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

[kittenOFchaos]

Well what he said is true - Monye is fast, runs straight and never takes the blinkers off so doesn't get distracted by passing the ball or any such whimsical nonsense.

Armitage is fast, just back from injury and hasn't played well for two consecutive minutes yet in this campaign.

And Cueto is lightening fast....no, hold on you are right, Cusiter has forgotten who they are actually playing!

It will be a physical challenge though. However Scotland have a loose forward line up that moves ball nice and quickly, something needed in the modern game. England have two stodgy donkeys and a brand name who has a nasty tendency to go totally awol in games (although not back to Paris).

I'm not worried in the slightest....

Armitage has been a major disappointment this 6 Nations, but it isn't his fault he is being played so soon after being laid up for so long. Armitage was one of the best players last campaign, but it has been very evident he isn't anywhere near his best.

Monye is extremely fast, but he is kicking the ball away and badly at that so completely nullifies his pace. What he does provide is alot of coverage of the pitch.

Cueto is class. He may be considered to have lost pace, but you couldn't ask for a more solid player in that he rarely makes mistakes, defends well, takes the high ball well and has a big boot. Give his the ball in a scoring situation and he will finish for you unless the video ref needs to go to spec savers. Sale miss this guy so much when he is on International duty.


As for this weekend, Scotland go into this the better team in my view as long as they keep Phil Godman away from the action. Please don't let him play!!!

[finbar]

Scotland are in with a shout if their defence and discipline holds up. England have the potential to score more tries, by which I mean I also have the potential to leave Usain Bolt in my wake in a 100m dash. The thing is, Scotland have even less potential to score tries than England. It might take only one Scottish defensive error. That's the pity.

[Havak]

Cueto is a decent player - way better than he was five years ago (smarter) but he doesn't have outstanding pace.

The worry for me is that Cole aside all the form talent is actually on the bench. that is not the way to win games?

And the delusion in the squad truly worries me - you can't fix problems that you do not accept exist! Take this quote from Crabby Care for example:

"We're working hard in training on that last finishing touch".

Better off working on securing quick ball and on picking it off the deck and passing it in one move rather than picking, crabbing three steps and passing. No point refining your finishing touch if the oppo have time to build the siegfried line before the scrummy ships it?

[finbar]

That's two matches Scotland should have won. Poor stupid b*stards. Suicided against the Welsh, and paid for their ongoing complete inability to capitalise on possession and score. If they'd had an inkling of an iota of a notion how to create or take an opportunity, they'd have won comfortably against a lumpen, directionless, lumbering, clueless England. Scotland played the rugby; England, well, I don't know what they were doing. Give Scotland a decent backs coach and some imagination and they could be a decent team.

J**** "rues a lack of slickness". Well, it's your fault, boyo, for picking players who wouldn't know slick if it bit them on the gonads while the real talent sits on the bench or goes home to their clubs. Berk.

I have no idea what's happened to Wales. They're going further and further backwards. Sloppy, predictable, clueles. They have one mode of attack through Roberts and the defence just camps on him. End of attack. Ireland, yet again, did what they needed to do with clinical professionalism. Keith Earls also looks like he's developing into a very handy player.

[kittenOFchaos]

Scotland Vs England

Alot of huff and puff, alot of big tackles and running into contact and some spirited charges but rarely any running rugby.

Scotland were the better team and were on the offensive for most of the game, however England slowed the ball down that it was hard to find holes in the defensive. The point is that the referee did nothing to effectively stop England slowing down every contact...too many chances given to teams over this issue. Cheating at the contact is what is turning NH rugby into such a slug-fest.

Talking of slug-fests...the scrums.

The referee needs help in this area, someone able to slow down the action and look in at what is actually going on and on the far side in particular. And just by chance we have a man in a van who can get slow mo-ed pictures fed with just a few seconds delay behind the real action. The referee whilst doing a reset could very quickly and easily get an opinion from the TV Match Official and penalise appropriately. Stopping the clock during scrums would also stop the game disappearing into watching two front rows being total pussies all day.

[finbar]

Actually it was one of the more depressing rugby matches I've seen. Scotland had enough quick ball via their forwards - how many times did they turn England over? how far superior were Scotland's back row to England's? how big a waste of space was Haskell once more? - to score if they had the ability. That's their problem. It's been their problem for several years - no guile in the backs, no cunning, no angles, no subterfuge. They either play laterally behind the gain line and eventually run into tackles, or just run straight into tackles. They frustrate me hugely. There's a very decent side in the making if someone can only drum some smarts into the backline. Parks doesn't help either. As good with the boot as he is, he ranks with Wilko for inability to generate backline action.

The fundamental problem with the scrums was illegal binding, mainly from both Cole and his opposite number. They were grabbing arms, not shirts. Beats me why the touchie didn't see it. Beats me why the ref didn't see it when it was three feet from him.

[finbar]

I'm not sure that France even got into second gear today. Some sublime skills. Gee, that Andreu can motor a bit, too. Even if they switched off to allow Italy's couple of tries, it's frustrating to see what Italy can manage when they dare to take a chance with ball in hand instead of aimless, terrible kicking. They have to try it more often. Gower has skills, as do some around him, certainly more than they show on a regular basis.

I notice today that J**** has decided that he saw improvement yesterday. Where exactly?

[LDiCesare]

France played well but Italy once again kicked ball at the opposition stupidly. You can probably survive doing that against England or Scotland, but against a team with players like Poitrenaud, Andreu and Harinordoquy today that was not a good idea. They started playing at after about 1h of game, when McLean ran instead of kicking in his 22's. Then they seemed to realise that maybe they could hold on the ball and actually use it. Even though they got trounced, I hope Italy can get better after this match. They might still win a second match in the tournament this year after all.
The French need to stay concentrated when they are ahead of their opponent. Otherwise, we're in for a nasty comeback soon, as almost happened against Wales.

I was very pleased with Andreu. Not so much with Palisson, who was a bit weak in defense when he came in at full back. It's still strange that he's the only player from Castres in the team, and that there are only 2 players from Perpignan too.

[finbar]

France played well but Italy once again kicked ball at the opposition stupidly. You can probably survive doing that against England or Scotland

They did. Won one, could have won the other. If they'd had the courage to throw the ball around, they would have won the one they didn't win.

[Havak]

Fairly meaningless as that is given I could have won it with 22 clones of myself.

It is hard to convey to you the impression Martin's "improvement" quotes have had here. lets just say the knives are out for him amongst the fans now.

An indomitable will makes for a great captain - but not for a great coach. Problem solving step one - admit the problem.

It took me three days to summon the courage to make any comment on the **** England served up on saturday. I am beyond despair with them now. the site of Flood standing nice and flat whilst Flutey lurked back in the stands just about summed up the playing by numbers in that they didn't even adjust when the stand off changed - stupidity.

[LDiCesare]

The biggest issue with England now is that, if any one team is able to lose against England, it is France.
We can lose to anybody. Just depends on the day.

[finbar]

A French loss to England will be a tragedy for English rugby based on J****'s latest contribution:

"It is not the ambition as much as the execution that is hurting us."

Still, he's released Monye and Armitage. One step forward. He's also released Lawes. One step backwards. And Matty Tait's spot is apparently threatened by Mike Tindall. A giant step backwards. End result: England going even further backwards.

[Havak]

Not threatened. Taken.

And why select Flood if the tortoise retains the nine shirt?

France will need to have a really bad day for an upset to occur.

[finbar]

And Tindall's selection is so symptomatic. Defensive, negative. Tait fell off a couple of tackles last week, but the back row was AWOL, too. Is Tindall alone going to stop Bastareaud? Anyway, he's not the threat. If I were J****, I'd be more worried about Jauzion. He did some glorious things last week.

I'll be interested to see how Ashton steps up. I watched him the other week for Saints. He showed some surprising nouse alongside his speed and finishing skills. Whether he sees any ball, of course, is another matter. As you say, unless Flutey's prepared to stand somewhere within 5 miles of Toby, it doesn't really matter.

[Havak]

Hard times to be an England fan indeed.

Some of the quotes from the camp this week truly beggar belief. The Tom Fordyce blog at the beeb site gives a flavour of the denial in action there....

Then again at the moment I think France have a good chance of stopping the 'banker' Kiwi RWC win - and the Boks certainly do. So life is not all bad.