Hereward Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 17 hours ago, Valandil said: The only person we really can't afford to lose is Murray. The drop after him in class is too great at the moment. The Scots know this too so expect to see late hits, standing leg targeted attacks on him as we saw from Glasgow in ERC, with 15 Scot intls on the pitch. Excited about the tournament. Its going to be close I'd imagine no matter what. Scot's seem to be resurgent, just hope it doesn't all click v Ireland Having watched Kieran Marmion in the Champion's Cup, I find that difficult to believe. Also, excited, but nervous about the 6N. I'd be happier if it weren't for the injuries to Vunipola Major and Minor, Robshaw, Haskell, Watson and, apparently, Kruis again, plus the terrible form of Ben Youngs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 3 hours ago, Hereward said: Having watched Kieran Marmion in the Champion's Cup, I find that difficult to believe. Also, excited, but nervous about the 6N. I'd be happier if it weren't for the injuries to Vunipola Major and Minor, Robshaw, Haskell, Watson and, apparently, Kruis again, plus the terrible class of Youngs & Care. FTFY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 On 31/01/2017 at 4:11 PM, Valandil said: Excited about the tournament. Its going to be close I'd imagine no matter what. Scot's seem to be resurgent, just hope it doesn't all click v Ireland Scotland have a tendency to start tournaments poorly - admittedly sometimes that's just starting as they mean continue, but they have often improved as the Six Nations goes on - and Ireland is a big challenge to have first up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valandil Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 What about France though? Noves seems to be trying to bring back the old French swashbuckling passing style as opposed to the garbage stuff St. Andre was forcing the last few years. In my view it will bear fruit. Their stats against NZ in November are interesting http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/matchstats?gameId=289728&league=289234 17 line breaks vs NZ 6 629 ms made vs NZ 412 190 passes vs NZ 123 7 penalties conceded to NZ 14. Obviously they lost, in the end but you can see the attempts made. Their fitness is clearly an issue looking at 2nd half. Expect the Ireland's, England's and Wales's to punish that in last 20 mins, but still, they're going to beat someone they're not supposed to almost certainly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Yeah, I haven't seen any of the France games since the last Six Nations but, as you say, apparently they were pretty decent against the All Blacks in November. We'll have to see how it goes but a good France side could make things interesting. 15 hours ago, williamjm said: Scotland have a tendency to start tournaments poorly - admittedly sometimes that's just starting as they mean continue, but they have often improved as the Six Nations goes on - and Ireland is a big challenge to have first up. On the plus side for Scotland the core of their side come from Townsend's Glasgow side who are in very good form so that may well help them make a good start to the tournament. Anyway the England, Scotland, Wales, France and Ireland sides for the weekend. Daly on the wing for England over Nowell is a bit of a surprise. Keatley's the flyhalf cover on the bench for Ireland. Webb back at 9 for Wales which is a boost for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valandil Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Got Ireland France double for 9.5-1. I know its unlikely but only staked €10. Just have a feeling for the French. Brexit and all that. Plenty of emotional stuff Noves can use as well as improved play and lowered tackle rules helping their offload game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I don't think I'd be too confident about going for two away wins. I think England probably should win at home and Scotland-Ireland is the closest game of the weekend for me, I'm leaning towards Ireland on the strength of their scrum and back row but I wouldn't be too surprised if Scotland win at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Great start for Scotland. They've been all over Ireland in open play, Watson at openside has been really impressive. Their third try was a very clever line out move as well. I'd still be concerned about the scrum though. Good game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 6 minutes ago, ljkeane said: Great start for Scotland. They've been all over Ireland in open play, Watson at openside has been really impressive. Their third try was a very clever line out move as well. I'd still be concerned about the scrum though. Good game. The number of scrums there are might be crucial to the outcome. The third try was hilarious, I'm not sure the Irish defence even moved they were so confused about what was happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 2 minutes ago, williamjm said: The third try was hilarious, I'm not sure the Irish defence even moved they were so confused about what was happening. I don't blame them really, when a team stick a back in the line out there's no way I'd think they were going to throw the ball to him. That's a good move from Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Good second half for Ireland, they got far more of a grip of a game in the forwards and Jackson was good at 10. They just gave themselves too much to do in the first half. On the other hand not a great second half from Scotland. They were far too tentative and spent too much time messing around on the ball in their own half. Laidlaw's not a bad player but his default mode when under pressure is to put his foot on the ball and slow the game down and I don't really think that's how Scotland want play. I'm sure they'll take the win though. Anyway, great start to the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 25 minutes ago, ljkeane said: Good second half for Ireland, they got far more of a grip of a game in the forwards and Jackson was good at 10. They just gave themselves too much to do in the first half. On the other hand not a great second half from Scotland. They were far too tentative and spent too much time messing around on the ball in their own half. Laidlaw's not a bad player but his default mode when under pressure is to put his foot on the ball and slow the game down and I don't really think that's how Scotland want play. I'm sure they'll take the win though. Anyway, great start to the tournament. Scotland did seem to lose a bit of steam in the second half, although they did show good composure in the last few minutes to grind out a victory. It's a great win for them, it'll give them confidence but there are some concerns, particularly in regards to the scrum and they've got some tough games coming up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Same old Scotland for the majority of the second half. The performance just fell of a cliff after half time. It's so frustrating to see them aimlessly kick with no pressure at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Rubbish start from England. They really need to start hanging onto the ball and moving the big French pack around or they're going to struggle. ETA: Fuck off referee, you can't call it out and expect players not to dive on the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I'm not sure they deserved it but England managed to scrape the win on sheer bloody mindedness. They really missed the Vunipolas getting them over the gain line and without the front foot ball the lack of a big ball carrier in the backs was noticeable. Bringing Te'o on made a real difference. On the plus side France are the biggest pack they'll face. Fair play to France though, they were pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macklunkey Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Great result for Scotland today. We'd definitely have lost that in previous years. Nel is a big miss at the scrums. Could be an interesting tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Forza Italia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Hmm, I'm not a big fan of Doyle sin binning Lovotti essentially for losing his footing, it basically screwed Italy's chances for a pretty marginal offense. Still, overall Wales were the better side for the vast majority of the game and they deserved the win. Anyway this seems like an appropriate time to pick another premature Lions side. My form Lions team from the first round of the Six Nations: 1. McGrath 2. George: None of the starting hookers played particularly well and George coming on coincided with England getting themselves on top. 3. Francis: I doubt he'll even make the tour but, fair play to him, Wales were getting dicked in the scrums until him and Evans came on and completely turned it around. 4. Jonny Gray 5. Alun-Wyn Jones 6. Wilson 7. Tipuric: No particularly strong candidate at openside. I liked how Watson played but he was subbed off fairly early, Haskell did well when he came on but it was only for 20 or so minutes. O'Brien wasn't bad but he wasn't particularly good either. That leaves Tipuric I suppose. 8. Strauss 9. Webb 10. Farrell: I was going to say Russell but there was some pretty poor kicking by Scotland in the second half which didn't help them. Farrell steadied the ship for England when things weren't looking good and made a couple of breaks, plus I quite liked him standing up Picamoles one on one. 11. Liam Williams 12. Dunbar 13. Davies 14. Seymour 15. Hogg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 If you take George and Farrell out, that would be perfect from my point of view. The rest can take their consolation prize while we concentrate on winning the World Cup again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valandil Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Fair play to the scots, they wanted it more. specially in first half. Very frustrated with the sloppy ball at breakdown and scots lazy runners were borderline hilarious, particularly given the penalty he gave scots against Jackson to win the game. Poite had a very, very poor game. But Ireland's attitude was all wrong. Not at the required level of intensity at all in first half. Coach has to take some responsibility for that. Beat all three southern hemisphere teams in a calendar year year, then went in underprepared to a effectively a provincial Glasgow side who Munster have been 3 times in league and ERC on the bounce is not good enough. Even worse to get in the lead after such a crap 1st half then still choke. England France game poor quality. wales v italy worse. Looks like Italy under O shea will be the same as italy under everybody else. Tough to crack for first 60, then supine for last 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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