Rugby matters

[taper]

Sweet bejesus. The humping Ireland got in the scrum today will haunt the generation who witnessed it. Even John Hayes never went backwards that quickly.

[Alan Medic]

Amazing what losing one prop did. I couldn't see England scoring a try before that. Ruined my day watching it. I blame it all on St.Patrick being Welsh.

PS I wonder will anyone be cited? Something went on that the Irish took great exception to.

[taper]

I think the Irish scrum was getting worked over in the first half too. Bizarre because I thought they'd sorted out their problems there with Hayes' retirement. Gouging is what I heard, but haven't seen any citing yet.

[taper]

http://www.rugbyrugby.com/news/more_news/northern_hemishere/7001046/ferris_makes_biting_allegation

Finger biting it seems!

[Alan Medic]

I'm not sure Redden helped the cause by putting the ball in straight. Very unusual these days. Weak excuse I know.

[El Pibe]

"I blame it all on St.Patrick being Welsh." eh!?!?

[Huguenot]

St. Patrick would have done a better job helping the Welsh if he'd helped the Irish win ;-)

[Alan Medic]

So to catch up........England appoint a coach after a successful 6 nations campaign only to look for another coach to take his place so he can be a 'Director of rugby'. A Kiwi is approached who isn't sure if he can coach a team that might play against his beloved AB's. Right. That's clear. Sort of man you would want in your corner if say you got to a WC Final on home turf in 2015 and were playing the AB's.

Well done to Ulster who managed to clinch the runners-up spot today in the HC. The winners will be playing tomorrow in the other semi-final. Felt sorry for Edinburgh who were the epitome of plucky.

[Alan Medic]

Obviously a hot topic amongst the ED glitterati but I thought I should put it down in words. A grave injustice is being done to London Welsh rugby club. They are very likely to win the championship but be denied promotion as their stadium doesn't meet the standards required by the Premiership. They have reached an agreement with Oxford to use their stadium which meets the criteria of size but are being rejected on the grounds they can't control when they can play there. There are already 4 Premiership rugby clubs in that position, as they use football stadia for their games.

This seems grossly unfair and I call on the EDF to take up the cause with as much gusto as if it were Iceland offering to move from LL. Over to you.

[Alan Medic]

Well you might not like rugby but one person does!

[Alan Medic]

Yeahhhhhhhhh

[Alan Medic]

Great win for England but Chris Ashton is still a plonker.

[Alan Medic]

Merry Christmas..............eh................me.

[steveo]

Toby Flood: choose your moments to be injured more carefully.

Happy Christmas Alan

[Mick Mac]

Merry Christmas Declan.

Chris Ashton......twonk.

[caroandcj]

My pick for the 6 Nations is England ... maybe even the Slam. In players like Tom Wood and Dan Coles, they have genuine world class performers. The back 3 are lethal and provided they play the right type of game then the midfield partnership can be very effective - Barritt and Tuilagi are big, mean, fast and ugly so using them as ball carriers and allowing the creativity to come from the back 3 can work. I also think the Lancaster / Robshaw axis is beginning to gel. I am South African so saying this pains me greatly but I also fancy them for RWC 2015.

[david_carnell]

I think you're right about the 6Nations caroandcj but it might be too early to punt on th RWC in 2015. Although home turf adds a big advantage if you can handle the pressure.

Wales look to be in freefall right now whilst Ireland are in transition with BOD and ROG both beginning to edge closer to retirement and some of their forwards not far behind.

The French look deadly though with amazing young players coming through in the backline. If Rougerie can't get a game you know they're good.

And please, just for once, could Scotland get a few results that their potential deserves? Some world class forwards and now a finisher in Visser they might cause some problems if only they got some confidence.

[Alan Medic]

England were impressive against the AB's but I wonder how affected the blacks were by the illness in the camp prior to the game.

Ireland have some good players coming through and ROG is not 1st choice fly-half anymore. Ireland's best display in a long time was against Argentina. With England and France having to play in Dublin, if Ireland can get off to a good start in Wales, they should be in with a good shout.

[Mick Mac]

I have a few quid on Ireland for the 6 nations already following their win over the Argies. I'm rarely wrong.

England! Yer aving a laurf. Innit.

[Alan Medic]

Based on your tip Mick I've just put a couple of grand on them to win it (borrowed it). You did mean the Grand Slam didn't you?

[Mick Mac]

Grand slam. Why not. Good tip Declan.

It's funny how England are so optimistic after one win from three at home. A good team they are indeed but surely the jury is still out on Lancaster. Too early to say if he has added anything. Too much optimism over one win. But as usual I can't wait for the 6 nations, never disappoints. We have England in Dublin, just where we like them.

[Alan Medic]

Glad you like the tip Mick. I'm feeling generous and will be happy to share my winnings with you. I'm sure you will offer to split the losses with me, however unlikely that is. Still, would be a great gesture.

[Gingerbeer]

Im goiong to jump into this thread and risk derision, as I know next to nothing about rugby, but Ive been watching a lot of it lately so I have plenty of questions.

I saw an earlier post about Alesana Tullagi moving to Japan. While I understand rugby is big in the South Pacific, Japan isnt exactly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of congregations of burly men. Whats the draw?

[Huguenot]

Tuilagi's 31 and his side haven't offered him another contract. He has reached the age where injuries start to set in and he'll spend more time on the bench an on the field.

Japan have offered him mega money (they've got plenty of ambition) and the less physical nature of the game over there will probably mean he gets injured less and can play for longer.

[Gingerbeer]

Hmmm interesting. I admit Im a bit disappointed. Somehow I had hoped the draw would be grander than money and arthritis.