Rugby - Laissez la balle, Bleus!

[finbar]

Thanks, but I saw the match! At around 2.30pm, desperate, I turned on the TV and hunted through all the channels. Lo and behold, one of the obscure free-to-air channels is showing the 6 Nations! I get to see Scotland squash England at 5 o'clock.



Frustrating match for an Italian to watch. Enthusiasm and endeavour will never beat skill. I think France pretty much cruised after the first 25 minutes, capitalising on Italian mistakes, producing a couple of flashes of terrific rugby. The Italians defended well but just don't have the attacking skills - either the players, or the tactics. With all the possession they had, endless one-out charges into a defensive wall will get you nowhere. In fact, change the colour of the Italian socks, stick a red rose and a mobile phone logo on their chests, and they could have been England from last season.

I was pleased to see such a strong effort from S. Chabal. Much like he plays in English club football whenever I see him. I thought the French fullback did some nice things, too.

I suppose we have to wait and see what they do against better teams.

PS. I forgot to add a little poll.

How many times was the French defence onside?

(a) Never.

(b) Just about almost never.

(c) Very very nearly never.

[finbar]

Gee, I've never spent 80 minutes in someone else's dream before. About now, I expect J. Wilkinson is waking up, shaking his head and wishing his return to rep rugby could be just as he'd dreamed it.

I reckon the fundamental difference between this England team and last season's team - J. Wilkinson aside - is the coaching. Exit a dunderhead forwards coach, enter a backs coach with some obvious rugby clues and people skills. He has instilled confidence, granted freedom, and, I suspect, bestowed trust. Look at H. Ellis' effort.

They exploited Scotland's weaknesses. And there were many. Lund's try was a joke.

J. Wilkinson is simply a class act. I'm still not sure about A. Farrell. What he did, he did with style. He has lovely hands. I suspect a lack of pace might find him out against better centres. Still, it shows the value of using a playmaker at #12, it was his first outing in this company, and he unleashed M. Tindall to do some things that M. Tindall probably hasn't done since he was a teenager.

On the rare couple of occasions that Scotland were in a serious position to score, the England defence was wonky.

We shall see how they perform against better teams. At least this will have given them confidence.

[LDiCesare]

I suppose we'll read Havak's comments tomorrow after he's recovered from the beer he must've been drinking tonight.
I think Ellis performed really well behind a very powerful English pack. Still, the Scots are not much of an opposition.
As for the French defense, you may have a point, though I didn't watch that closely. They certainly arrived quickly on the attackers. I suppose it's just because they are very fast.

[finbar]

It's called being many metres offside!

BTW, I notice there's some Scot fury over the J. Wilkinson try. I'm not surprised. His leg was grounded in touch before he grounded the ball. I was amazed when the TMO gave it.

[ravagon]

Finally got to see a bit of cricket the other night. It's just going from bad to worse for those English chaps - very careless. Fancy letting a group of people break into their locker room, steal their uniforms and take to the field in their place.

Looks as though Jonny W. had a pretty good comeback too.
And J. Robinson.

My plan to fool Havak into thinking English sport is on the way back is coming along nicely ...

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia


Nah, I reckon the Hurricanse would have a chance too.

Not if the Reds can beat them.

Methinks the S14 form is going to be hard to nail down this year with the AB players being rested.

[LDiCesare]

Yes, Wilkinson's try was not valid as his leg has touched the soil before his grounding the ball. The French commentator (Jerome Cazalbou, former Toulouse scrum half) was amazed too when the try was awarded.
Not that it would have changed much to the game.

[finbar]

Ireland did enough. Some classy stuff in the backs, not enough control in the forwards. Wales spent a lot of time going sideways, hence, nowhere. I can't imagine how the ref and the linesman missed the Welsh winger being tackled without the ball, probably costing them a try. Yes I can. The ref was K. Deaker.

[LDiCesare]

Indeed not winger had a quite good game and should have scored hadn't he been tackled. The ref performed quite poorly overall in this match. Didn't penalise the Irish as much as they should have been in the rucks, didn't see the various welsh offsides in defense, couldn't see that illegal tackle. I'm sure the welsh will be able to excuse their defeat because of that.
Unfortunately, neither this match nor France's yesterday gave any serious hint as to who has the better chance to win next sunday.

[finbar]

My money's on France. They can do everything Ireland does, only better.

[Havak]

Given your wonderfully accurate prediction for Scoltand v England I wouldn't put too much money on France Finbar.

Nah, I reckon the Hurricanse would have a chance too.

Is that Tana’s old mob? Don’t they flirt with the play offs without really troubling the final?

Flavell sent off? That is hard to believe.

We really lacked our usual fullback and some expreienced wingers on this match

Forwards win matches – girlie backs give them away.

the French were really good, with a very strong defense, or whether the Italians were a bit weak

In all honesty I think it told us more about Italy. Croke Park next weekend will tell us all about where France are.

They exploited Scotland's weaknesses. And there were many. Lund's try was a joke.

Yes. But let us keep in mind that it was Scotland and that they still leaked two soft tries.

Ellis finally delivered his club form to England. His distribution was quick and accurate and as you saw his sniping causes teams all sorts of trouble. He is also very strong and gave Scotland trouble every time the first tackle on him was not spot on.

It was nice to see Wilko play so well – we have certainly missed him. I just hope he can stay fit.

The Scotland coach has got it all in perspective though – instead of sorting out his team for the ludicrous situation where Lund scored from a 1 on 4 because all four defenders were too close in guarding the ruck he instead picked on Wilkos try as being the ludicrously unfair moment that cost them the game.

Unfortunately he has a point in a way – as Finbar has highlighted it actually wasn’t a try and that is a shame as the move was good enough to deserve it to have been. That it was given by the Irish TMO is hardly Wilkos or England’s fault.

I also defy any ref to be able to judge it in real time – my instinct ‘live’ was that it was a good score.

I'm still not sure about A. Farrell

I guess for a first cap it was pretty positive. Nice to have a 9-10-12 all with good hands for once. He missed a couple of crucial tackles that would be more costly against better opposition.

I suppose it's just because they are very fast.

Excellent line!

My plan to fool Havak into thinking English sport is on the way back is coming along nicely ...

I thought I saw your delicate hand behind it.

Cracking line about the cricket uniforms btw.

Put yourself in the Aussie’s shoes and ask who they would rather face in the final – an England team that they know they can beat at will or an NZ team that has shown it can compete well with them?

[finbar]

J. Wilkinson's try never looked legit to me. The original head-on coverage in real time showed his leg on the ground. Not that it matters now.

What I enjoyed most about the England performance was the sheer energy. Last season, against similar sort of oppo, England would labour. I think it has to be B. Ashton's influence. I'll reserve judgement on A. Farrell. But I think the Irish centres, fit, would expose him.

The Hurricanes have been frequent semi-finalists. I think they made the final a year or so ago. The trouble, this season, is that the AB players are being rested, so the results are going to be unpredictable.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar


Not if the Reds can beat them.

Methinks the S14 form is going to be hard to nail down this year with the AB players being rested.

Yeah, true. I hadn't thought about that.

I reckon it'll be the Blues this year.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Havak
Is that Tana’s old mob? Don’t they flirt with the play offs without really troubling the final?

Yeah, but they can be unpredictable. I reckon they have the talent to pull it off...someday. As finbar pointed out though, they lost to the Reds so this year probably isn't the one.

Flavell sent off? That is hard to believe.

He thinks the ref likes him 'cos he keeps giving him these pretty yellow cards.

[ravagon]

I just read that Michalak may be on his way to the S14 next year!
He's one of the few NH players that I tend to think could make an impact should he make the (shot in the ribs for Havak ) jump up to the level of the S14.
Unfortunately, with the NZRFU following the Australians in banning players from their respective S14 teams unless eligible for the national team, it looks as though he'll be restricted to playing for one of the Bok outfits.
I know he did have injury issues but could this be related to fallout from the French withdrawl from the HC in any way?
I wonder if we might see one or two more following suit.


Oh and nobody mention the cricket.