The 6 Nations Rugby 2019 (a bit like American football but with a lot less of the girly protection gear).

[Nathangun]

2019 Six Nations

The 6 Nations has kicked off again and this opening was no dull affair. Wales came back from 16-0 down at half-time to beat France 24-19.
After an error-strewn first 40 minutes, Wales were unrecognisable in the second as Tomos Williams and George North crossed to put them 17-16 ahead.
Camille Lopez put France back in front but North intercepted a wild pass to seal Wales' 10th straight win.
The match-winning score came after a moment of madness from French lock Sebastien Vahaamahina, who undermined his side's earlier good work by throwing a recklessly high-risk miss-pass which North picked off and juggled before speeding to the line.

Today's matches.

Scotland v Italy

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In spite of a raft of injuries, Scotland should comfortably get their Six Nations campaign off to a fine start against Conor O'Shea's Italy. Predicted score: Scotland 24 Italy 3.

Ireland v Italy

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Eddie Jones has announced his squad for England‘s opening Six Nations fixture on Saturday against Grand Slam champions Ireland in Dublin.
The clash has been billed as a possible tournament decider, with both sides having enjoyed strong autumn results. Ireland’s resounding victory over New Zealand in particular was a cause for celebration in the development of Joe Schmidt’s side a year out from the World Cup.
England showed mild improvements in the autumn, with possibly their best performance coming in a narrow 15-16 loss to the All Blacks in which an England try was disallowed due to an offside.
Will England dethrone Ireland, last years winners?

Stay tuned...

P.S. To be fair calling American football gear 'girly' is disrespectful, the women rugby players don't wear such gear.

 

[steve]

Watching the build up to the Ireland vs England game - this should be a close encounter.

France threw away the chance of a win with some catastrophic defending which gave Wales opportunity and belief that the game was not beyond them after going 16 - 0 down.

Steve

 

[Hedgehog]

What a great game we had in the Six Nations, Nice win for England ….. no Grand slam for Ireland this year

 

[steve]

Good game of rugby that was.
Irish errors were punished by England and in the end these helped them gain the upper hand, and to deservedly win.

Steve

 

[Nathangun]

What a day of rugby it has been.
Scotland were rampart at home in Murrayfield against Italy. Scotland were dominant throughout and 33-3 up after an hour, but allowed Italy three late tries after downing tools towards the end.

Scotland 33-20 Italy​

All eyes then focused on Dublin were Ireland hosted England. As expected it was a clash of titans, the English defense was superb.
England routinely come to Ireland to be sent home yelping with tails between legs. One Six Nations win here since 2003. No tries in eight years. Ireland on a run of 12 home wins on the bounce and 18 victories from their past 19 matches.
England went after the defending champions' strengths and made them their own. They peppered the back-field with clever kicks and pulled Robbie Henshaw hither and tither, while they dominated the collision zone and made every tackle count.

Ireland 20-32 England​

 

[Hedgehog]

@Nathangun Good pictures you put up there mate

 

[HOA_KSOP]

Not anything like American football, too many arm tackles.

 

[Nathangun]

Another round of matches ahead this weekend.
The 2019 Six Nations got off to a flying start last weekend, and already the championship looks fascinatingly poised.

Italy v Wales​

Italy have improved under O’Shea yet they are falling further behind. Wales have made 11 changes, one positional, from the side that won in Paris in the opening round despite having an eight-day turnaround and two weeks to prepare for their third-round match against England in Cardiff. Their head coach, Warren Gatland, is not quite treating the game as if it is an autumn match against a tier two nation, taking out a few insurance policies, such as Alun Wyn Jones on the bench and Jonathan Davies in the midfield, but he is using it to gauge his strength in depth.

Gatland takes his leave of Wales after the World Cup in Japan and in the past 18 months he has focused on developing strength in depth following his side’s exit from the 2015 tournament when they were undermined by a series of injuries. Success on tour in Argentina last summer, when the bulk of his Lions’ contingent remained at home, has had the combined effect of increasing Gatland’s options and putting pressure on established players who dare not trade on reputation.

Prediction: Wales to win.

Scotland v Ireland

​

The Irish team will be under considerable pressure at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon against a Scotland side who though by no means perfect in their 33-20 win over Italy, still scored five tries to enhance the impression that under Gregor Townsend they are continuing to mature at a fair rate.
Ireland will be hurting from England winning the physical battle if both teams play to their best, Ireland should get the better of a tight encounter. But the wilder the wind the greater the chance of the game being decided by a random mistake.

Prediction: Ireland to win if all things are equal.

England v France

England’s players have been urged to show no mercy to France at Twickenham and to reach an even higher level than they achieved in their opening Six Nations game in Ireland last Saturday. The head coach, Eddie Jones, and the captain, Owen Farrell, both sense there is further improvement to be made and believe complacency will not be an issue.
It is the age-old saying with French sides that no-one quite knows what is going to happen with Les Bleus until the day. Nothing has changed. Last Friday's opener against Wales in Paris was a classic example - 16-0 up and cruising at half-time, then they seemed to reinvent ways of losing a rugby match as Wales stunned them 24-19. Head coach Jacques Brunel has made six changes for the trip to London, including a recall for midfield juggernaut Mathieu Bastareaud, but they could be a proverbial million times better than seven days ago, or a million times worse. Who knows?

Prediction: England to win.

 

[Rico]

I must really try and catch some games this weekend.

 

[Hedgehog]

Another round of matches ahead this weekend.
The 2019 Six Nations got off to a flying start last weekend, and already the championship looks fascinatingly poised.

Italy v Wales​

Italy have improved under O’Shea yet they are falling further behind. Wales have made 11 changes, one positional, from the side that won in Paris in the opening round despite having an eight-day turnaround and two weeks to prepare for their third-round match against England in Cardiff. Their head coach, Warren Gatland, is not quite treating the game as if it is an autumn match against a tier two nation, taking out a few insurance policies, such as Alun Wyn Jones on the bench and Jonathan Davies in the midfield, but he is using it to gauge his strength in depth.

Gatland takes his leave of Wales after the World Cup in Japan and in the past 18 months he has focused on developing strength in depth following his side’s exit from the 2015 tournament when they were undermined by a series of injuries. Success on tour in Argentina last summer, when the bulk of his Lions’ contingent remained at home, has had the combined effect of increasing Gatland’s options and putting pressure on established players who dare not trade on reputation.

Prediction: Wales to win.

Scotland v Ireland

​

The Irish team will be under considerable pressure at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon against a Scotland side who though by no means perfect in their 33-20 win over Italy, still scored five tries to enhance the impression that under Gregor Townsend they are continuing to mature at a fair rate.
Ireland will be hurting from England winning the physical battle if both teams play to their best, Ireland should get the better of a tight encounter. But the wilder the wind the greater the chance of the game being decided by a random mistake.

Prediction: Ireland to win if all things are equal.

England v France

England’s players have been urged to show no mercy to France at Twickenham and to reach an even higher level than they achieved in their opening Six Nations game in Ireland last Saturday. The head coach, Eddie Jones, and the captain, Owen Farrell, both sense there is further improvement to be made and believe complacency will not be an issue.
It is the age-old saying with French sides that no-one quite knows what is going to happen with Les Bleus until the day. Nothing has changed. Last Friday's opener against Wales in Paris was a classic example - 16-0 up and cruising at half-time, then they seemed to reinvent ways of losing a rugby match as Wales stunned them 24-19. Head coach Jacques Brunel has made six changes for the trip to London, including a recall for midfield juggernaut Mathieu Bastareaud, but they could be a proverbial million times better than seven days ago, or a million times worse. Who knows?

Prediction: England to win.

Great weekend for watching Rugby Union,, all the six Nations in action, Scotland vs Ireland should be a strong game today, Like you say England will be gunning for France tomorrow

 

[WinOrLose]

A bit cold today but worth it to see the froggies getting a good shalacking!!!!

 

[Hedgehog]

Yes I thought England were looking well in control, Second win hope they can keep it going

 

[Nathangun]

My predictions have been sound for this weekends of games.

Italy 15 v Wales 26
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Wales equalled the longest unbeaten run in their 138-year Test match history as they defeated dogged Six Nations opponents Italy 26-15 at Stadio Olimpico.
Wales, though, will need to be significantly better for the England game as a team showing 10 changes from the side that staged a stunning second-half fightback to beat France in Paris last week laboured far too much in Rome.
In the end, Wales came out on top thanks to second-half tries from Josh Adams and Owen Watkin, while Dan Biggar contributed 14 points.

Scotland 13 v Ireland 22​

Still not back to anything like their best, a weary-looking Ireland will be grateful for the two-week break before facing Italy in Rome after rolling their sleeves up to eventually wear down Scotland.
A game I thought would be decided by a random mistake was decided many random mistakes, a better team like Wales or France would have bet Ireland on the day.
Ireland, ahead on the scoreboard, did no more than they had to. So important was victory after the defeat to England that they did not chase the try bonus point at the end, focused on keeping Scotland at arm’s length. Their second try was typical Schmidt and owed much to the bravery of Jonathan Sexton, who lasted 23 minutes before leaving the field.

Johnny Sexton Ireland's talismanic number 10 failed HIA (Head Injury Assessment) after ‘stamp on the head’ the Ireland outhalf was withdrawn at half-time after several high-impact and borderline late tackles from bruisers like Jonny Gray, Allan Dell and Ryan Wilson.

England 44 v France 8
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It took England only 70 seconds to leave France trailing on the scoreboard and they never looked back, scoring six tries in a comprehensive rout at Twickenham on Sunday. The English intensity in defence leaving the likes of Mathieu Bastareaud completely redundant. The France centre's most memorable moment was Courtney Lawes smashing him back in the tackle. Two games, ten points out of ten for England.
England’s back three were a class apart from France’s.
England have learned their lessons from last year when they had suffered defeats by Ireland and France have now conviencely beaten them both.

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
England	2​	2​	0​	0​	10​
Wales	2​	2​	0​	0​	8​
Scotland	2​	1​	1​	0​	5​
Ireland	2​	1​	1​	0​	4​
France	2​	0​	0​	0​	1​
Italy	2​	0​	0​	0​	0​

 

[Zinzan]

@Nathangun re: The England team, your signature (quoted below) seems brilliantly appropriate.

"Let me at them Captain Mainwaring, they don't like it up 'em !"

Wondrous description of 3 brillig games, outstanding advert for Rugby Union, ENGLAND games have highlighted the butality, bravery, sportsmanship, character, tactical analysis/planning/execution of game plans & all the other wondrous detail of team sport at the highest level.

The 6 Nations is a shining advert for a sport recognising International Test matches to be the ULTIMATE SPORTING EVENTS of prime importance. Many other sports could learn from the support networks around the club game at all levels provided by unpaid to highly paid execs, volunteers, players etc employing many others in support roles. (Financed in part by club members, subscriptions, casual fund raising, social events & a well oiled publicity machine - all enhanced by it's traditionally middle class reputation - it's an astute organisation the RFU that is)

In addition the World Cup reigns supreme at the summit of Rugby Union - no competition from club competitions, unlike football for instance. Winning the World Cup is the Everest/Moon landing/South Pole of a rugby career for every person involved in any manner.

TLDR: The RFU "runs" it's sport in a manner the most machievellian of polticians can only dream of. -

Moi Cynical, Noooo... I like to think I "see through a glass darkly"...

 

[Zinzan]

Headlines like this on the crusty old BBC make me proud of being British and of the Rugby Union Community.

"As a 20-year-old playing in the Junior World Cup, Jonny May once scored a try despite having had his shorts and underwear pulled down by a desperate defender 15
metres from the line."

BBC Sport Link

 

[Hedgehog]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1612357192231152

 

[Nathangun]

Forgot to update this on Monday.

France 27 Scotland 10
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Impressive win over Scotland with a side that included two Under-20s world champions helped erase bad memories. It might be too early to call them back, but there was something invigorating about watching France dismantle a fellow Six Nations side of pedigree, just a fortnight after they had been dubbed the worst France team of all time.
Scotland believed they could claim a first away victory over France since 1999 despite touching down in the French capital minus a string of key figures. But they handed France the early initiative in both halves, and paid the price as the slumped to a 27-10 loss.

Wales 21 England 13​

The game of the weekend for me. What can be said for the 'come back boys' of this years Six Nations.
Two unbeaten sides, a perfect sunny day and the kind of stage even a leading West End impresario would covet.
Despite the long winning run, which started in the fourth round of the Six Nations last year, Wales were not fancied to beat England after underwhelming displays in Paris and Rome.
At half time England were leading 3-10 and it was looking like another win on the road.
Wales came out fighting in the second half, scoring two penalties getting within a point, 9-10 in the 68th minute.
England then scored a penalty (9-13) and it was easy to think the Wales come back ran out of steam. Then with ten minutes to go Wales got a try leading England 16-13, the English players now seemed tried and what had seemed a impenetrable defense this six nations now crumbled with Wales scoring another try winning the game 21-13.

Italy 16 Ireland 26
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Ireland successfully grind out a win in Rome after being behind at half-time against Italy.
This victory was far from routine but as disappointing as Ireland were, they nevertheless left Rome with the five points they had targeted. And thanks to Wales’s victory against England, Joe Schmidt’s grand slam winners of a year ago still have a chance of retaining the Six Nations title.
If they are to reel in Wales, with a visit to Cardiff due in the final round, they will have to play much better than this laboured and often disjointed performance, however. It was only just about good enough to see off an Italy side who missed a late penalty to grab a losing bonus point.
Italy had been leading 16-12 at half‑time as tries from Edoardo Padovani and Luca Morisi in the last seven minutes of the opening period cancelled out scores from Quinn Roux and Jacob Stockdale but failed to score after the interval as Keith Earls and Conor Murray closed out Ireland’s second win of the campaign.

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Wales​	3​	3​	0​	0​	12​
England​	3​	2​	1​	0​	10​
Ireland​	3​	2​	1​	0​	9​
France​	3​	1​	2​	0​	6​
Scotland​	3​	1​	2​	0​	5​
Italy​	3​	0​	3​	0​	0​

 

[Nathangun]

Didn't do a recap of last weeks games so I'll do a quick one now then look ahead to today's games..

Scotland 11 - 18 Wales

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Warren Gatland admitted Wales took their eye off the ball against Scotland as they were made to survive a Murrayfield scare to keep their Grand Slam charge on track.
The unbeaten tournament leaders will complete their first clean sweep since 2012 if they can beat Ireland in Cardiff today, but they had to ride their luck in Edinburgh as Scotland mounted a second-half fightback.

England 57 - 14 Italy

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The human battering ram known as Manu Tuilagi led the onslaught as England kept up the pressure on Grand Slam-chasing Wales by overwhelming Italy 57-14 at Twickenham. Tries by Jamie George, Jonny May, Tuilagi and Brad Shields sealed the bonus point in the 32nd minute to break Ireland’s Six Nations record for the fastest produced by three minutes.

Ireland 26 - 14 France

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France had the ball in hand in Ireland’s 22 for a grand total of two seconds. At best Jacques Brunel initially cut a forlorn figure. There was an elongated pause at the start of the French coach and captain press conference when it seemed like they had never been in this scenario before.
There were no questions. It almost reached the point where Brunel and Guilhem Guirado would avoid an inquisition.

But then it started: You were outrageously dominated in the first period?

“They had 99 per cent possession,” Brunel sarcastically responded. “We didn’t have the ball in the first half so we didn’t have the chance to do anything.
“They choked us.”

Looking ahead to today's games, it is excepted that England will beat Scotland, and if Ireland beat Wales, England will win the Six Nations. However, if Wales beat Ireland Wales will win the Six Nations, and to confuse you even more if Scotland beat England (there's always a giant killer) and Ireland beat Wales, Ireland win the Six Nations, PHEW.

Here is how the table looks before the start of today's games.

TEAM	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Wales​	4​	4​	0​	0​	16​
England​	4​	3​	1​	0​	15​
Ireland​	4​	3​	1​	0​	14​
Scotland​	4​	1​	3​	0​	6​
France​	4​	1​	3​	0​	6​
Italy​	4​	0​	4​	0​	0​

@Hedgehog I hope you'll be sitting in out of the rain watching the rugby all day. I have to work driving my taxi (been ST Patricks weekend) but I'll have the game playing on my phone.

 

[Hedgehog]

@Nathangun … Yes I am indoors out of the wind and rain, Not a good day for Ireland mate, I was hoping they would take Wales apart, take it steady and try make the best of working today, things we have to do for a crust

 

[Hedgehog]

Well what a game that turned out to be, England vs Scotland, England were streets ahead in the first half, Scotland came back in the second half, went in the lead, England in the last few minuets scored and made it a draw …….. A very good game, for me a good result