Rugby – 6 nations.

Troo. But when he got ’em, they stayed got. 🙂

Bumpfeckery.

Bumparoonie.

CaptainFlashheart
Stats also show that Wales won.

We wuz robbed. Wrong ref, wrong ball, wrong crowd

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!

OTQ: Can someone tell me why Hodgson’s nickname is Catflap? I’ve been trying to find a definitive answer but can’t. Cheers. Ps. My dog food pie for dinner was lovely!

His tackling ability resembles that of a cat flap i presume.

The Norwegians have a great phrase for the way that game went for Scotland.

You just shat on your leg.

25 minutes of complete collapse preceded and followed by some half decent rugby. Ref made some costly blunders but not to the extent of taking the game away from Scotland.

I agree that Robinson made some bad choices with selections but for pretty different reasons to TJ. For me I would have started Cusiter and Weir. Theres’ not much to choose between a Blair / Laidlaw and a Cusiter / Weir combo but there’s less to choose between Blair and Cusiter than there is between Laidlaw and Weir. For me Weir has a great boot and is a better tackler. Good ball in hand game too.

The fact that Weir wasn’t in the squad last week and wasn’t brought on this week was sheer cowardice on AR’s part. I would start Weir ahead of Jackson and not having him in the squad for an international was madness.

Great to see Hogg when he came on. Having a 19 year old full back and a 20 year old stand off coming into the international squad so early is something I want to see more of. I would be starting both of them as much as possible not only to give them experience but because IMO they are the best options in Scotland at the moment.

Didn’t agree with bringing Kellock on for Hamilton. He’s frequently overshadowed by Gray but he puts in some great shifts as well. I’m not sure if the idea was to bring him on to add leadership to the team but if that’s the case then surely that undermines Ford.

Fantastic to see Chunk on fire like that. More of the same please!

Fact is the scottish pack gave wales an arse kicking for 40 mins but you didnt have the running game to expliot it and failed to do the obvious thing and kick to the corners and pressure the lineout. Doubt england will be as daft next up.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/rugby/gregor-townsend-expected-to-depart-with-graham-steadman-as-andy-robinson-instigates-scotland-backroom-shake-up.16741

This should have happened a while ago

25 minutes of complete collapse preceded and followed by some half decent rugby. Ref made some costly blunders but not to the extent of taking the game away from Scotland.

Very good summary.

Fantastic to see Chunk on fire like that. More of the same please!

As an ex-member of the front row union, I always like to see a prop playing well!

On that note, Castrogiovanni’s broken a rib. That’s pretty bad news for Italia.

Nasty injury to have, as there’s virtually nothing that can be done for it and everything hurts!

I had one go once, breathing, sleeping, laughing and, well anything hurt. Of course, the day after it happened, my then girlfriend saw me and knowing that I was injured, but not how, ran up to give me a sympathetic hug. Bitch. 🙂 She made up for it though…! 🙂

ON the half backs they should have been played blair / Laidlaw and Cusitor / Weir for sure.

Weir has the longer kick and is more solid a player but less good at distributing the ball, laidlaw more inspirational / unpredictable. I wouldn’t have minded either. Depends on the game you want to play

Ooooh; Lawes, Flood and Manu probably fit for the wales game. Wales will still win BUT we could have a game worth watching.

I think with the game plan at Glasgow hasn’t really give Wier a chance to show his flair and unpredictability. I’ve only seen the highlights from Scotland A Vs Saxons but from what I saw he was playing a very open flowing game scoring a good individual try and setting up another with a very confident unsighted tap over pass.

The other thing I like about the idea of having Blair / Laidlaw on the bench is that it increases the coverage massively. With Laidlaw being able to play SH and FH and Blair covering SH and Wing (this happened a couple of years ago from what I remember and it was great seeing both Cusiter and Blair on the field) it gives more options.

It’s so much nicer discussing Laidlaw, Weir, or Jackson than Parks or Godman 🙂

Could be bruce – I have not seen the A game. Does sound like Weir was good and I do rate him. Only seen him play for glasgow. Has a good temperament

How about giving him a game at centre?

Enjoy!

http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbA7yN7S9w

Weir at centre is something I’ve never really thought of. TBH I believe that we have enough coverage at centre already (except of course when our centres are sitting on the naughty step). I think the lack of threat is more down to coaching and tactics. Could be an interesting experiment but I don’t think Weir is the finished article yet and playing at his position would be the best move for now.

Thanks for that Bruce – makes good watching but just adds to the frustration as a load of those guys should have played for the full team against England.

Possibly, or perhaps it would be enough to give Michael Bradley a go as attacking coach. He certainly seems to be getting the job done at your end of the M8.

Just rewatched game. Reason for lamont being pulled up with the quick tap was firstly he took it from nowhere near the mark and secondly poite wanted to bin gethin and eales were making subs.

Have to say as far as tactical foul ups go scotland trying to outdo wales in a game of chuck about is almost as bad as when wales tried to take on fiji at their own game a couple of world cups ago.

The Scots tried to take the ball from as close to the mark as possible, that was the only one he called back all day, Phillips deliberate running into a retreating player being a good example of that. The ref bottled it as the Scots would have scored, even somebody as one eyed as you should be able to see that. We were well beaten, but incidents like that, and the supposed knock on, which was in the act of scoring so could have gone to video,were inconsistent. Trying to make a case for anything else would of course be admitting that Wales were caught with their pants down,and as such would never come from you.

How often did England actually look like scoring a try in the two games?

Every time some clutz kicked the ball at Hodgeson’s face 🙂

LOL@zokes

Even with Flood fit, can England drop the try machine? 8)

Saucer of cream for Mr Duckman

Notice Lawes was playing 6 for Saints at weekend….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17010572

The Six Nations game between France and Ireland looks likely to be rescheduled for the first weekend in March following Saturday’s late postponement of the fixture in Paris.

I would have preferred this weekend, to be honest. That way, it’s far more likley to be the same teams (Injuries etc) as well as being with the table at pretty much the same state as when they should have played. Results and events in the interim could have an impact.

Results and events in the interim could have an impact.

So what? They’d struggle to arrange a game with a weeks notice and why should they, just because it might benefit wales to do so?
They’ve done the right thing.

Duckman you are confusing the mark for the scrum with that of the pen which ref was playing advantage for. You also dont seem to notice that hook was between lamont and the try line. As for the other matter of the non knock on before scoring surely the vid ref can only be used for the act of scoring. Scotland lost because they were tactically inept combined with a lack of composure for scoring tries. Some cynical fouls were rightly punished by the ref. He was shit at the breakdown but not biased as said earlier if you want to score tries dont chuck the pass at peoples feet.

As for the other matter of the non knock on before scoring surely the vid ref can only be used for the act of scoring.

Sorry to pull this one, but he DID score. Exactly the sort of situation where the video ref should be used.

but he DID score.

No. He didn’t. The referee did not indicate a try and the points for a try weren’t given, so he didn’t score. That’s a SCIENCE FACT!

😉

Had Scotland played as well as they did in Cadiff against England they would have won that game. The Scots can take some comfort from an improved performance and they have some very talented younsgters coming through.

Pity the Ireland/France match was off as it would have been interesting to see the French tested.

Without a substantial improvement England are going to get a hiding, possibly more than one. The only upside is we’ll see the back of Lancaster.

video ref cannot adjudicate on a possible knock on 5 m short of the line. refs call and it would be contentious either way – I thought it a knock on myself

I thought the ref could ask the video ref “Is it a try, yes or no?” or “Is there any reason I can’t award the try?”.

If he had asked the second question then the video ref could have checked for the knock on I’m pretty sure.

Video ref can only check the act of scoring I am fairly sure. Rugby league they can check specific things the ref asks for including offsides at kicks, forward passes as well as the act of scoring

The only upside is we’ll see the back of Lancaster.

Why so down on him? I rather approve of the way he’s taken things on. Seems to deal with the indiscipline well, and overall he’s doing a good job with the players he has around him.

Would you prefer Jonny to coach instead? After all, getting a great ex-player as a coach worked really well last time! 🙂

video ref cannot adjudicate on a possible knock on 5 m short of the line

He can adjudicate on whether a try has been scored or not (he was in the act of scoring). There would have been sufficient justification considering that he didn’t knock it on!

The only upside is we’ll see the back of Lancaster.

Yep. I had high hopes but he’s made some very, very poor decisions.

A.A; clutching at straws there, look at Phillips getting an extra 10 for a kick,what difference is there between that and the quick tap in the second half. On the video ref;He was one step from the line and refs DO use the video. “Is there any reason why I cannot award the try?” is the way around that and is what the guys who do pro are TAUGHT to ask.I believe you watch games with a video ref, surely you have seen this before?

Is Duckman the son of TJ 😉

I thought it was a knock on as well as did the player who just put his hands on his head rather than celebrate.

http://www.irblaws.com/EN/laws/2/6/54/before-the-match/match-officials/referee-consulting-with-others/#clause_54

According to this the TMO can only be consulted about issues in the in-goal area. So looks like he was right not going to the TMO.

I think he could have asked the touch judge though.

Crap pass anyway.

Right then, next round predictions anyone? (Assuming the Frozen French game is not this coming weekend!)

England v Wales – England to win by 5-10 points. Sadly.
Ireland v Italy – Italy would have done well here, but will feel the loss of Castro sorely, I think. Ireland by 15
Scotland v France – It’s time. They can do it. Surely they can. Scotland to edge it.