[Closed] 6 Nations

england prooving how shite wales and thus scotland are at the moment

Wilkinson is like Beckham in this respect, nobody will even think about taking a kick if he's on.

The game so far;

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CFH

Made me spill me cup of tea, but i'm finding your post more entertaining to be honest

Forza Italia!
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( Not the political party tho 🙂 )

Managed to avoid this thread for 13 pages, wished i'd have carried on ignoring it

what a great contribution houns, thanks

ha ha, you wouldn't get reserved english players driving a golf buggy down the motorway, classic 😛

Italy are making my day so far. Love to see them run 1 in now. They've been close already.

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England Italy difficult to watch - Mr Moore so so negative - England may not be good but they are no doubt trying their best.

That and Italian TV are only broadcasting to those with widescreen....

Cheers

Ijon;

Load of crap - Scotland aren't complete, but they've haven't got much else they can do. They've used pretty all their players, got a decent coach, etc, etc. If you use the phrase 'work in progress' that applies to every team this year, bar perhaps Ireland. Scotland are playing at the level you'd expect of that team with those players.

What I meant was that we are fire fighting till the entire backline we have injured comes back, fired by our "young turk."

A.A; J.D has forgotten more about rugby than Andy Nicoll has ever learned?Well he wouldn't have many memories of lifting the European cup,playing for the Lions,Captaining/winning the English Premiership or winning the 5/6 nations to lose. Don't know why forgetting more about the other code would matter in Union, but hey.That length of the pitch try was amazing,even better than the one where he cut inside and left Scott Hasting for dead in about 87? Still, I suppose it would be churlish to mention that Wales side leaked 100 points in two tests,with him as the conductor? 😳
Sack him and give Charvis the job,despite not being able to drive safely after 10 pints or avoid punching Frenchmen in nightclubs,his rugby analysis is spot on.

andy nicol was a decent international scrumhalf, Davis was one of the most talented players ever to pick up a rugby ball.

Get
rid
of
Moore 👿

he does my head in

Italy are outplaying England at the moment. Crikey.

Good to see italy finally matching the big teams. Glad for the win though.

Nearly Italy. Nearly.

England just showed enough control and sense to close them out with the forwards in the corner and the Wilkinson drop goal.

Italy played most of the rugby and chased wilkinson back intot eh pocket.

England outside backs looked good when they got some good ball ( apart from Moyne doesn't seem to be able to pass) but they got such little good ball.

The worst aspect was when England fielded kicks with counter attacking opportunity. No aggression no pace - just amble forward a few steps and boot it long. Italy - ran some back, kicked some long and chipped some when they fielded kicks.

What has happened to Armitage? Looked to have no confidence to do anything. Several times he had good counter-attacking opportunities and spurned them.

Stolid Mince.

Got to get rid of those lumbering behemoth in the forwards - they are are to blame for the slow ball. got to get rid of Wilkinson - he has the backs outside of him but can't release them. Armitage needs to find some confidence.

If there was ever a day for Wilkinson to stand flat and play some rugby it was today. I would like to see him play for Tulon to see if he's any flatter for them. It maybe that is how he's being asked to play.

I thought he started off flat but got chased back into the pocket?

He's playing a lot better and quicker at Toulon, that's for sure. Looks like an England tactic.

England were pisspoor today, really poor. Outplayed by Italy IMO. Oh, and that yellow for Castro seemed a little harsh. And, Moody tackling players in the air again......Other than that, good refereeing of the game.

Wilkinson is slow and past it. Why he still persists in putting himself in harm's way for the big tackles when he never heeds to is beyond me. Monye seems blind to those around him, never releasing to the supporting players. Overall a very poor England performance.

Italy, however....Held on when down to 14, didn't seem to miss Parisse at all, and took most of their chances well. Good for the world game, if you ask me!

So, what's next? Oh yes. We're getting spanked backwards by France. 🙁

I suspect your last line is right there CFH. I find it hard to see who can beat France. Leivremonts experimentation is over - he knows his players and his combinations now and he knows his best team

That's the first game in ages that has been so bad I turned it off. Didn't care who won or lost, or how. Watched some boxing instead.
If Union keeps up like that (ie. Flash's graphic above), I think I'll stick to watching league.
Terrible terrible stuff and has pissed me right off.

DezB, that graphic only applied to parts of Italy v England today. England were very poor and had nothing else to do.

Both games yesterday were far, far more exciting! Stick with it....

Italy never really looked like scoring a try though - England didn't play well - but still managed to win. Bloody dreadful game.

Awful game today.

Italy looked the better side in the second half though never really looked like scoring a try. That critical offload was just not there.

A trip to Rome was always going to be a bit tricky. In the end a good result for England and it keeps them marching on. They could well be on a 3rd victory with a deflated Ireland at Twickers.

A depleted Scotland will not be looking forward to a trip to Rome 🙁

la la lah
England are still unbeaten 8)
la la lah
la la lah

Well that was shit. I disagree with some in that i don't think italy really threatened. Lots of possesion but never went anywhere except sideways and didn't even sniff the tryline. I agree that england were shite though. Still 2 WINS from 2 games.

Backhander you wish that England could ever give you the buzz I am feeling now

[i]Both games yesterday were far, far more exciting! [/i]

Oh yeah, Wales-Scotland was a thriller (in the last 10 mins anyway), but I always want England to play well and.. well, just long for the days when the ball would go Andrew->Carling->Goscott->Underwood...
Did Underwood EVER KICK the bloody ball back into the oppostion hands?!

backhander, the "now" in question refers to the present tense. The moment in which the writer is writing. Not in the past tense, or "history" as we know it.

Dez, I'm not sure Rob Andrew ever passed the ball, did he? He's also at fault over a lot of the malaise within England in my opinion.

Well if we play like that in a fortnight, Ireland will hand our arses to us on a plate, I dare not contemplate what the French will do us at the end of March.
If France can maintain the same level of play we saw this weekend, they'll take the Slam, but we know all to well how hot and cold they can be.

No flash, the term "could ever" really gives away the intent.

DezB - Member

just long for the days when the ball would go Andrew->Carling->Goscott->Underwood...
Did Underwood EVER KICK the bloody ball back into the oppostion hands?!

You really have got rose tinted specs on, haven't you Dez?

I rememer England being more of a 10 man team back then than they are now - it's just that the forwards of the Carling era had more intelligence, grunt and dog about them so occasionally they could open up.

Even in the process of putting record scores on Wales, Ireland, Scotland, whoever, they rarely looked exciting.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that in all of my time watching rugy, 'exciting' hasn't been a word to describe England.

Perhaps what you are really missing is an England team who just beat the other home nations on a regular basis because those other Celtic countries were so appallingly bad?

Oh Mongo what have you done now 😯

Fair play we have form for stealing vehicles in the Welsh team, Scott Gibbs once stole a taxi when pissed up.

Backhander your "narrow win over Scotland" is being hailed as one of the greatest sporting moments in 5/6 nations history in all the papers i read today.

It was a narrow victory. It was exciting due to the timing of the scores but ultimately scotland suffered injuries to 2 of their better players and had 2 sin-binned. So hardly a massive feat in just beating an injured and depleted side who easily had the better first half.
from the telegraph;

But in general this was another low-quality match full of error and imprecision. It produced tremendous entertainment, but will not make for good viewing in terms of analysis

Wales had played some gormless rugby before gaining a ­numerical advantage and would have found themselves down and out had...

And your World cup win was a fantastic match??? 😯 in terms of analysis pretty poor but for excitement???? stop being such an old misery guts 😉

That would be the Times and the Observer

The times report was written by a GOLF correspondent!
The observer online are displaying the guardian article.
I'm a rugby fan and was rooting for wales on sat but it wasn't a good game in so much that for 70 minutes, it was scotland grinding out a lead and wales playing like they did last week. Except the french, I haven't seen much good rugby so far this tournament. The SH must be laughing at us IMHO.
And the world cup final was significantly better quality than saturday was 😀
EDIT, maybe not 70 minutes 50 would be closer

You really need to look at the WC final again, it was rubbish but very exciting, name me a final that has been good.

Who cares what the SH think, not every game in the Tri Nations is a classic, some get played in Dunnedin 😉

I recommend you find some fun in your rugby I can understand how frustrated you must feel after watching the match in Rome.

Get a flanker to steal a golf buggy and take it for a spin on a motorway oh hang on that couldnt happen as Johnno wouldnt tell them to do that 😉 😉 😉

Pigface - Member

Who cares what the SH think, not every game in the Tri Nations is a classic, some get played in Dunnedin

+1
The Trinations last year was generally described as being very poor quality, iirc? SA ground out wins in 10 man fashion and did their best not to entertain.

I recommend you find some fun in your rugby I can understand how frustrated you must feel after watching the match in Rome.

+1 again.

A pity that the English fans don't do the travelling on the scale that the other nations do. The weekend I had in Rome 3 years ago stands out as one of the best trips away I've ever had, rugby or not. Pity about the absurd end to the game, but let's face it, the rugby was only the justification for a great weekend away.

Get a flanker to steal a golf buggy and take it for a spin on a motorway oh hang on that couldnt happen as Johnno wouldnt tell them to do that

No, remember that the English boys have their own curriculum of drugs and doing dodgy things to women in hotel rooms? Stealing golf carts is nowhere near as interesting.

I'll tell you what idlejon, I'll carry on talking about rugby and leave you to your petty swipes at the english due to the massive chip on your shoulder.
It's boring and contributes nothing to the debate.

Did Underwood EVER KICK the bloody ball back into the oppostion hands?!

I doubt he could actually kick, Rory Underwood wasnt that great player, had some pace and nose for the line but hardly ever beat a man. He was also hardly ever passed the ball, unless it was the last ten mins of a game and england were 20 point up. Wasnt half the player the likes of simon Geaghan, Ieuan Evans, Campeses or Kirwan were. Younger brother Tony despite being run over by Lomu was a better player, pace, could beat a man and a more natural footballer.

Petty swipes at the English?

Your very first post, backhander:

backhander - Member
Hows the gay squad coming on?

🙄

They didn't improve much from there. There's a saying that if you can't take it......

Could I just add that wales, once Cooper and Powell went off, played quite well and it was wales good play that put scotland under pressure and caused the cards. It was a shame that Benett had to come on as Williams' dart were pretty good, Benett was shit.

Worried about what france will do to them though

anagallis_arvensis - my point wasn't really about how good or bad Rory Underwood was (in your incorrect opinion), but about the way wingers & centres aimlessly boot the ball up the pitch these days.

Maybe Underwood wasn't as versatile as Campese, but he's not England's top try scorer of all time for nothing. Simon Geoghegan wasn't good enough to polish Rory's boots btw.
But I digress!

Simon Geoghegan wasn't good enough to polish Rory's boots btw

bollocks

It occurred to me last night that Englands biggest problem is that they are always expected to win everything, since the world cup win they've had the same sort of pressure as the English football team and as such they'll never be 'great' again as there is too much pressure from the media etc and everytime they look like they might be doing well the media will find a way to get into their heads (JT fiasco etc).

Also the Italians played like they really deserve that place in the 6 nations, they're no longer just the 6th team and I'm really looking forward to Italy v Scotland & Italy v Wales.