As for Steve Walsh - we struggled with the Wales pack, and struggled again with his biased interpretation of how we play and then an inability to explain which rule we've transgressed. He shouldn't be allowed to ref again until he's changed his bias. He didnt lose us the game, we did, but he didnt help matters.

argh bless, so which calls did he get wrong? England were lucky he didnt want to give pens at scrum time,he allowed england to collapse a number and forced wales to play it. Most refs wouldnt.

Werecker, Tom B, Kryton, graham1980, Hurtmore, piemonster, winston churchill, magaret thatcher your boys took a hell of a beating 😆

Listening to that driving on the M5 in a downpour is seriously bad for your health.

Really didn't expect to win like that, Spikey played a blinder well done Wales very very proud.

Just seen BOD's stamp... pretty nasty that

Yes I knew Wales would win, but the way they beat up on England was something else. Just taught them a lesson in rugby, very impressive. Saying that Wales needed 16 players to beat Scotland last week. 😆

Petty yes, nasty no.

As an Irish fan I thought Walsh gave Eng a few dodgy pens tbh. Wales were outstanding and front rows still win matches!!

I wouldn't say Walsh was biased, rather that Wales were better at reading his interpretation of the (very open to interpretation) rules!

Plus, England do themselves no favours by delaying the put in so much of the time.

IMO England lost the game by not committing to the breakdown. OK in defence but they need to commit faster and stronger at other times.

First pen in the scrum....Hibbard stood up, England got penalised. It went downhill from there.

Petty yes, nasty no.

living up to your name there!

Yes the taffs won and won in style. England forgot to turn up. Why and how did the scrums go so wrong?

I agree psling why we don't get the ****in ball in sooner I'll never know

Why and how did the scrums go so wrong?

Three reasons;

Jenkins
Hibbard
Jones

The English front row players were handed their arses on a plate.

First pen in the scrum....Hibbard stood up,

you mean after Wales had marched them back and splintered the england scrum? England were screwed at the scrum, maybe not fair and square as that never happens but Wales were far stronger.

IMO England lost the game by not committing to the breakdown. OK in defence but they need to commit faster and stronger at other times.

Utter rubbish, did you watch the game? Wales won the game, were better in every area and stopped England from playing.

Nah Hibbard was popped up as I saw it.

Utter rubbish, did you watch the game?

Well, yes.

England forgot to turn up.

😆

Why and how did the scrums go so wrong?

Wales have been stronger in the scrums than england for sometime (as long as Adam is fit. Hibbard is a very strong scrumaging hooker. Adam had his side easily secured leaving Hibbard free to splinter the hooker and loosehead.

no doubt Tom B would ping Wales here for the hooker standing up!! Walsh didnt see it that way!!
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living up to your name there!

Nope it wasn't nasty, the Italian made a meal of it

Nasty nasty man! Stamping on a mans chest is nasty you big thugs!!! 😉

Did anyone catch Ashtons petulant footwork?

By the way, I can't remember an international played at that pace for a long time in either hemisphere.

England players who need to worry are Haskell,Care, Ashton and Croft.

Ones who need to address some technique issues are Cole for scrummaging too high, Ben Youngs (I have a real problem with scrum halves who CANNOT pass without taking a step) and Tuilagi (he's too explosive to be running such obvious line and not hitting more inside balls at pace).

I would have liked to see Twelvetrees earlier, I think he could be the first heir to Greenwood in terms of creativity. I don't think his impact would have been that great today, though, the pace of the game closed down nearly all space in midfield (most breaks came from broken play or mistakes).

Did anyone catch Ashtons petulant footwork?

It was about the only thing he did all game, I think.

I would have liked to see Twelvetrees earlier, I think he could be the first heir to Greenwood in terms of creativity.

Agreed. However, he's not a south sea islander, and therefore doesn't fit the current selection profile. 😉

I do like the way he plays though. Inventive, good lines, and a great rugby brain. Like Mike Catt, I'd say.

Still, he didn't get on. And the England midfield remained stilted, stunted and uncreative as only that brand of trundlemuppet can be.

Nowt wrong with Cole, it was the other two not being strong enough that was the problem. Youngs and Marler especially at least Vunipola has an impact in the loose.

And the England midfield remained stilted, stunted and uncreative

no less creative than Wales, they just lack front foot ball that game was won and lost in the front five and then backrow.

@ anagallis_arvensis

Spot on about Hibberd. I thought he had an excellent game. Ben Youngs perplexity as the scrum splintered around him shows his naivety, he didn't seem to be running the front row as an experienced hooker would.

The hooker should be telling the props how he wants them to scrummage.

nigel ownens the only sober welshman!!

the Italian made a meal of it

I thought the biggest meal was made of that clash in the air where the Italian lad who looked a bit like Novak Djokovic got accidentally upended. He landed well enough, and was fine, but he lay there still for a bit to see if he could get the other chap sent off.

OK, can we all agree on one thing - The first person picked for the Lions touring party is 1/2p.

Superb today, I thought.

I disagree about Cole. Even if you are perceived to be the alpha prop, when you are under pressure, you should be able to go lower than your opposite number to nullify his advantage.

Check out Domingo (admittedly at loosehead) to see how an old-school technical prop can out-scrummage the out and out power scrummagers. It helps if the ref knows what he's doing as well!

Only just managed to watch the 2nd half... Wales were brilliant today.

Maybe the England selectors will look at it and think "Hmm, wingers. Now there's a good idea."

England were completely out played in the second half - and weren't that great 1st half.

England's unbalanced back row of 3 blind sides were exposed although it's always hard to perform as a back row when your tight 5 are getting stuffed...

With 20/20 hindsight one of the key moments from an England perspective was Tuilagi's knock on in space early in the 1st half; England needed to nail any try scoring opportunities to stand any chance.

Ultimately however it was a great performance from Wales and it would be churlish not to congratulate them as worthy winners.

When are commentators going to stop describing Michalak as 'talented'?

The word is 'gash'.

He's having a shocker......again

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😀

Wtf has Gabby Logan on her head? A squirrel?

Well that went well!
Watched it all with some Taffs and Crims - we all thought it may be really tight after the first half - 3 points in it, then we forgot to come out after half time.
Loads of basic errors and I get really frustrated when we keep kicking away possession, if you don't have the ball you cannot score. Did we forget to bring the wings this week?

edit: Well done to the Taffs, great performance, all chances taken and a deserved victory.

Did we forget to bring the wings this week?

But, he's teh awsumz, isn't he?

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rogerthecat - Member
Did we forget to bring the wings this week?

Not just this week.

I was thinking that England would play 10 man rugby. I bet they wish that many had turned up today.

I've not read any of the last few posts/pages but after crying into my beer for the last few hours I've only deduced that Ashton is the Wayne Rooney of rugby internationals!

so how about a team of the tournament?

Huget
1/2p
Tuilagi
Fofana
Cuthbert
Gavin Henson
Phillips
Faletau
Warburton
Robshaw
AW Jones
Parling
Adam
Best
Healey

too many English I know but what can you do.

On second thoughts I'd have Picamoles at 8.

Welsh people aren't my fav atm a_a but Henson in there has really made me smile. 😆

How you say in Irish, "wooden spoon"?

At last a French team has turned up!

Ok I'll have Michilak!!!

Oh hang on he's broken....... I suppose Farrel then, but 1/2p kicks!!!

Piss weak attempt by Hogg for Fofanas try. He's out of my Lions team

Try by Fofana highlights his best asset, his balance when running with ball in hand. Very difficult to actually put someone down when they are nicely balanced. Hogg should have done better, Fofana stood him up when there was nothing else on. Shame for Hogg, one of Scotland's better players.

I recon that Scot is going to get cited for that. Just had a look at the replay and he dropped his elbow straight on michalak's shoulder on the way down

Huget
[s]1/2p[/s] Peter O'Mahony
Tuilagi
Fofana
Cuthbert
Gavin Henson
Phillips
Faletau
Warburton
Robshaw
AW Jones
Parling
Adam
Best
Healey

CFH its Póg mo thóin 😀

Henderson's elbow, yep spotted that too.

aa, you were right, looks like three 7s trumps three 6s one 7.

as I said feel sorry for Robshaw, it was a massive error picking Croft IMO. Robshaw, Wood and that fat knacker Waldron at 8 would have been much better IMO.

Just watched the Wales game, was driving before. The intensity and pace of the game was amazing, didn't see to much odd reffing. Scrums are a bit of a lottery and Walsh got fed up of delaying the put in and not binding. Even Mr Moore only whined about one ping.

I have never rated Ashton and he was utter pants, his little hissy fit with his feet got him flattened 😆

Cuthbert took the first try beautifully but how good was Tipuric setting up the second one.

A really topsy turvy 6 Nations.

Fatty Waldron has no place anywhere other than weight watchers

Think Freddie may have been getting a bit of payback for his handbags with Hogg. Lumping him as he ran back before the tussle.

Actually pissed off that we let the French back into it. I know they finally gelled a little, but too many errors gave them the chance then again we fluffed a finish when Evans made the break.

Still happy we have made some improvements and actually have some attacking options. Think Hogg didn't do his Lions chances any help today and 1/2 p has to be the 1st name on the teamsheet.

I think you are right about Freddie. I suspect that they will both be cited. Leaving Freddie with what looks like a broken shoulder is not the greatest. Even if he did have a bit of handbags.

To switch games I will play the Arsene Wenger card and say I haven't seen the elbow drop on Freddie. If however it was deliberate then I am disappointed and not trying to justify it.

Thought the break to score the try was good though.

Glad the Welsh won by scoring tries. Hopefully we will get better weather down in Oz and see some good running rugby at last.

It was a good game I thought. All the games this weekend were, even if England didn't get the result I wanted, (they did get the result they deserved though).

AA you can post clips. Far too complicated for mere bears but post the clip of the scrum England got penealised for standing up that hibbard was first up please.
I'm not saying Wales didn't have the upper hand but Walsh was not consistent and had it in mind that England were at fault for every scrum it seemed. Also that pitch is crap please sort!
Turnover ball is king as was proved again with first scores coming from turnovers. Once Wales got the upper hand England had no chance. Great first half disappointing second. England fluffed their lines it happens how they deal with it will prove if they are going the right way.
They needed that early score to settle themselves but again fluffed their lines with a simple pass dropped. Most worrying for an England fan is the number of good opportunities that are wasted with wrong options or poor execution.
Well played Wales an awesome back row unit today.

And you may realise I'm not keen on some of the welsh but 1/2p is one Welshman that I admire. Another good game never does much wrong and I heard him interviewed after he missed an important kick that cost Wales a game and he went away and worked at it.
A must for the lions.

And who put team of the tournament up without parrise?

I put up a teamwithout Parisse because Picamoles is frankly better. Doesnt get yellowed for tripping or abuse refs. Can only post clips posted on the gwlad forum. Will see what goes up. Walsh allowed wales to dominate the scrum as wales were completly in charge.

Just woke up and it wasn't a dream 😆

Sorry been in country inn for mrs duck's 40th did l miss anything? Watched the game with my welsh wife and a bunch o noisy fake climbers from Kent on a team building trip. Love watching my wife sing the anthem an curse in welsh! England scrum were monstered, not welsh's fault. I sat watching it thinking "pen Wales" on a few occasions.

Muhahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

That is all.

Actually, no. That isn't all.

It was when 70,000 cavorting Welshman started chanting, "Easy! Easy!" that you finally flushed all pre-match predictions down the gurgler and reached instead for the record books.
Wales' 30-3 destruction of England did not just pillage the Six Nations crown from them. It chased the men in white back across the Severn with Grand Slam hopes up in smoke and tails burning between their legs.

Much as it pains me to say it, well played Wales. Dominant in every area, although until 60 mins it was more even than you'd think.

No. It wasn't.

Top class sport is won or lost on planning preparation and execution.

England have failed most games at the execution stage, Wales were simply better.

The England Wales game was awesome and should hopefully get all those watching down under even more excited for when the Lions come to town.

Wales did alright didn't they? 😀

I think the most disappointing thing was the way England imploded and became a collection of individuals. Wales have come out very hard numerous times (first WC game against SA is a good example) but quality sides weather that and stick together.

All this talk of Farrel being an "ice man" was shot to pieces yesterday when he didn't back himself to kick for goal after just one miss. This is a huge contrast to 1/2p who didn't enjoy the best start to his kicking against Scotland. Same goes for many other over-hyped English players. The management's negative body language and lack of inspiration was also disappointing.

Sure it could be viewed as just one bad game for England but they haven't looked in good form since the first weekend. Equally, one win against a tired and ill NZ and they were hailed as the world's best.

At the end of the day the Welsh were on fire and exposed England for what they are 😀

At the end of the day the Welsh were on fire and exposed England for what they are

It hurts but is true. England are a pretty one dimensional relatively inexperienced team. IMO the strategy of keeping with the " winning" formula was incorrect; they need to change the wings and put 36 in the centre - sometimes the best form if defence is attack.

England have been made to look good by Robshaw, and earlier on form performances by Morgan, lawes and tuilagi, perhaps to a degree Farrell. It's very easy to look good when you are winning though. In reality it's a 15 man game and they are pretty average.

England are still such an inexperienced side though. Cole was the most capped player for us yesterday with 40. Only a couple of others had 20...and less than half of the team have scored a try.

The Wales team are hugely experienced with numerous capped Lions.

It hurts but is true. England are a pretty one dimensional relatively inexperienced team. IMO the strategy of keeping with the " winning" formula was incorrect; they need to change the wings and put 36 in the centre - sometimes the best form if defence is attack.

Deck chairs and titanic son deck chairs and titanic. Its the same when Wales get reamed up front and the whole of Wales wants to change the outside half. England should start the kiwi gouger and bring a ball carrier into the back row. If not Waldron or Morgan then t'other Vunipola and pray Corbiero's knee heals.

England were definitely missing someone like Morgan. I thought Barrit was strangely England's best centre in attack yesterday too...

Also, I would say Biggar has come good for Wales at the right time. The thought of him playing for Wales was more daunting than putting out an injured Priestland! 😀

Biggar was a little like his old self at the start of the 6N but was running hard, tackling hard and making good distance for Wales with his kicking game both out of hand and with penalty touch finders by the end. It is easy to take that for granted. When watching some of the other 6N teams 10's you have to appreciate how solid he has been for Wales.

Comedy genius this from Flatman at the independent!!!

*My Lions picks*
*1. Cian Healey (Ire)* Out-and-out first choice.
*2. Rory Best (Ire)* Has to start, though Richard Hibbard and Tom Youngs have been excellent.
*3. Adam Jones (Wal)* Monstrous at scrum time, and does enough round the field when required. Came out on top yesterday.
*4. Joe Launchbury (Eng)* Does it all. Big, fit, powerful, a handful.
*5. Jim Hamilton (Scot)* Huge, nasty and confrontational. Had an immense Six Nations.
*6. Stephen Ferris (Ire)* Freak. Get him fit and get him on that plane.
*7. Chris Robshaw (Eng)* Constantly confounding doubters, he will do the work of three men.
*8. Nick Easter (Eng)* Yes, Nick Easter. A quite monumental player bang in form. Close call with Jonny Beattie, who was monstrous against England.
*9. Ben Youngs (Eng)* Mike Phillips needs some form and Youngs can rip a team apart with his pace.
*10. Jonny Sexton (Ire)* Has to be.
*11. George North (Wal)* Massive but effective with it. Very athletic, good work-rate and getting smarter by the week.
*12. Manu Tuilagi (Eng)* If Sexton uses him properly, he is a weapon of global proportions.
*13. Brian O'Driscoll (Ire)* The best player of a generation still has his spark. Inhuman.
*14. Simon Zebo (Ire)* Über-talented and brutally hard to defend against – if fit.
*15. Stuart Hogg (Sco)* Appears to have it all. Would love to see him given a chance.

Swap 3 and 11 and you have a good mid week side 😉

The front row looks about right, although Gethin could be argued. Ferris wont make it will he? I've been impressed with Hamilton....if he had a higher iq than his shirt number then he'd be excellent.

1/2p is a shoe in. As is AWJ. Sexton if fit, if not Farrell. Spike then Youngs for me....Care could be very exciting in Aussie conditions though.

Hard to see past North and Cuthbert out wide for me. Centres is probably the hardest area to call, along with the back row.

Robshaw 6 Tips 7?

Without being all "I told you so", it was plain to see that the England from row was going to get pulled apart. The Tom youngs experiment hasn't worked. The back 3 are awful, we knew this from the France game. I hope that I don't see brown in an England shirt again. I want to see a back 3 of wade, may and foden.
Could be worse though, we could have lost to France 😆

I'm struggling to see how Farrel is any better than Biggar. Obviously Farrel is still very young and looks very promising but we dont need promising on the Lions tour. Sexton picked a good time to get injured too. Hamilton is big and dumb. Lions will need a big lump to partner a AW Jones/Parling type but not sure Hamilton is the answer. As for Easter, jesus christ!! Beattie was dog shit against France and Heaslip has been shite all season so its Faletau for me.

If forced:

1/2p... was favouring Hogg with 1/2p to wing but his piss weak tackling has convinced me otherwise.
Cuthbert, would prefer Bowe but needs must
Tuilagi
Roberts
North
Sexton
Phillips
Healey
Best
Adam
AW Jones
Parling (would prefer a bigger uglier type but cant think of one)
Wood/Warbs?Robshaw
Faletau
Tipuric

Gethin/Corbisero
Hibbard
Cole (the bench front row would demolish Aus too!!!! 😆
Launbury
Wood/Warbs/Robshaw/SOB
Youngs
Farrel
Zebo/Brown/Foden

todays front page on Gwlad

Dear Austin

You’re blocking me on Twitter so I’m writing you a letter here in the hope that someone might draw your attention to it. You know all about attention-seeking, don’t you?

Last week you offered to bet the entire Welsh nation that England would win the Grand Slam by beating Wales yesterday. Thousands of us took you up on your generous offer.

It was therefore disappointing to discover today that you’ve weasled out of your obligation to honour the bet. This seems ungracious and suggests that you’re not as willing to take it as you are to dish it out.

I’m offering you a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of thousands of your Welsh admirers. Make a modest but appropriate donation to my London Marathon Appeal, in aid of Whizz-Kidz, and we’ll say no more about it. Until the next time you open your gob and firmly plant your foot in it. For Welsh rugby fans, Austin, you are simply the gift that keeps on giving. Don’t go changing.

All the best

Dan

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😆 ha ha whats the back story to that.

I just found my Gwlad t shirt from Wembley 99 the 32-31 result. 😀