So dakka, the Six Nations starts this weekend.... Who you got to win it? Will there be any huge upsets or surprises?

Really hoping for Scotland to win the Calcutta Cup this Saturday, but it's at Twickenham,
Hopefully we can finish above Italy and whichever of the other four stumbles a bit this year.
Should be close this year, my moneys on Ireland to win it , but not a grand slam

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:
Really hoping for Scotland to win the Calcutta Cup this Saturday, but it's at Twickenham,
Hopefully we can finish above Italy and whichever of the other four stumbles a bit this year.
Should be close this year, my moneys on Ireland to win it , but not a grand slam

I read that the last time Scotland won at Twickenham, Aston Villa were european champions! That is a mark of shame!

Glad somebody started this thread. My money is on France. With Saint-Andre, they'll have that consistency they seem to have lost the last few years.

Wow. I may be uncultured, but I have never heard of this before. I was wondering why the Six Nations were running a tournament, personally.

 pretre wrote:
Wow. I may be uncultured, but I have never heard of this before. I was wondering why the Six Nations were running a tournament, personally.

What has happened to the American education system?

The six nations is an annual Rugby Union tournament consisting of France, England, Italy, Ireland (total unity in rugby) Wales and Scotland.

Scotland are the dominant nation, having won the last 10 tournaments by record margins

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

What has happened to the American education system?

The six nations is an annual Rugby Union tournament consisting of France, England, Italy, Ireland (total unity in rugby) Wales and Scotland.

Scotland are the dominant nation, having won the last 10 tournaments by record margins

Rugby... That's like football, but less interesting, right? /ducks

Just kidding.

I was referring to this, however, which is what I think of when I think of Six Nations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Confederacy

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

Scotland are the dominant nation, having won the last 10 tournaments by record margins

The painful joy

 pretre wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

What has happened to the American education system?

The six nations is an annual Rugby Union tournament consisting of France, England, Italy, Ireland (total unity in rugby) Wales and Scotland.

Scotland are the dominant nation, having won the last 10 tournaments by record margins

Rugby... That's like football, but less interesting, right? /ducks

Just kidding.

I was referring to this, however, which is what I think of when I think of Six Nations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Confederacy

Interesting article. Most of them prefered the British to the Americans. I like them already!

Back OT - some good opening fixtures. Wales -Ireland is always tense, and England Scotland will either be a cracker or a damp squib. There is never an in-between.

I have scotland-england set on DVR, I have my own first match in birmingham (AL, USA) the same day...

I saw that apparently Wales is the defending champs atm, and are loading with experienced players, but i think the victor in Twickenham this weekend may be my overall choice for the tourney... I mean, the English side is only replacing two guys from the starting roster from the one that beat NZ, and those are due to injury, so we'll see if they really want to win I suppose.

Obviously I'd be insane too suggest anything other than an England Grand Slam

Seriously though? I think that England will start by monstering the Scots and then Peter out to a dismal 3rd. Italy could prove to be a surprise package. They are improving year after year, the French? Well, they will either destroy all in Thier path or fail dramatically. The Irish are a good solid side but not very interesting to watch, and the welsh... Oh the Welsh. I think it'll be Thier year again. Don't know why, but I've put my £10 down on them to win the tournament..

 sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Obviously I'd be insane too suggest anything other than an England Grand Slam

Seriously though? I think that England will start by monstering the Scots and then Peter out to a dismal 3rd. Italy could prove to be a surprise package. They are improving year after year, the French? Well, they will either destroy all in Thier path or fail dramatically. The Irish are a good solid side but not very interesting to watch, and the welsh... Oh the Welsh. I think it'll be Thier year again. Don't know why, but I've put my £10 down on them to win the tournament..

The Irish play some fo the best rugby, along with France, when they hit their A game they are unstoppable,

Italy are hit and miss as well but their game is still of a lower level,
And I don't trust the Welsh after that Cardiff game dirty it was

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:

 sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Obviously I'd be insane too suggest anything other than an England Grand Slam

Seriously though? I think that England will start by monstering the Scots and then Peter out to a dismal 3rd. Italy could prove to be a surprise package. They are improving year after year, the French? Well, they will either destroy all in Thier path or fail dramatically. The Irish are a good solid side but not very interesting to watch, and the welsh... Oh the Welsh. I think it'll be Thier year again. Don't know why, but I've put my £10 down on them to win the tournament..

The Irish play some fo the best rugby, along with France, when they hit their A game they are unstoppable,

Italy are hit and miss as well but their game is still of a lower level,
And I don't trust the Welsh after that Cardiff game dirty it was

Well, I suppose the Welsh, in some instances have a pretty decent advantage with their wingers, but that English pack is fething scary! Sadly, I havent watched much French rugby (all the youtube videos I have found thus far, have been commentated in french, or in whichever form of spanish is spoken in Argentina), so I cant comment on how good or not they are. A co-worker of mine really digs one of the French locks, since he is insanely huge (with some skill to back up the size)

Despite England's win over the All Blacks, it looks like France for the grand slam with England, Wales and Ireland fighting it out in the middle. Scotland and Italy will be having their usual contest for the wooden spoon. Much as I'd love England to win it, I think that the All Blacks win may have been a bit of a fluke (and I say this as an England fan). Wales is the team that may go either way, they were terrible in the autumn internationals, but do have a quality team. Can't wait for it to start tomorrow.

grrr

I imagine Scotland will get a beasting at Twickenham and then go back to their usual throwing away matches etc etc.

Anything is possible really, we could see a great Tournament for England, or they could crash and burn, France, Same thing, the rest i couldn't really say where they'll end up but you can never really tell.

According to my rugby app, ireland has beaten wales today...since i am recording england and scotland, i'll not be checking again today (as when i get to watch it tomorrow, i dont want to know the outcome)

yeah the Irish won out 30-22, but they lead 30-3 after about 45 mins, the two sinbins and the Welsh trying to engage beast mode really made for a good finish.

But they won in they end so I'm a step closer to winning a bet

France will win with Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Italy that order.

Wales are pretty strong aren't they? I'd think Ireland and Wales should be wapped.

Italy have beaten France today and were very impressive in doing so. Things are already getting interesting. Ireland-England next week could be a title decider.

Just got done watching the England Scotland match.. for me, that was an excellent match. I cant wait to see the match that BBC America has next weekend


From all the recaps I've seen, Ireland came out terribly in the second half, so I think that if they play like that against England next weekend, it'll end poorly unlike against Wales.

I can Safely Say its Scotland for the wooden spoon, Italy as a team have been consistently improving mainly in terms of Consistency and skill. I was egging them on to Win against France and what impressed me was not that they simply got in the lead, but the fact they were able to, after falling behind, get back in front and stay there.

 kamakazepanda wrote:
I can Safely Say its Scotland for the wooden spoon, Italy as a team have been consistently improving mainly in terms of Consistency and skill. I was egging them on to Win against France and what impressed me was not that they simply got in the lead, but the fact they were able to, after falling behind, get back in front and stay there.

I can still see Scotland winning a very close, and god awful game, settled on penalties 9-6 or something like that. Then again, it'll probably be a ten try thriller!

England-Ireland should be good.

Not going to mention my country's performance against Ireland

England looked like a good team, very pacy and nice seeing the old up the jumper England has gone bye bye with Lancaster at the helm.

France vs Italy was the best game of the lot though, and not just cause i had money on Italy winning.

England looked good :-) France were not as good as they could have been, but Italy played well to beat them. Not quite sure what happened to Ireland in the second half, but maybe it was just Wales waking up and playing like they meant it. The less said about Scotland the better, but they may have dibs on last place already, We'll probably know after next weekend. Ireland vs. England next weekend should be the title decider.

grrr

 grrrfranky wrote:
England looked good :-) France were not as good as they could have been, but Italy played well to beat them. Not quite sure what happened to Ireland in the second half, but maybe it was just Wales waking up and playing like they meant it. The less said about Scotland the better, but they may have dibs on last place already, We'll probably know after next weekend. Ireland vs. England next weekend should be the title decider.

grrr

I actually thought the scots looked OK, at least during the first half.... the second half just got horribly ugly for them, thats for sure. I thought england came out with about the same fire as they did against NZ in december, so that to me, will make them tough to beat. Definitely wish i got the game against ireland this weekend, but i think i only get france/wales :(

Fair point about scotland, they weren't terrible. Unfortunately, even Italy are looking pretty good, so I'm not sure they'll win a game. Oh well, I'll be glued to my tv again come saturday.

grrr

 grrrfranky wrote:
Fair point about scotland, they weren't terrible. Unfortunately, even Italy are looking pretty good, so I'm not sure they'll win a game. Oh well, I'll be glued to my tv again come saturday.

grrr

Again, BBC America is showing a game on saturday...unfortunately, again I have to record it to watch later, due to playing a match (hopefully the other team will be able to show up as last week we didnt get the game in because my team couldnt make it through nashville)

I just wish that the game I get was the one on sunday, as I am much more interested in watching england/ireland than I am wales/france.

And another weekend of hopefully high quality rugby is upon us.

Obviously im going to be biased and say wales for the win over France, nothing more than the blind welsh optimism that will end by making it hurt when they play like headless chickens.

I think Italy will edge Scotland on the back of last weeks win, and that their starting to have the confidence to run the ball.

And Ireland to win at home given England will struggle to get much/any clean ball with an irish pack that are great at slowing down a ruck. It'll be interesting to see if the running rugby England i'm enjoying watching will will go back into their old ways when up against it in a hostile environment.

Well 27-3 so far couldn't be further from what i expected.

Scotland certainly putting on a great game.

Well that was unexpected. Maybe Scotland's tendency to get thrashed at every opportunity will held at bay for a while.

I think its Scotland's ability to win when they shouldn't, now in a situation where they "should" win, they will lose.

That was some of the best rugby I've seen Scotland play, now if only we can do it against teams other than Italy

 JoeRugby wrote:
And another weekend of hopefully high quality rugby is upon us.

Obviously im going to be biased and say wales for the win over France, nothing more than the blind welsh optimism that will end by making it hurt when they play like headless chickens.

I think Italy will edge Scotland on the back of last weeks win, and that their starting to have the confidence to run the ball.

And Ireland to win at home given England will struggle to get much/any clean ball with an irish pack that are great at slowing down a ruck. It'll be interesting to see if the running rugby England i'm enjoying watching will will go back into their old ways when up against it in a hostile environment.

I really hope your third prediction doesn't go the same way as the first two.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:

 JoeRugby wrote:
And another weekend of hopefully high quality rugby is upon us.

Obviously im going to be biased and say wales for the win over France, nothing more than the blind welsh optimism that will end by making it hurt when they play like headless chickens.

I think Italy will edge Scotland on the back of last weeks win, and that their starting to have the confidence to run the ball.

And Ireland to win at home given England will struggle to get much/any clean ball with an irish pack that are great at slowing down a ruck. It'll be interesting to see if the running rugby England i'm enjoying watching will will go back into their old ways when up against it in a hostile environment.

I really hope your third prediction doesn't go the same way as the first two.

Yea me too, looking forward to the game today still think Ireland for the win

Relieved after the wales win, wasn't the best performance and if you weren't welsh or french i can see how people could think it was boring, I'm happy though

You know Italy are going to have a tough day when Parisse starts having handling errors (think i counted 3, that's more than I've ever seen him make) and their fly half wasn't anywhere near the level he was playing at last week against France. For Scotland Hogg is defo put his hand up for lions Contention don't know if hes there yet as one of the top 2 full backs but hes close.

The France Wales game was one of the most depressing games of rugby I've ever seen, hopefully today's game lives up to the expectations

Would have posted earlier, but the France-Wales game was so dire, it drove me to drink!
If they're watching that in Australia or New Zealand, then I can't imagine they'll be losing too much sleep.

As somebody said, if Gatland picks 3/4 of that Welsh team for the Lions, then it will be funny to watch him justify that decision!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:
The France Wales game was one of the most depressing games of rugby I've ever seen, hopefully today's game lives up to the expectations

I'll be honest, I thought the Scotland Italy game would be the annual, 9-6 to Italy, grinding borefest, and that France Wales would provide the tries. What do I know!

Good news for England with Zebo going off injured. Come on boys!

Never thought that the only exciting game this weekend would be played by Scotland
But Ireland just couldn't hold onto the ball or find touch when they tried to kick for it

Not the best of games was it, probably mostly due to the weather but it was a very scrappy game. My wife, who is Irish, was absolutely raging towards the end

Just glad we got the win. Bit scrappy.

Yup, I'll take a scrappy 12-6 win in Dublin, thank you very much. Ireland have got a few injury worries now though.

So, I just got done watching England and France, and all I really have to say is that next years' six nations, I think France may have a rethink of how they run their clubs against the national teams


England just looked like the more fit and ready to play team, even considering the slow start they had that first 40.

The matchup I was most keen to watch (aside from the tight 5, since that is where I currently play), was in Tuilagi and Bastareaud... And I have to say that Tuilagi definitely was the bigger man in that match.

Saint-Andre sabotaged the French with his substitutions, I had to check that Marc Lievremont wasn't back in charge. I can't believe Ireland managed to lose a game where they had eighty percent possession, although Scotland winning by kicking just enough penalties in the rain is a return to a couple of years ago. Words cannot describe just how dull the Italy - Wales match was though. It really was a couple of hours to forget.

grrr

Yup, England well on their way to a grand slam now.

France, well, Saint-Andre seems to have lost the plot a little, and now possibly the wooden spoon..!

How Ireland lost no one will ever know.

The Scotland game proves that Defence wins games. The pack and line out play fantastically and we took our opportunities when we got them. Ireland didn't.

The fact Scotland are 2-1 and France are 0-3 makes me think that there's a glitch in the matrix but let the good times roll

 grrrfranky wrote:
Saint-Andre sabotaged the French with his substitutions, I had to check that Marc Lievremont wasn't back in charge. I can't believe Ireland managed to lose a game where they had eighty percent possession, although Scotland winning by kicking just enough penalties in the rain is a return to a couple of years ago. Words cannot describe just how dull the Italy - Wales match was though. It really was a couple of hours to forget.

grrr

From watching that match, while I agree that the French subs largely made no sense, I think that ultimately the English were the more fit side. As the match wore on, it seemed that the French were tiring more noticeably, and the penalties ceded at the end were pretty bad for them, and on the other side, the English were largely composed, and still hitting like it was the first 10 minutes of the game (aside from Owen Farrell, who was a wee bit pissed, and ended up hurt in some fashion)


Anyone get any news on Farrell's apparent injury?

Gutted I slept through it, thank you night shifts.

Farrell looked to have stained his groin the way he pulled up. He was sill really as he was noticeably limping and playing about with it for about five minutes beforehand.

As for the match, Lawes is a beast in second row but a poor choice at blindside. He should have made way in the starting line up for Haskell and room made in the row.

I still can't beleive he missed Forfana and slide off him so tamely but was the same man that cut the Irish fly half in tow in the last round! As for the other softcocks that flapped around his shoulders, my guess is that this weeks light training will now take the form of a tackle session beasting!

The scrum was a problem, I'm still not sure about marler. Any prop that has time to coiffure his hair isn't working harder enough to me. It was better in the second half when the changes were made but that could be down to the frenchies dropping in intensity.

I really like the dynamism that Danny Care brought to the forward play when he came on for Youngs. The was immediately a 5-6 phase section of close forward play that was amazing. Each rapid punch making plenty of yards with quick recycling; the sort of play that saw us crush the Kiwis. It drew a penalty the with put us back in the lead or extended it. Great play, if that had of been minute 1 and not 61 then the game might have been very differant.

As it was it was much as most of the sensible pundits had predicted 60 minutes of tight play then England turn the screw and pressure France out of the match.

No great comments on Rance but at least they turned up for the match. Bastereaud was neutered and never really stood out, Trinh-duc, parra, Forfana and Picamoles all looked good until half of them we withdrawn. Sainte-Andre seems to have caught whatever it is French Coachs get when put in charge of the national team, I mean he was a pretty good club coach but while his selection was good his subs were barmy. Michalak: what was he thinking?

Another composed display, Robshaw is growing into a fantastic player and captain and must have out his head firmly in front for the Lions captaincy. I'm really beginning to like the big oaf.

 notprop wrote:

No great comments on Rance but at least they turned up for the match. Bastereaud was neutered and never really stood out, Trinh-duc, parra, Forfana and Picamoles all looked good until half of them we withdrawn. Sainte-Andre seems to have caught whatever it is French Coachs get when put in charge of the national team, I mean he was a pretty good club coach but while his selection was good his subs were barmy. Michalak: what was he thinking?

At the half, the commentators were comparing the two big backs for the French and English, and talking about who was having the better showing, and through video evidence, it was clear that Tuilagi was on form, whereas England had figured out just how to stop Bastareaud, which was throw three tacklers at him, and force him to lose the ball... Tuilagi was just running through a good number of tacklers like they were school-children, and even got a good offensive smashing in on Bastareaud. I'm still amazed at those two guys' size and wonder why it is they aren't forwards (but then I see them run with the ball, and I'm reminded again.

They come from the Jonah Lomu school of backs, obviously. I agree England had Bastareaud figured out. He wasn't looking to pass, so there's nothing to stop the outside defender coming in to help with the tackle.

grrr

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:
The Scotland game proves that Defence wins games. The pack and line out play fantastically and we took our opportunities when we got them. Ireland didn't.

The fact Scotland are 2-1 and France are 0-3 makes me think that there's a glitch in the matrix but let the good times roll

I remember back in '99 when Scotland last won it, France were bottom, and yet, they reached the world cup final that same year. Never waste your time trying to predict the actions of Frenchmen

Looking foward to Scotland's last two games - they're never dull.

The last one was, why wouldn't they?

So guys, we got another round coming up this weekend, and some of the starting 15s that are coming out are raising a few eyebrows...

What do you think of this weekends matchups?

Go Ireland!

Once again we're waiting to see what France do. Will they manage to play properly for a whole match, will Saint-Andre sabotage them with a raft of unfathomable substitutions, who knows? I can definitely see Ireland beating them, with Kidney making a really bold call at fly half.

Scotland need some rain, and if their defence can hold up like last week they're in with a shot, but I expect Wales to take that one by at least seven points.

England should have no real trouble with Italy, setting up the championship decider and possible grand slam against Wales next week.

That was a lucky pull back from France. Shame Ireland didn't get it.

 Azza007 wrote:
That was a lucky pull back from France. Shame Ireland didn't get it.

Yeah, there were some iffy calls, IMO. The French try where they mauled their way in, personally shoulda gone to TMO, and the TMO call of "no foul play" that cost Ireland the match basically.


Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow with England and Italy.

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:
Really hoping for Scotland to win the Calcutta Cup this Saturday, but it's at Twickenham,
Hopefully we can finish above Italy and whichever of the other four stumbles a bit this year.
Should be close this year, my moneys on Ireland to win it , but not a grand slam

TROLOLOLOLOLOL
As a fellow Scot I am sad we lost the Clacutta Cup but we have beaten Itlay (convincingly) Ireland (luckily) and scandalously lost to Wales due to appaling refereeing. Ireland are playing so badly I can't believe it and may even finish below Italy!!

Italy should have won that match, we got lucky.

 Azza007 wrote:
Italy should have won that match, we got lucky.

Wish I coulda watched it... Unfortunately BBC America only shows Saturday Rugby, which is clearly against the "church" of American Rugby, because Saturday is Rugby day for most of us. And, I really wish they'd also show more England Rugby, as they are clearly the most dominant Northern Hemisphere team right now.

Its the same here, Saturday at 2.30 for all league games no matter what international matches are on - the about of games I've missed to be at Twickers. Damn annoying.

Still England seem to be getting most of the sunday matches now so it's less of a problem.

As for this afternoons match, that was a bit of a Borefest. The scrum looked weak and the halfbacks didn't seem to be exactly world beaters. Still plenty of others left out to strengthen the team for next week. I don't think we can expect to see Chris Ashton too little form, statistically the worst tackler in this years tournament - to the bench with ye!

 notprop wrote:
. I don't think we can expect to see Chris Ashton too little form, statistically the worst tackler in this years tournament - to the bench with ye!

and the way all the English pundits on the BBC were building him up to be the best player on the team as well really didn't help

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:

 notprop wrote:
. I don't think we can expect to see Chris Ashton too little form, statistically the worst tackler in this years tournament - to the bench with ye!

and the way all the English pundits on the BBC were building him up to be the best player on the team as well really didn't help

It's clear that there are a handful of players who could qualify as best player on the team.. Chris Robshaw and Owen Farrell would probably be near the top of that list.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:

 notprop wrote:
. I don't think we can expect to see Chris Ashton too little form, statistically the worst tackler in this years tournament - to the bench with ye!

and the way all the English pundits on the BBC were building him up to be the best player on the team as well really didn't help

It's clear that there are a handful of players who could qualify as best player on the team.. Chris Robshaw and Owen Farrell would probably be near the top of that list.

I was talking about the pre-game hype, the way they were complimenting his every move and basically ignoring the rest of the team

don't get how anyone who "knows" rugby could possibly do that, as anyone with half a brain realizes that it takes all 15 men to do what is needed on the field, not just one special player... except maybe Jonah Lomu... but even then, I think that's pushing it.

He did make a few good desperation saves towards the end.

England weren't entirely convincing, but still managed to get the win, so still in with a chance at the Grand Slam. Wales were as good as they needed to be against a backsliding Scotland team, so it should be a close match next week. The Ireland France game was probably a fair result in my opinion, France came back well towards the end, and to balance out the possible barge on Earls (who wasn't likely to score anyway) was the blatant trip earlier on Picamoles which wasn't given and should have been a yellow card for Ryan. Still, hoping for an England win, and a French wooden spoon.

 grrrfranky wrote:
England weren't entirely convincing, but still managed to get the win, so still in with a chance at the Grand Slam. Wales were as good as they needed to be against a backsliding Scotland team, so it should be a close match next week. The Ireland France game was probably a fair result in my opinion, France came back well towards the end, and to balance out the possible barge on Earls (who wasn't likely to score anyway) was the blatant trip earlier on Picamoles which wasn't given and should have been a yellow card for Ryan. Still, hoping for an England win, and a French wooden spoon.

Out of curiosity, and my google searches turn up nothing, where the feth did the Wooden Spoon thing come about?

'The Wooden Spoon' is just what we call the booby prize here. You have that in the States, right? Like a joke prize for the loser?

 Albatross wrote:
'The Wooden Spoon' is just what we call the booby prize here. You have that in the States, right? Like a joke prize for the loser?

not in professional sports we don't... I mean, there is Mr. Irrelevant for the last man chosen in the NFL draft, but nothing that Im aware of for the last place team (aside from a decent draft pick the following year)

No, we don't have it in pro sports either. It's just a figure of speech. I don't think they actually give out wooden spoons.

Funny though it would be, they don't actually give out a wooden spoon. I had no idea where the term came from, but according to wikipedia, it's from Cambridge University, where once upon a time they did actually give out a wooden spoon to the student who got the lowest grade while still passing. As Albatross said, it's a british thing

Scotland were the first country in the world to have a purpose built, state-of-the-art, wooden spoon factory

Back OT. Those three matches almost made me give up watching the game. Come on IRB, get the scrum sorted!

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

Back OT. Those three matches almost made me give up watching the game. Come on IRB, get the scrum sorted!

Six Nations wasn't the only place for poor srumming this weekend, sadly. My beloved Highlanders, who have 3 All Blacks in their tight 5 couldn't do crap against the Cheetahs, and there were some LV cup scrums that I was surprised the Sir didn't call collapsing, standing or even turning penalties on.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
Scotland were the first country in the world to have a purpose built, state-of-the-art, wooden spoon factory

Certainly had their fair share.

If they penalised everything at the scrum it would work wonders. Admittedly the ref would end up handing out yellow cards to the front row, flankers and the scrum half in pretty short order, but after that we could just have uncontested scrums and get on with the game.

 grrrfranky wrote:
If they penalised everything at the scrum it would work wonders. Admittedly the ref would end up handing out yellow cards to the front row, flankers and the scrum half in pretty short order, but after that we could just have uncontested scrums and get on with the game.

As a packie, I take offense to that I wouldn't go so far as yellow carding every bloke who collapses a scrum.. the standard, collapse scrum, other team gets feed, collapse again, tap and go restart works just fine... Plus, if you've never been in a scrum, you've no idea the physicality of it all, and after 60 minutes of scrum on the right sideline, jog to left sideline and scrum for new penalty, repeat... ya just get wore the feth out!


Of course, if your team's repeated offense is turning the ruck, then yeah, the flankers and 8 man could probably stand a yellow card, but I'm not sure about a trip to the bin, as it changes the whole dynamic of the scrum, and the game.

Joubert had a shocker reffing the Scotland vs wales game and Clancy too for the England vs Italy game.

Referees cant pause for as long as they were (between touch and set) or there will be additional mess ups come scrum time, worked out well for wales cause Scotland lost patience and engaged early more times than us.

Glad of the win in Murryfield though and looking forward to the decider down the street on Saturday, hopefully ashton and co will tackle as well out wide as they have so far this tournament and north n cuthbert can have a couple of trys. (praying for a game won by the players not ruined by a whistle happy ref)

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 grrrfranky wrote:
If they penalised everything at the scrum it would work wonders. Admittedly the ref would end up handing out yellow cards to the front row, flankers and the scrum half in pretty short order, but after that we could just have uncontested scrums and get on with the game.

As a packie, I take offense to that I wouldn't go so far as yellow carding every bloke who collapses a scrum.. the standard, collapse scrum, other team gets feed, collapse again, tap and go restart works just fine... Plus, if you've never been in a scrum, you've no idea the physicality of it all, and after 60 minutes of scrum on the right sideline, jog to left sideline and scrum for new penalty, repeat... ya just get wore the feth out!


Of course, if your team's repeated offense is turning the ruck, then yeah, the flankers and 8 man could probably stand a yellow card, but I'm not sure about a trip to the bin, as it changes the whole dynamic of the scrum, and the game.

I was mostly joking, but things like a crooked feed and the flankers not binding do get a bit ridiculous sometimes. It does feel like the ref is just guessing who to penalise when a scrum goes down, and usually they just seem to alternate unless one pack is significantly stronger.

 grrrfranky wrote:


I was mostly joking, but things like a crooked feed

Can a scrum-half actually feed the ball straight?? Lol, I can't recall a single scrum where the hooker actually had to hook the ball, everyone seems to actually curve into the desired side and this is mostly from watching a ton of Superugby and Six Nations, with a bit of Aviva Premiership thrown in.

Officially it's supposed to be straight like line outs but they're never penalised so they keep doing it

EDIT: It's like penalties in football, technically only the penalty kicker and the keeper are supposed to be in the box but everyone else is by the time the ball is kicked

So, Lancaster has announced his starting 15 for this Saturdays matchup.. Honestly, I can't wait for this test because of how well hyped everyone is getting about it.. I mean, England v. Wales, plus the Grand Slam, PLUS B&I Lions selections coming up, the rugby media is pushing this to be a great match because guys are gonna want to head down under this summer (for us here on the northern half of the world )

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 grrrfranky wrote:


I was mostly joking, but things like a crooked feed

Can a scrum-half actually feed the ball straight??

Short answer, no. Long answer, yes, straight into the second row. Tomorrow should be good, although Ireland Italy will probably be terrible as Italy had a good game last week and I can't imagine they'll string two together.

Come on England!

And also, because I absolutely hate the French THAT much, I am also rooting for Scotland to beat the piss outta them.

That would just round my day off nicely. England for the grand slam, and France to fail to win a single game

Sergio Parisse has been sin bined for tripping. It's a 7 point game and Ireland have a man advantage, this could have an excellent finish

GG Ireland.

Well done Italy, now come on England! Swing low...

Wow that was a massacre, and i loved it

Groan, what a dismal display.

Well played Wales, the back row won it, but it concerns me that they will now dominate the Lions back row (plus other positions) when they would be better served by others that are better suited to beating Southern Hemisphere teams. But we shall see.

Will Bo'D be good enough for the Lions after that display?

The Welsh really deserved it, and again Farrell was highly inaccurate (Which surprised me)

The Irish sinbinnings really killed their chances and Italy played very well.

What a game, in fact two great games today... Gutted about the Wales v England scoreline, but an amazing atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium.

Now, come on Scotland, let's have France get the wooden spoon please... plus I have Scottish heritage, so I'll be a Jock for the rest of the evening

I was so disgusted with the way that England was playing that I stopped watching after the 2nd try and put on some ice hockey on youtube.

 Ruglud wrote:
What a game, in fact two great games today... Gutted about the Wales v England scoreline, but an amazing atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium.

Now, come on Scotland, let's have France get the wooden spoon please... plus I have Scottish heritage, so I'll be a Jock for the rest of the evening

I think that France still got the spoon, but it's quite unfortunate that they actually won a match


Wales definitely deserved that win though, England played like utter gak today. Course, now I got Superugby to sorta focus on, lets go Highlanders!

Crusaders all the way in the Super 15.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:


I think that France still got the spoon, but it's quite unfortunate that they actually won a match

Not one, two!
Not sure France will get the spoon, but in all objectivity, they'd deserve it. They are messy and lack of a technical game...

Odd, I must of been watching a different game as I thought it was a great game. First half was the best, game play wise. Both sides putting in a lot of big hits, it was so intense.As an ex lock forward, with a duff back, those hits made me cringe At halftime it was just the missed kicks and the, sometimes odd scrum penilties awarded, that seperated the two sides. Second half, the Welsh read us and exploited ours weaknesses, and as Brian Moore said said, they were more street wise concerning getting away with stuff. People forget that England weren't expected to do that well, we did and then expectaions get higher. For a new young team they did really well and I have high hopes for them. A justified win for Wales.

Just out of interest, and because I'm not that fussed about football, the atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium was just amazing. I've never heard that amount of passion at a Wembly game.

England were abysmal. They couldn't tackle to save their lives, and much as it pains me to say it, Wales thoroughly deserved that big a win. Italy played really well, and three yellow cards, all of them deserved, killed Ireland off. France managed to win the last game, but still finished bottom, about where they deserved.

 Wolfstan wrote:

Just out of interest, and because I'm not that fussed about football, the atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium was just amazing. I've never heard that amount of passion at a Wembly game.

I don't think that it is any fault of the fans who go to a game at Wembly, or even Twickenham... but rather that the English fans showed up in enough numbers that Swing Low could occasionally be clearly heard, then the Welsh fans would drown out that with their own songs... But yeah, it was definitely an electric and massively vocal crowd.