Rugby - 6 nations

[Bacchus]

Be cautious my Lizardly friend, you've only got 6 posts.

6 posts or 50,000 + he's still entitled to an opinion. However wrong it may be.

Unfortunately I don't think he is wrong and I am not going to let national pride fall in the way of a good bet. Did that once before and I lost a fiver to a Frenchman!

[TheDragon]

6 nations is never predictable. England are a newly built side playing at home as underdogs. I think the Welsh players wil be aware that it won't be made easy for them. Robshaw has impressed, England's backs might start doing some damage if Tuilagi is brought in, and if England sort out their line-out, who knows what might happen?

Wales are very strong and would have made the world cup final if it wasn't for their 'captain' seeing red. Can only see one result - a Wales win. But correct the beauty of sport is the unpredictability.

[Mich the Tester]

Wales are very strong and would have made the world cup final if it wasn't for their 'captain' seeing red. Can only see one result - a Wales win. But correct the beauty of sport is the unpredictability.

Yep, I think everyone agreed Wales were the better side there, but Warburton had one silly moment and that's all it takes. It was a shame because I think Wales may well have beaten NZ if they'd got through.

Thing is, at that level it's about discipline; you shouldn't lift a player in the tackle if you're not 100% sure (which you never are) that you can put him down safely.

One such moment from Wales, and if England cut out their silly moments then it wille be interesting.

I don't think, as some people do, that Wales will hammer England; I think it will be a close game and Wales will perhaps just have the edge through experience.

[TheDragon]

Who's posted anything contentious? Please enlighten me.

[Mich the Tester]

Who's posted anything contentious? Please enlighten me.

'Wales will trash England'

Not that I think newbies shouldn't post 'contentious' statements; I think you'll find Zeity's just taking the mick. He does that. Then he eats your liver with fava beans and a nice chianti.

Anyway, good to see another rugby fan on CUK.

[TheDragon]

Yep, I think everyone agreed Wales were the better side there, but Warburton had one silly moment and that's all it takes. It was a shame because I think Wales may well have beaten NZ if they'd got through.

Thing is, at that level it's about discipline; you shouldn't lift a player in the tackle if you're not 100% sure (which you never are) that you can put him down safely.

One such moment from Wales, and if England cut out their silly moments then it wille be interesting.

I don't think, as some people do, that Wales will hammer England; I think it will be a close game and Wales will perhaps just have the edge through experience.

If I was betting on the spread, I'd go 16-20+ Wales. Our backs are awesome, especially George North and very difficult to stop. I've played union as a full back and used to small wingers I could take out. Not the case with these guys. These Welsh backs are very good IMHO.

[The Spartan]

6 nations is never predictable. England are a newly built side playing at home as underdogs. I think the Welsh players wil be aware that it won't be made easy for them. Robshaw has impressed, England's backs might start doing some damage if Tuilagi is brought in, and if England sort out their line-out, who knows what might happen?

I don't believe Tuilagi will make that much of a difference the Welsh backline is very good at present, plus I don't believe England are that great when he plays as was evident during the World Cup they played completely differently when he was introduced to the squad, part of the reason for their poor showing. I know it doesn't boil down to one player but it's like they were just relying on him to do something special everytime he ran with the ball.

[malvolio]

Ashton is at least as good a Tuliagi in attack. Haven't seen much of him so far, have we? You can't play if nobody gives you the ball. England's wins have only come from lucky interceptions.

I favour Wales, but it's not a certainty; the backs will beat anyone anywhere, but the pack has serious gaps at the moment. The only thing that cheers me is that Lancaster's England won't play the "let's grind them in the mud and stifle everything" approach that Johnson and Woodward were using, so we ought to have an entertaining game.

[The Spartan]

I've been quite surprised by Farrell, definitely a world class played in the making

[Mich the Tester]

If I was betting on the spread, I'd go 16-20+ Wales. Our backs are awesome, especially George North and very difficult to stop. I've played union as a full back and used to small wingers I could take out. Not the case with these guys. These Welsh backs are very good IMHO.

Yep, when I was at my best I was a 16 stone flanker and I used to delight in smashing weedy little backs into the ground. In fact I was sometimes picked in the centre to counter some big guy in the opposition backs. But nowadays big backs are nothing unusual especially for the guys who play in the premiership; you have to be able to tackle them,even if you're a little chap yourself; that's the baseline. George North is indeed very impressive, but can be stopped. Yep, Wales have good backs, but they need the ball; England's forwards need some tweaking, but are potentially very good. I was at the Italy game and saw how England gave Italy hell at the scrums once Castrogiovanni left the field (there was a collective sigh from the Italian crowd when he went because as true connoisseurs of the fine art of forward play they knew what the consequences would be of losing one of the best props in the world); England's front row were able to piss around with Italy's pack at the scrums, which is generally thought to be one of the strongest scrums in the world. In fact, watching those scrums closely it looked like England were actually helping Italy to keep them up. Wales have a solid pack, but not invincible. Corbisiero and Cole were outstanding. Lawes will hopefully be back and he'll perhaps win some line out ball and play rather like an extra back row outside the set pieces.

It'll be close, but I agree that Wales have the edge.