The All Purpose Rugby Union Thread (P2)

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Well done to Wales, a third grand slam in 8 years is mightily impressive.

I'm very happy with the way England have performed in this 6Nations though, very happy. I fnot for one moment of brilliance in the Wales game (or indeed a spot of luck from the TMO) it could have been our Grand Slam, but there we go.

As much as Ben Morgan had a stormer in the loose yesterday, the MOTM award should have gone to Alex Corbesiero. That was, without doubt, in my eyes anyway, the best scrummaging display from a prop in this 6 Nations. Not just for the demolition job on Court, but for the fact that he gave Mike Ross a hard time as well. Lots has been made of Court being young and inexperienced, but Ross was suffering from the very first scrum, and don't forget Corbs only debuted against Italy in last years 6 Nations, so it's not like he's massively experienced himself.

It's good to see us scoring tries as well, Ben Youngs finally showing glimpses of the player he was last year.

Fair play to Ireland, that first half was a corker to watch, maybe slow and lumbering to some and riddled with mistakes, but games like that bring out character and both teams I thought played superbly in the conditions. Losing Mike Ross was the turning point, once the scrum buckled everything else fell apart.

I'm now very much looking forward to the summer tours. That's the real test, if we can hold out own against the SH teams then we can start talking about how good this team is. Same goes for Wales too, they have to start beating SH teams, or this Grand Slam will amount to nothing.
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    • Mike TeeveeMike Teevee Posts: 35,567
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      My little old thread has made it to part 2, I feel so proud :)

      Anyway well done Wales, though I think 2008 team played better. The young player will get better and hopefully will start getting the results they deserve against SH teams

      Pleased that England finished off with a win, hope RFU gives Lancaster a chance to prove this wasn't a fluke. Sure I can see England dipping in next few games, but I genuinely think Lancaster is bringing the team forward.

      Ireland suffered from missing a few of their talismans, clearly need a little bit of fresh blood. Scotland started well without any success but progressively got worst towards the end of 6N. France seems to have gone backwards from the previous disarray under Lièvremont (which is odd). Glad Italy didn't finish bottom and played more open rugby than previously (okay slightly more open)

      I think 6N would be better as a competition if was a separate part of the calendar, maybe played in May (with regular club season ending in April). For now though I guess we're stuck with the status quo
    • VideostarVideostar Posts: 14,818
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      Of course it's easier to win the six nations just after a world cup seeing as all the teams are rebuilding and are trying a few new players and ideas, Wales had pretty much the same group of players from the WC.
    • sensoriasensoria Posts: 4,682
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      Well done Wales good work

      Odd point, should Nigel Owens have been ref for a game that could have decided if Wales won the tournement? Irrelevant as it was won but an odd decision.

      Felt sorry for Ireland at Twickenham yesterday, I have been stuffed up like that in the front row and you feel you are letting everyone down.

      Ireland need to find some key players to replace the ones that are fading. They looked like they didnt want to be there by half time.

      As for Ferris and his bite claim, his finger had to be in or around someones mouth for it to get bitten so not much sympathy from me. Far to much grabbing players round the neck and twisting them off at rucks. It is going to lead to a serious injury soon. An Ireland player did it to Cole in the first half and it looked very dangerous.

      As for the lions. Think if we get one Englishman in the starting lineup it will be a miricle.
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 264
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      If this side keeps developing as it is at the mo, we'll see more Englishmen in the Lions line up.

      Someone's going to get their neck broken in a ruck before long. And I mean that seriously. The amount of players that dive in with their shoulders to try and clear out is absolutely ridiculous, and referees let it go. Not only is it illegal, it's stupidly dangerous, and one day a player will fly in with a shoulder and catch somebody right at the base of the skull. It's a dangerous enough game as it is, and we've already seen the damage that can be done by people not rucking properly (Adam Jones, 09 Lions tour, dislocated shoulder).
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 9,517
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      sensoria wrote: »
      Well done Wales good work

      Odd point, should Nigel Owens have been ref for a game that could have decided if Wales won the tournement? Irrelevant as it was won but an odd decision.

      Felt sorry for Ireland at Twickenham yesterday, I have been stuffed up like that in the front row and you feel you are letting everyone down.

      Ireland need to find some key players to replace the ones that are fading. They looked like they didnt want to be there by half time.

      As for Ferris and his bite claim, his finger had to be in or around someones mouth for it to get bitten so not much
      sympathy from me. Far to much grabbing players round the neck and twisting them off at rucks. It is going to lead to a serious injury soon. An Ireland player did it to Cole in the first half and it looked very dangerous.

      As for the lions. Think if we get one Englishman in the starting lineup it will be a miricle.

      At least it is " only" finger biting . During the game it was suggested it was eye gouging, so thankfully it wasn't that.

      Despite England's massive dominance in the pack it took ages for them to actually convert this to points, which to me is a bit worrying.

      Well done to Wales, but this year's six nations was of a poor quality with only a handful of games being of good standard. Not taking anything away from Wales though.
    • MeicYMeicY Posts: 2,585
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      sensoria wrote: »
      Odd point, should Nigel Owens have been ref for a game that could have decided if Wales won the tournement? Irrelevant as it was won but an odd decision.

      You're questioning Nigel Owen's integrity again? Low. Wayne Barnes (England) awarded Wales the penalty which won them the game against Ireland. Everyone's favourite card-happy French/Irishman Alain Rolland was in charge for your game against the Frogs. No complaints there I see......
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 264
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      There were loads of complaints about Rolland's refereeing in the France/England game so I don't know where you've got that from. Rolland's stock has dropped massively in the last 6 months.

      The same argument about Owens was levelled at him during the world cup when he reffed Samoa and SA, saying that he could influence the game to help Wales go through. It's a pretty ludicrous decision, referees are appointed well before the tournaments start, so how are the organisers supposed to know which games will hang in the balance. It's not like we have a plethora of world class international referees to keep switching around if people are going to get all antsy about refs influencing games to help their own country.
    • sensoriasensoria Posts: 4,682
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      MeicY wrote: »
      You're questioning Nigel Owen's integrity again? Low. Wayne Barnes (England) awarded Wales the penalty which won them the game against Ireland. Everyone's favourite card-happy French/Irishman Alain Rolland was in charge for your game against the Frogs. No complaints there I see......

      I wasnt questioning his integrity I was questioning the judgement of the selection process. Alan Rolland is a former Irish rugby player so I have no problem with him refing the french. I don't like to call them "frogs" its a bit "low"

      And yeah you are right Wales game should have been refed by a neutral as well. As I said it didnt matter in the end but had Barnes made a controversial decision or Owens done the same with the championship still to play for there would have been an element of potential controversy.

      I think they are all pretty good and I like Owens as a ref. I just think to avoid them having uncomfortable allegations leveled at them, as Allan Rowland had to suffer after he sent off Wharburton.
    • richie4evarichie4eva Posts: 217,838
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      Wales's autumn itinerary is released

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17439196

      10th November - Argentina
      16th November - Samoa
      24th November - New Zealand
      1st December - Australia
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,649
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      Nigel Owens gets enough stick in Wales as it is , for being Munsters 16th man whenever they play our pro teams:D

      Already talk of Warburton being a doubt for the summer tour to Oz with his shoulder injury. I really hope we don't go down under there with a depleted squad , as now is the time to try and pick up a scalp in the SH. With only one team left in the Heineken Cup , then our pro teams won't have too many games of genuine intensity between now and the end of the club season.
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 264
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      As much as Warburton is a cracking player, he's spent most of this 6 Nations injured and you haven't missed him, so even if he isn't fit I don't think it's a massive concern.
    • MeicYMeicY Posts: 2,585
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      Only because Justin Tipuric and Ryan Jones have stepped up to the mark fantastically well.
    • jake1981jake1981 Posts: 5,713
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      Danny Cypriani has signed a 3-year deal with Sale Sharks . Be interested to see if he has a chance of making it back into the England squad under a new management
    • sensoriasensoria Posts: 4,682
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      It will be intersting to see how Wales perform against Australia. They beat them every year they won a grand slam. So it bodes well for them.
    • apaulapaul Posts: 9,846
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      Johnson may have made mistakes as England manager but getting rid of Celebrani wasn't one of them.
    • Mike TeeveeMike Teevee Posts: 35,567
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      very disappointed that Danny hasn't gone back to Wasps, but I hope he gets a chance to restart his faltering career

      in other news Hartley has been cited for biting
    • sensoriasensoria Posts: 4,682
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      very disappointed that Danny hasn't gone back to Wasps, but I hope he gets a chance to restart his faltering career

      in other news Hartley has been cited for biting

      I saw the incedent during the game. Ferris makes a tackles on Hartly and is on the floor with his hand down around Hartleys face. Then he pulls away quickly and yelps at the ref.

      As I said you put your hands in or around my mouth and I will bloody bite them. That is from someone who has been a vicitim of a pretty brutal biting incident. I still have a teeth shaped scar across my eyebrow where I had it half ripped off by someone biting me.
    • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 264
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      I said this to my dad this morning, if hartley had gone out of his way to bite Ferris then he deserves banning, if Ferris' fingers were anywhere near Hartley's mouth then my sympathy for Ferris drops considerably.

      I remember on the 09 Lions tour when Grewcock was banned for biting Kevin Mealamu's fingers, even though the report stated Mealamu's fingers were actually in Grewcocks mouth at the time, probably trying to fish-hook him. What did Mealamu get? Nothing.
    • Tiger RoseTiger Rose Posts: 11,720
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      apaul wrote: »
      Johnson may have made mistakes as England manager but getting rid of Celebrani wasn't one of them.

      This. I can't see SL (if he gets the job full time) pandering to him either. He'll find it very difficult to get back into the Eng side IMO - as well as Farrell there are also the likes of George Ford coming through the ranks & none of these players have any baggage.
    • plateletplatelet Posts: 26,359
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      sensoria wrote: »
      It will be intersting to see how Wales perform against Australia. They beat them every year they won a grand slam. So it bodes well for them.

      so does that mean they've only beat them twice in the last twenty years? ;)
    • Marmite BabyMarmite Baby Posts: 3,598
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      Wales have only beaten Australia once in Australia (1969) in ten attempts so we're going to find out if a very good side can become a great side.
    • Welsh-ladWelsh-lad Posts: 51,908
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      I had a gloriously graphic dream last night... involving Rhys Priestland and George North :eek::o:o:o

      I think this is an emerging part two of a recurring dream I have about Mike Phillips and Jamie Roberts :o
    • MeicYMeicY Posts: 2,585
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    • Mike TeeveeMike Teevee Posts: 35,567
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      MeicY wrote: »

      innocent till proven guilty, as they say

      though he does seem to be going for a record number of arrests in a year
    • Mark FMark F Posts: 53,283
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      Isn't he in the wrong sport?

      ;)

      Northampton player banned for breaking a Leicester players arm last week!
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