NormanH Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Not often I have something to crow about in the café after the first round [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hear, hear Norman, cracking games from England and Italy, long may it continue........I did feel sorry for les bleus though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I cheered wildly!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Even better is the fact that it was by far the best game of the weekend or to put it another way if you had bought a ticket to watch the game live you would have had excellent value for money. Mind you if you bought a ticket to watch Wales you would probably have thrown yourself under a bus by now. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I was not a happy bunny yesterday, but there will be no slagging off my team. Win or lose, I support Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 France were simply awful this afternoon - they all looked as though they'd been at a Berlusconi party last night! All through the match, I thought "They're going to cut loose & put 20pts on the Italians before you know it".Didn't happen of course and when they were squabbling amongst themselves at a lineout with 10 mins to go, I felt sure which way things were going to go. It'll be quite different next weekend vs Wales: you won't recognise the team (& hopefully for them, without that plonker Michalak).I couldn't resist ringing a (French) friend immediately after the match who is a keen rugbyman - his father is Italian, mother French and brother who was good enough to have played a dozen or so times in the last decade for Italy.He was in Rome! Clearly in the middle of an enormous p*ssup after the game with his brother who had been one of the 400 or so recipients of a special cap for Italian rugby internationals. You couldn't have written the script.Oh and BTW ....................... we weren't bad were we? Game on in Dublin next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="Frecossais"]I was not a happy bunny yesterday, but there will be no slagging off my team. Win or lose, I support Scotland.[/quote]I quite agree tho there were some promising signs from Scotland. England now look the team to beat tho that may have to be reviewed after next Sunday's meeting with Ireland.I did say in another thread that England were about 20 points better on paper than Scotland - the result on the pitch seems to bear that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 England will win the 6N that's for sure and basically a given. What will be interesting is who will get the wooden spoon because it won't be Italy this year. France failed to find that extra gear in the second half and it cannot be denied that Italy played some excellent rugby and were far more disciplined than we have seen them before. Italy has always had some excellent players in their national team, their problem was playing together as a team.Wales, well I think that's the 8th International they have lost on the trot now. Some say it is because Gatland was not coaching them, being now the head coach of the Lions. Frankly however I think Wales are just looking for somebody to blame. We should also keep in mind that few teams have won the 6N twice over two seasons.Scotland and France, well they both can play much better rugby so perhaps this will be a wake up call for them.Ireland I guess could be the only threat to England, if we can beat them in Ireland next weekend then the 6N is in the bag for England. Even better for England is that Ireland is the only away game this year.But at the end of the day whatever the statistics say, whatever the experts say, rugby is a fickle game. I mean on paper and according to the experts who would have thought England would have beaten the All Blacks in the Autumn Internationals but they did and played some excellent rugby to boot.Just had a look at the bookies odds and 20 out of 24 bookies have Scotland to come last and England to win. [:D]Mentioning Gatland I wonder what he is going to do now. The French clubs are refusing to release players because the Top 14 is so important to them. So far both Toulon and USAP have absolutely said no. There are currently 64 English (bad reporting that as it should be English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish) Internationals playing in France according to The Guardian (26th October 2012) and the loss to the Top 14 clubs in France should any of them play for the Lions of any of them is bad news so I fear his selection pool of experienced players will rather small this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="Quillan"]England will win the 6N that's for sure and basically a given. What will be interesting is who will get the wooden spoon because it won't be Italy this year. [/quote]Are you prepared to offer odds on this double Q? [B] I think the odds favour Ireland to win and Italy to be last. [8-|] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I wish I could ring up my French neighbour who is very active in our local rugby club and do some crowing.This is especially the case since his wife let out inadvertently that his nickname at the club is "Fee-Fee" for Philippe. I pretended to gasp in horror and said, but in England, Fee-Fee is a name we call our poodles [:-))]Alas, no can do as the Welsh hasn't exactly excelled themselves, have they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="NickP"][quote user="Quillan"] England will win the 6N that's for sure and basically a given. What will be interesting is who will get the wooden spoon because it won't be Italy this year. [/quote]Are you prepared to offer odds on this double Q? [B] I think the odds favour Ireland to win and Italy to be last. [8-|][/quote]I'll give you 11/10 for England winning and 100/1 for Scotland winning the 6N. Italy to win is 33/1 and that's from 20+ bookies so you work it out. [;-)]The order currently predicted by the bookies from first to last place is England (first), Ireland, France, Wales, Italy and finally Scotland (being last). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneySuckleDreams Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I watched the french match in a pub in Luxembourg, and the atmosphere was rather muted (amongst the french), the rest of us thought it splendid.The french national team is suffering because of the influx of foreign players, rather like the english national football team is with the leagues flooded with foreigners. It also suffers with a problem "there is no 'I' in team....unless you are an equipe francais"They must be struggling for decent players, as my No1 son has been asked to trial for the rugby 7's team which will make their debut at the next Olympics.No2 son constantly gets abuse (from his other team mates no less) that they will never win anything with an english boy in the team. I told him to point out that he finds it the same, that they will never win anything with 14 french lads in the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="Quillan"]Even better for England is that Ireland is the only away game this year.[/quote]Apart from Wales vs England !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="Gardian"][quote user="Quillan"] Even better for England is that Ireland is the only away game this year.[/quote]Apart from Wales vs England !![/quote]I stand corrected, only a minor detail and even better to beat the Welsh on their home turf. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Q I love your optimism, and my OH is Irish, so you can imagine my delight for England to beat them, plus of course all the others; but I can't see it. As I now feel I know you quite well through this forum I won't take your money. My bet is already made with the bookmaker and I've got a double, Ireland to win overall and Italy to be last. Mind you I was wrong once before, I think it was in 1944/45 [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Wales might still cause a surprise. OK, they won't win it but the second half against Ireland will have boosted their confidence, sadly absent in the first 30 minutes.Italy of course are normally pretty much the opposite. Start well but can't keep it going. I always said that once Italy can play for 80 minutes, they will match the others - just not sure whether they have cracked it or whether a lack-lustre France on the Italian home teritory gave them too much encouragement. I had picked Scotland for the wooden spoon. But there's something about the new coach that suggests otherwise.So all in all, it's looking like it could be a close, and very exciting, contest, especially if the other France begins to turn up.Great start for England, though, who haven't broken sweat yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Well Nick my glass is always half full, well till I have finished off ready for another that is. [B]Wales v Ireland, well Wales clearly didn't turn up for the first 40 minutes. The ball was terribly slow at times amongst the Welsh, I thought they were having a union meeting in the rucks, deciding what to do. Wales was better in the second half, faster ball, well for them it was although not as fast as England. On the other hand Ireland got sloppy and they really don't like 'bump and grind' rugby and they can't really play that sort of game. So to my mind Ireland's game went downwards and Wales game came upwards but it still was nowhere good enough to beat England or even the French and possibly even the Italians. In Wales defence it is well known that their stadium suffers when it comes to the grass. Something to do with humidity, the roof and underground heating. I thought it looked like my old schools ground at the end of the season. They did get some unlucky bounces where as the luck was with the Irish when it came to loose ball.Incidentally somebody else also mentioned the amount of foreign players in France. The FFR set limits three years ago on the percentage of foreign players in a French team, it started at 60% and has now dropped to 40%. The idea is to play more French players and give the international coaches a bigger pool to select from. Sadly many clubs, mainly those in the Top 14 have simply increased the number of permanent players, especially the top clubs Paris, Toulouse, Racing Metro and of course Toulon. Now the FFR are talking about dropping the limit to 30% hoping that the cost to the teams of employing even more permanent players will put them off this practice, we shall see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Great atmosphere at Cardiff but you are right about the pitch. We were 10 rows back a couple of years ago and ended up covered in pieces of turf. It was flying everywhere. God knows what it must be like to play on a moving surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 [quote user="Alan Zoff"]Great atmosphere at Cardiff but you are right about the pitch. We were 10 rows back a couple of years ago and ended up covered in pieces of turf. It was flying everywhere. God knows what it must be like to play on a moving surface.[/quote]Flying turf is still a massive problem there. I believe the problem is the base is sand and the grass is grown on pallets which are placed and removed prior to different events. The biggest problem is that the roof, even when open, obscures direct sunlight making it almost impossible to actually grow grass inside the stadium. They have tried many things like special lamps to help the grass grow but you can imagine the expense. After the autumn internationals there has been a resurrection of the idea about replacing it with artificial grass. Great for football but useless for rugby, too many friction burns for a start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Well perhaps the odds for Scotland getting the wooden spoon need to be revised after a really good performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 The pitch in Paris looks pretty ropey and is cutting up badly as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Not just the pitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 He he he he, didn't Wales do well, then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 A good win for Wales but a very disappointing game from both sides, it was verging on boredom at times.The pitch was awful and was IMHO the cause of the scrum problems. France really need to sort out the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I found a bit of turf on my roof this morning, I am sure it came from Paris. I thought the pitch in Paris made the Welsh pitch look like a bowling green. As a neutral (well perhaps a slight bias towards France) if I had paid for a ticket I would be seriously thinking about asking for my money back. Lets home England does well in Ireland today and breaks the drought (in Ireland) of 10 loses against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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