The Super-Super-Duper Rugby Union thread!

[PowerButchi]

You're just jealous as he supports a real team.

[Statto]

The Lions is my absolute favourite thing in rugby, possibly in world sport, and I'll be distraught it the march of modernism sweeps it aside.

 

I'm an old fart

[Slapnut]

Well bloody hell, I expected Ireland to win, but that was something else. Rob Howley putting in another shocking effort as Wales coach, and it's absolutely no coincidence that Gatland was coaching the 2 games out of our 8 match losing streak where Wales actually looked like they could win.

 

There's no solace to be taken from that game either. Yeah, it was a brilliant comeback at the end, but it was far too little far too late. So many opportunities were wasted by poor discipline and handling skills, there was no saving it after a certain point.

 

France away next week is going to be horrible.

[Up Chuck]

You (EDIT: Statto, obviously) can't deny that the current international schedule is pretty unfair on clubs who produce a lot of internationals, though. And if anything goes, the Lions will be first, because it's smallest component. I wouldn't object to us axing the other summer tours and keeping the Lions, but something needs to give and I'd find it hard to be upset if the Lions went.

 

Anyway! Wales/Ireland was great fun for the neutral viewer. Zebo's kick up into his own hands was beautiful, Wales' attacking in the second half was thrilling at times, and the complete contrast between the first and second half meant it never got dull. Both teams will be coming away unhappy about quite a few things, though - Wales need to start converting possession and territory (which I think were about 50/50 in the first half) into points much earlier. You have to think from that that Ireland will be able to win the tight ones, but they need to learn to stay awake when they streak out in front or Italy and Scotland could do more damage than they otherwise might.

 

 

EDIT 2: I think we can sum up that England performance as good for the most part, and good enough overall. Farrell's boot was key but he did more than that today. The pass for Parling's try was a stunner, as was the break from Youngs that set it up. Great to see Twelvetrees doing so much too. I really think him and Tuilagi at centre will be the future. Barritt's solid but unspectacular (as is Allen, who I'd have ahead of Barritt purely for his mental workrate), so I think he has to be the one to drop down when Tuilagi's fit.

[gary v1]

Very entertaining game. We (Scotland) played well in parts but there's no doubt the best team won. England's domination in territory and possession whilst not always having that cutting edge made them comfortable winners. That being said their try with the huge pass out wide was beautiful. Scotland did well though and scoring two tries at Twickenham must be taken as a big positive for us. Our second in particular was one of the best I think I've ever seen us score with brilliant quick hands and good decision making to set up the chance.

 

Heartened by the display overall and think we have a good good shout to pick up a couple of wins in our remaining fixtures.

[Up Chuck]

So, since the last post in this topic, we've seen a new era and slight collapse for Italy. A massive 2 points for Scotland today, and it makes France vs Scotland, among others, a very interesting prospect. In fact, we're now guaranteed to have one team AT MOST on four points after the second round. When was the last time that happened?

 

This has blown the bottom of the table wide open, too. Wales could be in a nasty position in a couple of hours' time.

[PowerButchi]

This is shaping up to be one of the the most exciting Six Nations tournaments. Real "Anyone can beat anyone" stuff. Great for the neutral, not so for my sphincter.

[Up Chuck]

Wales could be in a nasty position in a couple of hours' time.

 

I pondered fence-sitting and adding "or France" to that before I posted it. Oh well!

 

So, England/Ireland tomorrow is suddenly massively important. Being out ahead on your own after 2 weeks is something you wouldn't dare dream of pre-tournament. That said, even that won't guarantee you anything this year. The favourites are on 0 points 2 weeks in. At this point, literally anyone could win it. Scotland and Italy won't, but normally we find that out after one game, and this year it'll be past the halfway point before even one of them is properly out of it. And even then they might be level on points with France. It's mental. Absolutely mental.

 

DOUBLE-POST-DODGING EDIT: My my my. Nobody in their right mind would call that a perfect performance from England, but top of the table as the only team with 4 points and at least +20 points difference over everyone isn't too shabby! And we can send the favourite 0-3 and out of the running in two weeks' time, when Wales and Ireland both have banana-skin away trips. So if everything goes England's way, the tournament could practically be sewn up after the next round. And if it doesn't, it's still wide open for everyone. Who's booking this? It's fantastic!

[mikey]

I know I'll probably be tagged a nutcase (again) but that was some screwy refereeing yesterday.

[Up Chuck]

All part of the great booking, natch. I can't recall anything that I found particularly disagreeable other than Haskell's yellow card, which was probably due to none of the officials having a decent enough angle to see that he was legitimately trying to get up and didn't mean to touch the ball. What else was there?

[Keith Houchen]

I'm guessing Cian Healy trying to snap an ankle?

[Up Chuck]

How the bastard fuck did I forget about that? Jesus. I'm an idiot.

 

In fairness, from some angles, it might have looked like he was trying to stamp the ball loose. And he's been cited, so he'll be getting a nice long ban.

[King Coconut]

Wales and Ireland both have banana-skin away trips.

There's nothing banana-skinny about Wales going to Italy. In fact, I'm half expecting whoever rugby's equivalent of Jack Tunney is to come down to the pitch after the match and declare Ireland's win in Cardiff null and void and demand a rematch. Grand Slam here we come!

[PowerButchi]

In all fairness, Rugby isn't as good unless they we piss it so we can rightfully look down on all others.

[mikey]

I said that about Haskell too, Up Chuck. My wife has taken an interest in rugby in recent years and so I have to sit down and explain what's going on. This week's lesson was "the dark arts of rugby", led by Ireland, the dirtiest side in the Northern Hemisphere. When Haskell was yellow carded, I suggested to her that they placed the ball out of the back of the ruck on that side so that when he rolled away, he'd kick the ball away and concede a penalty. Given that it's Haskell, nobody is ever going to believe he's innocent. Out came the yellow card for doing what he should have been doing.

 

When Ireland were up to their usual tricks - throwing sly punches, roughing our guys up, not scrummaging properly - she, being a tempestuous Latin American suggested we should start fighting back. However, I said I'd rather beat them clean than stoop to their level. That was what pleased me the most. We've gone from the stupidest team in the competition to one of the smartest. Yes, we gave away penalties but only three were kickable. We lost Haskell for bullshit reasons but we scored six whilst he was off. There's a refreshing lack of pretension in our ranks, led by no-nonsense Robshaw and typified by down-to-earth Farrell, the epitome of a man who knows where he came from, right down to idolising Darren Lockyer.

 

I stopped watching rugby because England frustrated me to the point where I could no longer enjoy watching a match. I feel that with the last two games, and especially the last one perversely, I can enjoy a match again.