Six Nations

[nonsuchmike]

Regrettably, it was the welsh forwards' weaknesses that were exposed, not the English ones.

It was 13 - 5 when I popped out to Scouts for a short meeting and when I returned England were just slotting over the last penalty to win by 21 - 16. Great turn-around by England; worrying turn of events for the Welsh who were amazing in the first 20 minutes and awful in the last ten.

And Scotland away next is not a good omen; I thought Scotland gave a good account of themselves in Paris and with a bit of luck (they scored the only try) could have stolen a victory there, but for the extraordinary height of a particular bouncing ball!

Will Inflate-gate strike at the very heart of Rugby Union as opposed to Gridiron?

[betalucky]

Wales were flattered by an extremely dodgy try in the first few minutes, and an unlucky disallowed try for England in the last few.
They had no answer to England, no plan B, they seemed to be just trying to hang on to a single-point lead. Even as an England fan, I found Wales desperately disappointing, considering the talent they have in that side.

[chiswickmart]

Spot on Beta, but for some very kind refereeing this could've been an embarrassing thrashing. I don't especially mind the Welsh, but I have great pleasure in sticking it to Gatland who is a despicable bloke.

Looks like Sunday March 1st in Dublin will decide the title already. You can't see England not winning all their 3 home games.

[Andy68]

Never mind Gatland being quiet, I note not a mention made by Southern of Andy and I correctly forecasting all 3 games. Fair play to the Jocks they did give it a right go in Paris from what I saw after returning from Fp

Cheers LDB, I stand by my little statement. I think we'll cruise the 6 Nations and come unstuck during the World Cup.

[chiswickmart]

Never mind Gatland being quiet, I note not a mention made by Southern of Andy and I correctly forecasting all 3 games. Fair play to the Jocks they did give it a right go in Paris from what I saw after returning from Fp

Cheers LDB, I stand by my little statement. I think we'll cruise the 6 Nations and come unstuck during the World Cup.[/quote]

I go the other way. I think we'll lose in Dublin but make the WC Final.

[nonsuchmike]

I can't agree that there was anything dodgy about Wales' early try; rather that England fell for the sucker punch.

The late "no try" for England I would have given, but on review the ref was absolutely right to disallow it. England should have had another try but some geezer knocked on when it would have been easier to score from about three feet away.

Now where have I heard comments like that before? Maybe around FP?

As some of you have said, there was no Plan B for Wales, and their pack tired visibly from when I left after about 20 mins to when I came back with about 15 to go. As we have to rebuild, the 6 Nations would not be a bad starting place, even if we only came mid-table at the end. Mind you, boyo, if they play like they did later on in all their matches, even Italy will have a Field Day against them. What little possession they had they kicked away. Easy-peasy for England.

Tell Gatland, somebody, you can't win a match without the ball in hand. Unless you are Irish and re

[betalucky]

Even if we beat all the others, we are more than capable of losing to France on the last day - especially if it's important!

[chiswickmart]

I can't agree that there was anything dodgy about Wales' early try; rather that England fell for the sucker punch.

The late "no try" for England I would have given, but on review the ref was absolutely right to disallow it.

1. The Wales try should not have counted because you're not allowed to stick your hands into the middle of the scrum and fish the ball back. Penalty to England.

2. I agree that there was a blocking offence for the England try. But if it occurs more than 2 phases before a try is scored (which it did) then the ref is not allowed to go back and look at it.

There were some other odd decisions too like the one where we kicked the ball out from our 22 and were adjudged incorrectly to have carried it back in. The England team got nothing from the ref, but still won comfortably. You could argue he should've awarded a penalty try when the Welsh winger was yellow carded.

[Andy68]

I can't agree that there was anything dodgy about Wales' early try; rather that England fell for the sucker punch.

The late "no try" for England I would have given, but on review the ref was absolutely right to disallow it.

1. The Wales try should not have counted because you're not allowed to stick your hands into the middle of the scrum and fish the ball back. Penalty to England.

2. I agree that there was a blocking offence for the England try. But if it occurs more than 2 phases before a try is scored (which it did) then the ref is not allowed to go back and look at it.

There were some other odd decisions too like the one where we kicked the ball out from our 22 and were adjudged incorrectly to have carried it back in. The England team got nothing from the ref, but still won comfortably. You could argue he should've awarded a penalty try when the Welsh winger was yellow

[Andy68]

Never mind Gatland being quiet, I note not a mention made by Southern of Andy and I correctly forecasting all 3 games. Fair play to the Jocks they did give it a right go in Paris from what I saw after returning from Fp

Cheers LDB, I stand by my little statement. I think we'll cruise the 6 Nations and come unstuck during the World Cup.[/quote]

I go the other way. I think we'll lose in Dublin but make the WC Final.[/quote]

I would like to think we are both wrong as in we beat Ireland in the 6 and we don't get spanked in the WC!