Six nations Rugby Union.

[ulstersubbie]

Scotland revert back to normal, getting battered by the French. Looking like Ireland's title now, for sure.

[mr.bluesky]

Scotland revert back to normal, getting battered by the French. Looking like Ireland's title now, for sure.

On Scotlands recent performances I fancied them to give France a run for their money but they have not turned up today. 

[mr.bluesky]

Scotland revert back to normal, getting battered by the French. Looking like Ireland's title now, for sure.

Well Scotland certainly made a game of it in the 2nd half.

[Charlie Chalk]

Well Scotland certainly made a game of it in the 2nd half.

That’s what Scotland have done for nearly a quarter of a century now. Absolute dross in the first half, get themselves into a position where it’s impossible to win then (when the opposition ease off) they score a few points to make the final score more flattering than they deserve and live off the condescending “brave” plaudits handed out by idiot pundits who can’t see the bigger picture.

Small minded serial losers who think beating England is the start and end of a successful season.

[ulstersubbie]

Small minded serial losers who think beating England is the start and end of a successful season.

I hate to admit it, but there is a large degree of truth in your statement, Alf Ramsey said something similar about the Scotland football team years ago, he was right.

[mr.bluesky]

I hate to admit it, but there is a large degree of truth in your statement, Alf Ramsey said something similar about the Scotland football team years ago, he was right.

Scotland were the first team to beat England after they won the World Cup in 1966 so claimed themselves to be world champions 

[GingerNuts]

2020

Wales won their first match, their only win of the 2020 tournament.

[ulstersubbie]

Scotland were the first team to beat England after they won the World Cup in 1966 so claimed themselves to be world champions 

I know, the kind of stupidity from Scottish fans over the years. What really irks me as a Scot, we've produced great managers over the years (Shankly, Stein, Ferguson) but the teams never perform. I have come to the conclusion that it's psychological, years of failure have mentally destroyed us, a nation that lost self belief years ago.

[mr.bluesky]

I know, the kind of stupidity from Scottish fans over the years. What really irks me as a Scot, we've produced great managers over the years (Shankly, Stein, Ferguson) but the teams never perform. I have come to the conclusion that it's psychological, years of failure have mentally destroyed us, a nation that lost self belief years ago.

You forget that Scotland does not have a big population so the pool of players to choose from is not that great as England. You are right about producing great managers though
 Years ago all the top English teams had great Scottish players playing for them like Liverpool and Dalglish, even clubs like Celtic and Rangers. Today both these teams are packed with foreign players.I do think that Scotland are obsessed with beating the Auld enemy though.
England used to have the same hang up about beating Germany at football. I think Wales has the same obsession about beating England at Rugby.

[willie loman]

i only saw the second half , which was close, i had my money on the french, so am well pleased, its not as easy as it was to make money from rugby betting, all those badmouthing scotland, we have a tiny number of players to pick compared to england and france, its england and france who routinely underperform.

[Charlie Chalk]

i only saw the second half , which was close, i had my money on the french, so am well pleased, its not as easy as it was to make money from rugby betting, all those badmouthing scotland, we have a tiny number of players to pick compared to england and france, its england and france who routinely underperform.

And here we have the prime example of what is wrong with Scottish sport.

“We’re too small”

“We don’t have enough depth”

“England are worse”

It’s a problem with the Scottish psyche in general, but is most obvious in sport when explaining the latest defeat or defending the indefensible instead of demanding excellence from those with the responsibility to provide it. The result is perpetual mediocrity, as shown by the National football and rugby sides for nearly 30 years.

[shed]

Saying nowt 



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[mr.bluesky]

Those bunch of pussy's wouldn't last 2 minutes on a Rugby pitch. I noticed when Sabitzer came on as substitute he was wearing gloves, the big jessy 

[willie loman]

And here we have the prime example of what is wrong with Scottish sport.

“We’re too small”

“We don’t have enough depth”

“England are worse”

It’s a problem with the Scottish psyche in general, but is most obvious in sport when explaining the latest defeat or defending the indefensible instead of demanding excellence from those with the responsibility to provide it. The result is perpetual mediocrity, as shown by the National football and rugby sides for nearly 30 years.

merely stating a fact a country that has more players should beat a small country, i suspect you dont grasp what a minority sport rugby is in scotland, as far as football goes, england has not only a bigger population , but has benefitted significantly from afro carribean immigration over the last 30 years, spare us that cod psychology, if anyone has a whining spirit of inferiority its england with your craven and slavish admiration for foreign managers , and players.

[RedKettle]

merely stating a fact a country that has more players should beat a small country, i suspect you dont grasp what a minority sport rugby is in scotland, as far as football goes, england has not only a bigger population , but has benefitted significantly from afro carribean immigration over the last 30 years, spare us that cod psychology, if anyone has a whining spirit of inferiority its england with your craven and slavish admiration for foreign managers , and players.

\

As a Welshman i just have to say bloody well done to Scotland, you are awesome this season.  I can only hope that we recover and get back to that level.

[WASA38]

merely stating a fact a country that has more players should beat a small country, i suspect you dont grasp what a minority sport rugby is in scotland, as far as football goes, england has not only a bigger population , but has benefitted significantly from afro carribean immigration over the last 30 years, spare us that cod psychology, if anyone has a whining spirit of inferiority its england with your craven and slavish admiration for foreign managers , and players.

Irish Republic has a similar population to Scotland's.

[mr.bluesky]

Irish Republic has a similar population to Scotland's.

New Zealand has an even smaller population than Scotland and look how good they are at Rugby union although to be fair it is the number 1 sport in that country

[ulstersubbie]

Irish Republic has a similar population to Scotland's.

Fair point. They are better than us at rugby and their football team has a far better history at football world cups, Denmark a relatively small population but they won the Euros in '92, after they replaced the old Yugoslavia at the tournament.

[willie loman]

Irish Republic has a similar population to Scotland's.

its registered players, population size is irrelevant, not difficult to understand is it?

[willie loman]

Fair point. They are better than us at rugby and their football team has a far better history at football world cups, Denmark a relatively small population but they won the Euros in '92, after they replaced the old Yugoslavia at the tournament.

how many of the irish  football team over the years were born in ireland, ?some of their better known ones were born in scotland, many in england, and some it appears had virtually no connection with the country at all, tony cascarino etc

[mr.bluesky]

So I see Marcus Smith has been dropped from the England squad to face France in two weeks time and replaced by George Ford. I would keep Smith in the squad and have Ford replace Owen  Farrell.  Farrell needs to get his goalkicking sorted out, he only has a 40% success rate in the 6 nations so far. In a game against France this could prove to be crucial as I can't see England scoring many tries against them so every point scored from the kicking tee could be crucial but Farell seems to be one of those players who seems to be undroppable no matter how poor his current form is. Eddie Jones was exactly the same as regards dropping Farrell. It seems by dropping Marcus Smith "flair" players have no place in the England set up. The same as Danny Cipriani used to be. A player who should have won more England caps than he actually did

[bigden40]

That’s what Scotland have done for nearly a quarter of a century now. Absolute dross in the first half, get themselves into a position where it’s impossible to win then (when the opposition ease off) they score a few points to make the final score more flattering than they deserve and live off the condescending “brave” plaudits handed out by idiot pundits who can’t see the bigger picture.

Small minded serial losers who think beating England is the start and end of a successful season.

Someone obviously didn’t watch the match.  🙄

[Charlie Chalk]

Someone obviously didn’t watch the match.  🙄

22-7 behind at H/T, closed to within 4 just before the standard late collapse. Fits the pattern I described. Seen it all before, including the ridiculous indiscipline. Nothing new to see here.

[maxQ]

how many of the irish  football team over the years were born in ireland, ?some of their better known ones were born in scotland, many in england, and some it appears had virtually no connection with the country at all, tony cascarino etc

You're a little out of date

Irelands best team ever was when Keane was captain, if he didn't go home early from that WC we could have made the final. that team only had one UK born player, Kevin Kilbane. he had the chance to play for England but turned it down

I remember reading about the decline in Scottish football a while back, in the article someone claimed that in Glasgow the pitches that players like Souness and Daiglish started playing on, were sold to property developers, so the local kids played less football and down the years the national team suffered

[chrishornx]

You're a little out of date

Irelands best team ever was when Keane was captain, if he didn't go home early from that WC we could have made the final. that team only had one UK born player, Kevin Kilbane. he had the chance to play for England but turned it down

How out of date is he ?

Gary Breen born Hendon England
Steven Reid born Kingston upon Thames
Jason McAteer born Birkenhead
Matt Holland born Bury
david Connolly born Wiilesden
Dean Kielly born Salford
Kevin Kilbane born Preston

etc.

last time I looked all the above are in England , U.K.

[willie loman]

one advantage the irish have in all sports, is that the country seems healthier , and to an extent sports mad, but there is little doubt that the soccer team has over the years relied on the irish diaspora, mick mcarthy and aiden mcgeadie etc, i advocate that any one who has a scottish surname should be granted the "right to return" and be eligible to play for scotland, quite a few english players seem to have scottish names, even the odd south american?

[bigden40]

22-7 behind at H/T, closed to within 4 just before the standard late collapse. Fits the pattern I described. Seen it all before, including the ridiculous indiscipline. Nothing new to see here.

That’s one take I guess. “Late collapse” and “ridiculous indiscipline” a tad hyperbolic IMO

Despite having a player sent off in first 5 mins they outplayed France in second half and will be absolutely gutted not to beat the #2 ranked team in the world away from home. 

Top level Rugby can be settled by small margins and there were definitely a few Scotland errors in that 2nd half that could have swung the result, but France are superb defensively and showed why they, along with Ireland, are the teams to beat.

[chrishornx]

for the last 12 minutes they were within 4 points and had every chance to win

[mr.bluesky]

one advantage the irish have in all sports, is that the country seems healthier , and to an extent sports mad, but there is little doubt that the soccer team has over the years relied on the irish diaspora, mick mcarthy and aiden mcgeadie etc, i advocate that any one who has a scottish surname should be granted the "right to return" and be eligible to play for scotland, quite a few english players seem to have scottish names, even the odd south american?

I thought that at the time, how come Alexis Mac Allister is playing for Argentina in the world cup
  Any player who has Scottish or any other nationalality parents or grandparents are eligible to play for that country that's why Ireland had so many " English" men playing for them.
A bit like Rod Stewart, born and raised in London yet supports Celtic and Scotland

[chrishornx]

I thought that at the time, how come Alexis Mac Allister is playing for Argentina in the world cup
 

rather simple really....He was born in Argentina, why shouldn't he play for Argentina?

[mr.bluesky]

rather simple really....He was born in Argentina, why shouldn't he play for Argentina?

I was joking because he has a Scottish sounding name. I am fully aware he's Argentinian 

[willie loman]

I thought that at the time, how come Alexis Mac Allister is playing for Argentina in the world cup
  Any player who has Scottish or any other nationalality parents or grandparents are eligible to play for that country that's why Ireland had so many " English" men playing for them.
A bit like Rod Stewart, born and raised in London yet supports Celtic and Scotland

i am aware of that , just putting into context the comparative success of ireland at football, rod stewarts grandfather is from leith, which is why one of rods marriages was celebrated in leith registry office, an old joke, but the team song for the scottish rugby team, was,"my old grans a scotsman"

[mr.bluesky]

i am aware of that , just putting into context the comparative success of ireland at football, rod stewarts grandfather is from leith, which is why one of rods marriages was celebrated in leith registry office, an old joke, but the team song for the scottish rugby team, was,"my old grans a scotsman"

Rod Stewarts son is a professional ice hockey player who now plays for Milton Keynes Lightning and has played for Great Britain in the World championships. The one thing I would say about Rodders is you can't fault his taste in women.

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[timsussex]

So the released from England duty Marcus Smith was man of the match yesterday

He is a very different no10 compared to Farrell and England dont seem to be able or willing to play his sort of game - even when they played him at 10 a lot of the service went straight to Farrell.

Now that we have a proper 12 in Lawrence I hope to see Smith play with him

[mr.bluesky]

So the released from England duty Marcus Smith was man of the match yesterday

He is a very different no10 compared to Farrell and England dont seem to be able or willing to play his sort of game - even when they played him at 10 a lot of the service went straight to Farrell.

Now that we have a proper 12 in Lawrence I hope to see Smith play with him

With Farrell's goalkicking way off the mark I would play Smith simply for that reason. I can't see England scoring many tries against France so points scored from the kicking tee could be crucial but as I've said in a previous posting Farrell seems to be undroppable at the moment. Eddie Jones had this flaw

[timsussex]

Times is reporting that Smith will start and Farrell on bench with Genge as captain
Please let it be true !

[mr.bluesky]

Times is reporting that Smith will start and Farrell on bench with Genge as captain
Please let it be true !

  the sensibly way to go.

[chrishornx]

Times is reporting that Smith will start and Farrell on bench with Genge as captain
Please let it be true !

please please please

[mr.bluesky]

please please please

So it has been confirmed that Farrell has been dropped and replaced by Smith for the France game 

[jackdaw]

So it has been confirmed that Farrell has been dropped and replaced by Smith for the France game 

Bring “billed” as a big call…but one guy in good form, one in poor form, seems almost no brainer.

Not been mentioned much but England could have won Scotland match with excellent goal kicking, and would have won Wales match by a very wide margin.

[mr.bluesky]

Bring “billed” as a big call…but one guy in good form, one in poor form, seems almost no brainer.

Not been mentioned much but England could have won Scotland match with excellent goal kicking, and would have won Wales match by a very wide margin.

I always worry about Farrells poor tackling technique too. He sails too close to the wind sometimes and gets away with it. His goalkicking has been poor too by his standard. Like you say he lost us points against Scotland and Wales.

[timsussex]

Smith looks far better with a proper 12 so it was always a poor call having Farrell at 12
Think its a brave call now - I would probably have made it at the start and certainly after the Scotland game - giving the new look 2 easier games to bed in before the two top teams at the end.  Still at least the French have their 3rd &4th choice props so we should be able to hold our own at set scrums

Italy Wales should be "interesting" shall we say

[mr.bluesky]

Smith looks far better with a proper 12 so it was always a poor call having Farrell at 12
Think its a brave call now - I would probably have made it at the start and certainly after the Scotland game - giving the new look 2 easier games to bed in before the two top teams at the end.  Still at least the French have their 3rd &4th choice props so we should be able to hold our own at set scrums

Italy Wales should be "interesting" shall we say

The way Wales and Italy have been playing this tournament you have to fancy Italy to beat them and avoid the wooden spoon.( sorry MissWolf* ) Italy look a much improved side this year. Unfortunately they will be without it's best player in Capuozzo for this game. Should be a good match though. * mind you I had France down as favourites to win the tournament so I could be wrong again 

[MissWolf]

The way Wales and Italy have been playing this tournament you have to fancy Italy to beat them and avoid the wooden spoon.( sorry MissWolf* ) Italy look a much improved side this year. Unfortunately they will be without it's best player in Capuozzo for this game. Should be a good match though. * mind you I had France down as favourites to win the tournament so I could be wrong again 

MissWolf is in total agreement and is polishing her wooden spoon as we speak.

I fully expect us to be beaten by Italy,  they have done so on our home soil so on theirs they are definitely the favourites.  Wales have some serious sorting out to do and Gatland has his own very big boots to fill,  there are very few coaches who have come back to do it all again successfully so the jury is out on if this was a good move or  ot,it certainly won't be any worse than Pivac for sure 

With the whole Welsh rugby world in turmoil it will reflect on the pitch, that however is no excuse but it will have a effect, as will the fact we are in between an old team and a rising new one.

We need to write this six nations off as a training exercise and learn from it.

[mr.bluesky]

MissWolf is in total agreement and is polishing her wooden spoon as we speak.

I fully expect us to be beaten by Italy,  they have done so on our home soil so on theirs they are definitely the favourites.  Wales have some serious sorting out to do and Gatland has his own very big boots to fill,  there are very few coaches who have come back to do it all again successfully so the jury is out on if this was a good move or  ot,it certainly won't be any worse than Pivac for sure 

With the whole Welsh rugby world in turmoil it will reflect on the pitch, that however is no excuse but it will have a effect, as will the fact we are in between an old team and a rising new one.

We need to write this six nations off as a training exercise and learn from it.

Good points made MissWolf    you've summed it up perfectly.  Domestic Welsh Rugby is in a mess and this reflects in the national team at the moment. Not much time to sort things out before the Rugby Union World cup starts in November

[mr.bluesky]

Wales cruising against Italy at the moment. A disappointing performance from Italy ,I expected much more from them going by recent performances. If it remains this way MissWolf will be a happy bunny. A big improvement needed by Italy for the 2nd half but it ain't over till the fat lady sings

[ulstersubbie]

England being destroyed by the French (no I'm not going to gloat), I  just fear we could end up being battered by the Irish tomorrow. It's been an interesting tournament to say the least!

[mr.bluesky]

England being taken apart by France heaviest ever defeat in the 4, 5,or 6 nations

[Stevelondon]

Sad to see supporters leaving Twickenham before the end of the game. England may have been poor but it was a good watch seeing a France team on top form.

[mr.bluesky]

England being destroyed by the French (no I'm not going to gloat), I  just fear we could end up being battered by the Irish tomorrow. It's been an interesting tournament to say the least!

France certainly found their form today that's for sure. An awesome display of Rugby