Six Nations 2018
Discussion
JonChalk said:
Quite honestly, unless you're Ireland, no other nation should be proud of their points and PD relative to the winners.
Basically Ireland won and everyone else lost!
It was a remarkable performance by Ireland. They also sneaked up on me. They didn't seem overwhelming at the start but as the tournament went on they seemed to sparkle.Basically Ireland won and everyone else lost!
Impressive doesn't really do them justice.
TTmonkey said:
Jesus, that's inciteful.
Calm down! You feeling alright this morning, hun?Point being is that no fans other than Irish should be on this, or any other forum, saying anything other than "we played badly most of the tournament".
None of the disputed ref calls / close decisions would have made an ounce of difference to the different plane that Ireland played on - all the other side looked second rate and the same as each other (Italy included).
I attended my first ever Rugby game yesterday at Twickenham and it was fantastic!
I am used to attending football matches as an away fan and the experience at London grounds is normally very unpleasant however yesterday was very similar to attending an Irish football match or a Merseyside derby.
Both sets of fans mixed and created a wonderful positive atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed as an away supporter in this country.
I found the game very entertaining despite trying to figure out the rules on the fly and being there in the flesh to witness an amazing historic event will be something I always treasure.
However the respect, warmth and sportsmanship of the players and fans will stick with me forever and may have well created a new rugby fan.
I am looking forward to attending my next rugby game. Is club rugby similar in terms of the fans mixing and sporting respect?
A great tournament and incredible fans. Football could learn a lot from rugby, fans and players alike.
Shamrock_ said:
I attended my first ever Rugby game yesterday at Twickenham and it was fantastic!
I am used to attending football matches as an away fan and the experience at London grounds is normally very unpleasant however yesterday was very similar to attending an Irish football match or a Merseyside derby.
Both sets of fans mixed and created a wonderful positive atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed as an away supporter in this country.
I found the game very entertaining despite trying to figure out the rules on the fly and being there in the flesh to witness an amazing historic event will be something I always treasure.
However the respect, warmth and sportsmanship of the players and fans will stick with me forever and may have well created a new rugby fan.
I am looking forward to attending my next rugby game. Is club rugby similar in terms of the fans mixing and sporting respect?
A great tournament and incredible fans. Football could learn a lot from rugby, fans and players alike.
OMG - rules! If you want fans to be nice to you, then say laws. I am used to attending football matches as an away fan and the experience at London grounds is normally very unpleasant however yesterday was very similar to attending an Irish football match or a Merseyside derby.
Both sets of fans mixed and created a wonderful positive atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed as an away supporter in this country.
I found the game very entertaining despite trying to figure out the rules on the fly and being there in the flesh to witness an amazing historic event will be something I always treasure.
However the respect, warmth and sportsmanship of the players and fans will stick with me forever and may have well created a new rugby fan.
I am looking forward to attending my next rugby game. Is club rugby similar in terms of the fans mixing and sporting respect?
A great tournament and incredible fans. Football could learn a lot from rugby, fans and players alike.
The fans mix at club rugby. I sat in with some French at Quins and they offered us wine.
Only two laws for rugby regarding fans: don't take your own beer to an away match and don't stand so close to the action that you are between the players and the touch judge. You'll be able to crack everything else.
Be nice to the ref. He's right when he's wrong and in any case he's always right. You can offer him a bit of advice every now and again but don't say things like 'I know where you've parked your car'. Setting it alight is generally frowned upon and doing it when he's in it might get you severe criticism from the committee.
Glad you enjoyed it. The GS for your side, and at Twickenham, must have been a real joy. Some of us might feel jealous.
JonChalk said:
TTmonkey said:
Jesus, that's inciteful.
Calm down! You feeling alright this morning, hun?Point being is that no fans other than Irish should be on this, or any other forum, saying anything other than "we played badly most of the tournament".
None of the disputed ref calls / close decisions would have made an ounce of difference to the different plane that Ireland played on - all the other side looked second rate and the same as each other (Italy included).
It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
El stovey said:
I’m not convinced. Welsh will be reasonably happy they came second, Scottish fans will be happy they won the Calcutta cup. Italy came close to getting a win and played well against Scotland. France had some close games against Ireland and wales and beat England.
It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
Very happy we came 2nd it could have been a lot worse considering how many players were out at the start of the campaign. It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
El stovey said:
I’m not convinced. Welsh will be reasonably happy they came second, Scottish fans will be happy they won the Calcutta cup. Italy came close to getting a win and played well against Scotland. France had some close games against Ireland and wales and beat England.
It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
I can understand why the Welsh might think they should be happy, but averaging 3 pts a game, 7 pt score margin per game and losing twice puts them in the same league as Scotland, France and England.It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
Ireland could offer stiff opposition to a SH team (even win), none of the others stand a chance right now, regardless of 6N table position.
- Some* of Wales games were Ok-to-good, *some* of France's games were ok-to-good, *some* of Scotland's games were brilliant-to-rubbish, but all on average not a lot better than a rubbish-to-poor England.
El stovey said:
It’s only really England that doesn’t have anything much positive to take from the tournament. Except perhaps that it might be a good wake up call before the World Cup.
I know what you mean but I think a poor showing is the best possible outcome for England. They were getting cocky and complacent (not helped by Eddie Jones) and worse than that were tactically naïve and unable to adapt to tactical challenges (like Italy in the 6N last year). You never learn by winning, but England are basically a good team of good players playing badly.Never mind them though, well done to Ireland, who were arguably the best team last year as well, and deserving winners and slam achievers.
Joey Ramone said:
Agreed. England forwards were clueless as usual, but the utter lack of direction or inspiration in the backs is woeful. Once the ball gets past Farrell, the quality of passing is shocking. Joseph, Brown and May in particular have genuinely limited skills in this respect. The one outside back on the field who passes like a fly half is Daly, and he was miles out in the wing, while another, Slade, wasn't even in the squad. The Premiership teams spend all their time lifting tin at the expense of developing clever rugby players.
on present form, I suspect you'd move Daly in one slot and bring in Solomona. JJ seems to have lost his way this season so until he finds it again he's out. T'eo the jury is still out on him since I suspect he's still not 100% given his injury, would be good to see it Manu T is up to speed again. May is a headless chicken and I'd prefer to see Wade out there, Brown.... well he's coming to the end of his term but based on yesterday Watson has some way to go 
(as an aside I understand that Daly is also a decent FB). Ford has, generally, been poor since his old man got sacked and seeing as we're never going to see Cips there how about Lazowski [sp].Front row: while Cole isn't old it could be he's in the same boat as Brown. Hartley I do like and think that he has been shafted by Gatland WRT the Lions (but again he's the architect of his own misfortunes too!) but this year has been (and I'll quote a review): Average in play, average in his motivation and decision making, Hartley is Captain Average.
We have been unlucky in losing BV since I suspect that even the AB's would miss him - the difference being they'd know what to do without him. We need a couple+ decent flankers and I understand that we do have them (Curry twins, Underhill and others) but there are injuries. 2nd row we are well stocked with Lawes, Launch, Kruz, Itoje (when he finds form again).
warch said:
I know what you mean but I think a poor showing is the best possible outcome for England. They were getting cocky and complacent (not helped by Eddie Jones) and worse than that were tactically naïve and unable to adapt to tactical challenges (like Italy in the 6N last year). You never learn by winning, but England are basically a good team of good players playing badly.
Never mind them though, well done to Ireland, who were arguably the best team last year as well, and deserving winners and slam achievers.
As long as everyone doesn't panic, I would suggest that for the World Cup, it's been, as you say, the best outcome for England. Given the quality of the players, it is remarkable how poorly they did.Never mind them though, well done to Ireland, who were arguably the best team last year as well, and deserving winners and slam achievers.
I'd disagree with your last sentence. I doubt there's any argument about Ireland being the best team. OK, so I'm half Irish, but the gap on points is remarkable. The GS is a difficult goal, and Ireland eased into it.
I'm not suggesting they found it easy, but they were well ahead of the opposition. Everyone else was an also ran.
Derek Smith said:
warch said:
I know what you mean but I think a poor showing is the best possible outcome for England. They were getting cocky and complacent (not helped by Eddie Jones) and worse than that were tactically naïve and unable to adapt to tactical challenges (like Italy in the 6N last year). You never learn by winning, but England are basically a good team of good players playing badly.
Never mind them though, well done to Ireland, who were arguably the best team last year as well, and deserving winners and slam achievers.
As long as everyone doesn't panic, I would suggest that for the World Cup, it's been, as you say, the best outcome for England. Given the quality of the players, it is remarkable how poorly they did.Never mind them though, well done to Ireland, who were arguably the best team last year as well, and deserving winners and slam achievers.
I'd disagree with your last sentence. I doubt there's any argument about Ireland being the best team. OK, so I'm half Irish, but the gap on points is remarkable. The GS is a difficult goal, and Ireland eased into it.
I'm not suggesting they found it easy, but they were well ahead of the opposition. Everyone else was an also ran.
France did run them close in the first game though, albeit at home where they're much more imposing.
warch said:
You may have misread that Derek. What I meant was Ireland (who were obviously runners up last year) were arguably a better team than England even though we won the tournament. No one could argue that Ireland weren't a cut above everyone this year.
France did run them close in the first game though, albeit at home where they're much more imposing.
My apologies. France did run them close in the first game though, albeit at home where they're much more imposing.
El stovey said:
Scottish fans will be happy they won the Calcutta cup.
I am not sure Scotland has that much to be positive about really. Yes the Calcutta cup win was terrific ("auld enemy" and all that), but I think Scottish fans were justified in expecting more.Given the performance in the Autumn where we uncovered some extraordinary good form, given that we have finally found depth in players that can stand their own in test matches (fly-half excepted), given that our scrum held up despite losing countless experienced props to injury we really should have done much better.
Silly mistakes and lack of composure when other teams (England and Italy included) would not have messed up is very disappointing - Wales was a return to the bad old days, Ireland we played as well as the Irish at times but lacked the composure and confidence to take the chances we had. Italy was a mix of the Ireland and Wales game - only plus being we still scored plenty of tries.
The lack of consistency is very frustrating for Scotland.
Shamrock_ said:
I attended my first ever Rugby game yesterday at Twickenham and it was fantastic!
I am used to attending football matches as an away fan and the experience at London grounds is normally very unpleasant however yesterday was very similar to attending an Irish football match or a Merseyside derby.
Both sets of fans mixed and created a wonderful positive atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed as an away supporter in this country.
I found the game very entertaining despite trying to figure out the rules on the fly and being there in the flesh to witness an amazing historic event will be something I always treasure.
However the respect, warmth and sportsmanship of the players and fans will stick with me forever and may have well created a new rugby fan.
I am looking forward to attending my next rugby game. Is club rugby similar in terms of the fans mixing and sporting respect?
A great tournament and incredible fans. Football could learn a lot from rugby, fans and players alike.
I'm a long time lurker on here and an even longer time English rugby fan, Played front row for also ran teams for 30 years or so.I am used to attending football matches as an away fan and the experience at London grounds is normally very unpleasant however yesterday was very similar to attending an Irish football match or a Merseyside derby.
Both sets of fans mixed and created a wonderful positive atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed as an away supporter in this country.
I found the game very entertaining despite trying to figure out the rules on the fly and being there in the flesh to witness an amazing historic event will be something I always treasure.
However the respect, warmth and sportsmanship of the players and fans will stick with me forever and may have well created a new rugby fan.
I am looking forward to attending my next rugby game. Is club rugby similar in terms of the fans mixing and sporting respect?
A great tournament and incredible fans. Football could learn a lot from rugby, fans and players alike.
This is one of the best posts I've read, and surely shows the inherent camaraderie, brotherhood and friendship that this game is all about.
Dieter7S4 said:
I'm a long time lurker on here and an even longer time English rugby fan, Played front row for also ran teams for 30 years or so.
This is one of the best posts I've read, and surely shows the inherent camaraderie, brotherhood and friendship that this game is all about.
You see it in most rugby threads on here also. Fans from most of the 6N posting and a great thread. This is one of the best posts I've read, and surely shows the inherent camaraderie, brotherhood and friendship that this game is all about.
s2kjock said:
I am not sure Scotland has that much to be positive about really. Yes the Calcutta cup win was terrific ("auld enemy" and all that), but I think Scottish fans were justified in expecting more.
Given the performance in the Autumn where we uncovered some extraordinary good form, given that we have finally found depth in players that can stand their own in test matches (fly-half excepted), given that our scrum held up despite losing countless experienced props to injury we really should have done much better.
Silly mistakes and lack of composure when other teams (England and Italy included) would not have messed up is very disappointing - Wales was a return to the bad old days, Ireland we played as well as the Irish at times but lacked the composure and confidence to take the chances we had. Italy was a mix of the Ireland and Wales game - only plus being we still scored plenty of tries.
The lack of consistency is very frustrating for Scotland.
Good post.Given the performance in the Autumn where we uncovered some extraordinary good form, given that we have finally found depth in players that can stand their own in test matches (fly-half excepted), given that our scrum held up despite losing countless experienced props to injury we really should have done much better.
Silly mistakes and lack of composure when other teams (England and Italy included) would not have messed up is very disappointing - Wales was a return to the bad old days, Ireland we played as well as the Irish at times but lacked the composure and confidence to take the chances we had. Italy was a mix of the Ireland and Wales game - only plus being we still scored plenty of tries.
The lack of consistency is very frustrating for Scotland.
Townsend's attacking style is nice to watch and makes for interesting matches, but they have to develop some patience to go with it.
Many chances were burned because someone tried to force a pass rather than set up another phase.
JonChalk said:
Quite honestly, unless you're Ireland, no other nation should be proud of their points and PD relative to the winners.
Basically Ireland won and everyone else lost!
Considering the players Wales were without (at various stages) I think finishing second is pretty remarkable.Basically Ireland won and everyone else lost!
Baldwin, Jake Ball, Warburton, Lydiate, Faletau, Webb, Biggar, Priestland, Jon Davies, North, Amos, Liam Williams etc. Besides that, England V Wales 2018 had 4 players that featured in the same fixture in 2016, by comparison England had 9, I think that says a lot about the depth that is now becoming available to the Welsh Selectors.
It's nice to be interested in the team selection, a few years back you would know Gatland's team regardless of the players form
schmalex said:
Was i right in witnessing Mike Brown actually do a pass?! It was just the one and very small, but quite a revelation!
It's a bit of a conundrum, really...I don't think he passed even once for England in last year's Six Nations, yet he did so several times for his first game back at Quins afterwards, and usually offloads two or three per game for us.
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