Saturday, February 23, 2008
Six Nations, all day long..
All 6 Six Nations take to the field[s] today. The Ospreys Wales are about to tackle Italy in Cardiff, 3.00pm kick-off. MbyM here. Ireland hope to improve, again, in Dublin against Scotland later, at 5pm - MbyM. And tonight England travel to Paris to face tournament favourites France, kick-off at 8pm - MbyM. The BBC’s iPlayer will have the games you miss. 1st game Wales deserved the win, but Italy didn’t deserve the scoreline. Wales 47 - 8 Italy. Half-time in Dublin. Scotland are still try-less but Ireland are still losing their lineouts. Ireland 14 - 6 Scotland. 2nd Half 30 minutes to go and Scotland score a try. 63min in. Ireland 29 - 13 Scotland. Full-time Ireland 34 - 13 Scotland. And in Paris, an entertaining first half ends, France 7 - 13 England. 2nd Half 10 minutes left and French errors, and solid English defence, mean France 10 - 19 England. 6 min to go. Tense finish ahead. France 13 - 19 England. Full-time Final minutes try sealed the game, deservedly, for England. France 13 - 24 England
Pete Baker @ 02:56 PM
Great. We could win the 6 nations on the 15th against England and just a few weeks ago we were calling for Eddie’s head, again.
Posted by on Feb 23, 2008 @ 09:48 PMStrange noboby cares. I do. We won.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 12:26 AMThose Unionist posters who feel that your players should not play for Ireland - Up your game game over the next fortnight will you? Like pickets outsides Trimble’s church and Howe’s house? Need any help just ask.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 09:02 AM‘Those Unionist posters who feel that your players should not play for Ireland - Up your game game over the next fortnight will you? Like pickets outsides Trimble’s church and Howe’s house?’
Howe’s house? You reckon Tyrone is gonna make a come back?
The Ireland - Scotland game was extremely difficult to analyse - are Ireland any good - or (as I suspect) Scotland absolutely attrocious!! We did execute well in the final third, but the defensive lines of the Scots were pretty wowful. The lineout killed us in the 1st half - worst throwing display I have ever seen - quite shocking. Why Jasckass was selected following his display in France is still a mystery. Murphy had a decent game but hardly MOTM. MOD, Trimble, ROG, Kearny and Bowe all did well. I’m still not convinced about Reddan though, I think if sides targeted him he could be put under pressure.
Wales put on a good show and have some excellent strike runners. If they can achieve parity against Ireland up front they will push us very hard indeed. Be interesting to see who plays 10 for you Dewi.
England put in a very fine performance. They highlighted the inexperience of this French squad and squeezed the life out of them up front. The intensity of the game was absolutely outstanding. Thoroughly deserved their win in Paris.
Predictions? I think Ireland will just about beat Wales with the home advantage. ROG will need to have a decent game. With Flannery/Best at 2 and POC back in the engine room the set pieces should go okay and the backs should cancel eachother out. I expect the side that gives away the least penalties will win. England should beat the Scots.
That leaves the final week. I’d espect the welsh to come back strong and win at home against the french, which leaves Eng V Ireland for the title. Hard one to call, Ireland have done well against england in recent years - could go either way!
One other point. Is it just me or is the atmosphere at Croker a bit quiet? All I could hear 1st half was whispers of Flower of Scotland! I’ll be heading down for the Welsh game so I’ll check it out for myself.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 09:54 AMI meant Bowe....sorry. Agrree Scotland pretty woeful but Irish finishing very clinical. Scotland had 75% of possession in first half but never looked like doing nowt with it did they?
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 09:59 AM(Bowe is from the ROI - another clanger my old friend...)
Scotland and Italy are both pretty limited at the moment. Wales will be a good test for Ireland. U headin to the game Dewi?
PS was their any protests at the game yesturday?
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 10:48 AMIs he? Can’t make Croke Park - this work business gets in the way of life don’t it! Remind me what people were supposed to be protesting about?
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 10:53 AMEddie O’Sullivan vs Gatland in 2 weeks.
The backstabber vs. the backstabbee… the man the blazers said would take Ireland to a different level vs. the man they said couldn’t…
Should be a fascinating encounter.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 11:08 AMLet’s not get carried away - a satisfactory result against the wooden spoon challengers. Ireland flatter to deceive - give me two more good performances and I may be more convinced but I have a long memory and heads still need to roll after the abject world cup display with O’Sullivan’s first on the block.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 11:27 AMFirst man from Monaghan to play for Ireland in 80 years Picket his house anyway - Monaghan should have stayed loyal surely.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 12:39 PMAnd he’s coming here - he was pretty good yesterday ae were Reddan and Kearny. I thought Reddan had improved since the French game. We’ll beat you though - I would say that the Italian pack actually beat ours yesterday yet we thrashed them - very unusual to see that - strange season with that remarkable England Wales game. And even in Ireland yesterday- I can’t find the stats but Scotland had ovewhelming superiority of possession and territory in the first half but got stuffed...hmmm
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 12:52 PM‘England should beat the Scots.’
Along with Bohemians Junior XI and the Indian National Folk Dancers Troup :)
Mr Hadden has had it me thinks .
Scotland will rise again . Looks like Ireland have the voodoo sign on them not having defeated us since 2001 ? Still they came close last year!
Wales are looking good but won’t beat Ireland at Croker :)
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 01:37 PM“Wales are looking good but won’t beat Ireland at Croker :)” I saw nothing to worry about yesterday..apart from Trimble, Kearny, Bowe...the always magnificent David Wallace, O’Driscoll O’Gara and Murphy....and another few thugs I don’t know their names......If we can sort out our lineout though I’m pretty confident....
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 01:45 PM‘I saw nothing to worry about yesterday’
Neither did I:) Apart from Shane Williams and Lee Byrne :(
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 03:52 PMDewi,
We need to beat your over confident, average team, with Jimmy Saville as assistant coach and some other guy as head coach that couldn’t cut with it Ireland by over 20 points, otherwise I will settle for the triple crown and your boyz can have the championship.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 05:56 PMSammy - you pester everybody to get a Rugby thread and then you go AWOL for 24 hours! Watch me nephew anyway
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VGkkH2yE2K0#GU5U2spHI_4Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 06:38 PMDewi,
cant see that sort of stuff (youtube) at the moment.
Yesterday had to go abroad to Englezeland so wasn’t in the Principality ( there is just no escaping the trappings of colonisation ). Incidentally is Principlaity a legal term or is Wales just sponsored by a building society?
Can’t even consider defeat against your boyz at the moment - will definitely, certainly absolutely be switching codes back to GAA if the impossible comes to pass.
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 09:10 PM“so wasn’t in the Principality “ - Please don’t use that term - “Country” or “Nation” is fine…
Posted by on Feb 24, 2008 @ 11:05 PMDewi,
when you have a prince’s logo on your rugby shirt and a funny prnce as chairman of selectors (or whatever he is ) then in my psychological war in the build up to Croker I think Principality is just right. But theriously folks - does it have a particular legal status?
Posted by on Feb 25, 2008 @ 12:17 AM“then in my psychological war in the build up to Croker I think Principality is just right.”
At least we ain’t partitioned! At least not since the battle of Catterick in God knows when........
Posted by on Feb 25, 2008 @ 12:48 AMDewi,
Partitioned no, but don’t doesn’t Wales have moving borders - the so-called Monmouthshire hokey kokey ?
Posted by on Feb 25, 2008 @ 01:08 AMI’m from Gwent and I think it’s resolved. Indeed, according to John Davies (our premier historian) it’s the Silurians of Gwent who stopped the Saxon advance… Arthur was a bit of a help mind !
Posted by on Feb 25, 2008 @ 01:10 AMMan dies in cake eating contest Sorry - you couldn’t make it up could you.
Posted by on Feb 25, 2008 @ 01:26 AMAnyway, in addition to the bizarre sight of Unionists playing for a foreign currently we then have the spectacle of “Nationalists” playing a foreign sport at the scene of one of the most heineous crimes of the War of Independence. If I was in éirigi I’d be picketing the homes of the Southern players - it’s a disgrace.
Posted by on Feb 26, 2008 @ 03:55 PMI know it’s a bit of a monologue but how on earth can you let people play for you who refuse to sing your anthem in the native tongue......
Posted by on Feb 26, 2008 @ 08:34 PM
