AWJ makes the six nation team of the tournament.

Fantastic player watched him closely this time around and he is some player.

Well done Wales. You came second.

Better than 3rd 4th or 5th!!

Winning three home games was about par. Would have been nice to have knicked one of the away games.  Given the squad we started with I’m quite pleased really. If Jiffy Junior comes back as good as ever we’ll be set for the world cup. We arent going to uncover any big ball carrying forwards though which is what we need. Having said that Tips at 6 today isnt the answer to any question.

Better than 3rd 4th or 5th!!

Yes.

Oh, and agreed about Wyn-Jones…he’s only Welsh player I’d have in the green machine. Really good 6N from him.

he’s only Welsh player I’d have in the green machine.

Faletau? He’s better than Stander and more Irish than Stander!!!He was bloody good today too. That outside break where he burnt the French back row was awesome.

England – did anyone really put in a good performance? Robshaw worked very hard for not a lot.

Daly did pretty well today, and last week. Two tries with that donkey Farrell at 10 😉

Othervthan that, not much to be cheerful about as an England fan.

Who would you drop DD Ryan or Hendo?

Scotland?

Over all a decent 6 n – won 3 games, Beat England which is a real bonus as its been a while.  3rd place finish – thats improving each year.  Next year 2nd, 2020 we win!

Gray junior immense as ever – I am going to look up his stats in a bit. Barclay – the captain we have needed and what a 6N he had.  Nice to find another centre in Grigg as well the rate we keep on breaking them.  Watson a great series although heavily watched but he and barclay were an absolute pest in every game.

Townsend made some selection errors but also a couple of good moves and his subs were great and tactics pretty good

Somehow Horne seems to add so much for such a limited player – he should have started today with Grigg as impact sub.  Swinson – I have no idea how he keeps getting selected – Big Ritchie was fit to play today and should have started.

overall 7/10 for me.  would have been 8 if they hadn’t imploded against Wales

Probably Ryan BM (when Hendo’s at full fitness), but y’know who would you drop from from a Grand Slam winning side, eh? And one that did it the “hard” way… 🙂 Wyn-Jones could be a finisher perhaps.

Townsend made some selection errors

I love the way the people on here know better than the coaches 😉

Tj do you think Scotland have Gatland to thank for coming third? They did very well to beat England, but everybody seems to agree the England players looked tired following the Lions tour.

Guass – its much easier in hindsight.  He twice played centres out of position

Gatland / Lions?  Itsdidn’t seem to affect the welsh players that much and its not so much the english on th lions tour I have issue with – its the welsh 😉

I think not having players on the lions did help Scotland tho for sure

Guass – its much easier in hindsight. He twice played centres out of position

I think it’s harsh to call them selection errors, because with hindsight you’ve decided Scotland would have done better with a  different selection. Surely a coach has to pick the best team with the information they have. Your choice could have done far worse than Townsend’s under the circumstances Townsend foresaw, or even those on the actual day. I know nothing about player positions, but I would presume Townsend knows more than both of us – you like him as a coach, perhaps you should have some faith in him.

Itsdidn’t seem to affect the welsh players that much and its not so much the english on th lions tour I have issue with – its the welsh

Not so sure; they have/had injuries to lots of their better players; Faletau, Warbs, JD2.

The welsh team interests me; lots of good players returning to wales next season to try and get a shout; Rhodri and Jordan from Bris being two. Great lads and very good players. Be nice to see them kick on.

Gauss – it think with hindsight he would admit as much over the centres.  call it experiments that didn’t work then.  Toonie is very early in his coaching career and he will improve

Both times when he made the subs the cohesion of the backs improved.  I can see why he tried it  Peter Horne is really a limited  player so toonie didn’t want to start him but he seems to have something scotland need.

Well – a quick dig into the stats.  ickle jonny disappointing – he missed 3 tackles this 6N – mind you he made 95!  also 52 carries and 25 passes.  I bet no other player was involved in the game more or has stats to come close to that.

Well – a quick dig into the stats

Fascinating.

What rugby needs is more statistics.

Yup – lots more.  the one I really would like to see is 40 m and 60 m sprint times – we argue a lot over who is the fastest 😉

I bet no other player was involved in the game more or has stats to come close to that.

Or is as slow! 😂

I can’t think of much that would be duller.

I end up watching a lot of sport in America, where endless analysts froth over someone having a rushing average of 0.291 yards more than someone else.  Bugger me, it’s tedious. Watching the play, watching the game, that’s what’s interesting.

Stats and gym reps will ruin rugby one day. Sidesteps and sideburns, that’s what we want. Dazzling steps, last gasp tip tackles (Key Turls put in a superb one today), big hits (NotToby last week) and imaginative play. No one cares who’s faster over 40 or 60 (what’s wrong with 50?).

Yup – one of the funniest moments of the whole series for me was watching him make a clean break and got 5 yards clear and no support around him – he was caught in 10 yards.  Mind yo a good few england forwards are more carthorse than racehorse

Oh I agree about over analysis of stats and they don’t tell the whole story but many of us find them interesting.

The return fixture will be in Dublin next year and you can have a whinge for the third year in a row.

And I’ll keep whingeing until Ireland stop being given special dispensation to have a ceilidh whenever they play at home. I quite like ‘Hey Jude’ as a sing-song, so can we have a rendition of that every time we play at Twickenham?

FWIW Ireland are currently a brilliant rugby team. Flair when needed, pragmatic when needed, top game management and precision when administering a killer blow. You don’t need all that “we’re so damned spiritual we need two anthems” bullshit. How did it ever get started in the first place?

Stander made more yards than the whole England team in the first half.

#Fascinating

How did it ever get started in the first place?

Oh man, really?

First time I’ve  posted on a rugger thread, but there are fewer things I dislike more than rugby culture and one of those is hubris.  To see those mighty lads and their pompous coach come a proper cropper should warm the cockles of every true Englishman’s heart.

Itsdidn’t seem to affect the welsh players that much

Apart from JD2, Warburton, Webb, Falerau, Moriarty and Liam all injured at the start of the six nations. Some still injured.

Injuries?  from a smaller base of players Scotland were missing at the start

Nel, Bergin, Brown, Fagerson in the front row plus a couple of others who might have played

Scott, Bennett, Dunbar, Taylor in the centres.

Plus a few others.  Everyone was affected by injuries

And I’ll keep whingeing until Ireland stop being given special dispensation to have a ceilidh whenever they play at home.

I think all rational people agree with you that they should only be one anthem in Ireland and it’s the Soldiers Song, fortunately brexit is making it more likely 😉

“spiritual” yes that’s why they do it.

I’ll just leave this here for…

11 tries in 9 international appearances.

First man to ever score 7 tries in a 5/6 Nations Championship.

Grand Slam winner.

21 years old.

Jacob Stockdale 👏 pic.twitter.com/tOrkdcGkOZ

— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) March 17, 2018

…BlindMelon 🙂

Who cares if they have a sing song? I don’t really think that the soldiers song is very inclusive though, I’d hope that a united Ireland could find something acceptable to ALL citizens.

Anthems?  I would prefer that Ireland use only Irelands call but given the political sensitivities I am happy to let the IRFU / the players decide.  Tonga, fiji and NZ have their dance before games.  England use the UK anthem – how wrong is that?  England need a new anthem ( I’d go for Jerusalem).  Flower of Scotland is a dreadful dirge and has no real history being written in the 60s as a deliberate attempt to write an anthem.  French have the best words for their anthem and Italy the best tune ( but the words are awful )

Kuilo – the soldiers song is not liked in NI hence its only sung for games in the republic

Tj I kinda knew that ( my mother is from Ulster)

Oh man, really?

Yeah man, really.

I’m not talking about the plantation of Ulster or the potato famine or the role of English landowners in the famine or any of the other numerous examples of English brutality in Ireland. I acknowledge fully the cack-handed at best, downright crooked at worst role of England in a lot of the historic troubles in Ireland. Exactly what this has to do with the ceremonials before a game of rugby is something someone else will have to explain to me. Sure it has a bit to do with the passion on the field. No problem there. But when did Ireland first decide ‘sod it, let’s have two anthems’ at a rugby match and when did the IRB officially sanction it? I think we will find it is about as ‘traditional’ as ‘traditional’ scarecrow festivals in some villages which have been a ‘tradition’ for all of ten years.

I am a passionate England cricket supporter and I am embarrassed when they line up to sing Jerusalem before a game. There is no tradition of it, there is no need for it, and it is just there for the Johnny Come Latelys. I think we are already at the stage where a number of supporters would watch a 40-39 thriller in Cardiff or London or Edinburgh and bemoan the state of the pre-match fireworks if they didn’t deem them up to scratch.

This is Sport we are talking about here. Something to get ‘passionate’ and excited about. No need to drag a load of other baggage into it.

Well done Ireland. Worthy Grand Slam winners, and that drop goal against France was truly a stellar moment. No second anthem is going to come close to that on-field moment.

If you don’t understand why they use Irelands Call then learn some history.  It was written as a non political anthem for the Irish rugby team.  If they shoiuld drop anything it should be the Irish hational anthem – the soldiers song.

And why on earth do england think they can use the UK anthem?

I would prefer that Ireland use only Irelands call but given the political sensitivities I am happy to let the IRFU / the players decide.

Decide. Yes, great.

Not piss about for ages with two.

You might have guessed by now that I like to watch sport when I tune in to sport. Posturing and pomp and ceremony are soemthing to be fast forwarded through if I’ve recorded it.

Bored now.

If you must sing a song, then choose one, sing it and get on with the game.

If I am missing something to do with symbolism here then good. This is a game and something that can be and should be appreciated in its own right.

Do what I do then – turn the telly on at the kick off.  I never watch any of the pre match nonsense

Are yo going to stop NZ from the Haka as well?  and what about englands use of the UK anthem?