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

[finbar]

I'm back. Thank goodness. Thirty six hours straight from Sydney to home. I'm just a bit weary. Good grief, Sydney has turned into the tropics. Our first weekend there - close to four inches of rain and never less than 30C.

The 6N still isn't covered by Fox Sports. Typical. I did, though, manage to catch the last ten minutes of Scotland-Wales on ESPN, ditto England-Italy. I'm still struggling to fathom how Scotland lost. And England looked dreadful. Italy could well have won, though I have no idea what happened prior to the last ten minutes. I have all the matches on tape so I'm going to skip through them tonight. If I can stay awake.

I did catch some S14. The Hurricanes were expected to beat the Blues comfortably. Typically, the 'Canes didn't start playing till the second half. They also tend only to start playing to their potential in the second half of the competition. It's an old problem of theirs.

[Havak]

Welcome back Finbar!

It might be andydog - Tigers certainly look clueless a lot at the moment. So the fact they top the table might support the antipodean view of the Premiership right now.

I'm clearly not up to speed on current Kiwi franchise pecking order - that Canes are now a premium franchise has caught me quite on the hop.

Nothing is as bad as being an England supporter though - with the possible exception of the Scot supporters. The last ten minutes in Rome were representative Finbar. However in the other game they saw Scotland self destruct entirely and now once again have Wales deluded into thinking they are world class.

I think the Flannery citing is going to enter rugby folklore - the player he kicked 'going for the ball' had actually picked up the ball already...

[LDiCesare]

I think the Flannery citing is going to enter rugby folklore - the player he kicked 'going for the ball' had actually picked up the ball already...

He's getting a 6-week ban.
I don't know if he pleaded that he tried to kick the ball at the hearing, though. Apparently he just pleaded guilty.

[finbar]

Well, I skimmed through all the matches. England looked quite good at times against Wales but they just lose the plot. The tactics against Italy were simply bizarre. They can't have been ordered. Can they? Wales are rubbish apart from some broken play, Scotland look better than last season (which isn't saying a lot), Ireland very disappointing. Italy were both terrible and quite good by their standards. France look the goods.

The 'Canes should be in the top couple of Kiwi franchises. They have the ability, and have had for quite a few seasons. They just don't produce it often enough.

[Havak]

I don't think there was malice in it - he is a woodentop after all - but it was stupid and deserves more than six weeks out.

Wales are world beaters Finbar - every WELSHMAN I have seen on a forum this week is saying so. There is no acceptance there that Scotland spectacularly self destructed. So they face France next yes And on paper will be facing a hammering.

England were so poor in Rome that it wouldn't surpise me if we hammer Ireland by thirty points. Because by rights they should bury us by fifty. I feel there is one big game in the vault for England - because that will prevent any helpful change in management or tactics so sods law says it has to happen.

Getting cynical in my old age.

Crusaders remain my Kiwi franchise of choice - for the sole reason more of Tigers Kiwi lads have hailed from Canterbury over the years than elsewhere. I am not hugely impressed to see the current score versus Reds therefore, with just twenty mins left.

[finbar]

Possibly the worst Crusaders' effort in their history. Something like 20 handling errors. Though, to be fair, the Reds were excellent. The Reds outplayed the Waratahs last week only to lose in the final seconds. Ewen McKenzie, swapping Paris for Queensland, seems to be achieving something.

Are Leicester still interested in Thomas Waldrom? He had a shocker. Lumbering, knocking on, giving away penalties.

It's been interesting seeing the S14 this season. The refs, en masse, are dynamite on defenders slowing the ball at the breakdown - not releasing, not rolling away, et al. No warnings, penalty. It seems to be a directive.

[Havak]

But SANZAR or IRB? It isn't so marked in the 6N.

Sounds like Thom will fit right in then? I understand we still expect to see him once S14 concludes.

A new star at stand off for Reds? Is he English?

[finbar]

Quade Cooper? The Kiwi? He covered himself in glory on the Wallaby tour before returning to Australia, going to winger Peter Hynes' stag night, getting rat-ar*ed, breaking into someone's house and pinching a couple of computers. The court case is still pending. I imagine he'll get a bond. Immensely gifted player yet to control himself off the field.

Cipriani off to the new Melbourne franchise. Interesting to see how the more open game suits him. At least he's going to Australia's most civilised city.

Fatty Goode off to the Sharks in South Africa for a month. The more open game won't suit him.

It's probably a SANZAR edict. Good thing too. The refs have been utterly consistent with the policy from the opening whistle. It's up to the players to conform.

[MOBIUS]

Wales are world beaters Finbar - every WELSHMAN I have seen on a forum this week is saying so. There is no acceptance there that Scotland spectacularly self destructed. So they face France next yes And on paper will be facing a hammering.

I think that's a bit out of order actually. Here in Cardiff there is basically the resignation that we're going to get rolled over by the French.

Our #9 is crap, our #2 is colour blind, and our starting second row has just been knocked out. Powell committed Golf Buggy suicide before he got pushed anyway, and the rest of the team is so complacent that they only feel they should actually bother playing in the second half of any game...

No, we're going to lose - only the most deluded person here actually expects to win. Apart from that, it's just wishful thinking.

Still, at least our games are more exciting to watch than England games...

[finbar]

Yes, and the Titanic took longer to sink than the Lusitania.

[LDiCesare]

Powell committed Golf Buggy suicide before he got pushed anyway

I'm not sure Powell is that much of an asset for Wales anyway. He's immensely strong and had a big physical presence, but he should really learn to pass the ball from time to time. Reminds me (in bigger and stronger) of a Welsh number 8 I used to play with: Huge defender, very hard to tackle, but when he eventually got down, you were almost certain to lose the ball. If only he had passed it after making the break. Powell would be really good if his offensive game was more varied.

[MOBIUS]

That's what I mean. His antics saved Gatland from dropping him anyway, I reckon. He's a one trick pony who's been found out.

[finbar]

Added to that, he strikes me as not very bright.

What happened to Sale? Where's KoC?

[Havak]

'Out of order' or not it was in my view a fair reading of the forums posts I had seen during the week - particularly the BBC ones. Some of your countrymen are even more delusional than Steve Borthwick is.

And yes your games are more exciting than England ones generally, so we were grateful for the way you livened up HQ recently.

Ah that was Copper was it - and he is a Kiwi. I'll have to be careful, musn't go being impressed by kiwis too often.

Sale are in total disarray - but I can't give the insight KoC could to that.

Tigers disposed of Glaws fairly easily today -and Lote once again showed what a loss he will be to the senior code.

[kittenOFchaos]

Added to that, he strikes me as not very bright.

What happened to Sale? Where's KoC?

What happened to Sale?

We sucked, we sucked bad despite on paper a team that looks half decent.

Don't really want to talk about it, but needless to say we need to sign some decent forwards and put a rocket up our forwards coach or at least give him more than one day a week with the forwards.

As for the backs, no team in England has the kick the ball away disease as bad as us. Personally I'd like a sniper in the stands to shoot any back who runs the ball back then boots it in the air to run onto. That would improve my enjoyment of English rugby considerably.