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Six Nations 2012
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Comments
oh dear he's going to get some big fast boys running at him
Charlie "Chargedown" Hodgson
Is he not playing at all? I bet he fancied his chances at a hat-trick!
Not sure which games I'll get to see as I think I'm supposed to be going to an art exhibition at some point this weekend. Bad planning on my part
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!
but am I bovvered??
Nemo - Hodgson is injured. I think his nail polish has come off - something to do with a finger at least....
I think it's less a case of where the Welsh attack is going than where the Welsh defence is going to attack the play. Dickson has already had experience of being targetted, but Farrell is now being moved into a position where he's going to be hit hard and fast, with little experience of the speed of thought necessary at this level. I don't think that Gatland could have wished for a better selection from Lancaster when he has his first selection back row on the field. It seems that in spite of everything said to the contrary about opening up the England play, SL has gone with a defensive line, to try to stifle Welsh attacking options. To some degree that negativity worked against the Scots (who couldn't score a try) and the Italians (who couldn't kick a ball) but it is now being increased against a side who can score tries and can kick penalties. At 55-60 minutes SL will have to substitute the entirety of his knackered side.
Can't wait to see Dickson and Farrell trying to gel. I can see a lot of kicking coming from their boots.
Sticking with 10+. Might increase it though...
Could Farrell be the new Wilko? Let's hope so!
Off to the match in a mo. C'mon England!
"Swing low Sweeeeet Charriot ...."
As a Sale Sharks supporter I'd like to thank the Welsh selectors for not picking Andy Powell. He played a blinder last night against Wasps.
C'mon England!
yeo, that does show the strength in depth, which Wales didn't have even five years ago!
Cider sinking down nicely. Tension mounting.
Hang on a cotton pickin' minute
wasn't the ref playing advantage before that non-try?
First, England played really well. Limited, but really well. The defensive structure that SL put in place completely negated the Wales threat and got Welsh heads down. I say limited because they didn't exactly know what to do with the ball when they had it. I thought Wales were playing like Scotland, all possession and no points, but truly it was England who didn't have the imagination to turn great opportunities into great tries. The only difference really was that Wales took one chance, whereas England didn't manage to take any. The Welsh forwards were slightly better, except in the line out, and the Welsh backs were nullified on the attack, but so were the English. Really nothing in it until the last ten minutes when tiredness hits and mistakes happen.
No, it wasn't a try from Strettle. The defining point of a try has to be downward pressure on the ball. How could there possibly be downward pressure even if the ball brushed the grass? English fans will say it was, Welsh will say it wasn't, but the ref decides, and the rules would say it couldn't be.
It was a very tense, great game, even though it was all kicking points and defensive tackles. Ultimately though, Wales scored one try, England scored none. And for any Scottish out there, Wales shipped zero, yes, zero points with 14 men. That's a big difference.
Two away games, two tough wins, and one easier one at home. Two matches left at home...
England fan saying "no try" however, I'm with yeo, I thought the ref was playing advantage?
I see Strettle is now being quoted in most media saying that benefit of the doubt should go with the attacking side, I was always under the impression that's only a league rule?But I'm open to corrections. Either way never thought it was a try.
England were, and are limited, but played well within those limitations. I'm pretty happy with how it went, certainly wasn't the hammering I thought it might be.
Also, a lesson in how to play a man down for ten minutes. Played.
Edit: Morning after spelling.
Ooh Castaignede
A bit nervous about this one, Scotland are just one good pass away from winning a game. Hope it's not this one!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS
Two good tries there, LN, but they still lost. I thought France were going into self-destruct mode after the second try, but thay got it back together.
Shame about the Scottish scrum, but a good game and closer than I expected.
That was a bit too close for comfort, Yeo
Scotland deserved a bit more from that, France were lucky and pretty clinical at the end. Hope Lamont isn't too badly injured.
Looking forward to the "bonus" match next Sunday
Ireland's par performance against Italy (the side in blue) looking better now in comparison with the other two games. Comfortable. Some positives: Kearney playing with more assurance. Earls playing with his head on his shoulders. Ferris looks in good nick.
Didnt see Wales Engalnd so can't comment. But I will anyway.
Wales must have been a little off the pace. Two week break comes at a good time. Did Wales have a man off (dont mention the War-burton)?
Scotland/France. Scotland did some good stuff. Thought they were unlucky with some ref decisions. Appears they do know how to score tries. Which is nice.
Might be a good time to play France (fingers crossed.)
Small correction, folks; Wales conceded three points while a man down, not none... they also scored three with excellent ball retention.
Was Strettle's 'try' a try? As they say, if you look in the papers this morning you'll see it wasn't; sometimes you get 'em, sometimes you don't; England benefitted from a dreadful call in the U20 game on Friday.
Yes, I think the ref was playing advantage at the final whistle...
Crashie, they lost three at the immediate penalty, gained three before the ten minutes was up. Points were scored, but England gained no advantage from being a man up. Just saying that the result of being one man down didn't cost the Welsh in terms of points.
The advantage rule. What a horribly open area in the rulebook! However, ignoring my squinty-eyed view at the time, replays show that at 80:05 Walsh's arm goes up, but following a territorial gain by the English to within a yard of the line he drops his arm at 80:17 with the English still in possession. The try is claimed at 80:27. If Walsh judged that the territorial gain was in line with rule 8.1.c then the advantage is over ten seconds before Strettle could complain about it.
There was an earlier incident where the Welsh lost possession at a turnover without realising they'd lost advantage - and me thinking there was a penalty to go back for. I think Walsh was playing the territorial rather than the tactical advantage rule in both cases - once you've crossed the gain line, the referee can consider advantage gained.
Wales won
Ireland won
France won
which is probably what the bookies had so the world will keep turning now....
England can hold their heads up more than Wales can - we didn't play to expectations and England played better than. same for France and Scotland.
now - assuming that Wales beat Italy that means a Grand Slam showdown in Paris on 17th March. I will be in France that day (Alps not Paris) and it just so happens to be my birthday so wouldn't it nice if Wales win??
Yeah, I was surprised that didn't go back for the penalty too, Ratzer! In a wider point, there are more close games at international. European and domestic level now, so more games are being decided on judgement calls by the referee (any game within 7 points is fair game to be decided by the ref)
I am absolutely certain that the fans of every nation in action at the weekend could come up with a list of 'injustices' done to their team. I stress that I'm not indulging in Strettle-esque bleating about the result!
Maybe there is a case for the fourth official to be used more widely, passing real time comments to the referee in the same way that the touch judges (are supposed to) do.
They also need to sort out rucks; it is now accepted that if the ball is out and another player joins the back of the ruck, the ball is magically back in again (surely that's either accidental or deliberate offside?); this 'let's all have a rest while teh ball is at the base of teh ruck' business has got to go too...
It was good to see Wales winning a tight game without playing particularly well (as opposed to playing really well and losing, which became a habit in recent years). Agree that the period when Wales was a man short was crucial. In the past, we might have shipped 10 points then and lost the game. I thought England defended extremely well (shades of a couple of years ago, when Joe Worsley shut Jamie Roberts out of the game)and Wales do need to develop a "plan B" for when an opposition defence works them out. Shame James Hook wasn't available to come off the bench as he might have been able to break the England defensive line and give the centres some momentum.
Farrell looks like a natural at no.10 and Tuilagi is also a tremendous player. Try saving tackle from Warburton was another of those moments on which the game turned.
The England substitutions may have cost them the game, as Youngs, Stevens and Laws all made crucial mistakes in the last 10 minutes.
10, 12, 13 all played well for England in defence and attack although, bar a few runs, 11, 14 and 15 were quiet and generally shut out by Wales. wasn't convinced that Ben Morgan brought anything special to the No 8 slot either and Robshaw was kept quiet by the Welsh back row who all had outstanding games - Warburton is clearly heading for European Player of the Year to take over from Dusatoir.
talking of which, Dusatoir's tackle and drive on Cross when Scotland looked threatening was absolutley awesome - text book stuff.
and seeing Lamont's leg injury in slow-mo and in HD had me flinching - dog it looked awful and I suspect that's a break although they've not said yet
Brill-
(about half-way through 'brilliant' )