent player at Saints, and Haskell on his day is can be very good.

I'm concerned about the centres.

Why would you be concerned about Tindall? Apart from the fact that a Tesco delivery truck can turn around faster?

Maybe since the autumn, Gatland may have shown the team where the tryline is.

Or bring back Roberts, Shane and an 8 who can carry. J Davis has also been in good form recently as is really attacking threat, if they can launch him at the outside shoulder of Tindall there could be hope.

Not sure we can really judge how good Davis is as yet because those good defences he's come up against often/always have good packs that totally shaft the shite LLanlli pack which would lead the best 13's to become annonymous

IdleJon - Member

I am amazed by the fact that Parks is the best Scottish no10 that can be found! There must be a better player with Scottish ancestry somewhere in the world.

You would have thought so wouldn't you. Find one and you will have the gratitude of a nation and all the porridge you can eat

The thing about Tindall is he offers very little chance of a line break any more, he doesn't have the gas. He can break then gain line or draw defenders on the crash but Hape is a strong offloading player and he could put a quicker 13 through more gaps.

Cueto has lost a bit of pace but he makes very few mistakes and is still a pretty effective carrier.

Parks isnt the problem with the scottish backline, its all the other muppets

oh and it seems the man god is off to compare tans with Ball Sackey as a replacement for the injured Contempony

TandemJeremy - Member

Foden and Ashton are miles better that Cueto - he is useless. Nearly as useless as Monye

That used to be accurate, I always thought Cueto a bit of a donkey too but in the Autumn he was absolutely outstanding so he's worth his place, for now.

Monye's one of those exasperating players with all the physical attributes but none of the mental ones - like Andy Powell.

Actually I'm now a big fan of Andy Powell since his escapades on the M4 in a golf buggy - that's how proper rugby players used to behave.

Here's Andy Powell's gameplan courtesy of [url= http://www.bloodandmud.com/ ]Blood & Mud[/url]

[img] http://bloodandmud.typepad.com/.a/6a00e39824cab28833013488a27c42970c-pi [/img]

That is superb,I salute you! 😀 Beer is chilling in the fridge, Can't wait for tonight;I have gone for a selection of Raven ale and a couple of bottles of Dark Island to start with.I have the wherewithal for kofte meatballs marinating.Mrs Donald and the boys are going to a film,so I will have the first half at least to myself.Now just the small matter of a six period day to get through 😐