[Closed] 2013/14 Rugby Thread

Assessment of the weekend so far:

Wigan: error strewn, no drive on the forwards, going to get thrashed in Australia next week. Huddersfield: opposite of that and those prize **** Grix and Brough looking pretty good.

Wales: look like a team who've forgotten how to play. Ireland: 90% of the team they need to be. Forwards excellent. Not sure there's enough depth to make them a championship side. Will finish 3rd.

England/Scotland: amazed it was only 20 points. So dire my daughter and I ignored the game and bagged up fifty-odd quid's worth of change....

We were crap,but the Times sports editor has obviously come home early and found a kilt stuffed hurriedly into a wardrobe at some point. It even has time for an unfavorable comparison of Fusaro's state school with Robshaw's Millburn.

Robshaw went to [b]Millfield[/b] school - not being pedantic but some will be.

Scotland were dire but to compare schools attended seems a bit arsey. I teach at a local authority school attended by several Scottish international players and it's not something that we boast about... but then we don't need to "sell" places do we.

Haven't read that, but having played sport there,I'll say one thing for Millfield -Awesomeness of sports facilities.

Gloating about the try

[harryenfield]I would like to apologise for my nation's press behaviour during the Six Nations. [/harryenfield]

The Observer has an unbelievable, unrealistic, fawning report of the England win this morning. I love a win, but we were not that good, we should have put another 20 points on them. And then in the Ire vs Wal report, a piece on Wales being out of the championship now, which is frankly bollocks. Granted they were shit, but they are also the masters of turning it round. They could still win and more than likely will, given the pain of this loss.

Sorry,Millburn is the school in Inverness l was a student at.Probably part of a feature in the Scotland section about how if we vote for Indy we will NEVER be able to aspire to send our children to the cradle of the empire, and dragons will lay waste to the north etc,etc. Cheap points scoring, Bell Baxter is a huge state school that produces a lot of rugby teams,despite the absense of compulsion or favouritism towards rugby.

At Murrayfield yesterday, pitch was awful will be glasd to see it relaid.

Scotland as a team were dire

Weir was awful
laidlaw not his best game
front row awful
lineouts a joke

denton excellent............incredible he was taken off
Hogg ..as a good as he could be
Seymour looks a good player
Furaso....good start good tackles

They need to lose Johnson asap, the Scots just hung in there defended bravely at times especially with 14...........BUT cannot cross the gainline constantly and when they do they drop the ball.

England solid,

Brown was excellent
Farrell is improving standing flatter
Robshaw truly excellent I have to say I do think he is world class, quiet grafter who allows others to play, but it looks a great back row very unflashy but effective. Woods impressive Billy really gratfted, the offload was sublime if forward I suspect
Burrell looked good and a prospect
36 .not sure at all nothing wrong but
May. great feet but looked to go inside all the time and if wiers kicks had been better one or tries were there for the taking.
Care impressed me
Youngs oh dear

But big problem is England did not close the game out several chances not finished, this is a worry it should have been closer to 40 points.
Given the quality of the forward and the form of the 9 it does give some concern over the creativity.

Re the looks and attitude, Farrell silly and not needed Brown not a big thing plenty said and done in a match move on.

As a England supporter I have to say some England 'fans' need to understand the game first or shut up..........bloody twonkers near us contrasting to the Scots fans. Great atmosphere as usual.

Major concern for the game is how to support and develop the smaller countries, sorry Scotland but you are now, given the price for a world cup ticket at 700 quid where is all the money going???

Wales surprised at the score and Ire were not that good from what we saw briefly.

I must have missed something. What did Brown do wrong?
Re Laidlaw and Weir as with Phillips and Priestland its hard to judge the halfbacks when their packs have been utterly destroyed. Its a very welsh trait to watch the pack get bummed and then change the outside half.
England should be applauded for going to a wet boggy murrayfield and never look in trouble The attack still needs work though. If they keep it tight against wales I cant see them losing. Wheres wrecker? It looks like I will owe him a tenner.
Adam and Gethin look to be well past their best and Coombes isnt an international lock The players to replace them are not around though. No one to replace the poor lydiate, shame Ryan Jones is injured he'd be a better option than coombes or lydiate. Hows King doing for ospreys?

I didn't like to say AA,as it is akin to blasphemy,but Gethin was a spectator yesterday.

Let's give credit to Ireland, they dominated and made Wales look ordinary. They did the same to England two seasons ago. Ireland are a force in their own stadium. England got a messy job done well.

Major concern for the game is how to support and develop the smaller countries, sorry Scotland but you are now,

I wish you had meant that as a gloating insult and that I could come on here and call you an arrogant Englishman. The sad thing I know it wasn't gloating and I know it wasn't an insult. You are bang on in your assessment. I was there yesterday and we were embarrassing. I don't expect Scotland to win every game, or even the majority of games, but yesterday really was the final straw. I genuinely would like to see us just concede the rest of the games and just walk away from the whole thing, heads hung in shame.

Congratulations to England, you were the better team by a country mile. I'm only sorry our lot couldn't give you a decent game.

Kenny + 2 Problem is we have plenty money,but no players.

Never mind, The Scottish Ladies should put up a better show today!

On that note, wonder if Kelly Brown is walking around with a relieved expression on his face today?

Err,no they won't! Talk about kicking a nation when they are down.

What did Brown do wrong?

Nothing in what brown did, as you say shane did lot worse. Never had a problem with ashtons dives either, it was his petulent ****ishness that annoyed me. Liam Williams ****ish behaviour was the worst bit of the weekend. Mind you Davies got the same treatment in the game 2years ago.

Liam Williams

Sadly for Scotland - that IS probably the best squad we have at the moment.

Ford has to go - big and strong but not mobile enough and can't throw well enough.

Both props outmuscled - time for a change there too.

Hamilton - too many penalties given away

Swinson - ok and will improve for this

Ryan Wilson - not good enough - I'd gamble and put Beattie in there.

Fusaro - good start

Denton - good game - should not have been removed.

laidlaw - ok given the problems he faced.

Weir - Doddie Weir would be better at 10!

centres - both ok and will get better

wings - Seymour was ok - Lamont looks past his sell by.

Hogg - the only class back we have.

Coach - one dimensional and needs to take a back seat NOW!

We won't win a game this year.

Don't remember that I was too dizzy with ecstasy at Ireland's performance..

knee drop onto the try scorer, thats when Phillips saw his opportunity for a fight and got a yellow.

Duckman, Gethin, like Warburton hadnt played for months but having said that, the odd game aside he hasnt been very good for years, too many injuries and miles on the clock I think. Shame, at one stage he was one of, if not the best 1 in the world. I'd like to see Paul James, Samson Lee and Jake Ball come into the front 5 for the next game. Bench Adam and see how he responds.

Did Ireland get the same caterers in that England used the last time Eng beat NZ at Twickenham? Dodgy prawn sandwiches to the Welsh the night before the game? There must be some logical explanation behind Wales' performance.

CFH summed it up. Ireland did well around the rucks and were solid if unspectacular but Wales just gave it to them on a plate and din't ever show up.

Scotland Wales could be the dullest game of the Championship (who can make the most errors?!) followed by England Ireland (if 9/10 man rugby were to play out). The games so far this weekend were as dull as anything. I hope it picks up! Last weekend was good all round IMO.

Being very un-Welsh now.... if the big names actually turn up and play even 90% of their best Wales will be back on track. Of course some players are injured which isn't easy but at the moment it seem the issue is getting the most out of the big names. It looks as though they are forced to play which carrying injuries through lack of other players to step in. Gethin was heavily strapped, Roberts probably isn't fully recovered, same for Warburton, Lydiate has so little game time, etc etc.

On the plus side, hard to pick a winner for this year!

Gatland isnt known as cement head for nothing, he just picks his favs no matter what form they are in. To be fair to Roberts I think he's been Wales best player over the two games. Without a middle lineout option wales cant launch him from lineouts and then spend ages pissing about with slow ball.

[img] [/img]

I think Philips was smarting after the spanking. Kearney wanted to have a pop at Williams and Philips saw his chance for a bit of fisticuffs. Then it was a bit of handbags and "LEAVE-I-OWWWW-E's-NOT-WURRRFFF-IT" for a minute.

None of it would have happened but for Williams dropped knee, after the ball had been grounded. So, he was the most guilty in that incident. Worse stuff happens. Welsh players were very honest after the game in saying they were beaten by the better side. As was Gatling. He has a lot of thinking to do before the England game.

I have a lot of time for PO'M but saying "we wanted it more..." after the game is just bollocks. Nobody needs to gloat after one has just been MOM (deservedly IMO) in your team's dismantling of the opposition. Just gives the meeja more words to hang onto for next year's "grudge".

hmm I remember now, Kearney wades in and Phillips responds. TBH it looks worse in slo mo, Williams was already going flat out and was essentially using Paddy as a braking surface, and obviously trying everything to deny the try. Not deliberate IMHO. I remember us having this discussion over Lawes in a similar incident, perhaps you are just a bit stricter than me.

Anyway, AA I am up for a bet as I am convinced getting hammered by Ireland is just what Wales need. I bet you a tenner Wales win every game now and go on to win. France at home, easy. They love to roger England at Twickers, and Scotland at home again simple.

Phillips is competitive to excess on occasion its far from being his biggest flaw. There's no one to replace him with anyway!

Not deliberate IMHO

Looked pretty deliberate even in ordinary time to me. He had plenty of time. Williams was never going to prevent a try.

DD this why I am not a referee, too liberal..

I didn't see it as a knee drop at all. Williams made damn sure he got good contact between his elbow and Jackson's face. Nothing wrong with sliding in IMO but a carefully guided elbow to the face is pretty dirty. That said, Ireland played the "grey" areas far better than Wales and seemed to get away with a lot of niggle and marginal stuff. Disappointing.... as you'd hope the one upside of picked experienced yet out of form players would be an ability to at least get an upper hand with that type of stuff.

Real time highlight toys (I've picked this one so you can wonder at the majesty of the green machine's 20m drive 😆 ) - I'm not saying this with moss tinted spectacles, but I really can't see a) how Williams can even prevent a try from behind the posts where he is or b) why he has to drop and move his right leg out towards Jackson in that manner.

I'm not saying he should be cited for this - but it was this incident which led to the shite afterwards.

I hope he's cited and banned, at least Hook might come on instead of him. Hook at 13 or 15 (with 1/2p to wing) would have been much better. Need to keep North at wing to, he was easily shackled at 13 you need to put him into space not traffic

I've picked this one so you can wonder at the majesty of the green machine's 20m drive )

DD you know I support Ireland with as much passion as I support England right? Unless they are playing us then they can eff off..
Plus nothing give me more joy than seeing Wales lose, and I hate Phillips, but I say still not deliberate...

Oh I thought it was an ABW thing 😆

(Just joking...yes, I realise that.)

not deliberate!!!! Come on the knee goes for the ball I suppose but the elbow didnt need to happen and it was all far too late.

Not much in the actual incident IMO. Wet pitch, players moving at speed, different angels. The (mild) issue is afterwards. Kearney was slightly unnecessary and Spikey clearly unnecessary. But one guy was euphoric the other pissed off and it was the end if the match. Big deal. The actual handbags were far more of a Colin Firth versus Hugh Grant affair than anything of real malice.

Citing and and even a red card seem a bit OTT. FFS, it's international rugby. Did spikey actually get a yellow? He can't complain if he did - he had plenty of warning. But not for the isolated incident. Handbags at dawn. At least there were some actual proper fists clenched at Murrayfield!! 😉

Odd to see Gethin so out of touch. I can't recall him throwing his arms up and whinging before, from afar he always seems an honest player who just gets on with things. Is he having a bad season otherwise?

Is he having a bad season otherwise?

has hardly played

Not much in the actual incident IMO.

So you think it was accidental then?

That makes sense, he was not his normal self.

Even the other honest grafter AW-J who I would normally always want to be in my side (character wise) was somewhat absent although his face showed the pain and sweat.

Can't see anything wrong with what POM said either. Pretty much sums it up. Rugby is already suffering from an overdose of management/pseudo psycho babble as it is. Good to hear straight talking instead of the pre-packaged and obviously false bollocks that tends to get served up in the interviews. Honestly, will have Mourinhio style BS next, and then we really will have lost if got the wendies.

I wasn't there and can only rely on the TV angles. Not even close to most of the post tackle hits that are so common these days. As I said, wet pitch, speed and angles. Could have jumped over somehow? Possibly. But no big deal. Looks like a skiing and/or MTB crash where you try to get your own body in the right place to take the hit to me.

In real time, I actually though it looked like he got his arm stamped on and that was what the aggro was about, but again that was just the angle.

Can't see anything wrong with what POM said either. Pretty much sums it up.

So you think Wales didn't want to win as much as the green machine?

Looks like a skiing and/or MTB crash where you try to get your own body in the right place to take the bit to me.

😆

Clearly not. They were sub par and big names did not step up sufficiently. Ireland's did, pure and simple. Of course every player wants to win (that's given), but the quote/cliche that POM used refers to who proved that they wanted it more. Your boys in green did.

And basically Roberts in his reaction is essentially saying the same thing. A big man like DD (Desperate Dan) worried by that, blimey! More likely he was "frustrated" because POM nailed it on the head.

30+ of some of the best and most talented players in the world. All play at very highest standards wilth great ability. At this level, what determines the success in 9/10 cases? The ref. No seriously, as POM stated quite succinctly, the team or guy who want it more and has the bigger belief and better mental game.

Just watched Saturday's matches 😆

That is all...

I dont agree thm. The ireland team had in form players and wales had a very light lock with AW Jones who whilst very good isnt the biggest and two props who were passengers, in combination with a penalty machine at 6 it was always going to be tough. Wanting it more wasnt an issue, although POM is more than welcome to say what he wants, I certainly have no problem with it. All of which can be summed up by saying the best team won.

Jiffy looks a bit depressed!

anagallis_arvensis - Member
Jiffy looks a bit depressed!

He isn't looking the happiest is he? 🙁

Let's see who in the commentary team "wanted it more" at the end. I think Italy want it more today. But France will still win. I also think Scotland wanted it more yesterday. And they lost too.

Two best anthems!!

Better than Ireland's Call????? Never!! 😆

Irelands songs are so crap they need two!!

Good display of goalkicking in Paris!

Interesting to hear guscott talking about Fr 3/4 not bothering to line up properly. England were the same in the AIs. Too much playing by the book takes the heart of the game. French backs at top speed on the counter is one of the great joys of rugby.

40m to save us from a third disappointment of the weekend.

save us from a third disappointment

Speak for yourself.

I love Fofana!

Quality of match is important IMO not just the result. At least les blues are picking things up a bit now.

Quality of match is important IMO

I'm sure Schmidt will be most apologetic to neutrals like yourself who weren't suitably entertained.

Has anybody ever seen Basterau and Armatige in the same room at exactly the same time?

Yawn.

Has anybody ever seen Basterau and Armatige in the same room at exactly the same time?

I assume you mean Steffon Armitage?

TBH Bastereaud looks like he's eaten one (or more) of the Armitage brothers.

(I hope it's Delon myself - a man of similar disposition to Mike Philips.)

Yawn.

😆

Little things....

Jiffy has it, please give them a score.

France evidently "wanting it more" at the moment.

Ooooh...handbags. (on the pitch as well as the thread.)

What a cock Joubert is. Ref should have given him a red!

Referees (and their assistants) need to ask themselves... "what would Nigel Owens do?"

Reds for that? Harsh.

ladies 6N
Scotland 0 - 63 England.

ladies 6N
Scotland 0 - 63 England.

Thats more like it.

Loving Fra Italy. What a scrap. Feel for the Italians.

Brill try!

Good that the Italians keep at it. They spirit on the field belies the national stereotype. Duckman was jiffy correct about it being the scoters hand under the ball?

Good try Italy.

If it had any hand/body part stopping it,then its held up,however in the spirit of the game and the fact the game was over,I would be assuming he had little soft backs hands and some part of the ball MUST touched the ground as he tried to avoid any impact to his pretty face.

I think unless its obviously held up then they should stop pissing about and award the try. I quite liked the ref until he let Joubert take over, the biggest show boating touch judge ever FACT.

Yup, joubert basically told him what to do.

anagallis_arvensis - Member
I love Fofana!

So both the team and the general populous of Wales is taking it up the arse at the moment....

Cheers Duckman, but to be clear if it was the attackers hand under the ball that is still "not grounded."

Irrespective of the particular decision, why wouldn't/shouldn't the linesman be advising the ref? Isn't the point that they all work as a team? They would indicate blind side problems in a scrum, why not foul play in the loose?

is saint - andre becoming Napoleon??? Incredible similarity developing.

France when they played the ball looked good but slam ball is not the best for them..........

Well played Italy at least tried to run, good first half scrum
De MMarchi impressive as was Furio (the lock)

I genuinely worry for Scotland they may take a pasting.

Is Ian Evans available for the next round? Is Ryan Jones out for the entire 6N? Any other way for Wales to get a bit more bulk up front ready for the next round?

Ian Evans is out for the whole thing. Ryan Jones not sure, Jake Ball and a few prayers may be the only option unless Charteris is passed fit.

Any TV channels show highlights of the 6Ns games?

RBS 6 Nations channel on YouTube has lots of highlights DebZ. I think their "extended" highlights are only six or seven minutes long though. Which to be fair, you ought to be pleased with. According to some, the games were poor yesterday as the neutral wasn't entertained enough. 🙁

I think all 3 games weren't great. Two dominant teams who never looked like losing but didn't really put the opposition away like they could and then the Italians dominated the French apart from 15 mins where the French butchered them. Some close games would have been nice

Some close games would have been nice

I agree. I'd like the Scotland-England and France-italy games to have been much closer. 🙂