Which Tyler Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 I think Australia generally played the better rugby; whereas England played the conditions (far) better. I actually felt sorry for the Aussies after that last 5 minutes... I soon recovered though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Burn the heretic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Sorry for the delay - but I only noticed this morning. Aus nabbed the Raeburn Shield of the All Blacks in the 3rd and final Bledisloe Cup match of the year; then defended it against Wales; and handed it over to England. So we've got to defend the shield against Samoa, and then hopefully carry it through the 6N! [www.raeburnshield.com] For those who don't know: The Raeburn Shield is a Challenge Trophy to be put up by the current holder, or defender, in every match it plays home or away (in the same manner as a world boxing title). The winner would either remain or become the holder. It stretches back in this manner from the very first game of International Rugby Union in 1871 between Scotland and England played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh (Hence the name). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 On 11/20/2017 at 9:33 PM, Which Tyler said: For those who don't know: The Raeburn Shield is a Challenge Trophy to be put up by the current holder, or defender, in every match it plays home or away (in the same manner as a world boxing title). The winner would either remain or become the holder. Isn't that a knock off Ranfurly Shield so shouldn't you have to win away? England through to the Rugby League World Cup final after a semifinal against Tonga in which they were pretty much in control of for about 75 minutes and then desperately hanging on for the last 5. I really though we were getting a last second defeat in a repeat of last time out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted November 25, 2017 Author Share Posted November 25, 2017 It is indeed; and whilst I was unaware that the Ranfurly was only contested away from home; international teams don't really play enough to justify that. Not that I wrote the "rules" of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Record win over the Aussies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 32 minutes ago, The Number 10 said: Record win over the Aussies! Scotland seem to have a knack of beating Australia. I’m not a massive fan of that red card for Kepu though. It’s not the wrong decision, it’s a red under the rules, but you get contact to the head that bad or worse in rucks multiple times a game. It seems a bit harsh to punish Kepu because his was easier to see than usual. Still, Scotland were playing pretty well before the red and they took advantage well. I like Price at 9, they’ve got a good back line now so it helps to give them quick ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 14 minutes ago, ljkeane said: Scotland seem to have a knack of beating Australia. I’m not a massive fan of that red card for Kepu though. It’s not the wrong decision, it’s a red under the rules, but you get contact to the head that bad or worse in rucks multiple times a game. It seems a bit harsh to punish Kepu because his was easier to see than usual. Still, Scotland were playing pretty well before the red and they took advantage well. I like Price at 9, they’ve got a good back line now so it helps to give them quick ball. Things are really clicking at the moment. It seems that we have the right coach with a good bunch of players. Worth noting that wasn't our strongest team as well. They were possibly judging the card on intent and it was definitely dangerous in my opinion. It'll still end in glorious failure at the 6 Nations though I'm sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Great win for Scotland, although we'll have to wonder whether they could still have won without Kepu's moment of madness - I think they had a good chance but it's difficult to say for sure. 1 hour ago, The Number 10 said: Worth noting that wasn't our strongest team as well. On paper it definitely wasn't, but some of the players who are filling in for the injured have impressed enough that they could become first-choice in their own right - Ali Price seems to offer more incisiveness in attack than Laidlaw, McInally has been very good at hooker and McGuigan looks to be an exciting talent. It'll still end in glorious failure at the 6 Nations though I'm sure! I think the other teams will be nervous about Scotland, but I'm not sure they'll win consistently enough to challenge for the title. The scrum could continue to be a concern, although Marfo has been a good find there's still a risk they could get outmatched by the others teams if there's a couple of injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Our scrum and line out was being dominated from the word go. This partly went away when they started doing 7 man scrums, but we still sucked at the line out. That'll be a concern in the 6N. But good god does it feel great to leave Murrayfield with a solid win over a team like Australia. All too often it's 'we almost did it, what plucky underdogs we are.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 46 minutes ago, The BlackBear said: But good god does it feel great to leave Murrayfield with a solid win over a team like Australia. All too often it's 'we almost did it, what plucky underdogs we are.' I'm sure a few years ago Scotland would have either lost or just narrowly won against a 14-man Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 The Six Nations starts this weekend. Hopefully it should be pretty competitive this year. Ireland look strong, England have a few injury issues but they do have the advantage of playing Ireland and Wales at home, Scotland are coming off the back of some strong performances in the summer and in the Autumn Internationals. Wales have a lot of injuries but I think they've been a bit too conservative with selection for a while so it might do them some good long term to get some form players, mainly from the Scarlets, some game time. I don't think France or Italy are in any danger of winning the tournament but the French might get some new manager bounce and Italy do seem to be improving a bit at club level so that might translate to some more competitive performances. Anyway some predictions: Wales vs Scotland: A lot of new players for Wales but most of them play together for the Scarlets so they should be on the same wavelength. If they play like they do at club level it's one of the more attacking lineups Wales have put out for some time and Scotland play entertaining rugby too (good to see Townsend has stuck with the Price-Russell combination despite Laidlaw being fit) so it could be a pretty good game. I think the extra international experience should give Scotland the edge though. France vs Ireland: New coach for France and a new 18 year old flyhalf who I've never seen play so who knows how it'll go? Hopefully they'll be good although Brunel tends to be conservative, picking an 18 year old at 10 is fairly adventurous though so maybe they'll go for it. If the team on the BBC is right starting with 14 players would an even more bold tactical choice. Ireland just look solid. I like the more dynamic second row with Henderson and Ryan and, although I'm not a huge fan of his selection, Bundee Aki's a very good player in the centres. It's hard to see anything other than an Ireland win. Italy vs England: England aren't missing as many starting players as Wales but the lack of both Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes is a fairly big issue for them. The way they usually play they rely on forward runners off 9 generating quick ball for the backs but, while I like Simmonds, he's not going to be consistently smashing over the gainline against set defences. I suspect that's why they've rushed Te'o back in but how they respond to an adjusted game plan will be interesting. I don't think they'll lose it might be an indicator of how the championship is going to go how much difficulty they have in winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 This could be the most competitive 6 Nations for years! Or England could run away with it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Nope, most competitive. Over in Italy, Treviso have discovered starength and conditioning, and have started experimenting with tactics. They won't win much but they should compete harder for longer. In France... well, in France everything's still f***ed as LNR hold all the aces and FFR is in complete disarray. Of course, being French, they can still find a performance out of all that, and may challenge one of the B&I teams, but unlikely to be genuinely competitive in more than one of those matches. Perennial dark horses, but I wouldn't predict more than 3 wins for them. Scotland have developed under Cotter, and further improved under Gregor, and can beat any 6N team on their day. With France and England back-to-back at Murray field... they should win the first, whilst the second is 50:50. Raise your game after beating France, and I'll put you as favourites; if we get to welcome back a real #8, and our half backs find their form, then England would be favourites. Should beat Italy and France. Wales are still hampered by Garland, though he looks like he might actually be trying something new for him since the Lions tour, they've introduced a second dimension to their midfield, and the strike runners out wide should mean that they can afford not to have GNorth. Should beat Italy and Scotland, home advantage to make the France match interesting. England are winning matches but not particularly playing well. Our skipper isn't our best in his position - all fit, is he even top3 for us? We've run out of #8s, leaving us with 1 experienced backrowers, so we're playing a 5 at 6; a 6 at 7 and a 7 at 8; we also don't want to compete at the breakdown... Youngs and Ford are out of form at club level, whilst Farrell doesn't hold defences and Te'o is too wide to influence things... We could equally end up with 3 wins as 5, 4 being the most likely. Ireland are the form team in the NH, and the best placed to take advantage of England's weaknesses (6-12). I expect them to arrive in the final weekend unbeaten. Playing England at Twickenham that week should be the match of the tournie; they're best equipped to beat us, but home advantage, injury returnees and 2 months together could well be enough to counter that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 I may have to take some of that back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Not the best start for my predictions. Wales batter Scotland and France really should have beaten Ireland when they got the late penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Happy with that start. Disappointed they let Scotland score at the end but can't have it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 A bit of a mixed bag from England today. They scored a few really good tries and ultimately won fairly comfortably but in between scoring tries they didn't really control the match that well and Italy opened them up a few times. Simmonds did well on his debut although he played a different role than England's eight's normally do, racking up a really high tackle rate and then scoring with an outside break in the centres (after popping out the other side of a collapsed maul for his first). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 The Six Nations is being broadcast this year in the US on NBCSports. I’ll finally get to watch it. Johnny Sexton’s heroic drop kick saved Ireland. We have a huge mental block about winning in Paris, even when this French team is below their historic standards. To be fair, the French did really well to defend forty phases by the Irish before Sexton broke their hearts. The French must have thought they had kept him out of drop goal range. Hopefully the Irish will get more fluid and build some momentum toward the finale at Twickenham. Wales trounced the Scots. So much for Scotland’s form in the warm-up games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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