# 6 Nations 2007



## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

My favourite time of the year







even though I am English









After going through several months of misery with England rugby hitting an all time low I am not quite as pessimistic as I was a couple of months ago.

Some surprises though, Wilkinson as the starting fly-half, Jason Robinson back on the wing and Andy Farrell at inside centre









Not sure about the choice of Phil Vickery as is a captain, he is a tremendously brave player although to continue playing after a third back operation could be regarded as foolhardy and I worry about his durability.

Will Wilkinson last 80 minutes? I don't think so, 60 minutes perhaps and his inclusion not fully match fit is perhaps a sad indictment of the dearth of English fly-halves in the Guinness Premiership. I am also surprised at Farrell's inclusion at inside-centre, a position he has only played 7 times! I saw him against Harlequins he did a good job, looked very solid but more of a defensive centre than an attacking centre.

So here's hoping that Brian Ashton's team of crocks, elder statesmen and Rugby League players can pull it out of the bag


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

Eh?

Oh....sport!









I'm off to do some work then









Best regards David


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I knew it must be 5 Nations time again, Aldi are selling rugby shirts







Chavs can now follow rugby and wear the shirts at bargain prices!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

I can't wait ..... less than 4 hours to the first game


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## scottishcammy (Jul 11, 2003)

'Mon the boys!!!


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

JoT said:


> I can't wait ..... less than 4 hours to the first game


What games this then? Who's playing?


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

scottishcammy said:


> 'Mon the boys!!!


Nae chance pal


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

England 42 â€" 20 Scotland

I am not getting carried away with the result, as welcome as it is, there are still a lot of problems. However from the outset there was a different feel, in the tunnel gone was the Woodward era bragging wall and no clebrity singer, just a military band and the crowd singing the National Anthem. The game was remarkable for Wilkinsonâ€™s performance; it was almost as if he had never been away. In the post match interview he looked emotionally drained, I doubt even he could quite believe it. Farrell was immense, given it was only his 8th game of Union, it is a shame he isnâ€™t a couple of years younger. The Scots didnâ€™t play that badly but were on the back-foot for most of the game, their tackle count was twice that of Englandâ€™s which must have been very draining.

Hereâ€™s my assessment â€¦. As an amateur-era prop forward perhaps best to take it with a pinch of salt









1 â€" Perry Freshwater (7) good solid game, scrummed well and kept his discipline, the pick of the front-row forwards

2 â€" George Chuter (5) played well in parts, gave away a try with a critical misdirected throw at a line-out. Poor discipline, gave away several penalties.

3 â€" Phil Vickery (5) quiet game; was under pressure early on in the scrum but did get on top as the Scots tired. Gave away several penalties, replaced at 71 minutes; still not convinced he is the right man to have as captain.

4 â€" Louis Deacon (6) not a bad first international, did most things well, gave away a penalty.

5 â€" Danny Grewcock (8) the pick of the forwards, unusually he wasnâ€™t sin binned, didnâ€™t hit or rake anybody! Good in the tight and had one of his best games in the open for some time.

6 â€" Joe Worsley (7) hard to rank as except for one break I canâ€™t remember seeing him! Using the premise that you donâ€™t see a good blind-side flanker I have given him a 7. Why he was played at open-side in the past beats me.

7 â€" Magnus Lund (7) had a good solid game, didnâ€™t make any mistakes that I could see and had very good discipline. He worked well on the fringes and put a lot of pressure on the Scotland 9 and 10; deserved his try.

8 â€" Martin Corry (6) relieved from the pressure of captaincy Corry had a solid if not spectacular game. His discipline was poor in the first half giving away a couple of penalties and one free kick.

9 â€" Harry Ellis (9) my man of the match, the best game I have seen an English scrum-half play since Matt Dawson was in his prime. Good crisp passing, great around the fringes, terrorised the Scots back row and made some good breaks.

10 â€" Jonny Wilkinson (9) probably one of the bravest and most remarkable feats of rugby in modern times. To have come through what he has been through in the last four years and turn in the performance he did is a testament to Wilkinson the man. I didnâ€™t really have a tear in my eye, I am sure it was a draught, but I wouldnâ€™t have been ashamed if I had. He marshalled his troops and organised the back-line as if he had never been away, his tackling defied the injuries, his attacking options were usually correct. He will be disappointed with his kicking, he missed two, but still ended up with 27 points helped by a try which should not have been given.

11 â€" Jason Robinson (7) I thought he looked a bit ring-rusty in the first 15 minutes, but his sharpness seemed to return and his was good for two tries.

12 â€" Andy Farrell (8) Given this was only Farrellâ€™s 8th game of Union his international debut was a testament to his abilities; he must have frightened the life out of the Scots centres. Interestingly he was often first-receiver from the ruck and maul taking some of he pressure off Wilkinson and giving the backs more options. His defence was, as you would expect from a League legend, was very sound, although he did miss one tackle. He was great at getting the line moving straight, something that England have been incapable of for the last couple of years. More to come from the great man in my opinion, just a pity he is 31 and not 29!

13 â€" Mike Tindall (7) a good solid game helped by Farrellâ€™s immense presence at inside centre. A good performance.

14 â€" Josh Lewsey (6) did nothing wrong although he didnâ€™t see much of the ball.

15 â€" Ollie Morgan (6) a reasonable international debut, nothing spectacular but nothing bad either.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Well I've come down with a stinking cold so stayed in this afternoon and watched the match. I'm not a huge rugger fan, played it at school until the lads in my year seemed to grow bigger than me







so I did the obvious thing and stopped playing









I was impressed with what I saw, that No 10 Jersey seemed to be everywhere ! Go Johnny go! What's the point of having a video judge though if he misses the bleedin obvious









btw what did it mean when they put 7th phase on the screen?


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

pg tips said:


> Well I've come down with a stinking cold so stayed in this afternoon and watched the match. I'm not a huge rugger fan, played it at school until the lads in my year seemed to grow bigger than me
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree it shouldnt have been a try, and given by an Irishman as well! Perhaps he also had a tear in his eye









PG a phase is each time the ball is recycled from a ruck or maul, the French, who looked very good earlier on, strung together 17 phases at one point in the game.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Ah I see thanks John, I kept thinking of the 6th tackle rule in league and was wondering if you were only allowed a certain number of phases


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## scottishcammy (Jul 11, 2003)

Harrumph...I've decided, rugby is crap. Now curling on the other hand........!!!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

scottishcammy said:


> Harrumph...I've decided, rugby is crap. Now curling on the other hand........!!!


I thought Scotland played quite well and the score flattered England somewhat, I wouldn't polish your stones just yet


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

Now curling on the other hand........!!! Now Cammy! which particular hair-growth did you have in mind? the head? the legs? or mebbe.....???


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## scottishcammy (Jul 11, 2003)

Roger said:


> Now curling on the other hand........!!! Now Cammy! which particular hair-growth did you have in mind? the head? the legs? or mebbe.....???


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Watched the Wales V Ireland match this afternoon! Bloody hell that was a fast game!

What gives at the scrums though all this touch, pause, lock business







and why don't they put the ball in straight? Every scrum I saw the ball went to their own hooker! Can't see much point in having scrums if they are going to do that (or are they allowed to these days?).


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

pg tips said:


> Watched the Wales V Ireland match this afternoon! Bloody hell that was a fast game!
> 
> What gives at the scrums though all this touch, pause, lock business
> 
> ...


It was a great game to watch







must have been hell to play in though. The Celtic games are always fast but I have never seen anything like this!

Touch, pause, lock







almost Paul

Crouch, touch, pause, ENGAGE







they have introduced this rule to try and reduce the incidents of neck and back injuries in the scrums. Previously it was just crouch, ENGAGE and before that nothing







Under the old rule the "hit" as the front rows came together was getting to the stage where even a small misjudgement could be very dangerous. By introducing a four stage procedure and ensuring the front rows are no further than arms length away from each other the impact has been reduced, but not to the extent that the scrum (one of the mainstays of the Union game) is emasculated. The view is that it seems to be working well, with less collapsed scrums as well as the reduced hit.

As a former prop-forward who suffered spinal injuries and had two close friends badly injured (neck and shoulder) as a result of collapsed scrums anything which reduces the incidents of this is a good idea. ironically many of the rules they introduced to make the scrum "safer" in the past had the opposite effect. Early on in my playing days there were very few rules governing the front row and we used to pack so low to the ground that as a prop I had to lift my head up to let the ball in. Those days you could get away with just about anything. One big difference though was that the "hit" was not that hard (relatively speaking) as there was no directive from the referee to engage, the front rows themselves sorted it out, and we often used to touch before engaging. Then they changed the rules to stop any front-rower from having his head below his hips, we got around this by packing down with our hips closer to the ground







. Then the referees started to dictate the ENGAGE it was during this period that the high impact hits developed as both front rows charged at each other like bulls. The front rows could only do this because they knew that their opposite number would also engage at the same time, whereas previously you couldn't charge as hard just in case your opponent didn't and you ended up breaking your neck









That's about all I can divulge, if I tell you any more I will have to silence you







the front-row union rules I am afraid


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I remember as an 11 year old those double games rugby sessions were a killer, our teacher was rugby mad, hated football with a vengence







When we first started off he had you all around the positions so he could get a feel of what the next school team was going to be. I remember quite clearly being hooker







for a while, even at 11 there were some evil who thought it was fun to charge when engaging.


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

I think I was a teenager before I knew that another code even existed.







I think there was some sort of Wigan (RL) v Whoever (RU) fixture on telly with Eddie Waring commentating, if I remember rightly they swapped codes after a certain time.


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

J gives Johnny Wilkinson a 9 !!!!!!!

What, one wonders, would a player have to do to get a 10 I wonder.

My rating for him was a 10+, absolutely fantastic!!!! I have never seen a braver performance.

The previous coach said before the match he would't have played him. What a complete utter twerp.

We have the same sort of twerp hanging onto the England cricket job. He must be replaced and replaced now!!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Griff I would give Jonny 10+ for bravery but it wasn't a flawless display IMO. Still it was probably the most remarkable comeback since Lazarus


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## Griff (Feb 23, 2003)

27 points from his own boots aint a bad 1st effort back is it!!!!
















Maybe after showing some promise he should be put on a probationary period and considered for stand in roles from the subs bench!!!!

We have a similar situation with the cricket. Without Simon Jones in our bowling line up we cant win dick!!!


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

Didn't get to see any of the England match unfortunately - not even highlights







- as I was working at the theatre all day saturday till the wee small hours of sunday morning. However I did manage to see the Wales/Ireland match & that was a belter. Very close I thought but the Irish just seem to have that bit more flair about them - though Wales played very well too. The pace the game was played at says a lot about the fitness of the players these days. Also I think that Wales should have been awarded a penalty (or a penalty try) since one of their players was tackled off the ball, very close to the Irish line, when a try looked a certainty! Had that been awarded then the outcome may have been different.

I love the 6 nations & I'm very much looking forwarcd to the Ireland/France match next sunday - it's at home to the Irish too


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Big day today









Ireland versus England at Croke Park







the very heart of Irish nationalism and they will be playing God Save the Queen !

Will Jonny play? Is he injured? Or is it as Eddie O'Sullivan says that "England are playing silly buggers"?

I am heading off to the Stoop to watch Harlequins v Bristol and will watch the England match in the members bar .... should be a good day out


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## Jonmurgie (Feb 11, 2007)

Almost hope that Jonny won't play so maybe England will play for some try's rather than just their usual fall back plan of a kicking game!


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Jonny is in the starting line-up









I think we are going to need all the help we can get in this game


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Have got the option of meeting a couple of friends later for drinks, don't think i'm going to risk at the moment as their both Irish


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## Russ (Feb 7, 2006)

Can't believe what I'm seeing in the Scotland Italy game, they have given them a 21 point start!

Hope England have a solid start against the Irish.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Oh feck
















Ireland 43 - 13 England

Ireland were inspired and England were woeful, only Joe Worsley is worth a mention, and perhaps David Strettle who had a reasonable debut under difficult circumstances. What now for England? I fear for them in Paris









Credit to the Irish crowd for showing perfect respect to the English anthem









And what happened to Scotland








?

Scotland 17 - 37 Italy

Did anyone see the game?

At least Harlequins beat Bristol

NEC Harlequins 15 - 8 Bristol Rugby

Not a classic game, five penalties to a try and a penalty, Bristol played their usual dour defensive away game full of spoiling tactics and constantly looking for a breakaway. Adrian Jarvis kicked five out of the kickable seven penalties Quins were awarded, while the Bristol try was as a direct result of a Quins error. Still very good to beat the second placed team


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

JoT said:


> Credit to the Irish crowd for showing perfect respect to the English anthem


Absolutely!



JoT said:


> And what happened to Scotland
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I watched it, it was 0-21 after 6mins







Scotland literally gave Italy 3 tries, suicidal passes, one after another, bloody hell it was funny.







Watched Ireland too and now I'm off for a good night out


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