Iskaral Pust Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Unfortunately Peacock has reduced their rugby coverage again. A year ago they lost the European Cup, now they’ve lost the English PL rugby too. All they have remaining is the Six Nations, the quadrennial World Cup and some 7s tournament. There is an alternative streaming service that specializes in just rugby (US streaming rights), but it’s $30 per month for just rugby. It seems overpriced for a casual fan and will block any growth in audience here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 In news that'll come as a surprise to pretty much nobody Farrell's been named as coach for the Lions tour to Australia. Also the trailer for the Netflix Six Nations documentary's out. Hopefully it'll be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 So the Six Nations squads have been announced. I haven't really watched much post World Cup club/provincial rugby so I don't really have any strong opinions on who should be in the various squads so we'll have to see how it goes. The England squad. It's somewhat dictated by injuries and retirements but it looks reasonably sensible I suppose if not the most exciting. Tighthead and inside centre continues to look like a problem, actually picking a 12 would probably help. No huge surprises in the Ireland squad. It's mostly pretty consistent with the side they're had over the last few years other than the big loss of Sexton. The big call from Farrell is going with O'Mahony as the captain. You'd think he's probably not making the next World Cup at 34 so it's probably a transitional role for him. The big call for Scotland is Watson not even making the squad. I thought they had a pretty disappointing World Cup even though they were in a tough group so you'd like to see them start showing some consistent progress. Wales have been hit pretty hard by injuries an retirements so it seems like it's probably going to be a rebuilding year for them. Probably the headline news of the week was Rees-Zammit's shock decision, which he apparently told Gatland about an hour before the squad announcement was due, to quit rugby for now and try to make it in the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 I've been trying to find if anyone in Serbia will be broadcasting the tournament. No luck so far, but I hope it will be the same broadcaster that showed the World Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 7 hours ago, ljkeane said: No huge surprises in the Ireland squad. It's mostly pretty consistent with the side they're had over the last few years other than the big loss of Sexton. The big call from Farrell is going with O'Mahony as the captain. You'd think he's probably not making the next World Cup at 34 so it's probably a transitional role for him. Mack Hanson and Rob Herring are both injury absences from the squad relative to the WC and last 6N. Also Ross Byrne, the first choice successor to Sexton, has a long term injury too so we’re really falling down the depth chart at fly half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 On 1/19/2024 at 9:23 PM, Iskaral Pust said: Mack Hanson and Rob Herring are both injury absences from the squad relative to the WC and last 6N. Also Ross Byrne, the first choice successor to Sexton, has a long term injury too so we’re really falling down the depth chart at fly half. Herring's third choice hooker anyway so I don't imagine it'll be a huge issue. Hanson would be starting but slotting in a winger to an otherwise settled back three should be fine, especially given Larmour and Stockdale don't lack for experience. Flyhalf's going to be the issue but it was going to be regardless. I suppose Ross Byrne was probably the front runner but nobody's really distinguished themselves as anything more than okay while playing in Sexton's, admittedly pretty big, shadow. Giving the younger Jack Crowley a run at a whole tournament to show what he can do probably isn't a bad thing. The last 16 draw for the Champions Cup. Getting La Rochelle isn't a great result for the Stormers after a good group stage. Just in general probably a few too many repeats of group stage ties really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 2 hours ago, ljkeane said: Herring's third choice hooker anyway so I don't imagine it'll be a huge issue. Hanson would be starting but slotting in a winger to an otherwise settled back three should be fine, especially given Larmour and Stockdale don't lack for experience. Flyhalf's going to be the issue but it was going to be regardless. I suppose Ross Byrne was probably the front runner but nobody's really distinguished themselves as anything more than okay while playing in Sexton's, admittedly pretty big, shadow. Giving the younger Jack Crowley a run at a whole tournament to show what he can do probably isn't a bad thing. The last 16 draw for the Champions Cup. Getting La Rochelle isn't a great result for the Stormers after a good group stage. Just in general probably a few too many repeats of group stage ties really. O’Brien is out injured too, so much less depth now for the back three and some risk that we could face large disruption there. But the main issue, as you say, is the fly-half playmaker. We have to figure out who can play at a T1 international level, and whether/how to adapt tactics if we’ll have lesser (or just less experienced) talent in that position for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Just finished "Six Nations Full Contact" on Netflix. Must say I wasn't impressed. Might be because I'm new to rugby so I don't know some backstories and personalities featured in the documentary, but it felt kind of flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 8 hours ago, baxus said: Just finished "Six Nations Full Contact" on Netflix. Must say I wasn't impressed. Might be because I'm new to rugby so I don't know some backstories and personalities featured in the documentary, but it felt kind of flat. I’ve watched the first episode so far. It’s ok, feels fairly generic sports doc rather than showing any particular insight into rugby or the teams involved so far. Also it’s really reminding me how shit England were last year which isn’t ideal as an England fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 That's definitely a part of it. As a newbie with a fairly restricted access to rugby, I was hoping for some insight and have gotten nothing from it. It could be that I missed these insights, being a newbie and all that, so I'd appreciate input from people who are more knowledgeable on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 On 1/26/2024 at 4:23 AM, baxus said: Just finished "Six Nations Full Contact" on Netflix. Must say I wasn't impressed. Might be because I'm new to rugby so I don't know some backstories and personalities featured in the documentary, but it felt kind of flat. I thought it was a poor effort. The first episode led off with Finn Russell sneering and smirking as usual (am I the only one who finds him extremely punchable?) and tries to portray him as the conquering hero in a game where he didn’t do much. I skipped ahead to ep3 to watch the focus on Ireland. Andrew Porter seems like a good guy but the format is just so bland. Not enough focus on the actual sport, the games themselves, or the contribution of different players. And the WC was conspicuous by its absence in every interview with DuPont or Galthie, or acknowledgement of Ireland and France as the two top rated teams in the world. The format works fine for Formula 1 where individual rivalries drive the narrative. Not for a team sport like rugby. baxus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 On 1/29/2024 at 12:36 AM, Iskaral Pust said: The first episode led off with Finn Russell sneering and smirking as usual (am I the only one who finds him extremely punchable?) To be fair he is a flyhalf. It's pretty much par for the course. Speaking of flyhalfs Marcus Smith's out of at least the first test for England to add to their growing midfield woes. It's starting to look like Borthwick isn't going to have much option except to go with a large part of the Northampton backline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 How do Leinster cope with so many of their players called up for Ireland? The fly-half position is especially bad because the Irish squad has called up most of the depth there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 13 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said: How do Leinster cope with so many of their players called up for Ireland? The fly-half position is especially bad because the Irish squad has called up most of the depth there. I don't think they've got too much to worry about. The knockouts of the Champions Cup aren't until after the Six Nations and there's only two rounds of the URC during it. I'm sure Leinster could afford to lose both those games and still be fine. Also they're probably got the best youth set up of any Northern Hemisphere teams at this point. Sticking one of those players in and seeing how they do with the step up probably isn't a bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/29/2024 at 12:36 AM, Iskaral Pust said: The first episode led off with Finn Russell sneering and smirking as usual (am I the only one who finds him extremely punchable?) I think Gregor Townsend might often agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 So the teams are out for the first round. France v Ireland. Obviously the headline issues are the absences of Sexton and Dupont and the teams deal with them. Other than that Calvin Nash getting the nod on the wing for Ireland is a little surprising and (not on the BBC page linked) the late call up for Posolo Tuilagi for France should be interesting. Italy v England. A bit of a mixed bag of a selection for England. Some of it's forced by injury/unavailability but I'd rather Daly wasn't still in the team. I suppose it's down to only wanting to introduce one new player to the back three and I'm not sure about Roots in the pack. Dingwall probably deserves a chance but he's just a good rugby player rather than having any stand out physical characteristics so how that'll translate to stepping up a level is a bit of a question mark. Wales v Scotland. Wales have a very transitional side. They were going to anyway with all the players retiring but it's been exacerbated by injuries and defections to the NFL. It's hard to see them winning much this tournament so it'll be how the new players develop for them. Scotland on the other hand are pretty settled but I thought they had a disappointing World Cup so they could really do with a statement win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Really good win for Ireland. I had expected France to have the edge with home advantage. The red card mattered of course but I think Ireland looked sharper regardless and probably would have won anyway. Both teams showed some rust for the opening game and were disrupted by absences. Three young players made their first starts at this level (Crowley, Nash and McCarthy) and acquitted themselves quite well. Crowley’s open play kicking was poor but his kicking from the tee was very good bar one bad penalty miss, and his ball handling, tackling and coverage of space behind were all quite good. Nash was solid on the wing and carried well, while McCarthy earned PotG for his energetic play (although conceded a few penalties). Henshaw offered less than the missing Ringrose but Lowe had another great game, and Beirne and VDF seemed really up for the contest. Ireland’s weak points were the scrum and too many sloppy penalties conceded but they were better at the lineout, were sharper and faster through the phases in attack, and showed really good game management. The French need to pick themselves up for a tough trip to Scotland next and not get derailed by this bad start. LaGallec perhaps should start at 9 rather than Lucu, who was solid but uninspiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Excellent win for Ireland. They've definitely hit the ground running in the post Sexton era. Crowley wasn't perfect but he was pretty good and he certainly showed he's capable of pulling the strings for the Irish attack at a high level. McCarthy was also very good. Not great for France though. The red card didn't help but they were mostly second best when the numbers were even too. I suppose in retrospect you can see why the loss of Dupont hurts them more than losing Sexton hurts Ireland. Sexton was excellent directing the well oiled machine of the Irish attack around the park and Dupont did that within the system for France too but France also rely on Dupont to do something brilliant off the cuff to drag them into games when it's going wrong like it was last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 The French looked adrift for chunks of the game, even with a lot of experienced players in a home match. I think part of that was Ireland diligently supporting the ball carrier and clearing rucks to prevent the jackal. That nullified the French defensive strength and allowed Ireland to gradually prey on their weaknesses: heavy forwards eventually slower to regain line position, and some shakiness under high kicks. France’s general tactical approach — concede possession, kick long to manage territory, channel opponents inside into powerful jackals, counterattack explosively — is less effective without DuPont & Ntamack’s flair in counterattacks, and vulnerable to Ireland using their possession really well with quick passes and phases to evade the powerful forwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 A bizarre game in Cardiff where Wales almost pulled off a comeback reminiscent of the Calcutta Cup a few years ago. Scotland completely dominated the first half, although I think they could have been more ruthless, they should really have scored at least one more try given how much they were controlling the game. Then everything seemed to fall apart for them and they conceded penalty after penalty, which then lead to conceding tries and losing players to yellow cards. They did manage to get back into the game in the last five minutes to seal the victory but they can't have bad periods like that if they ever want to be taken seriously as championship contenders. Wales will be disappointed to lose and to have been so outplayed in the first half, but they do at least have some momentum to build on. In the earlier game, Italy put in a good performance and might be feeling they missed out on an opportunity for a first victory over England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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