Six Nations 2014

[EdBlackadder]

Evening all, surely I can't be the only person watching the man's sport this weekend!

Wales-Italy was a cracking match to watch. If I were Welsh I'd be pleased with the result but not with the performance. Italy were threatening throughout, unlucky with Parisse's disallowed try and are clearly hunting for more international scalps. I think they'll dominate Scotland and will be aiming for another home win. How far they've come in just a few years. Wales were the better side but weren't firing as they did last year. They'll raise their game for us, no doubt, but will have to do more in the tests to come.

France-England is on now and its so tense I'm typing this so I don't have to watch. What a contest!

[RobustoClubHavana]

It's a great match watching with my wife and kids and waiting for Chinese delivery after match


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[EdBlackadder]

And......shit!

The forwards match was incredible (when Hartley remembered to hook the ball) but we are very much missing our key centres. I was really happy with the back three as well, actually. Its been a while since Goode has made much impact and it was good to see him back. Can't argue with the tries, if we'd won that line at 65 mins it might have been a different result but that's hindsight.

Great day of rugby, hope tomorrow shows some promise too.

[Puff Scotty]

[Peter Willison]

Wales won
England lost
=
A very good smoke and drink for me


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[Wid3y]

Poor show by England overall.


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[ThroughHisStomach]

Thought Italy did well by themselves in their loss. Watch out for them at home in Italy.

[EdBlackadder]

England are in an interesting position. We're openly aiming for the 2015 World Cup in the short term and trying to build a sustainable team in the long term. As excellent as Johnson was as a player he made some very poor decisions as a coach and kept the World Cup winning players far past their sell-by dates. We slipped into the trap of keeping a winning team together well past when its component players couldn't keep up. He did recognise this to a degree in the latter parts of his tenure but when the pressure was on he slipped back in to the familiar old squad. In the short-to-medium term this works but its toxic in the long term as you end up with an untried team of strangers playing together when the wave of retirements hits.

We're coming out of that now and trying to bring together a wider squad with more depth through. Its a bloody brave decision and honestly one which I wish our football team could/would make, accept we're going to lose but do so constructively. There's a hell of a lot of depth in the England squad, though the centres are looking a bit shallow at the moment and we desperately need Manu Tuilagi or an equivalent around. But we put in a hell of a showing for an inexperienced team against a well trained, well drilled squad of veterans today and we learnt a lot. Everyone loves to see England lose but with support we can continue to compete until we've built a winning squad again.

Its best for the game to have more competitive teams at every level and I applaud the longer term vision that Lancaster and the Rugby Union are showing. I hope that Wales can find some of the same vision before they destroy their game.

[Puff Scotty]

SCOTLAND!

[EdBlackadder]

Yeah, good luck this afternoon. Its sad to see what Scotland have been the last few years, lets hope they lift themselves for the occasion.

[Puff Scotty]

Yeah, good luck this afternoon. Its sad to see what Scotland have been the last few years, lets hope they lift themselves for the occasion.

I would have said they've been going through a lot of the motions you mentioned in your earlier posts, no replacements available for "old stalwarts" & the introduction of some fine young players into a shambolic scenario...
I hope you'll be surprised by their performance this afternoon, it's about time it came together for them, there is no lack of skill or effort...

[EdBlackadder]

There's some real talent there and the Scottish clubs have been performing well so there's potential there, it just hasn't been firing. This afternoon they face an Irish squad that hasn't been on great form so it could be a great match. I've hope its going to be as exciting as yesterday's rugby was.

[Tomothebuilder]

England desperately missing a creative centre who can move the ball and create holes. Missing Tuilagi also, but again you need someone inside who can create. Didn't get to see anything much of Burrell (aside from a well taken try) largely because he had very little to work with. Aside from the 12 issue, it's good to see Lancaster picking players on form rather than reputation and blooding more youngsters. Still missing a world class finisher.

Major positives were the pack starting to look settled, 2nd row partnership really looking effective and should only get better as they're both young.
Positives in defeat, but still a defeat!!

[EdBlackadder]

England desperately missing a creative centre who can move the ball and create holes. Missing Tuilagi also, but again you need someone inside who can create. Didn't get to see anything much of Burrell (aside from a well taken try) largely because he had very little to work with. Aside from the 12 issue, it's good to see Lancaster picking players on form rather than reputation and blooding more youngsters. Still missing a world class finisher.

Major positives were the pack starting to look settled, 2nd row partnership really looking effective and should only get better as they're both young.
Positives in defeat, but still a defeat!!

Agree 100%.

Ireland-Scotland was pretty dull watching. Ireland looked pretty flat in defence though their attacking was much more interesting they're not looking their best. Good result though and honestly the score was pretty reflective of the match.

[Tomothebuilder]

Jonathan Davies best side from the weekend; not far out by my reckoning! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/26011527