6 Nations 2023.

[henry d]

Dombrandt was ineffective, missed tackle leading to a try and fumbling, Curry for a while was guarding the short side which changed around half time. Not sure who or how to change those important defence positions. 

[Bobba]

14 hours ago, Rim Fire said:

Well done Scotland great game 

Yes, the better team one. Just a pity they needed  Saffa and Aussie internationals to do it

[harrycatcat1]

14 hours ago, billytheghillie said:

It seems they havent fixed the wheels on the chariot yet.

That made me laugh 👍👏

[Mice!]

36 minutes ago, Bobba said:

Yes, the better team one. Just a pity they needed  Saffa and Aussie internationals to do it

You play who's in front of you, if they qualify they can play, England haven't only got English players.

2 hours ago, henry d said:

Dombrandt was ineffective, missed tackle leading to a try and fumbling, Curry for a while was guarding the short side which changed around half time. Not sure who or how to change those important defence positions. 

I thought Dombrandt did well and worked hard, but the little mistakes cost you at this level.

Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum were hardly mentioned so had a very quiet game,  

then the other centre, joined in the midfield by Joe Marchant. Marcus Smith is at fly-half with Jack van Poortvliet at scrum half. These three did very little I thought, and if your centre isn't doing much then your wings aren't getting the ball.

Young came on and put a kick over which was possibly the first good box kick putting pressure on, when your playing at home there is no excuse for so many wasted kicks.

[chrisjpainter]

22 minutes ago, Mice! said:

You play who's in front of you, if they qualify they can play, England haven't only got English players.

I thought Dombrandt did well and worked hard, but the little mistakes cost you at this level.

Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum were hardly mentioned so had a very quiet game,  

then the other centre, joined in the midfield by Joe Marchant. Marcus Smith is at fly-half with Jack van Poortvliet at scrum half. These three did very little I thought, and if your centre isn't doing much then your wings aren't getting the ball.

Young came on and put a kick over which was possibly the first good box kick putting pressure on, when your playing at home there is no excuse for so many wasted kicks.

This is too much the problem with a lot of players. Worked hard...but mistake after mistake. And you're so right about our centres. What worries me is they don't try to get into the game. It feels as if they think it will happen naturally. But if it doesn't, they don't go looking for ways to get into it. They coast without much ingenuity. Previous favourites at centre went looking for the action. Say what you want about Manu, but he's never in the shadows where our current centres like to idle

[walshie]

On the bright side, at least everyone got a bonus point....

[millrace]

Well what a match.....du pont brilliant best player on field,,,,murry to slow and predictable and sexton done and injury prone poor planning by irfu to think a 37yr old is the way to go.....but ireland looking very assured.....

[chrisjpainter]

I tell you what, Scotland vs Ireland's going to be a fun match! What a fabulous win by them. As a competition, it's hotting up nicely. I'm hoping England bounce back tomorrow, but Wales look pedestrian

[Mice!]

44 minutes ago, millrace said:

Well what a match.....du pont brilliant best player on field,,,,murry to slow and predictable and sexton done and injury prone poor planning by irfu to think a 37yr old is the way to go.....but ireland looking very assured.....

I agree that Dupoint could have been man of the match, he was brilliant in attack and defence. 

Don't agree about Murry and Sexton, they ran the game, but yes their older, and will get knocks, this is probably Sexton's Swan song? but their replacements looked brilliant when they came on, the pace picked up and nothing changed.

The Ref had a great game, I was happy he talked the BIG tackle down to a yellow, but it was a red according to the rules, that big number 3 is just to slow for this level of rugby.

The first half was fantastic, with great rugby from both teams, but Ireland were just to good, right through the squad, the subs who came on were just as good as those they replaced, the pressure Ireland put France under was epic, pinning them in their own half.

But I missed the first half of S vs W because I thought the kick offs were later so watched on plus 1, and I'm glad I did.

And Scotland win again 😳😳 Wales lose again and its Wales v England on the 25th 💪💪

[millrace]

Was behind the posts at the game and had great view....dupoint was my mom unreal absolutely brilliant to watch him.....sorry but murray was painfully slow Ireland were so much faster and more unplayable when he went off thats when france had no answer....its not a criticism of him but today ire had to play fast play tug of war with France and they will eat you alive the difference when he went off was another level when ireland play fast and smart they are something else....when they remember they actually have wingers....honnestly it was probably 1 of the best matches ive ever been at....

[Mice!]

19 minutes ago, millrace said:

Was behind the posts at the game and had great view....dupoint was my mom unreal absolutely brilliant to watch him.....sorry but murray was painfully slow Ireland were so much faster and more unplayable when he went off thats when france had no answer....its not a criticism of him but today ire had to play fast play tug of war with France and they will eat you alive the difference when he went off was another level when ireland play fast and smart they are something else....when they remember they actually have wingers....honnestly it was probably 1 of the best matches ive ever been at....

It must have been an amazing atmosphere in the ground,  when you compare how Ireland played in the first half against the England performance last week it was like chalk and cheese, England were playing a fast young pair at 9 & 10, and were hopeless, Ireland today looked controlled and organised I thought, then the subs came on, game plan looked the same, but faster, great kicking and pinned France back, except for Dupoint.

Things look good for Ireland at the world Cup.

[gmm243]

Was also at the match today,just home now. 14 hours door to door but i was driving and had to wait for their in-laws to have a few pints after the match. Had my youngest son and his cousin there for their first visit to the Aviva. It was a wonderful atmosphere and will hopefully have formed a few mwmories for them. Obviously the win made their day but I must also say how impressed I was by the French fans. We were in amongst them on all sides but they were welcoming,mannerly and very humble in defeat. Even though a lot that were near us were in their 70's they shook hands with us at the final whistle and the young boys too and even though their English was not great they tried their best to chat.

I was down last November when Ireland were playing the South Africans. I wish I could say the same for their fans....

[chrisjpainter]

1 hour ago, gmm243 said:

Was also at the match today,just home now. 14 hours door to door but i was driving and had to wait for their in-laws to have a few pints after the match. Had my youngest son and his cousin there for their first visit to the Aviva. It was a wonderful atmosphere and will hopefully have formed a few mwmories for them. Obviously the win made their day but I must also say how impressed I was by the French fans. We were in amongst them on all sides but they were welcoming,mannerly and very humble in defeat. Even though a lot that were near us were in their 70's they shook hands with us at the final whistle and the young boys too and even though their English was not great they tried their best to chat.

I was down last November when Ireland were playing the South Africans. I wish I could say the same for their fans....

It's the same with cricket. Even aussies are nice enough to sit next to; they're harsher on the players than fellow fans. But SA fans have just got a nastiness about them. It's more embarrassing in cricket, because they have a lamentable track record of choking in the biggest competitions!

 

It sounded like a wonderful match on TV. There's been some great play from the three best teams in the comp. Whichever one of Ireland, France or Scotland wins the tournament will have thoroughly deserved it.

[Rim Fire]

Ireland  France great game  it was a Red card shoulder to the head his right arm no rap 

as for the welsh game no idea what there game plan was i predicted a win for Scotland no Red card on George North 

[Jaymo]

[Mice!]

10 hours ago, gmm243 said:

Obviously the win made their day but I must also say how impressed I was by the French fans. We were in amongst them on all sides but they were welcoming,mannerly and very humble in defeat. Even though a lot that were near us were in their 70's they shook hands with us at the final whistle and the young boys too and even though their English was not great they tried their best to chat

Fantastic,  and for me, a large part of what rugby is all about. We had the same when we went to Murrayfield years ago, surrounded by the Scots and the atmosphere and banter was brilliant. 

Watching the Rugby League World Cup final at Old Trafford was the same, the Aussie team were booed throughout, except when they were amazing,  there were Australians all through the crowd cheering their team on, and they were applauded for it.

Tge Samoan fans were just on another level completely 😅😅😅

[London Best]

I’m thinking, if England and Italy both play as well as they did last week, it’s just possible England may lose.

[JKD]

13 minutes ago, London Best said:

I’m thinking, if England and Italy both play as well as they did last week, it’s just possible England may lose.

That's a very fair assessment.

It's been very watchable (mostly) this year, and the Ireland v France match yesterday will go down as a classic IMO 👏 Proper rugby ! Scotland v Wales was always going to be hard fought but a bit scrappy, and so it turned out to be.

[Mice!]

4 hours ago, London Best said:

I’m thinking, if England and Italy both play as well as they did last week, it’s just possible England may lose.

I'm giving Italy a 20 point start and still expect England to win, England will have watched the game, seen that Italy have improved and took that into account. 

England have made changes and after last weeks performance know they need to improve,  dropping the likes of Smith shows the team if you don't perform your out.

[chrisjpainter]

An effective if not eye-catching first half. We're so lacking in flair though. We need a bit of dynamism in the midfield

[Mice!]

1 minute ago, chrisjpainter said:

An effective if not eye-catching first half. We're so lacking in flair though. We need a bit of dynamism in the midfield

Spot on, but I'm enjoying seeing the pack dominate,  the tackling is brutal and pushing the Italians back.

Now it would be nice to see the backs with ball in hand.

[chrisjpainter]

6 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Spot on, but I'm enjoying seeing the pack dominate,  the tackling is brutal and pushing the Italians back.

Now it would be nice to see the backs with ball in hand.

Yup. And it's great to have at least one game plan that works well. I just think he made the wrong call with Farrell at fly-half. We know what we get with Farrell when he's in the England 10 slot. What we don't know is how effective Smith can be when he's at fly-half but without Farrell clogging things up at 12. I think this would have been a great opportunity to find out, knowing that if needed we could revert to type to make sure we don't lose. 

Predictable, safe England. Not the sort of rugby that will do damage against Ireland or France.

[JKD]

Not impressive from England, with 2 gifted tries to Italy. As previously mentioned, England wouldn't have much chance against the other 3 teams we've yet to play, unless a miracle happens 🤔

[Mice!]

53 minutes ago, chrisjpainter said:

Predictable, safe England. Not the sort of rugby that will do damage against Ireland or France.

Second half was a bit messy,  too many substitutions maybe?

Glad Italy got on the score board though, they've definitely improved even though they looked lost in the first half. 

 

[chrisjpainter]

Just now, JKD said:

Not impressive from England, with 2 gifted tries to Italy. As previously mentioned, England wouldn't have much chance against the other 3 teams we've yet to play, unless a miracle happens 🤔

Very much a 2-tier tournament this year. Scotland, Ireland and France will fight it out for the championship and everyone else will fight it out to avoid being bottom. 

 

1 minute ago, Mice! said:

Second half was a bit messy,  too many substitutions maybe?

Glad Italy got on the score board though, they've definitely improved even though they looked lost in the first half. 

 

That can't have helped. I'm unconvinced by Van Poortvliet, Hassell-Collins was anonymous for large chunks and Farrell's kicking was way off the mark. Marchant looked the best of our backs by a country mile.