The Six Nations is almost upon us!

[Grannygrinder]

.

Good solid performance from england yesterday.
More silly mistakes than i'd like to see and the same silly penalties.
But considering its practically a completely new team i'll settle for a win any way it comes.

Wonder how many Wales will lose by today?????

I think they will miss Shane's workrate and cover tackles

 

[rosstheboss]

It was certainly a reasonable performance from England although we were flattered by some god awful handling errors by Scotland. But don't forget Murrayfield is a tricky place to win at the best of times, it's been a long time since we've won there. Now the nerves have been settled a little I'm looking to England going forward as we have some very promising looking players and if they can get enough ball and a little space, Strettle, Ashton and Foden can be devastating, Strettle I'm sure will be looking for some glory after being injured for bloody ages... I think all the bookies will have to readjust their odds again!

Wales v Ireland today going to be a big game too, I wouldn't like to call it, but hmmmmmmm, Ireland to win by 3points....

 

[apache]

Wrong!

Great game - best so far by a long way. Always knew it was going to be close, but THAT close?

Wales Grand Slam anyone?

 

[tintin40]

At least England are showing the cricket team how to win.

 

[jax13]

So...... Thoughts?

The same goes for Scotland, although they're getting better each year and have provided some of the most entertaining games that I've seen. I was at the Millennium Stadium in 2010 when 'Super Shane' went over in the 82nd (or was it 84th) minute to secure the win for Wales and secure £250 for me (thank you, Ladbrokes ).... Why Scotland didn't kick to touch just before full time I'll never know...

i'll give you the answer. Mike Blair is an intelligent player & captain. according to the laws of the game, to intentionally put a kick off directly into touch is actually a penalty offence. Blair realised this, along with recognising that the taffs have a couple of lads with hefty boots that can easily slot a kick from the halfway line. The right & only play was to go long & to the corner & try and force a mistake.

this year, i've got cash on the welsh & the french as 1&2, ireland at 3, scotland or england as 4&5 with the italians in an undeserved 6th.

the welsh side have probably got revenge on the brain after they were screwed in the world cup.

the french are a class act BUT, they are french.

the english have the potential to win the next world cup with the right squad selection & direction from the management (with jonno & wilko gone they can actually look ahead instead of living on undeserved past glories).

the italians are getting better each year & now have a good side but with mallet gone, they will be made to play a different game which means they are starting from square 1 again as they rebuild.

The irish are in limbo between one last hurrah from the old guys & bringing in the players for the next world cup (lancaster has done just this in the england setup) what they do get is the new blood gaining experience from the likes of BOD, ROG, darcy, o'connel & co.

The scots are an interesting one. frank hadden was sacked too soon. Andy Robinson hasn't built the current side, Hadden did, he still had a couple of years to run on his contract & was building a very good squad. If Robinson can get the giddiness out of the last 1/3 of the pitch & get the guys to cut down on daft handling errors & turnovers they may pick up a few wins, they won't be close to winning a tournament for at least a couple of years but depending on how things build with the next wave of youngsters they could get to a stage where they are competitive.

 

[grahame]

How the feck was this

only a yellow? I seriously hope Bradley Davies gets cited. It was at least as bad as Warburton's one in the RWC.

 

[SwanHouseNappa]

Six Nations.....



Cricket right?

 

[ratbane]

...

How the feck was this

only a yellow? I seriously hope Bradley Davies gets cited. It was at least as bad as Warburton's one in the RWC.

In all honesty it should have been a red card. But that's Waynker Barnes for you - ain't got a clue. It was the linesman who suggested yellow, and he saw it all.It's worth looking at what led to that incident too, I'm not condoning Bradley, but a rush of blood after what the Irish replacement did.

I thought Wales were the better side, and the whole game made the Scotland v England game look like a sunday school league match.

Come on Wales!!!!

 

[Barneyballbags]

Re: .

Wonder how many Wales will lose by today?????

I hope those words tasted nice when you ate them

 

[Barneyballbags]

I agree about Bradley's tackle too - how it wasn't a straight red I'll never know. If anything, it just goes to show how flakey the guidelines are as to what constitutes a red and what doesn't, and how different referees/linesmen can have entirely different opinions on it...

Even Gatland said that it should have been a red!

On the whole though, Wales didn't fail to entertain. There were one or two areas which were hopeless, not least of which was the lineout. We had one nice short ball which we capitalized on, but the majority of the rest of our lineouts were awful.

George North once again played out of his skin and I think 1/2p redeemed himself


The France vs Italy game was just boring, although Italy are looking better all the time.

The England vs Scotland game was a bit better, but a poor Scottish performance, littered with errors, made England look better than they actually were. If they'd faced either Ireland or Wales this weekend instead of Scotland and played like they did, then it would have been a whole different story.

Roll on next weekend - the first of the matches I'll be watching at the Millennium Stadium and hopefully more of the same from Cymru.

Dere 'mlaen y bois!