The Rugby Thread

[pharvey]

Ahhhhh, it's that time again!! After a week's break, Europe's best gear up to face off in the 3rd round of the 6 Nations....

As for my Gypsy like predictions......

God's Own take on the Pasta Munchers in Rome, Beelzibub's XV host the Surrender Monkeys at "HQ", whilst the Paddies travel across the Irish Sea to take on the Sweaties at Murrayfield.

Italy will be without their captain & talisman Sergio Parisse, as the Number 8 has been banned for 30 days for insulting a referee (something wendyball could do with). Will be a tough game I think in Italy, but Wales to come good in the last quarter.

England the only unbeaten side in the tournament thus far and looking for the Grand Slam.... France 0 from 2 for the first time in 20+ years..... "Le Crunch" will likely live up to it's name this weekend. The French will certainly come fired up, but they'll need to raise their game from their previous 2 displays.... got to tip them though!!

Scotland saw off Italy by a comfortable margin in the last round, whilst Ireland succumbed to England in Dublin...... Either going to be a tight one or Ireland to run away with it.

Good luck to all (with the exception of RZR ) in the HH Pool.....

[redzonerocker]

Good luck to all (with the exception of RZR ) in the HH Pool.....

That's redcist!!!

Tight wins for the Taffs & Paddies & a comfortable one for us, after a bit of early resistance from the frogs

[dtaai-maai]

God's Own take on the Pasta Munchers in Rome, Beelzibub's XV host the Surrender Monkeys at "HQ", whilst the Paddies travel across the Irish Sea to take on the Sweaties at Murrayfield.

Splendid nicknames (although God's Own and Beelzebub's XV are clearly interchangeable, depending on your point of view...), but surely we can do a bit better then "the Paddies", chaps?

And to avoid possible confusion with the English, perhaps the Welsh should be known as "the Sheepshaggers"?

[pharvey]

perhaps the Welsh should be known as "the Sheepshaggers"?

Well, we do get confused with the New Zealander's from time to time......

[richard]

Going by table positions and previous table positions I guess we should side with RZR. BUT, I'm going for wins (narrow) for Italy, England and Scotland Will probably my words on Monday

[pharvey]

BUT, I'm going for wins (narrow) for Italy........

And you being an adopted son of Cardiff Richard.......

[richard]

PH

I love all this pre-match banter. Somewhat like a boxing weigh-in or a Haka.

Perhaps someone (not me) should précis and regurgitate all these brave comments after the series is over or are we to assume the table will tell the tale?

[Arcadian]

[quote="pharvey"

The French will certainly come fired up,

That usually means indicipline and lots of penalties

[pharvey]

^ Fair comment, however stats from the first 2 rounds: -

Pens.JPG (12.19 KiB) Viewed 612 times

[dtaai-maai]

Yes, but they were hardly 'fired up' at the time!

[pharvey]

Yes, but they were hardly 'fired up' at the time!

Damn You DM!! They were fired up like buggery against the steel of Wales, but of course our men from the valleys held more than their own, walked like champions ....... and annihilated the Brie Suppliers by a vast double figure score..... You are simply a little nervous of playing our Surrender friends a little later today.... yes?

Anywho, back to important matters....... Wales going well at the mo, 19 -9

[pharvey]

Countdown to "Le Crunch"........

[Edit] Oh and by the way, the "Sheep Shaggers" did the job!!

[pharvey]

Wins for Wales, England and Scotland, RZR loses top spot in the league England still on course for the Grand Slam..... and pre-tournament favourites France the Wooden Spoon

A couple of "factoids" after the 3rd Round...

Incredibly, France have now lost their last 5 Six Nations matches, and not won in their last 6 (a draw against Ireland). A statistic which will have supporters calling for head of Philippe Saint-Andre..... more so due to some bizarre substitutions in the 2nd half of Saturday's match, no doubt an advantage to England (taking nothing away from the latter).

Wales' 4th away win on the trot a record for them.....

Scotland's victory over Ireland, giving them their first back to back wins in the Six Nations since 2001.

As they stand......

6N Table.JPG (24.76 KiB) Viewed 571 times

As "WE" Stand......

HHF-6N.JPG (29.29 KiB) Viewed 571 times

I seem to be at a clear disadvantage this year "having" to bet ON God's Own XV and AGAINST Beelzibub's XV!!

Congrats to Jass (a work colleague) with a huge 6.5 points this week.....

Depressingly, there's a 2 week layoff before Round 4 on the weekend of the 9th and 10th when Wales take on Scotland at Murrayfield, Ireland host France and Italy travel to "HQ"...... Can the Pasta Munchers pull off the biggest of shocks?

Anywho, good luck to all..

[Arcadian]

Scotland v Wales, a bit of rugby almost broke out in between all the penalties.

[pharvey]

Scotland v Wales, a bit of rugby almost broke out in between all the penalties.

Yeah.... unfortunately, Scotland went out to spoil and Joubert did nothing to help the game flow, penalising everything..... he's had a couple of poor games recently. Still, doesn't take away the fact that Wales once again made countless handling errors and seriously need to look at their attacking game plan.

Obviously biased, but great to see Wales get their 5th win on the trot on the road - a first for them in the Championship. Warburton with the MOTM - fair play to him coming back from injury (might have done him good losing the captaincy).

Hopefully Richie Gray's injury is not serious, but it certainly didn't look good when he was taken off - great player and IMHO a certainty (bar injury) for the Lion's squad.

Have not been able to see the Ireland vs France game yet, but a 13-13 draw at least halts the Surrender Monkeys' losing streak...... it does however extend their run without a win in the 6 Nations to 7, their worst run since 1926!! Now, just Italy to beat England today to hand the French the wooden spoon, and set-up a Championship decider in Caerdydd next week!!