UKC

Not looking good for Wales is it?

Ireland playing ok, but not fantastically, although zebo seems to have the midas touch

In reply to balmybaldwin: that was a fantastic charge down though.

In reply to balmybaldwin: My prediction is that Wales are not going to win the six nations this year.

In reply to Al Evans: you may be right....

In reply to Oceanrower:

It would help if they stopped passing in to touch!

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Did I miss Robinson being appointed to the Welsh coaching staff?

In reply to Horse: Ireland are crap at lineouts!

In reply to Al Evans:

Score board says it doesn't matter.

In reply to Horse:

What he said ^^^^

Plus that second try had to be one of the bests bits of play I've seen in a long time. Simon Zeebo is just on fire. I mean for Gods sake off of his boot into his hands that was amazing. (I am of course slightly biased mind)

In reply to Frank4short:

Good try from Wales, they need to keep running at Earls he is out of his depth as a defensive centre.

In reply to Horse

Sloper has suddenly gone VERY QUIET. Do you fancy texting him to cheer him up?

In reply to balmybaldwin: Wales have apparently remembered how to play rugby, hell they might even pull it back if they keep up like that.

In reply to balmybaldwin: Thought the post counted?

In reply to Alan Taylor: Seen from different angle now, good decision

In reply to Shani:

That is a first.

In reply to Al Evans:

But looks like they're going to pull off a jammy win. Wales should have turned up in the first half.

In reply to Kipper:


I'm not sure where you're getting jammy from. We dominated in the first half and when we needed to did what we had to in defence in the second half.

All of that asides brilliant game of rugby no matter what side you were cheering for. My heart was in my mouth for most of the second half.

In reply to Frank4short:

First half was full if you're Welsh. Seconds half things were more competitive.

Scotland clearly on a diet of humble crumble......

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Not the most exciting yet...

Sloper gently sobbing to himself. Life is good.

In reply to Shani:

Is he blaming the IRISH ref or English skullduggery.

In reply to Shani:

He must be heading towards melt down now. Tell him if England keep their foot on the throat this could be heading towards 50 plus.

In reply to Horse: ' shambolic Scottish defence'

In reply to Shani:

Naturally

In reply to Horse: this isn't over...

In reply to balmybaldwin:

livening up nicely!

In reply to andy:

Indeed, gone a bit ragged with the subs one of whom should have been Mike Brown who is a bit of a liability at times.

In reply to gribble: well done Courtney - takes the pressure off..

In reply to Horse: Sloper writhing with indigestion. Humble crumble not tastting that sweet to Irish palates.

In reply to Shani:

Lets hope indigestion lasts all the way to tea time next Sunday.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
As an Englishman, i really enjoyed both games: nothing simple!
The scores bely the efforts put in buy the losing sides (eventually, wales!). lovely to see tries from all and some great skills. Not the most memorable games, but shaping up nicely.

That Zebo-flick thing was incredible...can he do it twice, though? .

In reply to thin bob:

Both good games, a better performance from our lot than last year's shambles.

England won by having, big, strong guys who do the simple things well then, when some of them get a wee bit tired, they bring on some other big, strong guys who do the simple things well.

At least we managed to score a couple of tries!

In reply to coinneach:

An improvement at least when the opposition gave you a chance or two you took them, big step forward. Now if your lot could create a few themselves you might get back in the IRB Top 10

In reply to Horse:

Or even the 6 Nations Top 5

In reply to coinneach:
If only there was a "like" button on UKC, unfortunately :-/

In reply to coinneach:
I thought the English breakdowns were good, manged to clear quick and avoid penalties ( a heartbreaking problem last time).
Never written off Scotland, hard men with grit, even when tired. maybe not 'technical' or stylish, or 'lucky', but tough buggers!

In reply to coinneach:

Round of applause. Look on the bright side, 3 home games next. Unlike Wales who have 3 away starting with a probably thumping in Paris next week. I would imagine there is plenty of space in the Welsh kitchen drawer.

In reply to thin bob:

My champagne moment today (you have Zebo) was the Marler pass to set up the try for Twelvetrees, as good as the ones by O'Driscoll and Farrell to also set up tries.

In reply to Horse:
Yep, some lovely meoments, that was one of the best I enjoyed Parling & Launchbury and seeing Ashton get stuck in a few times, rather than fannying about looking for a swan dive . The New Boy done good, too.

In reply to thin bob:

Not a great fan of Ashton but credit to him, he did play well today. Next week will be an altogether tougher test particularly at the breakdown, the Irish back row are more than handy.

The new boy looked to the manor born, I'd keep him for next week and launch ManOverborad for the last half hour.

Put a sneaky £20 on Zebo to be the tournaments top try scorer, at 25/1 it would have been rude not to.

In reply to balmybaldwin: FFS Wales, not the news I wanted to wake up to this morning!

In reply to stroppygob: It was on the news this morning? Bloody hell that's good reporting!

In reply to Oceanrower: I live in Australia....

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Fantastic start for Italy!

In reply to balmybaldwin:

If were Scottish, (which thank the lord I'm not Sir) I'd be making some more space in the kitchen drawer

'Da fook? The French don't like it up 'em, and that is what the Italians are doing. Respect to them.

In reply to Shani:

Well deserved by Italy, brilliant result.

In reply to Horse: Yo! Go Italy

In reply to balmybaldwin:
PLeased Castogiovanni got a try, gert big thumper that he is..
I couldn't stand the last 5 minutes.. fair play to Italy, they kept calm (as calm as Italy can anyway ) - did the French field their women's team by mistake? .
I'd like to see Italy win again next week to keep things interesting. I just wish they were playing Ireland at the time ....


[excellent results from the women's 6 nations, BTW)

In reply to thin bob:

Had to go out after 25mins, just finished watching, and managed to avoid the result. Match of the weekend, great result for italy.

If they continue to play like that, they can cause problems for anyone.

Looks like a Ireland v England Grand Slam decider then this weekend!

Lets do head to head line up of the two sides:


15 Kearney vs Goode - adv Ireland multi heineken cup winning 15 against converted 10 who lacks pace

14 Gilroy vs Brown - adv Ireland fleet footed winger against angry but slow man

13 O'driscoll vs Tuilagi/Barritt - adv Ireland legend vs bosh merchants

12 D'arcy vs Barritt/12trees - adv Ireland bosh merchant or inexperienced weird named player who had to move club to get a game against electric sidestepping defensive rock.

11 Zebo vs Ashton - adv Ireland swift skillful player with heaps of talent against thick fat swan diving northerner.

10 Sexton vs Farrell - Adv Ireland multi heineken cup winning 10 who is guaranteed starting for the lions against limited kicking ten who gets in due to his dad coaching the team.

9 Murray vs Youngs - Adv Ireland Feisty game controlling 9 against very thick 9 who has a crap pass.

8 Heaslip vs Morgan/Waldrom - adv ireland certain lions tourer against one of two very fat pie eaters (one who is a poach).

7 Sean O'Brien vs Robshaw - adv ireland monster ball carrier against floppy haired player that nobody can work out if he is any good or not or what he actually does.

6 O'Mahony vs Wood - equal didn't really notice them that much.

5 McCarthy vs Parling - adv Ireland Parling looks like he should paving driveways and got treated like one by Beattie

4 Ryan vs Launchbury - adv Ireland Scowling furious irish man will be pissing himself about baby faced Launchbury being englands enforcer.

3 Ross vs Marler - adv Ireland Marler can't scrummage and has a stupid haircut.

2 Rory Best vs T Youngs - adv Ireland Lions hooker against converted centre.

1 Cian Healy vs Dan Cole - adv Ireland Lions loosehead against an english player who will probably sit on the bench in the lions tour.


Kidney vs Lancaster - Multi Hcup winner and grand slam winner against over promoted youth team coach. adv Ireland

Overall Ireland 15 Pigdogs 0

Ireland favourites for the grandslam.

In reply to Shani: Shambolic Scottish defence? You must have been watching a different game.

England were awesome. If it wasnt for our defence being VERY good at times, England would have gave us 50 or 60 points.

In reply to Cú Chullain: > Ireland favourites for the grandslam.

Yep, wouldn't disagree - I'm not at all sure England will beat Wales or France either. Or Italy come to think of it!

In reply to Cú Chullain:


Very objective assessment there. Oh no wait..

In reply to andy:

Where does this nonsense come from?

England have produced two excellent performances on the bounce. Farrell is dependable as a kicker and will keep the scoreboard ticking, not sure why Goode starts but the back three work well, strong front row, lots of options in the second row. A rapid 9 who is getting better at distributing quickly, options in midfield (for a change) and a good team spirit.

I think they have the makings of a very good team and certainly looked better than France, Wales and Italy this weekend. Ireland didn't turn up for the second half on Saturday.

In reply to drunken monkey:

I agree with you, I was simply quoting Sloper! The first thing you'll notice about Sloper when you meet him is that although he has two eyes he only uses one of them when watching rugby. What is special about that one eye is that it is able to filter things with a green, red or blue tinge (dependent on who England are playing).

In reply to Edradour:

Bitter experience! The Welsh are too good as individuals not to put at least one decent performance together, and if they'll do it against anyone it'll be England. France the same - they haven't become crap overnight.

In reply to Edradour:

You can be sure Ireland will turn up this weekend. Their forwards surely won't be as laughably useless as last year. It should be a good contest(assuming the ref keeps eye on the cheating feckers in the green) but I suspect home advantage to tell, Ireland by 3 to 5.

In reply to Horse:

If there is one team Ireland can suck-it-up against, it is England. Not sure whether Ireland are ever happy with the 'favourites' tag, but as they are at home, you have to consider them as such.

I reckon they'll choke more than Croke.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Ireland did not play well on Saturday, Wales were just shocking in the first half, and OK in the second half, when Ireland seemed to go missing after the first ten minutes and on that form England will get the better of Ireland this weekend.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Bit of a reshuffle in the IRB rankings.

http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html

Wales continue the inexorable slide to joining Scotland outside the Top 10.

In reply to Horse:

Wales and Scotland forming a nice little Tonga sandwhich there.

In reply to Horse:

Ireland to get rolled by the chariot on home turf. BOD resigns immediately out of sheer shame.

In reply to Kipper:

You misquoted me, seriously misquoted, I never said Ireland were crap, just crap at lineouts, its Wales that were crap.

In reply to Al Evans:

I thought the line out thing a bit harsh at the time and as you mention it again I checked the stats. Ireland won 9 and lost 2, not that bad although the stats don't say anything of the quality of the ball won.

The real shambolic line out this weekend was the French one (9 and 4) and I sure they only got to 9 by lobbing it to front which is crap attacking ball.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Come off it - they played a blinder in the first half with really good, precise rugby and their defence in the 2nd was awesome. Yes, we were poor but really picked it up in the 2nd half - there was a 10-15 minute period when I really thought the comeback was on but Ireland's defence put paid to that. Should be a great game next weekend - I think Ireland will have too much experience for England.

In reply to wynaptomos: Nice to see a non Irish voice speaking up for it. Especially considering half of the second half was played with only 14 players on the pitch.

In reply to Frank4short:

You mean their Discipline was poor? that's of their own doing (and in at least one case diliberate to avoid a try IIRC)

(In reply to wynaptomos)

i didn't say they were poor, just that they didn't play well. I would say they were OK, there is a lot of talent in there, but if they play like that against a proper opposition (like Wales turned into in the second half) I don't think they will win even with the Home support

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Italy for the Grand Slam anyone?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Italy now ranked above Wales and Scotland. If that were true then they're going to have a fantastic six nations. They were amazing in 2011, where they could have seen them beating Ireland or Wales, and did a fantastic job on France. They beat Scotland last year, they've started with a bang now too. I am going to go all hopeful and say Italy come 3rd this year, though 4th is more likely. good luck to them!

Bookies calling it exactly flat at the minute. Personally, I think Ireland will crush England by 2 or 3 points.

In reply to Ed Navigante:

Scotland will beat Italy handsomely next week mark my words !! I very rarely get positive about Scotland but in Hogg and Maitalnd we now have two natural finishers. We are a long way off being good but we might be on the march to one day retaining our former glories of being OK.

In reply to nickyrannoch:

But they have to have something to finish. Truth be told Scotland created nothing and never looked like they would.

In reply to Horse:

In what way did scotland not create their first try?

If we accept the premise Scotland created nothing against England ( I don't) then i'm not overly concerned when we play worse teams than that which we faced on Saturday.

our problem over the past ten years has not been an inability to create chances but a simply woeful conversion of red zone possession into points. Against Italy, as well as they played, we will create chances. That being said I still have concerns over the amount of missed tackles going on.

On a side note I thought I would try and get tickets for Saturday after watching the weekend's games. £30 quid for the cheap seats in what is a half empty stadium? The SRU can stick it. If they must capitalise on the demand for tickets for the other 4 nations with their exorbitant prices then so be it but you used to get good deals on the Italy games.

In reply to nickyrannoch:

The first originated from a desperately poor kick and tackling by England. The second came when England coughed up the ball to a huge overlap (which Denton did his best to butcher). To be fair Scotland didn't mess about accepting the gifts on offer. Other than that I can't recall Scotland doing much. Wins against the top sides come by creating opportunities not relying on opposition cock ups.

As to £30 that looks an absolute bargain compared to Twickenham.

In reply to Horse:

i dont diagree with that but if you discount episodes of missed tackles then you could argue no-one creates chances against Scotland!! I would say from where Hogg fielded the ball for the first try you have to credit Scotland with creating and executing their own chance but we can agree to disagree.

Italy are not a top side and i think we will create against them. It has come to something when I basically accept that the success or otherwise of a campaign depends on beating Italy but we are where we are.

Re: Tickets - I accept that for the other 4 nations people budget for the game and have it in the diary months in advance and if they can get 50-70 quid a ticket then fine.

For the Italy game they should be looking to attract the casual punter and 70 quid for the lower tier of the west stand or 30 quid for a corner seat in the gods aint gonna do that. The one good thing is about murrayfield is when its only at 60-70% capacity its really easy to pay for a cheap seat and then just go and sit where you want once in the stadium.

In reply to nickyrannoch:

I'll credit Hogg with seeing half West London unpopulated with white clutter and getting on with it. It was hardly individual brilliance though, his only other option being to hoof it into touch.

You're correct on the last point and it should be a good game.

In reply to Horse:

Murrayfield lost any of my money last season by having a shit rugby team.

I've taken my lad up for at least one 6 nations ( and an Autumn International ) since he was about 6.

But a 200 mile round trip plus programmes, the shirt, the burgers,the ref link and a fiver for a pint of flat Guinness to watch a bunch of big jessies get humped was not VFM.

It also boils my pish when we have a fly past, a lone piper, flame throwers
and a load of fireworks to welcome a team who are about to ship 50 points against The All Blacks.

That said.............................if we beat Italy on Saturday......

In reply to nickyrannoch:

The last couple of years I've just turned up a few minutes after kickoff and have been let in for free! (games against Ireland and Italy)

In reply to coinneach:

Especially when you can watch it in comfort, for free, from behind the sofa

In reply to sargy:


Aye but if you try to get out at half time they charge you a tenner!

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Hmmm, persuasive - I guess that with the state of the Irish economy you will accept some charity, what odds will you give me on an England win?

In reply to Dr.S at work: Incidently, did anybody notice that England beat Scotland 76-0 in the womens six nations

In reply to Al Evans:

I suspect you could have fielded England's female team against the Scottish male team and still come away with the Calcutta cup!

In reply to Shani

From elsewhere in cyberspace:

"- the face on Maitland at about 60mins in when he realised he really did have to play with this shower for the next ten years...."

Probably wishes he stayed at the Crusaders.

In reply to Horse:

Harsh - but fair! I guess as a Kiwi you grow up with certain ambitions.....

In reply to Shani:
In fairness I though Scotland performed fairly well, will be interesting to see how they front up to Italy.

really looking forward to all of next weeks games - should be a cracking set of matches.

In reply to Dr.S at work:

They had one or two moments but not sure I saw much to get excited about. If Italy can maintain this competitive spirit then their clash with Scotland could be awesome. Scotland will be expecting a WSD so they have everything to play for.

Ireland vs England is very intriguing. Ireland at home with a wealth of caps. They've got to fancy their chances but will also be alarmed at the weakness Wales found in the green line in the second half. England are playing fearless rugby and growing all the time, but a win against the Irish is not going to be easy. Personally I reckon Kidney will be shitting the return of Rutland's finest. Would a draw be out of the question? This may well be a 6N decider...but there are banana skins a plenty between now and March.

Wales vs France is also intriguing. Not sure which France is going to turn up, nor which Wales. Should be monumental as both seek to salvage their reputations.

Shaping up for a vintage Six Nations!

In reply to Horse:

I agree with this, his natural position is wing, and for Munster at least he is pretty handy when playing there. He is even on record as saying he does not want to play centre but Kidney keeps picking him there.

In reply to Shani:

England will not get as much space to work with as they did against Scotland, still think Ireland will sneak home by two 3 - 4 points, they will be well up for this after the spanking they got at Twickenham last season. Its unlikely D'Arcy will be fit which means Earls will be back, that is Irelands main weakness.

In reply to Shani:

The two biggest things that favour the Irish are home advantage and the collective nous as to just how much cheating they can get away with at the breakdown before the cards come out. The latter can backfire, I can't see England letting Ireland have a 20 odd point lead before they start to play and Farrell will exact punitive sanction for any skullduggery on the floor.

In reply to Horse: Ireland cheating at the breakdown? Surely thats Englands Forte? All good sides do it - And get away with it.

Scotland are pish at it - And dont get away with it. One of our problems. We are too "nice" at the breakdown.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Looking forwards to the battle between Sexton and Farrell, but it is up front where the game will be won or lost. I think you are right, that it will be close, and I still hold out that we could see a draw. But, Ireland went walkabout in the second half last week - and if they do that again they'll be brutally punished!

@Horse - who is the ref?

In reply to drunken monkey:

Of course all side do it. My point was that Ireland are particularly efficient at it and good at judging what they might get away with. I'm not sure the current England is anywhere near as street wise.

In reply to Horse:

You play the referee, Roman Pointe is well know for being useless when comes to controlling the breakdown, both sets of forwards were lying all over the ball last Saturday. Best's yellow card was a joke as well as he had clearly come 'through' the gate rather then the side.

In reply to Shani:

Pfffffff.

Farrell is getting some massive hype in the UK gutter press because he made most of his kicks and threw some loopy passes in front of a Sweaty team who are rated 12th in the world. I expect him to implode in a tearful sh*t heap come judgement day in Dublin. To go down in history with Geoff Thomas, Jimmy Saville and Jeffrey Archer as a lad who had it all and f*cked it up.

Ireland to crush England by 3

In reply to Cú Chullain:

I disagree with you but I like the cut of your jib!

In reply to Cú Chullain:

He didn't look too shabby a few weeks ago against those blokes in Black either.

In reply to Horse:

Yeah, not bad for a guy who was barely 21.

In reply to Cú Chullain:
all this talk, but you have failed to take up my free cash offer......

England team names:

Marler
Youngs
Cole
Launchbury
Parling
Haskell
Robshaw
Wood

Youngs
Farrell
Brown
Twelvetrees
Barritt
Ashton
Goode

Subs:
Hartley
Wilson
Vunipola
Lawes
Waldrom
Care
Flood
Tuilagi

http://www.rfu.com/rbssixnations

Handy enough bench in fainess!

I think if Hartley, Lawes and Tuilagi come on at 60 mins or so I think the concentrated hate might actually make the Irish supporters implode.

In reply to Dr.S at work:

Not really free cash though is it....

Bookies have both teams as absolutel evens. But I reckon Ireland by 4 - 5 points.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Our bench looks awesome. Flood, Hartley, Care and Tuilagi will be itching for some action.

The more I look at this match the harder it gets to predict. A 'refresh' of England early in the second half could prove a killer blow....

In reply to Shani:

Kind of hoping that Ireland's vastly more experienced team can make the difference, the Irish bench is not as good as Englands so they need to start the first half like they did against Wales.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Nuff said.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

That is just it; you've got experience against strength in depth. England played against a weak(ish) Scottish team, and with a degree of intensity for the full 80. Ireland are a much stronger proposition but only seemed to sustain it for 50 minutes or so.

In reply to Shani:

I think Ireland may learn their lesson from the Welsh game - combine that with the fact they'll probably lift their game because it's England, and they're at home then I reluctantly reckon that England will get pipped by 5-7 points.

In reply to Clauso:

Sickening arrogance

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Calm down. Merely banter.

In reply to andy:

Thats the spirit!!

In reply to Clauso:

Sickening disrespect to Michael Winner

In reply to Cú Chullain:

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Looks like the weather forecast will not favour sides wanting to play rugby so add that advantage to home fixture and cheating ability, still looks like Ireland by 3 to 5.

I reserve my right to change my mind if England weather the initial storm and Irish pack turn to jelly after 20 minutes.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

My Predictions:

France V wales - close match, France by 5 points, Wales chasing the game in their usual style, piling on the points in the last 20, but falling just short again

Scotland V Italy - If Italy play as well as last week, I think they'll have the match by about 10 points. I think the play will be evenly balanced, but Italy will get the points where it counts

Ireland V England - England by 10 points, the strength and depth of the team will overwelm the ageing Irish team

Three (Irish) folk have now offered me tickets to the game but:

1) Flying there and back on Sunday will cost around £300 (similar if I return on Monday morning or fly over on Saturday). Chuck in car to the airport and parking (or train consts), plus taxi/bus at the other end and beers, then add in the ticket price, and I won't get much change out of £500!

2) Ferry travel involves a 3-4 hour drive to Holyhead, 2 hours ferry journey, then a 4 hour return ferry journey and another 4 hour drive home at midnight - with snow predicted. So 14 hours of travel for a game.

If England win, it *might* be worth it. But that is a hell of a lot of money/time to piss away if we lose.

I might just watch it from home.

In reply to Shani:

Send Sloper instead, he's loaded.

In reply to Horse:

He is one of the three! Not sure if being stuck in a car for three hours each way with him sing 'Fields of Athenry' makes for a good car journey. Factor in the chance of snow....

In reply to Shani:

Definitely take the TV option.

In reply to Shani:

Sunday games suck.

I was offered a corporate ticket but turned it down as that, plus flights would make it an eyewateringly expensive weekend.

Still, I am off to Rome in March for the Italy v Ireland game, that will be my 6 Nations treat, hopefully get to see Ireland crowned Gland Slam winners.

In reply to Horse:

The TV option may be risky if they happen to catch him in shot as they pan around the crowd. Best listen to it on the radio.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Sounds like a good day out!

As for this weekend's gig, the snow risk is now preying on my mind. I could be snow bound in Manchester airport watching the match on the lounge TV with a drunken Sloper.....

Irish side named:

15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster/42)
14 - Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster/2)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster/121)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster/72)
11 - Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster/4)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster/35)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster/15)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster/36)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster/63)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster/25)
4 - Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht/7)
5 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster/24)
6 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster/10)
7 - Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster/23)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster/53) Captain

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster/23)
17 - David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster/3)
18 - Declan Fitzpatrick (Dungannon/Ulster/3)
19 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster/91)
20 - Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster/5)
21 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster/48)
22 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster/126)
23 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster/35)


Unchanged from last week.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

what's the number in the Brackets? number of Caps?

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Having seen that team has brought on a Harumph!! in me.

The IRB need to limit the number of subs and substitutions in the modern game, the replacement of entire front rows and half back partnerships during a game these days is a farce.

How I long for the days of the french using their own brown adididas balls, referees wearing their own international jerseys, kicking from a hole in the ground and scotland winning championship games.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Yep, caps

In reply to Cú Chullain:
They certainly have some experience in there then.... I wonder if the english total caps is less than BOD's

In reply to balmybaldwin:

532 versus 242, fine line between experience and knackered has been

In reply to Horse:

Englands world cup winning team had about 800 caps between them!

Actually the cap count for Ireland is a bit decieving given that O'Gara, BOD and DOC hold almost half the Irish caps just between themselves!

In reply to Horse:

Can I put a reservation on being the first to make a humourous pun based on the words 'Horse' and 'Lasagne' for when we play Italy in the 6N?

In reply to Shani:

Of course.

Cheers,
Findus

In reply to Cú Chullain:

And the use by date was up on most of them by the time of the final.

I only counted the caps of those in the starting line up, not those in the retirement waiting room.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

A fit O'Connell would swung things even further...

In reply to Clauso:

A fit O'Connell would crush England on his own, he is the Chuck Norris of rugby.

I love this clip of him giving a pre match changing room 'talk'

http://img.youtube.com/vi/Bhgt2pnSywI/default.jpg?h=90&w=120&sigh=_...

In fairness we have four starting line up players with more then 50 caps, a couple of newbies on the wing but the rest of the team has a nice balance of youth and experience going for it.

Cant wait for this match, its going to be epic.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Aye, it'll be spicy... An England win will make me almost as happy as watching France get stuffed last weekend.

In reply to Clauso:

Worth remembering:

It will be 40 years ago to the day this weekend that England captain John Pullin rose wearily to his feet in a smoked-filled room in the old Hibernian Hotel in Dublin, dodged a couple of incoming breadrolls, and uttered possibly the most memorable 13 words in rugby history: "Well we might not be any good but at least we turned up."

Willie John and the mighty Pullin fill in the details:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/ireland/9857630/S...

In reply to Horse:

Johnny Beattie says Scotland are underdogs tomorrow ( makes me feel old as I played in the same side as his Dad)

So, more in hope than expectation, Scotland to win narrowly.

France will wake up and thrash Wales.

England too strong for Ireland I think.

In reply to balmybaldwin:William Hill quoting 100-1 scotland to win, even Italy get 20-1, made me laugh

In reply to balmybaldwin:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21375047

quick question. does anyone apart from eddie butler enjoy is awful cringe worthy pseudo poetic faux dramatic montages that he seems to have been asked to do for the last ten years? makes me want to puke.

anyway its off to the game i go. scotland to win by 10. then you'll see, you'll all see !!!!!

In reply to nickyrannoch:

"Confidence, like a good beard, takes time"

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Wouldnt it be easier to tell the teams apart if Scotland wore their normal strip?

Early good signs for Scotland

In reply to balmybaldwin:
S'rugby - home teams change if there's a clash.

Or in England's case, if they want to make a few extra quid by selling more shirts...

In reply to andy:

But dark blue vs light blue is less of a clash.

6-0

but italy look dangerous at times

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Not if it's muddy it's not. But stil not sure why Scotland aren't playing in white like they usually do.

In reply to andy:

Solid victory for Scotland, good to see some creativity there. Italy were poor, a real shame from a neutral point of view it was pretty onesided

In reply to balmybaldwin: yep, they looked like the old Italy - but credit Scotland they took advantage of the errors and gave Italy no chances to get back into it.

In reply to andy:

Makes me wonder why Robinson could do bugger all with the same players to choose from.....?

Scotland's defence was excellent and the breakdown much improved.

Good to see some enterprising back play too!

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Heres hoping france wales will be a closer match. Really not sure who I want to win...

They both got reason to try to make big impact early on, will be interesting if France can keep the crowd behind them.

In reply to coinneach:

Not a bad game for a 2nd division match.

In reply to Horse:

The French pack will want to give the backs a proper kicking at HT . . . They keep winning ball to see it being given back to the Welsh.

In reply to coinneach:

Pretty dull stuff so far.

In reply to balmybaldwin:


Hmmm quite uninspiring. Lokking a bit like a wooden spoon contest

In reply to balmybaldwin:

It's more like a Scotland v Italy match.

Both sides more afraid of losing.

In reply to coinneach:

I'm sure I can hear Brian Moore . . .

In reply to coinneach:

The state of the pitch is the only thing keeping me interested.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Surprised the crowd weren't booing france earlier than this.

Try for wales 6-13

In reply to balmybaldwin: Decent last 10 minutes for Wales at least.

In reply to Horse:

Not sure I've ever seen a game with so many slow motion replays of turf lifting. Not sure whether this says more about the pitch than the quality of the rugby.

Could we see France take the wooden spoon?

In reply to Shani:

It does usually go to a side who play in blue.

In reply to Shani:

Has the 'cuillère en bois' ever gone that far South?

In reply to Kipper:

I'd assume it's been to Italy...

In reply to coinneach:


HHhhmmm............wrong with two predictions so far........

In reply to andy:

Good point, but they probably call it something else

Results so far:

1 Dafydd Llywelyn calon_lan 7 5 130
2 richard ffitch The Maulers 8 3 124
3 Reginald Trubshaw All Black Winning Streak 4 6 124
4 Jon Coutts Currywurst 4 4 118
5 Jason Kirk Nae Chance! 7 4 114
6 Mike Hale Red Hype 5 4 114
7 Ken Gunning Ireland's Call 5 4 112
8 Robert Richardson Terra Team 6 2 111
9 graham gedge The Hype 4 3 109
10 Mike Lates As Welsh as my arse 4 2 108
11 Mike Turner Turner's Tigers 5 4 106
12 Richard Smith rlrs0001 3 4 106
13 Roly Chuter Chuter's Chunters 7 1 105
14 Chris Georg Boobies 4 4 104
15 Chris Williams Fur Queue 4 3 102
16 Jeremy Hart The Hartebeasts 4 2 99
16 Graham McKay The SOBs 4 3 99
18 Stephanie Coyle Hairy Hookers 4 5 96
19 Matthew Berry Highland Fling 4 1 96
20 matt barker The Black Sheep 5 2 91
21 Mr Scoi Scoi 2 2 86
22 Zack Tennison Multiple Scoregasms 4 1 82
23 kenny macmillan Dirt Trackers 2 1 80
24 John Walker Johnny W's 15 2 1 78
25 D B DBs Last XV 4 1 77
26 Tom O'Rourke Slopers Banned Proles 1 3 74
27 Jimbo W Broughty Ferrets 1 2 69
28 Frostee Maria Frostee's 4 2 61
29 Daniel Capps X01 0 0 36

In reply to balmybaldwin:

told yous we had finishers

not world beaters yet but at least we look like scoring and the gameplan isnt to shitfest it to a 3 point win.

reckon we will get another win in the championship and that can be marked as progress

In reply to nickyrannoch:
amazing scoreline for the number of tackles the two sides made!

In reply to Horse:

How are France still ranked 5th? Or is it just a case of the new rankings don't come in until after the whole weekends events?

In reply to Horse:
Are you just a complete Arse, or are you on the troll?
Our result against Italy today, the same Italy who beat the French, showed enterprise, showed guile, grit and determination, and plenty of skill too. We could easily have matched and bettered your mob last week if we hadn't believed the press hype beforehand that we had a chance(the single biggest Scottish failing is believing we're favourites), and the ONLY reason Italy looked so ordinary today is because we made them that way. Our gameplan worked to negate any Italian flair or gameplan they thought they could use against us.
Realistically, this may be the most open 6N ever, as i reckon Ireland will thump England, but i also think France and possibly Wales will be back with a vengeance, and the Scots have at least one more victory in them. Maybe the winner will come from tries scored?

In reply to Frank4short:

How are France still ranked 5th? Or is it just a case of the new rankings don't come in until after the whole weekends events?

The rankings are recalculated every Monday.

In reply to MJ:

Right. So, the Slam's getting sorted early on.

Spoon?

In reply to crustypunkuk:
>and the ONLY reason Italy looked so ordinary today is because we made them that way.

Well, the fact their fly half had a game that would probably have got him dropped from an U14 team might have helped as well...

In reply to andy:

our fly half is hardly barry john reincarnate. have major reservations about jackson as well as laidlaw and hoggs defensive capabilities.

however, like scotland at twickenham, the italian half backs had a torrid time due to to total dominance at the breakdown from scotand. its not like they were much better when he went off.

In reply to crustypunkuk:

The only one being an arse is you. The wooden spoon, in the 6 Nations has been won by Italy 9 times, Scotland 3 and Wales once. Most sensible people would conclude it is "usually" won by a team that plays in blue. Why do you think differently?

As to beating England, I think that just proves you are an arse with 2 cheeks, which nicely balances the chips on each shoulder.

In reply to Horse:
As opposed to the standard English rugby fan's mile wide arrogance?
You sir are the epitome of why the rest of the 6 nations (possibly Italy excluded, as i don't think they care too much) love to see England being thumped.

In reply to crustypunkuk:

What is arrogant about a statement of fact regarding the wooden spoon?

In reply to crustypunkuk:

Simply not true. I've plenty of Irish friends and family who support England as their B team.

In reply to Horse: Put your dummy back in FFS. Jesus

In reply to Shani: It's chucking it down here and doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon. Going to be a rough match no matter what happens.

In reply to Frank4short:

Is also windy?

In reply to Horse:

There's a fair bit of hot air coming from Jeremy Guscott.

In reply to Douglas Griffin:

As usual, only ever outplayed by Inverdale.

In reply to Horse: that's it! All they've got to do is stop Ireland scoring for 78 minutes and it's in the bag...

In reply to andy:

Unusually intelligent play from Wigan's finest.

In reply to Horse: cheap shot from Healey. Nasty little fecker.

In reply to andy:

He should be saying "Hello Mr Citing officer"

In reply to balmybaldwin:
What the fook are France playing at?????

In reply to Indy:

I'm happy to settle for a 0-3 thrashing.

In reply to Clauso: zebo and sexton off now.

In reply to andy:

Unfortunately I think O'Gara is probably better in these conditions.

In reply to Horse: i'd agree - given how many mistakes Ireland are making you'd really like to be further ahead at half time...

In reply to Horse:

Healy is a nutter.

In reply to andy:

O'Moaner, scragged. Few better sites in world rugby.

In reply to Shani: this goes over that'll be a satisfactory first half. Long way from over though!

In reply to andy: still not bad...

In reply to andy:

Here's hoping that they replay some of the Italy - France game, from last weekend, at the break.

In reply to Clauso:

Expect Ireland to come out with Plan B and hit back hard early in the second half.

Having seen the second one again Healy might be saying "Hello Mr Citing Officer" twice.

In reply to andy: Think Ireland could do with a bulk order of sticky mitts. Rarely seen so many spills!

They seem at a loss when they get past half a dozen phases!

Healey will miss the rest of this championship after today ;0)

In reply to Clauso:

Everything looks worse in slow motion, apparently. Stamps, punches and Guscott.

In reply to Horse: Plan B presumably "don't feckin drop it"!

In reply to Removed User: twemty more minutes and on comes Manu...

In reply to Removed User:

Ireland definitely handed England the first half, rather than England earn it.

In reply to Shani: this already looks ominous...

In reply to andy:

Hmmmmm... The Munster machine is starting to tick.

In reply to andy: Youngs snr going to lose his starting place!

In reply to Clauso:

Old style kick and rush is Plan B, it was always going to work.

In reply to Horse: oh dear - yellow. That could be the game.

In reply to Horse:

Buggerment.

In reply to Clauso: this'd be helpful Owen...

In reply to andy:

The boy's giving em a good kicking.

In reply to andy: and again...

In reply to andy:

Bit of breathing space, lets hope the forwards stay awake

In reply to Horse: one more score might do it...

In reply to Horse:

Does anybody remember tries?

In reply to Clauso: good lad, Ronan!

In reply to Clauso:


One flashed before Manu's eyes but he thought better of it.

In reply to andy: and well played Ashton!

In reply to andy:

More good stuff from Ashton on O'Moaner

In reply to Horse: Is this "goodnight" Ireland? The boys in green have done a lot to lose this.

In reply to Removed User:

Drop goal or a pen from here and it is...

In reply to andy: bollox...

In reply to andy:

Can't see myself watching too many replays of this game...

In reply to Clauso:

First win in a Dublin decade. We'll tek it.

In reply to Clauso: phew. ireland architects of their own downfall to a large extent, but England won it whilst Haskell was off.

In reply to Cú Chullain:


You were saying?

In reply to andy:

I'm not sure that is entirely fair. An inexperienced England side played smarter rugby on the day in conditions that favoured a hugely experienced Ireland team.

In reply to Horse:

Oh, I agree - "make less mistakes" was the mantra - but Ireland could argue some of their experienced guys made some uncharacteristic balls ups.

In reply to Horse:

Farrell being interviewed. Nice to hear a proper accent.

In reply to Horse: Your lot rarely looked like conceding a try. Played the better game, defence solid, took their opportunities.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
"Magnificently rubbish" Nicely put, Keith Woods. Horrible weather. Grinding away, glad England didn't get silly & concede penalties. Hope all the injured fix soon.
Quite a bizarre result considering territory figures...no-one seemed to get awfully close to the tryline (Tualangi's chance would've been pretty great, though ).

In reply to andy:

They can argue whatever they like, scoreboard says 6-12 end off.

In reply to Horse:

You think the person who compared the two squads man-for-man and had Ireland as being better 14 out of 15 is unbiased enough to do any retracting? Come on!

In reply to Horse: Not a classic, but the weather conspired against things. Very intense at times. Too many errors on Ireland's behalf, but solid defending all round.

Unforgiveable to concede 6 points whilst a man up.

In reply to Shani:

I thought it was only 3 but the other 3 came just after?

All the same, you would hope to get a net gain.

2 tough, tough teams, but the Championship is far from over...

Unless you're French!

In reply to andy:

yes, some pretty incisive tackles etc.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
George North: try of the tournament so far? maybe it was the time it was scored, maybe the doubt over his feet, or just the angle? Lovely to see..though Scotland winning the 100 metres race twice was fantastic!

In reply to thin bob:

No, I'd go with one of the Italian tries from last week.

In reply to thin bob:

Hogg's try was very good.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
Gotta love The Red Button..England Ireland lowest scoring match in 6N, Scotland second in table

In reply to thin bob:

Interesting that a draw today and no team would have had 2 from 2 after just 2 weeks.

In reply to Horse:

Nice tries, enhanced by novelty value But yes, good all the same.

In reply to thin bob:

And France last!!!!!!!

In reply to Shani: Worth a bet on them to beat the Hype

In reply to Shani:

And should stay last after next match - Twickenham

In reply to Alan Taylor:

With your money? Yes.

In reply to Shani:

A French one and an owly one:

http://tinyurl.com/crh6fqk

In reply to Rampikino:
I thought he might have taken my bet on.....

In reply to coinneach:

Only just; but understood mostly who the better teams on the day would be.

And I got some cash on Wales at 4/1. Not a bad weekend.

And now to the REAL table that matters. ESPN is currently updating the Fantasy Six Nations scorings.....

1 richard ffitch The Maulers 8 3 149
2 Dafydd Llywelyn calon_lan 7 5 149
3 Reginald Trubshaw All Black Winning Streak 4 6 149
4 Jon Coutts Currywurst 4 4 140
5 Robert Richardson Terra Team 6 2 135
6 Roly Chuter Chuter's Chunters 7 1 134
7 Ken Gunning Ireland's Call 5 4 132
8 graham gedge The Hype 4 3 132
9 Mike Turner Turner's Tigers 5 4 131
10 Chris Georg Boobies 4 4 130
11 Mike Hale Red Hype 5 4 128
12 Jason Kirk Nae Chance! 7 4 127
13 Graham McKay The SOBs 4 3 126
14 Chris Williams Fur Queue 4 3 123
15 Richard Smith rlrs0001 3 4 122
16 Stephanie Coyle Hairy Hookers 4 5 121
17 Jeremy Hart The Hartebeasts 4 2 120
18 Matthew Berry Highland Fling 4 1 116
19 Mike Lates As Welsh as my arse 4 2 115
20 Mr Scoi Scoi 2 2 114
21 matt barker The Black Sheep 5 2 109
22 kenny macmillan Dirt Trackers 2 1 98
23 D B DBs Last XV 4 1 97
24 Zack Tennison Multiple Scoregasms 4 1 96
25 Jimbo W Broughty Ferrets 1 2 93
26 John Walker Johnny W's 15 2 1 88
27 Tom O'Rourke Slopers Banned Proles 1 3 88
28 Frostee Maria Frostee's 4 2 67
29 Daniel Capps X01 0 0 54

In reply to Shani:

Sloper's languishing in his usual sort of spot, I notice.

In reply to Clauso:

I suspect he was hoping to break in to the top 25 after this afternoon...

In reply to Clauso:

Talking of Sloper, surprisingly he has not sent me a text congratulating England on their victory today.

In reply to Shani:

Ooh, still up there Daf!

In reply to Horse:

I expect that he'll probably get around to it soon. Probably busy baking humble pie.

In reply to Clauso:

Or chips

In reply to Shani:

Very tight this year (except for Sloper).

Congratulations England. It wasn't the best game, and Ireland lost any chance they might have had when ROG came on, but there can't be any excuses. England deserved the win and it looks like we're their bogey team no more.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Healey cited

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21417568


Doesn't wear a black shirt so will probably get more than a week ban.

In reply to Horse:

No Healy, no Zebo and possibly no Sexton either at Murrayfield.


Could be interesting.

In reply to Horse:

Doesn't wear a black shirt so will probably get more than a week ban.

...and being part of a tournament, he won't have the luxury of appearing in front of a panel of his own countries rugby board.

In reply to coinneach:

That thought hadn't escaped me!!

S

In reply to coinneach:

And the added bonus of O'Moaner kicking to the Scottish back three, they seem rather adept at accepting any gifts on offer quickly, very quickly.

In reply to MJ:

Perhaps he fancies a skiing holiday for a couple of weeks.

In reply to Horse:Who is O'Moaner?

In reply to Horse:

Just for a second I took this as a compliment - what was I thinking??

In reply to Slugain Howff:

He's lost it..................................time he was chopped up and put in a burger

In reply to Slugain Howff:

History shows that me praising Scotland usually has a rather disastrous effect on the teams performance, so I like to it to the minimum :-o

O'Moaner = RonO'Gara

In reply to Horse: Cheers

In reply to coinneach:

I was thinking of changing my name Findus.

In reply to coinneach:

Never nice to see injuries, no matter who they play for. (balls and a ban for Healy, though. nasty incident).

Dunno what ROG was up to on Sunday..didn't quite seem all there. i was concerned when he came on, but I needn't have worried

In reply to thin bob:

Indeed, I thought it might be game over. Luckily he was in "lets feck the Lions tour" rather than Munster mood.

Champagne moment of the day was Courtney Lawes exocet tackle on Kearney, mind you I bet he (CL) had a sore head this morning.

In reply to thin bob:

Didn't say it was nice

Just said it was interesting

In reply to Horse:

That tackle by Lawes was pivotal. He literally put his neck on the line. I did suspect he was running the click down rather than injured as we were down to 14 at that point.

It doesn't seem that long ago since it was England fumbling the ball in Dublin and getting pinged left, right and center - and succumbing to dumb acts of aggression. Lancaster and Faz have done a good job thus far. But still a way to go.

In reply to Shani:

Watch it again Lawes wasn't faking, he got knee to head and was out for the count. The close second was Kearney near his own line stretching to get is hand in touch before the ball was ripped off him.

Rimmer and Faz see each win as another building block and keep everything very level headed. They know 3 wins on the bounce is nothing compared to the 19 or 20 New Zealand strung together and they mean nowt if at the end of the season there is nothing to put in the trophy cupboard (Triple Crowns don't really count).

In reply to Horse:

Yeah, he went down like a sack of tatties.............

In reply to coinneach:

My champagne moment was Richie Gray chucking the Italian half back into the stand!

In reply to coinneach:

And in other shock news, Scotland make the IRB Top 10. No often we get to say that

http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html

In reply to coinneach:

He defo took a big hit, and I'd say it stunned him, but he didn't seem to go 'flat'/floppy (something you see in UFC), which just got me thinking if he was milking it a bit.

One of the highlights for me was seeing Tuilagi used some guy as hand luggage. Not seen that since I think it was Henson picked up Strettle.

In reply to coinneach:

Sorry, my comment sounded like a criticism..it wasn't, honest! just a follow-on

In reply to balmybaldwin:

France are starting to make changes for the England game: -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21416274

Wonder if they'll keep Michalak in the team: -

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/10/uk-rugby-nations-france-idUKBRE919...

In reply to MJ:

Wales don't recall Warburton:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/9865130/Six...

In reply to Horse:

Wales don't recall Warburton

Still plenty of time for Tipuric to get "injured"...

In reply to MJ:

The dirty little sh*te Healy gets some time off:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/ireland/9868496/S...

Pity he didn't get another 3 for the punch a few minutes later.

In reply to Horse: Aye cheating wee Irish git! He was lucky he didn't do some serious damage to Cole.

In reply to Horse:Makes you wonder what exactly a "serious"offence is if stamping with that much effort is only "medium"!!! Wonder if they will only cite for one offence as the punch when joining the ruck 10mins later
was potentially just as bad!

In reply to Removed User:

I think Cole was causing the Irish pack lots of legitimate problems and The thug Healy thought he would sort him out while he was laying on the deck. Hopefully, it should also mean he won't be having a summer holiday in the Southern Hemisphere.

In reply to Horse: Did you see this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21435761

In reply to Alan Taylor: All three pundits agreed he was going to get a ban and a ban he got! What a brain dead fecking muppet!

In reply to Alan Taylor:

I don't really know WTF Wood is on about. All that crap about 'if Healy was going backwards'.

Healy comes in with his head up, totally aware of an English leg in front of him (and probably knowing WHOSE foot it was), raises his thigh ABOVE parallel to the ground (in a attempting-to-stamp style), and then stamps STRAIGHT down on to the ankle.

If such violence was seen on a football pitch there'd be a national outcry. Whatever the physical contact that is part and parcel of rugby, that was disgraceful.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

thats a leg breaker right there. i would go as far as saying i would have no problem with a sine die ban from internationals for that. i like a bit of good old fashioned rucking and had no complaints when i was on the end of it but hes lucky hes on a rugby field or he would be in the dock for that.

In reply to nickyrannoch:
Hmmm, it was bad, but not that bad. Its rugby, can we all man up a bit and stop frothing?

In reply to Dr.S at work:

Man up?? Have you played the game?

Big hits, rucking some cheeky bugger on the ground or even a few blows traded by willing participants is all part of the game.

Nothing manly about an unprovoked stamp on a defenceless player on the ground.

In reply to nickyrannoch:
24 years, mostly in the front row.

I'm not saying its not bad, dangerous and stupid - it is, but I'm not sure its that unusual even nowadays, and certainly not at club level - its been punished reasonably, no body actually got badly hurt - lets move on.

The rucking thing is interesting - you can certainly cause significant injury, and you can be pretty damn deliberate about doing it but its somehow ok? I've seen players in a similar position to Cole coming out of the bottom opf rucks and malls in a pretty sorry state after legitimate rucking.

And a few blows traded by willing participants? yeah, part of the game - but then so are blows traded out to unwilling participants, stamps to the head, gouging, collapsing mauls, arm free tackles, taking folk out off the ball, in the air, and most dangerous of all, touch rugby.

In reply to Dr.S at work:

I see what you are getting at, and agreed, similar injuries to the one attempted here are fairly common, and a part of rugby. The difference with this is it is a clear attempt to deliberately injure a player with the offending player well aware of what they were doing - this is quite different from agressively encouraging someone on the wrong side to move out of the way with a friendly tap of the boot or accidentally stamping as the offending player has his head buried in the Ruck and can't see.

To me, this is an attempt to cheat by removing an opposition player from the field either through injury or by drawing a reaction (which he failed at)

In reply to Dr.S at work:


Women's Rugby clearly isn't as aggressive as the men's game.

In reply to Horse:

Would you believe it, he might legitimately turn out for Leinster this weekend:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/ireland/9870162/S...

What a mess.

In reply to Horse:

I actually thought that the Irish forwards on average had parity with England, even in the scrum, both sides were shoved off their own ball and conceeded penalties. Compared to the mess at Twickenham last year I was pleased.

Englands kick and chase game was much more effective then Irelands and ROG coming on made sure that the Irish back line did not move at all despite the effectiveness of Englands rush defence.

In reply to nickyrannoch:

I agree, it still goes on though, even at the crap level that I play at, its mostly what I call the 'old guard' who are guilty, the blokes who are not far from hanging up their boots. The only time I got sent off was when some f*cker tried to go for my eyes at the base of a ruck and I went postal on him, could not give a toss about the card, that bloke was going to have the manners put on him.

On another note, I think the game should allow proper rucking again.

In reply to Dr.S at work:

The rucking thing is interesting - you can certainly cause significant injury, and you can be pretty damn deliberate about doing it but its somehow ok? I've seen players in a similar position to Cole coming out of the bottom opf rucks and malls in a pretty sorry state after legitimate rucking.

Brian Moores view on this: -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/6927871/Brian-Moore-when-and-wh...

As he seems to hint at, if 'old fashioned' rucking was still used, would players still be tempted to stay on the wrong side of a ruck and in not doing so speed up the clear out and hence the game in general?

In reply to Horse: apparently this has now been stopped as the disciplinary committee must have gotten on the phone as Declan Kidney has now come out and said he can't play this weekend.

In reply to Cú Chullain:
Over the whole game I would broadly agree. Healy's brain went AWOL quite early on and Cole had caused him difficulties so you can't help but think he might have been trying to "even" things up.

And lets be clear, he was banned for stamping not rucking.

In reply to Horse:

And lets be clear, he was banned for stamping not rucking.

Totally agree and he would have still have been pinged under the old rucking laws. However, does the modern game 'encourage' players to stay on the wrong side of the ruck and slow down that part of the game?
I know the referee often shouts out "Colour No X, get away", but by then the defence is reorganised.

In reply to Horse:

Actually, my last comment was not in reference to O'Stampy's efforts, just the game in general. Rucking used to in part prevent some of the more cynical attempts to lie over ball to prevent quick release. Even the refs back in the old days would tell a player who moaned about getting raked that he should not have been there in the first place.

In reply to Shani:
Ha! probably not, although my wife (used to play in the north wales front row) doe snot report it to be totaly clean....

In reply to balmybaldwin:

certainly an attempt to cheat - but again, thats very much part of the game (the hand of Back anyone?).

Intention to injure is really interesting again - pretty much every time I put in a tackle, or hit a scrum/ruck I'm trying to hurt my opposite number. Is that ok?

In reply to MJ:
and as Moore says, Healey's stamp would have been illegal under the old laws - what was intersting was the likes of Woods seeming to say that if Healey had been going forward and 'rucking' backward then it would have been 'ok'. However I'm pretty sure that a player of Healeys character could place his feet backwards in a pretty deliberate fashion.

Perhaps its pretty hard for some of the old Pro's to be harsh on stuff that would have been fairly standard practice in the past?

In reply to Dr.S at work:

In his playing days Moore used to work out in the gym I used. His back on a Monday generally looked like he'd either been run over by a tractor or indulging in some seriously weird sex.

In reply to Postmanpat:

In his playing days Moore used to work out in the gym I used. His back on a Monday generally looked like he'd either been run over by a tractor or indulging in some seriously weird sex.

...or being Brian Moore, a combination of the two.

In reply to MJ:

Getting back to my earlier, interesting comment.................Healy's banning, of course, is negated by Scotland's first choice tight head not playing on the Sunday anyway for religious reasons.

Even though he had the best game I can remember playing for us last week I wouldn't have him in the squad.

In reply to coinneach:

Because of his religious beliefs?

In reply to coinneach:

I would have thought you might like to string a few wins together before going all atheist, just in case.

In reply to coinneach: I think Cross is a better player now, Murray has had his day. Long may Scotland play on Sundays :0)

In reply to Kipper:

Not because of his religious beliefs but because he won't play on Sundays.

Just been talking to my Dad on the phone.

He is a retired Church Of Scotland Minister..............................been working Sundays for years.

In reply to Horse:

May be of interest to you, there is a cracking Irish rugby blog that follow, this weeks update has some interesting things to say about the last game.

http://whiffofcordite.com/

......................................................

Ten Questions

Despite what our learned friends in the print media might say, Ireland have a selection issue at out-half. Jonathan Sexton is unquestioned (except by our unlearned friends in the print media) number one, but is a major doubt for the Scotland game. Working on the assumption that he will be injured, as seems most likely, who should play in his absence is unclear. Ronan O’Gara has been backup since RWC11, but his performance graph has been going south for province and country since then, culminating in his worst performance in a green shirt last Sunday.

Management have, up to now, eschewed the opportunity to give gametime to any of the promising young out-halves currently playing for the provinces, bar Paddy Jackson getting the chance to mow down Fiji for the “Ireland XV”. This is not just us writing with the benefit of hindsight, and those with memories that stretch as far as nine months ago will recall the clamour for Ian Madigan to travel to New Zealand after a season in which he was arguably the standout 10 in the Pro12. Now, they have a serious problem, for the only man they have trusted for ten minute cameos for the last 15 months is no longer a Test-level outhalf, and the incumbent is sick. And that problem is entirely and completely of their own making. Games against Scotland and Italy in last year’s Six Nations, or in a summer tour where ranking points were not an issue and a win was never likely anyway, or against Argentina in November, were tailor-made for limited gametime for the youngsters to ease them into Test level.

Now, the choice is to dump them in at the deep end against Scotland, or persist with a legendary, but no longer effective player – not a choice we would like to have.

It’s been a consistent theme in the last three years that the management corps have declined opportunities to blood new players until absolutely forced to (by injury, typically) e.g. Mike Ross or Sean O’Brien – two players who have made a huge impression at this level. And it’s not like this policy has paid off in silver; Ireland haven’t challenged for the Six Nations since 2009, and were rather easily swatted aside by Wales in the World Cup quarter-finals. Narrow selection policy and short-term goal setting have been the rocks on which the current regime looks to be perishing.

So now we’re in a right old pickle for the game in Murrayfield, with not only a starting place, but a reserve to be chosen from four candidates. Before we go through the options, we are happy to declare upfront that the sole objective is to win the game, and to select the fly-half to give ourselves the best chance of doing that – not with the best chance of winning the 2015 World Cup, or beating New Zealand in 2036. Ireland need a win here, pure and simple:

The Safe Option (Or is it?): Ronan O’Gara. One hundred and twenty-seven caps. Let’s repeat: one hundred and twenty-seven – that’s incredible. O’Gara is the only player to have played in all 14 Six Nations tournaments, and, until recently, retained the apple cheeks and innocent look that so endeared him to Mario Ledesma and Rodrigo Roncero. But is he really so safe? All the caps in the world count for little if the player’s level has fallen over the cliff-edge. Peter Stringer has many more caps than Conor Murray, but it doesn’t make him a safer selection for next week’s match. The test rugby arena is no longer a place for slight 35-year olds fly-halves.

ROG’s last start for Ireland was in the World Cup quarter-final – he didn’t have a good day then, and he has slowed down since. His boot is now Arwel Thomas-esque, as is his tackling. He has experience and self-belief, but unfortunately the old magic has gone. You could apply Enoch Powell’s famous political dictum to him and, for that, we are profoundly disappointed. It’s also worth asking how ROG could hurt the opposition. Scotland’s only dangermen are in their back three – loose kicking to them is likely to put Ireland on the back foot, and it’s questionable as to whether Ireland should be kicking much at all in this game.

On the plus side, his place kicking remains reliable. If pressed into action, at least he is unlikely to play as poorly as against England, and Scotland’s defensive system is probably less likely to put him under the sort of pressure England’s did. But to turn that question on its head, is he the man to best exploit the weaknesses in that defensive system?

The Nordie Option: Paddy Jackson is three months younger than Owen Farrell, and fully two years younger than O’Gara was when he played his first HEC final, but has seven Heineken Cup starts (including a final) to his name, and has been the Chosen One of Ulster rugby for a long time and looked the part in the uncapped match against Fiji. Alas, he has rather wilted in the last two months, and has yet to prove himself a reliable place-kicker, but has mostly impressed this year.

Part II

He has often been babysat through matches by Ruan Pienaar and Pwal, but has begun to take on more responsibility, until his current trough of form. Murray has a similar style to Pienaar, and a combination with Jackson might be a good one. Jackson was injured last Saturday and is not expected to play this weekend either, which makes it very difficult to see Kidney turning to him. That said, he has the advantage of being in camp already, which may stand to him.

The Giteau Option: Ian Madigan is the most exciting of the bunch – he has an eye for the tryline, and at his best, moves a backline around with a slickness that has Leinster fans purring. He has yet to come near displacing Johnny Sexton (although we expect he’ll start next season in the 10 shirt), but his distribution and breaking game is ideal for taking on a Scotland side who fall off tackles for fun. England and even a lacklustre Italy punched numerous holes through their pourous midfield. A fast paced running game is the obvious way to beat this Scotland side, rather than kicking to their solid lineout and giving them the opportunity to bring their back three into play.

Madigan has endured an up-and-down season, having been press-ganged into an unfamiliar role at full-back, but has got back to his best form since returning to fly-half. His place kicking stats are also strong this year, at over 80%, and he nailed six from six at the weekend in a winning performance in Cardiff.

Counting against him is a loose kicking game and erratic decision making, while his line-kicking from penalties is inconsistent and a lack of big game experience. He has just one Heineken Cup start at fly-half, against an already-out Montpellier, so test rugby would be a major step up in intesnsity from what he is used to. He has spent less time in camp than Jackson, having been overlooked in November and returned to Leinster promptly this Spring. And we don’t get the feeling Deccie is that big a fan. He has overlooked Madigan for both this year and last year’s Wolfhounds games (for Jackson and Keatley respectively).

You might hear “You can’t throw Madigan into Murrayfield”, but it’s not that strong an argument – the Embra stadium is a library, and Madigan is familiar with it from the Pro12. With serious reservations – there are no perfect solutions to this mess, folks – Madigan would be our choice to start, based on hope that his talent will overcome a lack of experience.

The Help: Ian Keatley has done well when deputising for O’Gara so far this season in Munster, but Rob Penney sees both players every day, and has yet to prefer Keatley for a big game. Piloted Munster to their inevitable five-try win against Racing, but has a tendency to suffer from the yips with his place-kicking. His skillset looks reasonably well equipped to take on Scotland, with a decent breaking game, and strong defensive credentials, but does he have enough class for test rugby? Firm outsider, but he is the only one of the youngsters with Test starts on his CV (albeit against the USA and Canada).

The Ray Lewis Option: Johnny Sexton may have damaged his hamstring on Sunday, but maybe he should consult Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis – the veteran tore his triceps in October (normal recovery time: 6 months) but was back in 10 weeks to lead his team to the Superbowl. Bill Simmons of Grantland (think Conor George, except American, likeable, respected, intelligent, knowledgeable, well-spoken, a good writer and with good teeth) called him a cheat for it – but if Lewis could sort Sexton out with some deer antler spray, he might be back for Murrayfield. And it’s not like the IRB are serious about PEDs, so he’d probably get away with it too.

So which way is it going to go? We expect Deccie to stick with ROG, and while Jackson would probably be Decie’s preferred reserve, his injury just might cost him that chance, with the in-form Madigan best placed to be the beneficiary. Undoubtedly, this weekend’s round of Pro12 games represent something of a beauty parade, and with Leinster at home to Treviso, Madigan has a good opportunity to press his case. Can he ensure he doesn’t try to do too much on his own?

Each of the four contenders comes with a hazard warning, but given the weakness of the Scottish midfield, we have a preference for Madigan to start with the insurance policy of ROG on the bench. We know Kidney to be a conservative, but faced with deteriorating performances from the likes of Stringer, O’Leary and Fitzgerald in the past, he has shown an ability to make surprising, seemingly-out-of-nowhere, ruthless decisions. Could this be one such occasion? Probably not. Deccie will most likely stick his chips on ROG to have just enough wiles to sneak a win against pretty ordinary opposition, so long as he knows he has Sexton to return for the more arduous French game.

Whatever fly-half Kidney chooses, we’d like to see a joined-up selection that shows an intent to hurt Scotland, not merely to scrape by. With that in mind, his choice of loosehead – between Tom Court and David Kilcoyne – is also important. Scotland’s scrum is no better than average, and Court is the more destructive scrummager of the two. If Ireland do pick ROG – as we expect them to – they should look to attack the Scottish scrum and milk it for three pointers, giving ROG the platform to work the scoreboard. If, on l’autre hand, Kidney were to take a risk on Madigan, David Kilcoyne’s energy and pace in the loose would dovetail best, putting an emphasis on playing the game at a high tempo. Anyone care to wager against ROG and Kilcoyne starting?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

A bit off topic but I wonder if the Spanghero company involved in the horse meat scandal has any connection with the Spanghero brothers; Walter & Claude, who rather ironically used to beef up the french pack in the 1960s & 70s? Two very tough guys!

(This brings this thread into line with current policy that there must be a horse meat reference in all threads)

In reply to Cú Chullain:

They haven't exactly embraced the succinctness and humour normally associated with blogs. Do we really need several pages to know that O'Gara is well beyond his sell by date and the Irish management are not much cop at selection?

Try "Mud and Blood" or "Total Flanker" for something a bit more bite sized.

In reply to Horse:

You are no fun at all.

In reply to All:

Given the thread title - especially the bit in parentheses - I'm somewhat surprised that France haven't been mentioned more.

In reply to Clauso:

Are they playing this year?

In reply to Hat Dude: They are indeed the owners of that company!

In reply to Horse: Well they failed to turn up for their first two games.

In reply to Jason Kirk:

I've just found a Reuters article which says it was founded by Walter's brothers

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/uk-horsemeat-spanghero-idUKBRE91E0...


When I first saw the name & where the firm was located, I thought there may be a link

In reply to MJ:

Sam on the way back and makes it to the bench:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/9880530/Six...

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Here you go, brief, to the point and doesn't require a PhD in Irish rugby to get the message about ROFG:

http://tinyurl.com/bbpdarq

In reply to Horse:

This is great..............................no one's slagged off our lot for ages!

In reply to coinneach:

Things can change quickly, just like your lots winning "streak" or is that "streaky" win? If things go your way this weekend then it could be single figures in the IRB rankings, heady stuff indeed.

In reply to Horse:

Last weekend was the first in a while that Sloper didn't move down the Fantasy 6N league. Normal trajectory should be resumed come Saturday.


Looks like the French are going to turn up with fire in their bellies. Apparently none of their squad played in the Top 14 last weekend!

In reply to Shani:

or the 2 weeks previous.

i called it last week and to further enhance my status as the new brahan seer im going for scotland to win by a score (a single score, not 20).

In reply to nickyrannoch:

I could see Scotland doing but I'm not sure they have the quality that Ireland does. My predictions:

England to beat France
Ireland to beat Scotland
Wales to beat Italy

Looks like Tuilagi will start. Better still, Michalak is invoking the Bulldog Spirit - high praise indeed from the French.

http://t.co/bogP6JRF

In reply to Shani:

If it were just about any team other than France one would be saying an England win without even thinking. All the ingredients are there for French revival, probably a spectacular one (not some grubby, sneak a try affair like the Welsh the other week). If they have the right stuff for breakfast they could get off the bus, run riot, rack up a load of tries, shrug their shoulders and head back over the channel wondering what the fuss was about. You'd be a brave man to bet against it.

In reply to Horse:

Alternatively, and hopefully, they'll just get stuffed.