Six nations

[MichaelRobartes]

16 minutes ago, Super said:

I know North played well the other night but he must be the most overrated player ever.

You wonder what he could have become without all the head injuries. Not sure I'm altogether comfortable about the likes of him and Sexton carrying on given how many concussions they've had.

[22A]

Pleasing to see England are also doing well in the Women's and U20's 6 nations.

['Orns]

28 minutes ago, MichaelRobartes said:

You wonder what he could have become without all the head injuries. Not sure I'm altogether comfortable about the likes of him and Sexton carrying on given how many concussions they've had.

Does make you wonder how seriously one of them needs to be hurt before they do actually pack it in. Absolute warriors, the pair of them. Couldn't have more respect for them to continue to do their job, one more hit is all it takes

God, I'm looking forward to Saturday. Couldn't have a tougher game, it's going to be fantastic, really see just how good this England team is. They were brutal on Saturday, as Eddie said afterwards 'Scotland done their talking in the press, we done it on the pitch'. That's the correct way to do it

Can't see any talk of the yellow card for the Daly tackle. I see Brown has been cited, for me it was a red. Thoughts?

[MichaelRobartes]

22 minutes ago, Woodsy said:

Does make you wonder how seriously one of them needs to be hurt before they do actually pack it in. Absolute warriors, the pair of them. Couldn't have more respect for them to continue to do their job, one more hit is all it takes

God, I'm looking forward to Saturday. Couldn't have a tougher game, it's going to be fantastic, really see just how good this England team is. They were brutal on Saturday, as Eddie said afterwards 'Scotland done their talking in the press, we done it on the pitch'. That's the correct way to do it

Can't see any talk of the yellow card for the Daly tackle. I see Brown has been cited, for me it was a red. Thoughts?

I'm sure players get excellent medical advice and that. I just wince whenever I see guys with their medical history getting a whack on the head.

I feel that if we play to our potential on Saturday then we will win. I'm not so sure that'll happen though, hard to say because I still haven't seen any of the weekend's matches but we've been poor enough throughout the tournament really. Italy were muck against us, we should have put a cricket score on France and the two good teams we've met have beaten us, not good.

I searched for the tip tackle on twitter. I can see why the officials gave him yellow, but for me it's a red card. If Daly doesn't put his arms out and tuck in his chin he lands on his head (ifs and buts I know, but imo any action taken by the tackled player to avoid landing on their head or neck shouldn't be factored into the decision). Very little difference between that tackle and the one from Keith Earls on Fraser Brown in the Champions Cup game (I'm not bitter) and several others which have ended up being red cards. I don't have much time for tip tackles at all to be honest with you.

['Orns]

1 minute ago, MichaelRobartes said:

I'm sure players get excellent medical advice and that. I just wince whenever I see guys with their medical history getting a whack on the head.

I feel that if we play to our potential on Saturday then we will win. I'm not so sure that'll happen though, hard to say because I still haven't seen any of the weekend's matches but we've been poor enough throughout the tournament really. Italy were muck against us, we should have put a cricket score on France and the two good teams we've met have beaten us, not good.

I searched for the tip tackle on twitter. I can see why the officials gave him yellow, but for me it's a red card. If Daly doesn't put his arms out and tuck in his chin he lands on his head (ifs and buts I know, but imo any action taken by the tackled player to avoid landing on their head or neck shouldn't be factored into the decision). Very little difference between that tackle and the one from Keith Earls on Fraser Brown in the Champions Cup game (I'm not bitter) and several others which have ended up being red cards. I don't have much time for tip tackles at all to be honest with you.

I didn't know whether my red (rose) tinted glasses made me think it was a red. Suspect if it was made in the 72nd minute, and not the 2nd, then we may have had a different outcome, not that it should make any difference. What injury did Daly get from it? As bad as it looked I couldn't see it was that bad that he would have to come off, shoulder, presumably?

MR, I've never taken you for a bitter person when Munster are involved, I doubt if anyone has. You're safe, mate 

[MichaelRobartes]

4 minutes ago, Woodsy said:

I didn't know whether my red (rose) tinted glasses made me think it was a red. Suspect if it was made in the 72nd minute, and not the 2nd, then we may have had a different outcome, not that it should make any difference. What injury did Daly get from it? As bad as it looked I couldn't see it was that bad that he would have to come off, shoulder, presumably?

MR, I've never taken you for a bitter person when Munster are involved, I doubt if anyone has. You're safe, mate 

It was probably borderline under the rules as they are. You could make an argument for either card but I'd like to see those tackles result in red. I think it must have been a head or neck injury because I read that Daly passed the pitchside head injury assessment. I imagine England will monitor him and he'll undergo return to play protocols as a precaution.

You know as well as anyone that we're better when we're bitter 

[MichaelRobartes]

A late plug for the Ireland v England legends game at 6pm tomorrow night in the RDS in memory of Axel:

http://munsterrugby.ie/2017/03/14/playing-for-axel-legends-game/

England team named for Saturday as well:

 

[chipdawg]

On 13/03/2017 at 15:41, MichaelRobartes said:

You wonder what he could have become without all the head injuries. Not sure I'm altogether comfortable about the likes of him and Sexton carrying on given how many concussions they've had.

They're going to have to start to take concussions even more seriously than they are, given what's happened in the US with lawsuits in the NHL and NFL. The NHL are cruising towards an absolute battering in the courts, they're just not doing enough to stop dangerous hits. You look at someone like Aaron Ekblad, who's one of the top young defenceman in the NHL- a genuine star player- but he's had 4 serious concussions in 2 and half seasons as a pro. He's 21 years old, is he really going to be able to continue to play with that level of injury? Rugby's the same, as much as everyone likes the big hits, they have to move to a presumption of player safety over spectacular collisions

[Portland Bill]

On 13/03/2017 at 12:53, B1ackbird said:

I think WG has some very good players from all the home nations to choose from, traditionally it's getting the balance right,.

Still it's a massive ask at the end of a hard season to go to NZ And take them on when they're 2/3 months into theirs?!?

Sorry to be pedantic, the AB players will be 5 months in to their season. 

[Portland Bill]

On 13/03/2017 at 15:05, hodge said:

They would have if the all blacks hadn't demanded £3m to play against England, considering the RFU knows Twickenham will fill unsurprising they chose someone else.

It's not quite as simple as that! 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11819439

[MichaelRobartes]

Ireland team named. Murray injured and POM not starting. I don't fancy our chances.

 

[chipdawg]

1 hour ago, MichaelRobartes said:

Ireland team named. Murray injured and POM not starting. I don't fancy our chances.

 

Murray's a massive miss, though I don't know anything about Marmion. That pack though (even without O'Mahoney) is formidable though. I still think England should win though, form's been building through the tournament

[MichaelRobartes]

1 hour ago, chipdawg said:

Murray's a massive miss, though I don't know anything about Marmion. That pack though (even without O'Mahoney) is formidable though. I still think England should win though, form's been building through the tournament

I would have been fairly confident of a win with Murray playing. Marmion isn't a bad player at all, As we saw in November when he had to play on the wing and tackle Folau when we were defending a lead he's as brave as they come and won't let anyone down. It's a great opportunity for him. That said, Murray is probably our best and most influential player and any team would miss him. I think our backrow has been too unbalanced and we miss O'Mahony in the lineout as well. I would have put CJ at 8 and POM at 6 or dropped SOB who has had a poor enough tournament for POM.

Great to see Payne back, far superior full back to Kearney who is sadly a shadow of his former self. Pleased to see Henderson get the nod over Toner, though on paper you'd think it will further weaken an already creaking lineout which would have been another reason to play POM. I fear for us in that area after seeing England's 15 but who knows.

[chipdawg]

1 hour ago, MichaelRobartes said:

I would have been fairly confident of a win with Murray playing. Marmion isn't a bad player at all, As we saw in November when he had to play on the wing and tackle Folau when we were defending a lead he's as brave as they come and won't let anyone down. It's a great opportunity for him. That said, Murray is probably our best and most influential player and any team would miss him. I think our backrow has been too unbalanced and we miss O'Mahony in the lineout as well. I would have put CJ at 8 and POM at 6 or dropped SOB who has had a poor enough tournament for POM.

Great to see Payne back, far superior full back to Kearney who is sadly a shadow of his former self. Pleased to see Henderson get the nod over Toner, though on paper you'd think it will further weaken an already creaking lineout which would have been another reason to play POM. I fear for us in that area after seeing England's 15 but who knows.

England's line out has been working well, but I think you could get some joy at the scrum. With the game England are trying to play though, it should be won and lost in the loose

I think they're two pretty well matched teams actually, England have the edge with Murray out and a couple of your lads probably not playing their best rugby at the mo. It may come down to psychology; England are going for this record and a grand slam, but are already champions. Does that allow them to cut loose and express themselves or do they tighten up and get nervous. I hope the former, but suspect it could be the latter 

[MichaelRobartes]

1 hour ago, chipdawg said:

England's line out has been working well, but I think you could get some joy at the scrum. With the game England are trying to play though, it should be won and lost in the loose

I think they're two pretty well matched teams actually, England have the edge with Murray out and a couple of your lads probably not playing their best rugby at the mo. It may come down to psychology; England are going for this record and a grand slam, but are already champions. Does that allow them to cut loose and express themselves or do they tighten up and get nervous. I hope the former, but suspect it could be the latter 

It really depends on the referee's interpretation of the scrum. I'd take McGrath (who hasn't hit the heights of last year) and Furlong over the English props, but it's always a lottery. I see we have Garces reffing which isn't a good sign for us.

If we had Murray then I'd agree. Apart from him and maybe one or two guys who'd bench we're at full strength really. Shame he's our most important player. We have a better chance if it's a arm wrestle because Blue Joe's system doesn't allow for the kind of individual brilliance that the likes of Earls and Zebo are capable of.

An added dimension is that we need to win to secure being one of the first seeds for the World Cup draw. If we lose and Wales win we'll drop to number five. They'd deserve it too, that's what comes of poor losses to Scotland and Wales. Not much point beating NZ and Australia if you then lose those matches.

Hoping for a great game and night out anyway, whatever the score.

[Kid in the Riot]

England by 10+ pts IMO. This is a great England team that is high as a kite on confidence. 

They'll be highly motivated to beat NZs record.

[22A]

On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 16:06, 22A said:

Pleasing to see England are also doing well in the Women's and U20's 6 nations.

Friday night the U20s won in Ireland to win their Grand Slam. Friday night the women won in Dublin to win their Grand Slam.

In the women's game, England were 5-0 up at HT, but only just due to all out defence on their line. That must have broken Irish hearts as England ran in several tries in the 2nd half.

[22A]

Half time at Murrayfield, but Italy are just not competing.

[Northern Red]

England lucky to only be 7 points down so far. 

[054123]

It must be strange to define yourself so strongly by how much you dislike something. 

The Irish haven't looked that happy in ages.

 

[22A]

A Kiwi being interviewed stated New Zealand's victories were nearly all against Southern hemisphere nations whereas England's were ONLY against Northern hemisphere sides.

[Northern Red]

11 minutes ago, 22A said:

A Kiwi being interviewed stated New Zealand's victories were nearly all against Southern hemisphere nations whereas England's were ONLY against Northern hemisphere sides.

Apart from the ones that weren't, obviously. 

[MichaelRobartes]

4 hours ago, 054123 said:

It must be strange to define yourself so strongly by how much you dislike something. 

The Irish haven't looked that happy in ages.

 

I'll bite. Absolute bollix. We've had a superb season beating NZ for the first time, beating SA in SA for the first time. A crap 6N campaign but a dogged performance today without our best player on Paddies weekend is reason enough to celebrate. Well played England, deserved 6N winners.

[Super]

Still can't get my head around that Wales game. One of the most bizarre endings to a game I can remember. As for Ireland they deserved the win no doubt.

[MichaelRobartes]

3 minutes ago, Super said:

Still can't get my head around that Wales game. One of the most bizarre endings to a game I can remember. As for Ireland they deserved the win no doubt.

Barnes totally lost control. Was chatting to a Welsh pal and even he said that Barnes should have gone under the posts after the fourth or fifth scrum penalty. It was a total farce, damaging to the game.

More to come from that one after the alleged bite on North and France managing to get Slimani back on. I don't know why they couldn't appoint a bilingual ref to that match, it might have helped.

[Welcome To The Jungle]

On 18/03/2017 at 23:52, MichaelRobartes said:

I'll bite. Absolute bollix. We've had a superb season beating NZ for the first time, beating SA in SA for the first time. A crap 6N campaign but a dogged performance today without our best player on Paddies weekend is reason enough to celebrate. Well played England, deserved 6N winners.

So many bitter English fans about MR. So few have been willing to give you any credit for your win. The common theme is that the Irish were lucky England didn't turn up. IMO you noticed our lack of ball carriers and stopped us getting over the gainline, whilst maintaining a sterling set piece. It may not have been pretty but you deserved your win because you out thought and out fought England in every position (except maybe tight head where I thought Dan Cole had a good game).

[MichaelRobartes]

1 hour ago, Welcome To The Jungle said:

So many bitter English fans about MR. So few have been willing to give you any credit for your win. The common theme is that the Irish were lucky England didn't turn up. IMO you noticed our lack of ball carriers and stopped us getting over the gainline, whilst maintaining a sterling set piece. It may not have been pretty but you deserved your win because you out thought and out fought England in every position (except maybe tight head where I thought Dan Cole had a good game).

Thanks WTTJ. This wasn't my experience at all of being out over the weekend in my shirt and even being the only Ireland fan in the pub. Obviously some good natured ribbing back and forth but I got nothing but compliments on the performance from England fans.

Cole had a good game against McGrath who hasn't had a great tournament by his standards. Furlong was absolutely unreal again though, one of our best players on Saturday. Heaslip being out was a real result for us, no disrespect to him but our back row was perfectly balanced and there are few better lineout operators than POM who even gave Itoje a hard day in that area and was generally a narky megabastard all over the pitch. Very pleasing to shut out such a good team and we really should have had more points on the board after the first half in which we were excellent. As Rory said, you don't win back to back titles and 18 test matches without being a quality outfit.

[MichaelRobartes]

Also a word for Marmion and McGrath at scrum half, both of whom were great and proved my fears unfounded. McGrath's kick to the corner leaving England with 5m lineout with a few minutes left on the clock was a great play.

[Welcome To The Jungle]

7 minutes ago, MichaelRobartes said:

Also a word for Marmion and McGrath at scrum half, both of whom were great and proved my fears unfounded. McGrath's kick to the corner leaving England with 5m lineout with a few minutes left on the clock was a great play.

Ha. Was one of those moments where all hope left me but at the same time was in awe

[MichaelRobartes]

1 hour ago, Welcome To The Jungle said:

Ha. Was one of those moments where all hope left me but at the same time was in awe

McGrath has had a lot of criticism this year for his Leinster performances. Great to see him put in a good cameo and help get us over the line. 

For anyone interested, the weekend's results mean that Ireland join NZ, England and Australia as top seeds for the World Cup draw which will be in May. Scotland, France, SA and Wales are all second seeds. Of course we'll draw Wales and Argentina and get knocked out anyway, but:

http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en

Also an interesting twist in the who should replace Italy stakes with Romania beating Georgia 8-7 to take the Rugby Europe Championship title. As far as I'm concerned, Italy would beat them both out of the gate. We need to get these sides more test matches against tier one sides. In fairness the IRB are looking to address this as part of changes to the calendar:

http://www.worldrugby.org/news/232038?lang=en