The Rugby Thread

[pharvey]

Apologies, I'm playing the "Cr@p Captain" again...

I have an excuse - NAY, EXCUSES I SAY!!! however.....

It should have been happy days, England lost, Wales won - BUT!! Superbru seem to believe I bet against Wales.... Dai_L has cut me out of his will (I also made my bet on England against Scotland to compound my embarrassment and exile).....

Therefore, please excuse the lateness of providing the "R1 Table" and also the heads up for R2!! There must be some understanding if not sympathy amongst you....
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[pharvey]

OK, Round 2: -

The Lillywhites will go all out after last weekend, and I pity Italy if they pick close to the same side......
Ireland vs Les Bleus could be interesting. France favorites, but.....
The Sweaties vs God's Own.... Well, I know which way I'm betting even if Superbru don't
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Best of luck to all, with the obvious exceptions of England, France and Scotland - hell, I have bets and my birthright to think about...

Ireland vs France is going to be an absolute cracker I feel........

[dtaai-maai]

Ireland vs France is going to be an absolute cracker I feel........

I think Scotland vs Wales could be a bit special too, if the "Sweaties" can maintain their form!

[pharvey]

Ireland vs France is going to be an absolute cracker I feel........

I think Scotland vs Wales could be a bit special too, if the "Sweaties" can maintain their form!

Unfortunately, I think Wales could be in a spot of bother at Murrayfield The Sweaties will have their tails up and Wales have been hit with further injuries. I've certainly got my concerns in the center for Wales - could well be a weak link in defence. I hope to God our lineout improves or we really will be struggling.

Oh, a couple of pre-match beers and I'll feel more positive!!

[PeteC]

Johnny Sexton is out for Ireland. Apparently too many head knocks recently.

[pharvey]

Johnny Sexton is out for Ireland. Apparently too many head knocks recently.

More to do with the hit he took against Wales and failed HIA - although this brought on comments relating to his time in France. He's certainly no stranger to head knocks - just the way he plays the game. Great player and has been a great servant for Ireland - time to hang up his boots though IMHO.

[pharvey]

Well, if the rugby this weekend is anything like the two matches this evening, it certainly won't be a let down for entertainment value!!

Sale vs Bath & Gloucester vs Bristol...... Christ, certainly not what I was expecting!!

The difference in Bath's performance compared to those over the past months (4 losses in as many games, shipping an average of 40 points per game) was quite frankly incredible. Add to that, they were without a total of 14 squad players through injury or suspension....... Perhaps that in itself raises a question over selection!!
Massive improvement with regards to defence, although still a lot of work to do.
Sale on the other hand had 4 wins in their last 4 games including an impressive win against Bristol..... Who'd have thought it!! FT 22 vs 27
So, Bath do Bristol a favour after the latter handed them an absolute hiding.....

Bristol though tried their best to throw it back in Bath's face against Gloucester who could very easily have taken the match! Bottom placed vs top placed teams 12 vs 12 @ HT, 17 vs 18 @FT

My "support" has put the LHG and Bob the Dog into hiding, emptied my inhaler as well as my alcohol stocks - the latter (2) will certainly need to be replaced prior to 6 Nations matches...... The former have decreed a soundproof area is required

[dtaai-maai]

Dear God almighty, 2 minutes in, 2 penalties given away and a try conceded - England 0-5 Italy. I can only laugh...

[lindosfan1]

Bit better now, 15-8 to England after 30 minutes.

[dtaai-maai]

England 41-18 Italy

Better by England, but a long way from a complete performance. Before the game I was thinking that we needed to win by 30 points to redeems ourselves, but we didn't quite manage it. Points for decent, points against not good enough. Still too many penalties given away, too many passes went astray and, most surprisingly, the defence was not great. Good performances and great tries from both wings, Jonny Hill had an excellent game, as did Sinckler.

Also, it has to be said that Italy played well, and kept going right to the end.

Better, but still not good enough.

[dtaai-maai]

This report sums it up nicely.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56047926

A 41-18 victory against Italy is a respectable enough result but - even though it was the visitors' Monty Ioane who scored first - the win was not really in doubt.

What fans were looking for was a performance. Something to show last weekend's unexpected loss to Scotland was an exception, not the new rule.

Once May's try was covered and there had been some attention paid to Anthony Watson's excellent contribution, discussion would have to turn to facts as cold and hard as the almost-freezing Twickenham turf.

The work of England's dazzling wings may have acted as a momentary magician's misdirection, but it is not enough to distract from some of the less aesthetically pleasing elements of the win.

After the chastening defeat by Scotland, England needed to deliver on the promises they had made at the start of the month about a newly firing attack.

There was undeniably individual brilliance from May, Watson and the fleet-footed Henry Slade, who all looked fired up by a first home loss to the Scots since 1983.

But there were also those left out in the Twickenham cold.

England made 18 handling errors in total - three times as many as their opponents, with captain Owen Farrell and centurion Ben Youngs both contributing.

There were four knock-ons and, though England did manage to bring their penalty count down from the 15 conceded against Scotland, they still gifted Italy 12.

Against the runt of the Six Nations litter, May and Watson provided more than enough for the highlights reel.
[...]
Just as England's Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup trophies offered some solace for fans bored of turgid play in 2020, so May and Watson were a welcome distraction from some aspects of the hosts' game on Saturday.

But - with or without fans - a trip to the Principality is a task incomparable to facing Italy at Twickenham.

By the time England cross the Severn Bridge, May and Watson's heroics will be forgotten. Victory is all that will matter.

[dtaai-maai]

Scotland 24-25 Wales

Great game to watch, but I feel devastated for Scotland (words I don't utter very often...) - they didn't deserve to lose this game. A very harsh red card - there has to be a line between player safety and common sense. If safety is really the priority then the game is going to change beyond all recognition in the next few years. Look at Jack Willis' horrible injury in the England game. And there were at least a couple of occasions near the Welsh try line when a yellow could/should have been shown for persistent foul play.

This was my first glimpse of Rees-Zammit (great name!), who looks to be quite a find. Stuart Hogg - best full-back around at the moment and surely a shoo-in for the Lions.

Looking forward to the Ireland game this afternoon.

[pharvey]

Scotland 24-25 Wales

Great game to watch, but I feel devastated for Scotland (words I don't utter very often...) - they didn't deserve to lose this game.

It was, and they didn't - at the end of the day, Wales wouldn't have deserved to lose either. The first half was all Scotland really, superb defence, great game management - Wales were all over the place.

1. A very harsh red card - 2. there has to be a line between player safety and common sense. If safety is really the priority then the game is going to change beyond all recognition in the next few years. Look at Jack Willis' horrible injury in the England game. 3. And there were at least a couple of occasions near the Welsh try line when a yellow could/should have been shown for persistent foul play.

Well, OK: -

1. No, not harsh at all. He's come in from a "distance", zero attempt at a "tackle" (ie. arms rather than shoulder) and has made direct contact with the head (or "above shoulder level"). F*ck me, he should have been sent off for stupidity alone - the rules are there and the ref's/TMO's are shite hot on this at the moment. For God's sake there was a Red Card for exactly the same thing 6 days ago! The guy had not endeared himself to the ref previously with his "play" in the scrums.

2. I fully agree - it's very difficult though in rugby. Quite simply, the size, physicality and fitness of current players means that rules have to change. You highlighting Willis injury against Italy is a prime example - under current rules, there was no foul play, and I believe nothing intentional in respect to causing injury - BUT, we're talking very big, very fit guys.... something has to give.
This is a bad one and Willis will be away for some time - I truly hope it's not career ending.

3. Sorry, but I disagree. I don't think it was a case of "foul play" - more so Wyn Jones had given his all and the Scottish front row were now getting on top. Wyn Jones was struggling to say the least and dropping the scrum under pressure - giving away penalties. A Yellow Card was not far away, and that's why Wales made the substitutions - solid scrum, but unfortunately a shitty bit of defence which allowed Scotland in for a try....

Scotland must feel gutted and I do feel for them - Wales have much to do that's for sure, but we've had many positives...

We have a lot to do before meeting the Lillywhites in two weeks, but I have more confidence in the team - that is of course whether Pivac picks the same team that I and a few 100K Welsh would......


Here's to a cracking match in Ireland!!

[dtaai-maai]

Watching the Ireland-France game, I have to wonder whether some of these English-speaking refs admirably trying to communicate in French are actually helping the French players at all. When you hear a ref yelling (in French) 'game, game' instead of 'play' or 'use it', and 'stop that!' instead of 'stop there!' you couldn't blame the French players for wondering what the heck was going on.

[handdrummer]

Watching the Ireland-France game, I have to wonder whether some of these English-speaking refs admirably trying to communicate in French are actually helping the French players at all. When you hear a ref yelling (in French) 'game, game' instead of 'play' or 'use it', and 'stop that!' instead of 'stop there!' you couldn't blame the French players for wondering what the heck was going on.

The French won, barely, so they didn't wonder too long.