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Six Nations 2008
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Although we (Scotland) have been inexplicably dire so far (i still contend that we have good players and strength in depth in all positions other than centre), I have thought all along that our best chance of a victory lies in the Calcutta Cup match.
While our lack of genuine pace was exposed by the pacy style adopted by France and, to an extent, Wales and Ireland, I feel we are better equipped to deal with the English style.
That said, England still enormous favourites, but we are quietly hopeful, despite the fact that we have again selected the wrong personnel.
Hysterical to see Balshaw back - he'll probably play a blinder now. I hope so, then maybe England will keep him in for next year's 6N, too (actually, Jake White won't pick him in a month of Sundays). Still can't see anything other than a comfortable English win this weekend, though.
Now, to the business end of the table: will we turn over Ireland away? Ireland have to be fairly firm favourites. A lot of things would have to go well for Wales to win, like our lineout for starters, manage to defend the rolling maul effectively, and O'Gara would need to have an off-day with his kicking from hand, and we need the ref to penalise Ireland for the rough stuff they will indulge in, etc. I also think we will play into their hands if we are too predictable with trying to run the ball all the time, offloads etc, I think they will turn us over a lot. Can still hope, though.
Can only see one winner in France v Italy.
Sorry dude while wouldn't say we are out & out favourites I haven't seen to much from Scotland this time round to make me panic much. You've got good player's but not strength in depth. But saying that the only reason we beat France was because they didn't think and just tried to push the pack all the time. Not the smartest thing to do with any English team.
Wales however are going all the way this time.
Fairy nuff. I feel we have strength in depth in the following positions:
Back Three: C Paterson, S Lamont, R lamont, S Webster, H Southwell , N Walker, R Reid,
Back row: Johnnie Beattie, Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch, Jason White, Simon Taylor, K Brown, J Barclay, Ally Hogg.
Lock: S Murray, N Hines, S Macleod, J Hamilton, also potentially J White.
Scrum-half: Chris Cusiter, R Lawson (stoked he got a call up) and Mike Blair all world class.
The trouble is that we are lacking in one key position: fly-half. Neither Paterson nor Parks are the answer.
5/2 split on the Scotland bench...that's positively Ashtonesque in its er, unorthodoxy...
England won in Paris despite Balshaw...he missed two high balls, one by about 10 yards, missed one tackle and was lucky not to be penalised for some fairly dodgy rucking. He did, to be fair, make one good clearance kick (to remedy the situation after he missed one of the high balls) and provide Brian Moore with a nice line in comedy material.
For Gloucester against Harlequins, he missed another two high balls, one by around 7 yards, missed one tackle (which led to a try) and generally looked the second choice fullback for a Premiership side. To be fair, he might have had a blinding first half, I only saw the second half.
Ashton had the guts to drop Gomarsall (2nd choice scrum half for a Premiership side); why was Balshaw retained in the 22? Ashton stated that the side needed more stability at fullback, hence Balshaw's relegation. Cipriani gets dropped for a minor indiscretion and suddenly, Balshaw's competence under the high ball has improved dramatically, while that of Abendanon, Lewsey, Armitage, Tait and Brown (;)) has mysteriously waned.
The Scots always raise their game against England and have picked a decent pack. They have so far demonstrated no cutting edge whatsoever. By picking Balshaw, England have handed them a cast-iron opportunity to score points. Coco must go.
What a lovely image!
Hope to see some great games this weekend, have a good one everybody
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!
Well here we then, another spring Saturday morning, run done, chores done, kids fed, rugby shirt on, bike tyres repared, a hearty breakfast and a 3 mile cycle (no drink driving temptation for me) down to the nearest Welsh owned pub which no doubt will be full of Oirish.
Game on
wwwooooooohhhhoooooooooo
boings through thread singing hymns and arias again......
boing
you can borrow my red one ........................................... and rub his nose in it
Just kidding
My old grandad said to me "Phillip bach, you can follow two teams in life, Wales and anyone who is playing England". I'm having a good day Taid (gramps)
LOL PM!
Great win. Think that's the definition of winning ugly.
Even Murraymorgue seemed vaguely noisy for once.
very gutsy performance.
Bizarrely subdued performance from England. At no point did I feel they were in the game, despite the closeness of the scoreline.
one minor - Had the misfortune to be watching the BBC Scotland coverage. the commentary by Beattie and Sole made me embarrassed to be scottish
Well done Wales
a deserved triple crown.
Both Scotland and Wales deserved their wins. I thought Ireland didn't play as well as they could have and England were just plain woeful. No one in that England could take any 'positives' from that game.
I think Ireland will beat them as well.
Coco must go.
It's a shame England didn't ask Shaun Edwards to help them at the start of the season (or end of World Cup)
Coco must go.
who is coco?
Despite the great win for Scotland yesterday, I would still make a couple of changes ahead of the Italy game in Rome.
1. Simon Webster in the centre is an experiment which has not worked and the strong, reliable but admittedly limited Henderson must return.
2. More adequate cover must be provided on the bench so that Paterson can have a full 80 mins at fly-half. The introduction of Parks could have cost us the game.
3. Harsh on Macleod but I think Jason White should start in the second row.
Well done Wales, Scotland and France!
I made it back from the Finchley 20 just in time for the 1st French try - just as well I ran a PB
Really enjoyed the game but I think the points difference means that even if France manage to beat Wales next week I'm sure they'll still get the Championship. Scrum seemed a bit more stable (although Szar whatshisname is a dodgy line-out thrower!) and at least Yachvilli is a proper kicker. New wingers played well, wonder who'll get picked for next week?
I can't believe how badly England played - surely they expected the bad weather? It was almost as though they didn't want to get muddy. Bizarrely I think Balshaw was their best player even with fluffing a couple of high balls. Scotland played well and deserved their win, they might not have scored a try but at least they wanted to run with ball. I found the game really enthralling, all that slogging about in the mud - hilarious! Hope Lamont gets better soon. Agree with you Dude about Parks, he is a bit of a liability.
So, Wales for the Grand Slam?
PS: I think Coco is Brian Ashton and I agree he should do the decent thing and walk.
Hiya Nemo
A hard-fought win for your lads today. Could have been a different story if that pass had been held but the french deserved it in the end.
Wales have to be favourites next week. They have players who have a great instinct for attack like Shanklin and Williams. A positive team.
Our score was close but in reality the result was never in doubt. Stephen Jones in the Sun Times was correct in saying that if Paterson had remained at fly-half the margin would have been greater.
I like Parks. He is a good professional who gives 100% for Scotland. However, he is not and never will be quite up to international standard. He is just not the answer. No disgrace in that..
what can I say - it was not a pretty game but Wales deserved it.....bring the Frogs on.........
what are England on??? they were truly shite.....and Scotland were barely better but England were so so woeful....
I see Coco is blaming the players - errrm..how about looking at your selection policy and game plan?? surely he will go after the next game along with Vickery (past his best and no skipper) and many of the old guard...........
have to say the French weren't that great - they misfired a lot but they'll still be dangerous in Cardiff as I think they'll play to win so it will be one hell of a game
[picks self up off the floor]
Did that really happen? Not a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination.
Scotland had obviously done some homework, and squashed England's gameplan. I'm very surprised that England didn't seem to have a Plan B, which would probably have worked, as Scotland probably wouldn't have been unlikely to be able to respond.
There were some better Scottish performances though, and for a change, some good tackling. Hope we can do the same against Italy.
[shudders at the memory of last year's game against Italy]
Well done Scotland
England where crap plain and simple. France vs Wales is going to be very interesting. The questions? Will France try and play a running kicking game, will it matter even if they do? Will Williams score another try that amazing! Will England actually turn up next weekend?