[Closed] 6 Nations

I don't think any team will beat france this year.
I also don't think scotland look capable of beating any team except italy. One bloke ain't going to make that much of a difference to that pack. Beattie looks a good player though.

Bankhander, I always think people underestimate the role of a solid front row (as an ex prop I may be biased 😀 ). It is a platform on which everything is built and Murray is one of the world's best scrummagers. He would not have won the game fro Scotland but his effect would have been pronounced

France were very good today and Scotland did ok. The reality is Scotland may beat Engalnd / Wales / Italy. They could also lose all 3. My guess is they will win 2 of the 3 but cannot see them beating Ireland

The good thing about this 6 nations is not a lot of certainties.

Taz - Member

The good thing about this 6 nations is not a lot of certainties.

Or to put it another way, there hasn't been a single good performance in any of the three matches.

Other than Italy, the other 5 teams all look like they can beat any of the others depending on home/away and refereeing inconsistencies.

I don't think any team will beat france this year.

You could say "France for the Grand Slam" then... 😛

The decider is in Paris next weekend - Ireland win that, and another GS is on for sure. Now, where did I put that skyhook... 🙄

Well then, that was an odd weekend! In summary, as I saw it;
Italy - Woeful. What were they doing? They're better than that. Not a lot, but they are.
Ireland - Bland. OK, so they won, but really not very impressed.
England. As above.
Wales. AWJ will rue that for an age. Very much out of character from him. That was pretty much all that was in the game. Wales weren't good enough at all. (Apart from Hook's try which was lovely!)
Scotland - A lot better than I had expected. OK, so the front row was destroyed (Kudos to Murray for sticking to the convictions of his faith, however. Must be hard to do).
France - Did all they needed to do and little more. However, they did look the most composed of any of the teams. It's their championship to lose. Can't see anyone else getting near them.

A weekend of dreary rugby. I watech all three games in between riding my bike. Tedious.

[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8503392.stm ]Adam "Try scorer" Jones interview here[/url]

Is he the most laid back man in sport? 😆

to be honest sounds like typical comments from the start of the 6N.

As an England fan I remember similar comments in the years between '95 and '03. Some people are never happy 😉

So lets focus on the important thing; quiet welshmen for another year 😆

Scotland / France was the best game I thought - both teams playing with pace and trying to attack.

Scotland beat more defenders and made more line breaks than they have for years. More line breaks / players beaten and yards carried than england managed in their win. Scrum.com stats are interesting reading

I think France look a mile ahead of everyone else and non of the other teams look scary ( apart from maybe ireland)to me as a Scotland fan. I fancy beating England, Wales and Italy - but will Wales be that poor again this 6N?

That interview is great. Asked about his try;
"got the ball in our 22, stepped monye, stepped cueto..."

I like the what did gatland say at half time, "dunno, cant remember"

having just watched the scotland france game, I think all the teams are shit and the 6 nations should be called off for the good of everyone.

Adam's a legend. I love seeing his interviews!

DaRC_L - Member

So lets focus on the important thing; quiet welshmen for another year

🙄 Numpty.

Shame about the Wales/England result I think. Wales were by far the better side, they looked to play creative intelligent rugby; they looked driven, confident and very capable. Only problem was they kept ****ing it up! England looked plucky, fit but really not very clever. Seemed to me that Wales lost that game rather than England won it. Even if just those lineouts had gone to hand the game could well have been different.

molgrips, I think that's why everyone down here is so frustrated. Even with so many turnovers, no lineout to speak of, a barely competent 9 and Byrne dropping the ball at every opportunity, they still looked like they could win the game.

The first ten minutes summed up their defence - they just kept pushing England backwards up the pitch. Shane!!!!! lifted JW bodily and dumped him.

Of course, they then managed to lose the game.....

Reading the papers and watching the interviews on TV, I personally think that England's main problem now is that they think that they won the game on their own merits. However England have Italy this weekend, and not a major threat like Ireland or France - they have time to get momentum.

Bitter?
wales were terrible and didn't look the better side by a long way.
Beaten fairly by the better side.

You were watching the match sober weren't you, backhander?

You did notice that your midfield was missing in action, your threats wide out weren't, and your only attacking option came from the scrum half?

You noticed the scrum reversing and buckling? The so-called attack being knocked back (when Wales had 15 men on the pitch)? The only area on the pitch where you had a clear advantage was the lineout, and JW didn't even use that tactically.

As I said in an earlier post, ALL of Englands points were created by Welsh madness, not English creativity. With just 6 minutes to go, you would easily have put money on Wales winning that game.

No bitterness, btw, just frustration as I said above. Still, that's what makes sport interesting.

England given the lineout dominance should have well and truely shafted Wales and you would think Wilkinson was the man to do it, but no they stuck to the gameplan which must have assumed wales were competent and would win most of their lineouts. Wlkinson had a shocker IMO. But lets not deny that the best team won as wales were hopless at the lineout. I think they won 2 from 11 throws.

In the first few minuted England had two bits of possession. They recycled 15 times and lost 30+ metres.

England were not good but thoroughly deserved the win as wales were worse (ie the less crap team won). they couldn't string together 3 passes, knock ons, poor kicking, poor discipline, poor line outs, dropping catches it goes on. As was correctly said earlier, england didn't win; the welsh lost. The first 15 mins, i thought england were going to be thrashed and they didn't improve but for some reason the welsh just stopped bothering. To call it madness instead of crapness is a bit too kind.

England were definitely the better side. They wre not good though but i predict a building of momenetum as they beat (comforatbly?) Italy

I think Wales have went significantly backwards in the last few months which is a real pity. The backline has the potential to be mouth watering.

What the heck has happened to Byrne????? Arguably best in the world to should be dropped!

Why would Wilkinson know what to do with quality ball? he never has 😉 England need a number 10 with the ability to unlock the defences and create space for Tait and Flood, Jonny hasn't got that in his game and never did. With out a juggernaut pack to play behind he looks very ordinary. Yes he kicks like a mule and is garanteed points on the board but even his kicking out of hand in play is not what it was. The only English back I would put in a red shirt is Cueto.

That should give backhander something to rant about.

Two things would have turned that game round for Wales. Having Phillips at scrum half and I firmly believe they would have won, Cooper kicked two good attacks away inside the england 22 and his passing was shocking putting Jones under huge pressure. Or if Wales had a halfway competant lineout they would have won. All if's though. Both teams were shit, england were semi competant though and won. I would say Wales problems look easier to fix, shoot Cooper, hang Williams up by his nuts and try again. 1/2p for James and JT for Charteris (no point having an 8 foot lock if he looses all the lineouts) shame it doesnt look like Rees will be fit for this weekend though, so Bennett may get the nod at hooker and he isnt even the ospreys first choice!

What the heck has happened to Byrne????? Arguably best in the world to should be dropped!

Spent all week worrying about his 2 week ban I expect. Also he couldnt be dropped there isnt another fit welsh full back available!!

Ha!
I wouldn't have a single member of that welsh outfit in a white shirt at the moment!
Normally I'd have a few but they were shocking on saturday!
There's always excuses and what-ifs when the welsh lose. Like children whose toys have been taken away.
Personally, I'm happy that JW was there to put all of those points on you lot!

Having Phillips at scrum half and I firmly believe they would have won

I wouldn't have a single member of that welsh outfit in a white shirt at the moment!

Not one of them would want it. 😉

You would keep a no mark like Armitage 😆 priceless.

Because byrne played out of his skin, didn't he? 🙄
And you must be in the valleys smoking crack to keep powell over moody or haskell. 😯

Byrne had a shocker, no question about that. Mongo is a class act 😆 certifiably brain dead. Haskell was good but blows really hot and cold, Moody getting on a bit has always been a headless chicken. Come on admit it you want Nugget but he is all ours 😉

Personally, I'm happy that JW was there to put all of those points on you lot!

9 points from kicking and three fairly bog standard conversions from tries. Other than that, he hardly gave it to his centres all day (and who could blame him for that - I wouldn't give it to Tait or Flood either).

His tactical kicking was pretty bad - hardly once found a gap behind the backs, and when you're facing a line-out that's forgotten how a line-out works (sorry, wales fans, but that's what it looked like), he hardly once found a really good touch. He should have been popping it out all during the second half.

And in the second half, well, he was pretty anonymous, Care to WIlkinson, boom. Care to Wilkinson, boom, Care to Wilkinson, boom. The only time something worked was when a Wales player by the touch line (I can't remember who) let the ****ing ball bounce because it came over his shoulder.

You guys should be pleased with the result but don't go thinking you've any kind of world class personnel. Of course, I'll happily eat my words when you beat the green machine at Twickenham but for now, your lot were about as convincing as that funny strip you were wearing. 😀

I'm sure Moody doesn't know the rules of rugby but is definately an asset. Haskell is a class act and croft is good too. As a back rower myself, I'm a big fan of martyn williams but not powell.

Williams is the best open side from the NH in a long time. He also had a good game on Saturday (it's all relative I guess)

I think France and Ireland will steam roller both Wales and England.

If Scotland could find even a half decent stand off and play to a schedule that fits with Murray's religious beliefs I think that Scotland would be noticably better than both of them also

So am I the only one who thinks Ireland can and probably will beat France this weekend? 😐

Darcy - Ireland will have to do a lot more than they did against italy. I thought France looked very good indeed.

I know TJ, just trying to lift the glum mood and get some discussion going about next weekend. Too much dissection and navel gazing going on after the travesty at Twickers. Ireland have the personnel for sure though, the front row will have to be on fire. We saw nothing of what Ireland can do...Italy played with zero ambition from the start and Ireland let themselves get dragged into it. In the second half the result was in the bag so off came O'Connell and Rog. No point in risking them further.

We have backs capable of going through France. We have a strong line out that functions well on its own ball and can steal others. Our pack looked strong against Italy's.

No point going there thinking we can't do it.

And when all is lost, we have BOD.

I believe in BOD

TandemJeremy - Member
I believe in BOD

Too much reliance on one old fat slow man if you ask me! 😉

Flash, your ignorance is shining through.

Is the Wales/Scotland a tea time KO? I am reffing on Saturday and with all respect to the two teams in question, I know which game I would rather see!

Backhander, you wouldnt have Adam Jones or Martyn Williams in the england team? Your bonkers. Also Hook is a much better player than Flood and is just the sort of player you are missing. Haskell is coming good these days been impressive this season. Tait took that interception chance well to set up the try but I was suprised when Williams showed him the outside he didnt have the pace to go round him, bulked up too much and lost pace you see 😆

OH NO!

Parks is back!

Sean Lamont in the centre - Hook and Roberts must be chuffed?

Plus side - great to see Mossy win his 100th cap - top player and real good guy. Well done mate!

If he kicks 10 penalties we might just have a chance.

Well, they could hardly pick Godman, could they? One of the bigger boys might have run towards him and he'd have got all scared and wanted his mummy! 😉

Penalties will be vital for Scotland, I think.

No - Godman is indeed a bit of a nancy boy. Parks is no better though - I was hoping for Mossy at 10 with Southwell at 15. Even switching those 2 would be better.

I reckon Mike Blair is a better stand off than Parks, not to mention Rory Hutton who could be a real class act given the chance.

Sean Lamont in the centre - Hook and Roberts must be chuffed?

Lamont has being playing very well in the centre, in Kings absence, in an admittedly shite Llanlli team this season