6 Nations

AccidentalDenz

AccidentalDenz

Lord of Steam
MrWilson said:
Well, that was certainly an improvement over last week, but England continued to leak penalties and still managed to make a very green Italy side look good. Still, a bonus point victory is not a bad thing.
I do feel for Jack Willis's knee though, that is not a pretty thing, hope he has a smooth and fast recovery.
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I dislocated my knee in 2010 - I can only imagine what Willis is going through at the moment pain-wise.

England giving away so many penalties is not really a surprise when Farrell can't seem to help himself with late tackles and other soft penalties pretty much being part of his game.

As an Ireland fan, I'm a bit nervous for tomorrow - this French side are looking pretty good this year, but they do have weaknesses Italy exploited last week. Is likely going to be a close game.
 
AccidentalDenz

AccidentalDenz

Lord of Steam
Stephen M said:
With France it is always the case of which team turns up. If both sides on form should be a good game.
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Some of the youngsters France have coming through, Jalibert particularly, I'm impressed by and I wonder if the cliché of "which France?" might start being put to bed as those players start to show what they can do. Ireland have been overly reliant on Sexton for too long, and without him, I have concerns about whether or not we'll be in good form. Will find out tomorrow I guess.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
I used to love watching Serge Blanco, a brilliant full back and very quick, especially for someone who chair smoked and was partial to a good glug of Red Wine.

Modern fitness coaches would not have survived in that era of rugby. I remember chatting with a former Gloucester prop after the present team had had a good away win, he remarked: "And I bet they did not stop off on the way for a pre game pie and a pint as we used to."
 
MrWilson

MrWilson

Godlike
England are returning to form. Penalty count was much improved, attack looked more dynamic; Watson had a great game.
Shored up the scrum as well which is nice to see.
Also have to say that I prefer the ITV commentary team. Stuck with Jonathan Davies and Brian Moore for too long, David Flatman all day for me. I’ll put up with the Guinness ads if I get a better experience in the match.
Not sure who I’m rooting for the title now, might cheer for Scotland ahead of Wales and France.
 
MrWilson

MrWilson

Godlike
Super Saturday did not disappoint.
A standard drubbing of Italy, followed by a pitiful display by England, who were dominated across the field by an Ireland side returning to form and outperformed across the field (quite akin to the AMD vs Intel debate!). Even before losing both Ford and Farrell the attack looked aimless, the kicking game was pointless, and the scrum was temperamental. Hopefully summer tour fixtures are allowed to go ahead, and we can start to blood some new players during Lions season.

And of course, rounded off by a thriller in the Wales vs France game. Wales continued to have their opposition see red to make it 3/5 games where they had a man advantage (4 if you count Gauzerre). Wales had their fourth try disallowed to deny them the bonus point that would have sealed the championship. France rallied in extra time to deny Wales not only the Grand Slam but also possibly the Championship.

France need 4 tries and a win of 21 points or higher against Scotland to take the Championship. Allez les bleus!
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
MrWilson said:
Super Saturday did not disappoint.
A standard drubbing of Italy, followed by a pitiful display by England, who were dominated across the field by an Ireland side returning to form and outperformed across the field (quite akin to the AMD vs Intel debate!). Even before losing both Ford and Farrell the attack looked aimless, the kicking game was pointless, and the scrum was temperamental. Hopefully summer tour fixtures are allowed to go ahead, and we can start to blood some new players during Lions season.

And of course, rounded off by a thriller in the Wales vs France game. Wales continued to have their opposition see red to make it 3/5 games where they had a man advantage (4 if you count Gauzerre). Wales had their fourth try disallowed to deny them the bonus point that would have sealed the championship. France rallied in extra time to deny Wales not only the Grand Slam but also possibly the Championship.

France need 4 tries and a win of 21 points or higher against Scotland to take the Championship. Allez les bleus!
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As an Englishman living in Scotland and with Welsh in-laws, I need France to beat Scotland and win the championship to get any peace.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Shame to see Italy still so poor, it is difficult to see how they can improve, especially with not much of an infrastructure for the game at home.

A few more teams with the chance of two divisions might be a good way to go. At least the side going down would have a season with a chance of competing.

Would certainly like to see Georgia given a chance but not sure where to find other European teams to make a division two viable.
 
MrWilson

MrWilson

Godlike
Stephen M said:
Shame to see Italy still so poor, it is difficult to see how they can improve, especially with not much of an infrastructure for the game at home.

A few more teams with the chance of two divisions might be a good way to go. At least the side going down would have a season with a chance of competing.

Would certainly like to see Georgia given a chance but not sure where to find other European teams to make a division two viable.
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There is actually a “Six Nations B” tournament in the Rugby Europe Championship, where every year Georgia ploughs through other European nations such as Romania, Russia and Portugal.
Sadly we were denied the chance to see Italy and Georgia face off in the Autumn Nations Cup, as Covid enforced walk-overs meant that Fiji bottomed the pool and faced Georgia. Italy are very behind the ball at the moment, but with a new generation of young players gaining experience on the international stage the future may not be too dark for Italy, although it might not brighten until we approach France 2023.
Italian rugby has seen points of optimism at times, with two teams in the Pro14, and Benetton sitting at the top of the conference table at one point.
If the rumours are true about South Africa muscling into the Six Nations it could be that Italy are relegated to make room for them, which could breathe some light into the lower tiered European tournaments.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I saw part of the scotland game(last half of the first half) and thought it looked scrappy, didn't see any of the England game as was driving back from my daughters, mind you I'm not surprised that the Irish beat us, as we've been fairly crap all tournament.

I didn't think Wales could do the grand slam even though most games they've had a 16 man team
 
MrWilson

MrWilson

Godlike
Resurrecting this thread as we finish the first week of the 2022 Competition.

Ireland vs Wales started off with Ireland showing why they're going to be top contenders for the Title. Wales very lucky to get a conciliatory try to avoid being Nilled.

Scotland vs England was quite distressing. I was excited to see Curry handed the captaincy but don't think the leadership was quite there, I wouldn't mind seeing the armband passed on to Itoje or Slade going forward, if Lawes does not recover from his concussion for the latter stages of the tournament. Scotland had a stronger set of backs, with much more flair from Kinghorn and VDW, and a kicking masterclass from both Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg. Scotland retain the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 1984, which statisticians will remind you was the last time Scotland won a Grand Slam...

France vs Italy was only ever going to end one way. Italy continue to be able to defend well for the first 30 minutes, actually taking the lead at a couple of points. France broke them down in the second half however and received their bonus point win, but some questions have to be asked of their structure at times.

Next weekend's highlight will surely be France vs Ireland, which in all likelihood will be the Championship decider. In my opinion Ireland played better this weekend, but will home field advantage give France the edge?
 
RichardDavies99

RichardDavies99

Bronze Level Poster
MrWilson said:
There is actually a “Six Nations B” tournament in the Rugby Europe Championship, where every year Georgia ploughs through other European nations such as Romania, Russia and Portugal.
Sadly we were denied the chance to see Italy and Georgia face off in the Autumn Nations Cup, as Covid enforced walk-overs meant that Fiji bottomed the pool and faced Georgia. Italy are very behind the ball at the moment, but with a new generation of young players gaining experience on the international stage the future may not be too dark for Italy, although it might not brighten until we approach France 2023.
Italian rugby has seen points of optimism at times, with two teams in the Pro14, and Benetton sitting at the top of the conference table at one point.
If the rumours are true about South Africa muscling into the Six Nations it could be that Italy are relegated to make room for them, which could breathe some light into the lower tiered European tournaments.
Click to expand...

I remember there was an idea for a lesser European Nations Championship, with Italy, Spain, Romania, Russia & Georgia, with the winners playing in the next year's Six nations.
 
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