Rugby - 6 Nations, Heineken Cup, You Can't Beat A Northern Hemisphere Winter!

[finbar]

Speaking of which, my consolation this week is that the Irish front row is usually little better than the scratch Wallaby outfit.

EDIT. Oh, and vis-a-vis the Maori game, I didn't see any of it but Hosea Gear will cut any defence to shreds on his day. Amazing broken field runner. He missed a chunk of S14 with injury and is probably back on the AB radar. He's had a few opportunities in the past but hasn't taken them. Probably fair to say that his all-round game has been found a bit wanting, particularly turning and under the high ball. Needs to do more than just excel at broken-field running.

[Havak]

I'd rather he had not excelled at broken field running this week.

[finbar]

Amazing. There is a worse front row in world rugby than this scratch Wallaby mob. Cripes, the Irish front row should be embarrassed, and if the ref'd had his eyes open, the Wallaby pack should have had at least two scrum penalties. That aside, the Irish were game, the Wallabies all over the shop. I have no idea what Drew Mitchell's problem is - mishandling like he's a schoolboy - and Kurtley Beale's decision to chip through rather than skip around a prop and score a simply try was dumbfounding. Robbie Deans must be going grey.

The ABs weren't much better. Their garbage handling never really let them get out of first gear and the Welsh, game to say the least, were allowed to stay in the game. The Boks must be giggling.

[LDiCesare]

France managed to play worse than against South Africa. I was unconvinced by Porical. Wasn't that good in the championship imo, and rather lost in the game. Mazars was quite good, while Fritz was yellow-carded for a reason that remains a mystery to me, but Lièvremont replaced Mazars rather than Fritz... I don't think that was the best choice.
The French forwards were bad. They held their ground in the scrums most of the time but managed to lose one (although honestly, Yachvili's putting in was really bad that time) resulting in an argentinan try.
It's a terrible tour. It really looks like the players just didn't want to play.

[finbar]

It really looks like the players just didn't want to play.

Still, at least one of the players hasn't called the coach a son of a dirty whore - that we know of - and been sent home with the other players going on strike unless he's reinstated.

[LDiCesare]

Yes, they behaved properly this time, and were decent enough to beat Argentina A. Not like the millionaires on vacation in South Africa.
It remains unbelievable to see Szarzewski lose three balls to the opponent in mauls. How can an international level pack lose this way is beyond my understanding. When it happens once at my level we already rage and wonder how we can be that bad. We can invoke lack of technique, it's often due to players being late or not coordinating right. The national team shouldn't ever have this happen three times in a match.

[finbar]

Speaking of the millionaires on hols in South Africa, my neighbour Lorenzo told me weeks ago that Italy would be lucky to make it past the pool stage. Inter (Milan), who won the triple crown this year - Serie A, Italian Cup, Champions League - contributed one player to the national squad, a chap who's a reserve for Inter at best. Because the bulk of the rest of the Inter squad are foreigners. Shades of English rugby, really, except most of their rugby foreigners are average at best and England ends up selecting the qualified ones anyway.

[kittenOFchaos]

Wales...still all talk, no trousers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8764921.stm

As for English football. Lets get a manager who can speak English...please?

[finbar]

Is that the lump of a Welsh half back pulling himself about the ABs being there for the taking? Delusion is widespread in the Valleys. Shellacked in the first Test, competitive in the second only because the ABs handled like schoolboys, were happy to take penalties, and experimented with their combinations and line up for the Tri Nations to come?

As to that other matter that is called s*****, England needs to find some seriously talented players. This so-called Golden Generation is a group of quite talented chaps - one or two with some class - who are made to look better than they are when surrounded by top class foreign players when playing for their clubs. Thrown together, without the top class cushion around them, the harsh realities are exposed. And that's enough said about a very silly game that refuses to use available technology presumably for fear that it will expose the refs and touchies as the incompetents they obviously are.

EDIT. In the Premier League, only 37% of players are English or England-eligible. QED.

[Havak]

At least all those b***** stupid flags will disappear off of cars now.

Mike Phillips - what a doofus. Tidily put away by a misfiring NZ outfit and he thinks they are there for the taking? Sheesh.

*Strewth everyone is walking around this morning with faces like a wet weeklend in Wales. Did they really expect the kissballers to get through despite all the evidence from this tournament up to that point that Germany were a giant step too far for them.

Okay I'll yellow card myself Finbar.

[kittenOFchaos]

At least all those b***** stupid flags will disappear off of cars now.

Boo, I have to take my flags off now

[Havak]

Quite right too. Such jingoistic tokens should be saved for righteous sports - not ones where PR is all and ability is nothing.

Oh hold on.....

[finbar]

The only flag that should be allowed near a car is the red one carried by the chap walking in front of it to warn people of the car's approach but then I might be showing my age.

[finbar]

So the Borthwick knee eventually saves J****'s face. If you'll pardon the body-part metaphor. "It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we've got in that area", says J****. Ho hum. The fact was that poor old Steve was never in the top rank of available locks, nor anything like an inspiring leader. Only J****'s rank stubbornness prolonged the agony. That aside, it looks like a squad with the perennial problem - a lot of the Saxons should be in the main squad and vice versa. Oh, and hopefully a citing official and judiciary panel will get it right one day and clean up Attwood the stamper.

[Caligastia]

This thread's title is a bit out of date now, and it looks like the 500-post cap has been lifted so maybe we should come up with a title for a permanent rugby thread.

Finbar - are there any in your archives that might deserve re-use?