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Thanks DoubleDee.
Only wanted to see the France game, as I missed that. Sounds like I didn't miss much.
As for close games - Ireland v Wales was unbelievably one-sided! What happened to Wales? I know: Ireland.
At a guess on bbc iPlayer?
I agree. I'd like the Scotland-England and France-italy games to have been much closer.
yeah don't get me wrong I'd have loved to have seen wales out maul and bore Ireland to death at the w/e. A win is a win afterall the other two games weren't much of a spectacle though. The Ireland wales game at least had the sight of watching the champions being unceremoniously taken to the cleaners!
What happened to Wales?
They wanted it less I think.
To be fair...they look knackered. Ireland knew they were there for the taking and stuck to a gameplan which worked nicely from the start. Wales didn't appear to have a different plan when things started to go awry.
BOD didn't score a try though. 🙁
[i]At a guess on bbc iPlayer?[/i]
Highlights would be quite enough 😉
a_a, the Ireland game was the kind that only the winners can enjoy. I can understand how anybody else would not find it compelling. It was nothing like last year's game where one side played fantastic rugby each half and the result was only decided by a narrow margin of who played the slightly better rugby in their half - or who defended more desperately in the second I guess.
a_a, the Ireland game was the kind that only the winners can enjoy
True but even as a Welsh fan I did appreciate the apparent tactical superiority. It was well planned and smartly executed I felt.
I think we are over estimating the irish tactical genius, I mean they wouldnt have planned for Wales to play like brain dead clowns!
anagallis_arvensis - Member
I think we are over estimating the irish tactical genius, I mean they wouldnt have planned for Wales to play like brain dead clowns!
Really? A lot of other people did to be fair..,,
Really? A lot of other people did to be fair..,,
like who oh mystical one?
To be fair, nobody has said "genius" regarding Ireland's tactics (at least not in this thread AFAIK) and if they did, then it would be an overstatement by some stretch.
It was all very simple. Schmidt knew he had a superior fly half and a scrum half that's an excellent tactical kicker (except when he kicks it to an AB with a minute left on the clock 😆 ). The plan was working, possibly even better than the green machine had expected. POM was lethal at the breakdown and Lydiate was gifting penalties. So they stuck with the plan. Moving it out beyond the half backs might have given us the cricket score we'd have loved, but North, Roberts, et al can run an intercept try in for seven points even on a bad day. D'Arcy and BOD while both still excellent in defence are not the game changers they were in attack. IMO, the choice was to sacrifice the high score for the lack of risk. Keeping ahead of Wales by a try and a bit was always enough on the day, 26-3 was a fair score given the dominance and tactics in the end.
Hook should have been brought on for the last twenty when it looked like the game was beyond Wales. Anything would have been better than what Priestland was doing.
Genius? Of course not. But enjoyable in its simplicity, yes. Schmidt out thought Gatland, but yesterday, there wasn't much thinking from Gatland to out-think.
Could you explain what Priestland did wrong? He may not be that good but he wasnt in a sense the reason why wales lost.
Oh and the game was won and lost upfront, my gran could have played outside half behind that dominant pack. Ireland would have expected to do well in the lineout and mauls but a top team would never plan for the other side to be unable to secure their own ball.
Could you explain what Priestland did wrong? He may not be that good but he wasnt in a sense the reason why wales lost.
I didn't say he was doing anything wrong a_a. He just wasn't doing anything particularly well. And Sexton was doing everything better. Attributing blame to him for the loss is far too simplistic, and also FWIW, not something I said either. Hook was never going to be on the field from the start but certainly he'd have been worth a shot for the last quarter? I also don't think Ireland planned on Wales not securing their own ball or being so useless at the breakdown. Who'd plan that in a 6N game? You appear to be attributing things to me that I haven't said. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your tone?
deadlydarcy - Member
According to some, the games were poor yesterday as the neutral wasn't entertained.........the Ireland game was the kind that only winners can enjoy. I can understand how anybody else would not find it compelling.
So which is it deadly?
Agree with you twice AA: (1) none of the games were "great" and (2) Ireland won it upfront. It's rare for any half backs to look good behind a pack that is being outplayed. Wales can and should turn it around. Three games at home albeit not two of the key ones was an ok draw.
Still an open championship IMO. England v Ireland will be key. The only guys who may struggle to turn this around is poor old Scotland. The coach seems at a complete loss. Perhaps the SRU could save money on all the pre-match hoo-ha and spend it on the pitch and the rugby.
The only positive note it the fact that salmond can use the Torygraph article tomorrow to wind up some anti-English sentiment.
I'll have to leave it to you to decide thm. Still, well done for leaving out the petty insult this time. 🙂
Not needed (and no evidence), your unsubtle attempted trolling was just very funny on its own. I appreciate the laughs. Almost up to Thursday's efforts.
I think there's still a little sand to wash out thm. I really have no idea what you're on about this time - I assume we can expect some football tackling metaphors next? 🙂 It seems that any attempt to discuss or disagree with you is trolling now. I really can't be indulging you on what is for the most part a civil thread.
A civil thread - yes it should be kept that way. Over and out xxx
DD you said "anything would have been better than what Priestland was doing" I asked what he did wrong and you tell me "I didnt say he was doing anything wrong". Odd. What should he have been doing?
a_a, the Ireland game was the kind that only the winners can enjoy.
No no, I really enjoyed it and I'm not Irish.
We're clearly not going to change one another's minds a_a. 🙂
*realises again why I mostly avoid this thread*
I love the fact you hang off every word of mine Zokes.
Right, sod that silly arguing! We can all, I think, agree on the following
Ireland were good, but not stunning
Wales were appalling
England were good but not stunning
Scotland made Wales look good
Italy fought hard, and will continue to cause problems for other teams
France are an enigma. Maddening tactics, but just too good. (Oh, and I reckon it's their Grand Schlem to perdre)
So, on to next round!
Wales v France in the silly Friday evening game - Two teams that should be able to play great rugby will grind out an utterly dull match. With France winning by five.
Italy v Scotland - Italy? At home? Yeah, why not. Italy by ten.
England v Ireland - This should really be the game of the weekend, and I really hope it delivers. England by three.
In the inrests of sour grapes 😉 I have lifted these from another forum.
[img] http://forum.gwladrugby.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7741&stc=1&d=1391941347 [/img]
[img] http://forum.gwladrugby.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7742&stc=1&d=1391941347 [/img]
as you can see this is clearly illegal maul formation as the defence should have the opportunity to sack the lineout catcher..
Cant see anything AA
I think Wales v France will be a good match.
7 and the lifter on the other side have stepped forward and across the gap so when the jumper lands the defence cannot get to him. Thats clearly an illegal maul formation, refs were very hot on this a few years ago but have clearly given up on it recently.
Now that the dust - not much of that - has settled and we have had 2 games how do we now think the final table will look?
My tuppence worth
[b]
England - 8pts[/b] - win next 3 games
[b]France - 8pts[/b] - win next 2 then lose to Ireland
[b]Ireland - 8pts[/b] - lose to England and then win next 2
[b]
Wales - 4pts[/b] - lose next 2 then beat Scotland
[b]Italy - 2pts[/b] - beat Scotland then lose next 2
[b]Scotland[/b] - well you know how many! - Well you know what we will do!
As to the winner - England with 3 home games might just score more points than France and Ireland.
Do england have Ireland at home?
Where is the france ireland game?
England at home to Ireland , France at home to Ireland
Engand are AWAY to Italy - my mistake - so probably not as easy a win?
Looks good for England then but my money will be on France. The ireland pack wont bully France and France have the better backs.
The good thing is that the championship is still wide open. Four sides can still win. Still chances of an upset to two. And wales will come good at some stage - probably against us. No side looks dominant among the current top 4. Let's hope Ireland v England is a high quality, hum-dinger.
I love the fact you hang off every word of mine Zokes.
Hate to break it to you, DD wrote the line I quoted.
Cheer up, it's only a rugby match. You can't be this grumpy all the time can you?
Anyway, I still have no idea who will win this year, but I suspect it won't be a a British team
Cheer up, it's only a rugby match. You can't be this grumpy all the time can you?
You're mistaking being grumpy with thinking you're an odious character. Hopefully you will crawl back under your bridge soon. Until that happens I will try a little harder to ignore you and carry on with the friendly banter on this thread.
So much for our predictions about "it won't be France this time." Still interesting, it could be anybody yet (Well apart from us or the Italians)
I remember Ackford saying similar about Wales
AA that was the article I was referring to last night..
teamhurtmore - Member
The only positive note it the fact that salmond can use the Torygraph article tomorrow to wind up some anti-English sentiment.
Just read that, Christ what an agenda. It reminds me of the venom after the 1990 Grand Slam,and I suspect it is not unlinked to a certain vote this year. The Times one was a belter..."Scotland's tourist indusrty makes 52 million from the 6N!" Err yes, so do England,Ireland and Wales, your point?
So, although that's very likely to be empty speculation, who would replace Scotland? Or would it go back to five nations? I know there was talk about Argentina joining in basing themselves in Spain to avoid the distance issue.
Duckman, it was a bizarre article, or perhaps strictly speaking an unnecessarily inflammatory headline. This seems to be a trend even in the broadsheets these days. Very poor. I think someone needs to remind Hayward where Scotland finished last year, and you seemed to be struggling to score tries then! Ok they/you are having a cauchemare at the moment, but that was a silly headline IMO.
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[b]PLEASE PLAY NICELY OR THIS THREAD WILL BE CLOSED. Mod[/b]
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I didn't even kick it down the street. Back safe and sound.
A few days off, then back to the grind.
Scotland's problem is the coach. Some very strange decisions including dropping Brown and taking Denton off early.
Just spotted this 😆
[img] http://www.uafc.co.uk/download/file.php?id=3647&sid=6ea5637cc39b30606d3d79932ca13a9d [/img]
Nice to see them finally win something important to them!!! If you get a grand slam this season how many would that be? 😆
I'm not going to get carried away AA. I don't think anyone will win a slam. Its going to go to the last weekend and 4 teams will be in the mix.
I'm not going to get carried away AA. I don't think anyone will win a slam. Its going to go to the last weekend and 4 teams will be in the mix.
France, England, Ireland and ?????????? I appreciate your sympathy but being honest Wales fans have had a good run in recent years and it appears to be coming to an end.
BlindMelon - Member
I'm not going to get carried away AA. I don't think anyone will win a slam. Its going to go to the last weekend and [s]4[/s] 3 teams will be in the mix.
I think this too FWIW. Although England / Ireland is the game to watch. If Ireland sneak a win it could set up a french GS, as usual by them not being the best team in the tournament. I can't wait to watch this England side on a firm pitch, I think they've found a balance in the team at last and IMO Lancaster should retain these these players and let them Gel.
But will Italy beat Scotland - I think they think they can, that'd be a good game as well.
If Ireland sneak a win it could set up a french GS, as usual by them not being the best team in the tournament.
its always a non-vintage year when England don't win 😆
Treviso have confirmed they intend to pull out of Pro12 at the end of this season. Likely the Italians will have their own league of 8 teams.
They have been paying a fortune to participate in the rabo,which is in no way vfm.
Can the welsh leave too please?
I think Italy will hammer the Scots, the Italian pack played well yesterday, the front row stood up and sent back the French Scotland have no chance in that department.
Italians front row in the open made serious yards as did second row, Scotland cannot braek the gain line.
Italian backrow is far more cohesive than Scots Denton will play like a Trojan but not clicking with fellow back rowers
neither backrows really connect with 9 & 10 through Italians shade it with scrum half.........Tommaso Allen is a better 10 than Weir in fact as said before play Doddie Weir and you have more chance
Italians backs are doing well, Cammaso (2 tries against the welsh) looks a good developing player as did the wingers,
penalty kicking will be interesting
big factor is it is Rome
Really want Scotland to be back in there, playing like the scots I recall and played against wild marauding scrounging mean forwards with backs who when they got the ball and had not died from hypothermia could run and jinx, sell a dummy pass and score.
The malaise of the game is size of the players and 'bash ball' storming hulks. Sacking Johnson is only part of it, it is where is the money invested and player growth anddevlopment.
Forfana should have the team built around him and be released when the french came alive and passed the ball outstanding, Bastardeau (spelling sorry) should be banished from memory, comedy pronucations replacement and who looks a good player Fickou should be in.
Wales surprised at how inept they were.
Ireland England......O Mahoney player of the tournament so far, been excellent and I can see that game being close England to win,
Scott Johnson a pretty useless coach, when he was at Ospreys I used to look at his team and genuinely fear them as a Munster fan, he should have won a Heineken Cup with that team.
The Scottish team still have the players to upset a few teams especially at home. I would actually say each of the last 3 Scottish coaches have been numpties. Vern Cotter is a different story and I will be really surprised if they are not a different proposition next season
I am going to watch the Cornish Pirates play London Welsh on Sunday, will be a bit of a trek and I have no idea about the quality of the game but it will be fun I am sure.
Pirates are one of those teams you just want to do well....Although in this case our principal Welsh correspondent may disagree! Did pirates not get a cease and desist a few years ago from the AB's?
Actually, I don't think Weir is shit. All this talk of dropping him is very premature. In fact, believe it or not, I reckon SJ is doing the right thing by giving him a decent run of games, something he hasn't had either at Glasgow or Edinburgh. Jackson has had so many chances over the years and had just enough good games to stay in contention. He's 26 years old (today incidentally, Happy Birthday Ruaridh). If you haven't become a decent stand off at that age then I'm sorry but I don't think it's going to happen.
Weir is 22 years old and still has potential but not if he doesn't get the game time. He had a bit of a nightmare on Saturday but then who didn't. Don't say Denton, he didn't. Weir's kicking game has always been solid and this year he has started to show that he has a lot more to offer. We didn't get a chance to see that on Saturday because he was following the coach's game plan. If he's afraid of losing his place to Jackson then I can see why he'd be reluctant to go against his coach and play the game the way his instincts tell him to.
As far as Denton goes I really don't see what he did that was so special. A lot is being made of his 12 carries for 57m for an average of 4.7m per carry. That doesn't tell the whole story. At least three of his carries were returns from kicks so they were 10-20 meters which ups his average quite a bit. The rest he ran into a defender on the gain line. It would take one or two players to bring him down where the ball would either be recycled (slowly) or turned over. If you don't make any yards and don't draw in any more defenders then how does that improve the situation for his team. He had 12 carries, no clean breaks, 1 defender beaten, and 1 turnover. In contrast Beattie had 5 carries, 1 clean break, 2 defenders beaten, and 1 turnover. I don't normally like using ESPN stats but all the papers are using Denton's 57m for 12 carries stat so why shouldn't I. I like Denton but Beattie is better and should have started.
The fact is that there are very few players in that team who haven't played very well at some point for club or country. It's either the tactics or the coaching that's letting them down. That falls squarely at the feet of SJ and his mates. And tbh I don't even blame him all that much. He never really wanted the coaching job and has said repeatedly that his main goal is to give Cotter the best options for when he arrives. He's never claimed to be the best man for the job so I can't blame him for not delivering the results I want to see.
Edit: Just to add, I think the real architects of this years cluster **** is the SRU for many many reasons but I can't be arsed listing them.
I agree Bruce when the pack is rinsed the half backs always look bad.
I see Guscott is calling for Spikey to be dropped, he must be a 1D fan.
Bruce I agree to a certain extent about Weir but I think SJ has to take the bulk of the blame for the way the team are being asked to play, or not play, and the lack of direction. Too many simple errors are being made. It seems like he doesn't really give a crap cause he will still get paid and next season he can blame someone else for piss poor performances.
Pretty fair assessment Bruce. I agree Weir should be given a longer run in the team. From what i have seen of him I dont think Tommaso Allen would have been the answer either. He played for Perpginan v Edinburgh and Greig Tonks looked the better of the two 10s and he was only playing it for the 3rd time at that level.
Unfortuantely I think we only have 3 players with the skills and ability to change a match Hogg, Beattie and Scott who i think should start every game if fit. In saying that i don't think Scott should have started the last match he has only played 3 games this season.
Hopefully Cotter will bring some direction and a game plan the players are capable of executing...assuming he turns up having seen what is in store for him.
I see Guscott is calling for Spikey to be dropped, he must be a 1D fan.
for whom, petulence aside I thought he was one of the few able to hold his heax after that game. Any other wslsh 9 would have been totally deztroyed give the shit ball he was served and the breakdown mess in front of him. The entird pack should be the ones with their heads on the block.
[url=
a look at the 2nd and 4th try to see what Weir can do with a decent pack and a more forgiving defence[/url]
Well, I had to find something to cheer me up after the weekend 🙂
Yeah at least he looked interested. If I were Gatland I'd drop lydiate and Jenkins, bring in Tips, move Warb to 6 and start Paul James.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/26156018
Scott Williams out for three months. 🙁 Gives Gatland the opportunity rush back.another injured player with almost now gametime since November.... Come in Davies your time is up.
I would have said Weir is the best 10 Scotland have to chose from at the moment(I guess like most people here seem to think) and don't really get the criticism he's been facing. He might not set the international rugby world alight but he looks to be the better option. Let's face it, Sexton is probably the best 10 in the NH and hardly stands out as being amazing either (who does beside Carter and perhaps Steyn or Cooper on their very best days). The other 10's before him recently for Scotland have been entirely uninspiring and at least Weir looks solid in defense too which is probably the main requirement for fly half behind a mediocre pack! 😀
In amongst all the Welsh rugby gloom some very good news
Matthew Rees clear of cancer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26160733
Thats great, hope he returns as strong as before a top class player!
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/26160190
game going soft and why did they get the same the italian started and put in a few punches too.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26194618 ]Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahwerpwerpwibblehahahahahahahaha[/url]
Omsk!
Is he as drunk as I am?
@CFH he's clearly the sort of deluded optimist who's been working on the Yes vote manifesto.
CFH..........saw that and put tenner on 😉
Dodson is also CEO of SDFA (Scottish deep frying association) he got speeches mixed up. We are also going to be healthy by 3078
Its all relative,at the end of the day we will win just as many WC's as the master race next year. His claims were widely ridiculed here last year,but now with the wee jockbitchfest going on in the english media ( times at it again yesterday) it is worthy of bringing up again.
New European format to be announced today.To quote the Talking Heads
"Same as it ever was."
Basically 6/7 from France and England and 7 from rabo,one from each of the Celtic countries,unsure if Italy are a Celtic country. Second tier to remain and new bowl for smaller countries.
thankfully no further announcements Duckman.
Credit where due great first half from Rhys Webb v Trviso
Dan Cole ruled out for rest of 6N, who is next in line for a call up?
Thats a blow he was really playing well, I was wondering if him being good now but shit in the summer and Adam being the reverse is related to time spent preparing for the new engage rules. Any prop experts care to give an opinion. The bath fella is the next cab off the rank I expect
Then you didn't watch fat man Wilson play against Exeter. Like a prop of old, walking from set piece to set piece after 25mins. In fairness, he's just back from injury.
Oh, and Coles scrummaging isn't anything like as powerful as last season, his loose play is still great however.
I thought Cole has been poor in the scrum but then I know sod all about front row play 😆
Then you didn't watch fat man Wilson play against Exeter. Like a prop of old, walking from set piece to set piece after 25mins. In fairness, he's just back from injury.
I didnt know that, whats the fat south african coke head up to these days and more importantly how was Gavin looking 😆