Reply to: Rugby - 6 nations

[The Spartan]

Mind you it doesn't always bear fruit after seeing the stats for the Wales v Scotland game, Wales had tackled twice as many times as the Scots yet the score was still 3 - 3

[Doggy Styles]

Yes, but hardly a strategic approach to winning the game. It's akin to playing for penalties (not that England ever did that, oh dear me no, would never happen) rather than trying to win in the field. A habit they seem to have finally broken.

It's called applying pressure, which is a perfectly valid strategy to winning a game. It's how NZ won the world cup final.

Mind you, England aren't great at it.

[malvolio]

Chargedowns. A perfectly valid and skillful way of winning the ball.

Yes, but hardly a strategic approach to winning the game. It's akin to playing for penalties (not that England ever did that, oh dear me no, would never happen) rather than trying to win in the field. A habit they seem to have finally broken.

[Doggy Styles]

England's wins have only come from lucky interceptions.

Chargedowns. A perfectly valid and skillful way of winning the ball.

The two Italian tries came from lucky interceptions.

[The Spartan]

Tell me about it

My bloody ribs. I'm sure there are at least two that don't hurt in cold weather but I can't find them. And my left shoulder's held together with tape every time I play; torn rotator cuff, of which one muscle has died off due to nerve damage. Orthopaedic specialist says I'll have to keep doing strength training for the rest of my life otherwise my arm will fall out of place.

Now that is harsh, yet you've played up till now. You sir are a warrior I salute you

[Bunk]

It would appear to be quite a rapid rise to the gutter

Out of curiosity why was he/she banned?

He's a repeat offender.

[Mich the Tester]

It's a lot hard to recover from injury as well and alll those niggling injuries you pick up when you were younger come back to haunt you

Tell me about it

My bloody ribs. I'm sure there are at least two that don't hurt in cold weather but I can't find them. And my left shoulder's held together with tape every time I play; torn rotator cuff, of which one muscle has died off due to nerve damage. Orthopaedic specialist says I'll have to keep doing strength training for the rest of my life otherwise my arm will fall out of place.

[Bunk]

I was going to say that that's often how these sock-puppets seem to start, but he/she's beaten me to it by getting banned already

At least with Ken it's a game. He drops the hints, we just need to spot them.

[Bacchus]

18! A new record?

It would appear to be quite a rapid rise to the gutter

Out of curiosity why was he/she banned?

[Bacchus]

I merely thought it bold to be starting contentious threads with 6 posts under one's belt.

I was going to say that that's often how these sock-puppets seem to start, but he/she's beaten me to it by getting banned already

[The Spartan]

It's a lot hard to recover from injury as well and alll those niggling injuries you pick up when you were younger come back to haunt you

[Bunk]

18! A new record?

[Mich the Tester]

Agreed I played as full back and still never sure what goes on in the scrums , I think you're correct in that the game could depend on the forward battle.

I've played football, cricket and rugby league too but RU is the best game IMHO. At least there is respect for the ref and no dicks like certain footballers diving to cheat...pussies...

RU and discus throwing for me; I'll stop playing rugby this year and just concentrate on chucking things, seeing as I only need one good shoulder for that and I only have one good shoulder! Running seems to get more difficult as one approaches 40 too; everyone else seems to get a bit faster every day. Must research what they've been putting in their tea.

[TheDragon]

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.

Agreed I played as full back and still never sure what goes on in the scrums , I think you're correct in that the game could depend on the forward battle.

I've played football, cricket and rugby league too but RU is the best game IMHO. At least there is respect for the ref and no dicks like certain footballers diving to cheat...pussies...

[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.