With two rounds down in the Six Nations, the shocking truth is that OvallyBalls underdoggers have been proven right – or perhaps have so disheartened their national sides that the players lost the will to play.
Here is the state of the nations:
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Pts Diff | Bonus | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Bleus du mal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 39 | 20 | 1 | 9 |
| Smiling Green Machine | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 26 | 17 | 1 | 9 |
| Leeks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 24 | 32 | 1 | 5 |
| Saracens | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Kiltie-wearers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 2 | 2 |
| Pasta-scoffers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 77 | -55 | 0 | 0 |
From this, we can observe several things. One is that the rankings should be based secondarily on the fewest points conceded, as it indicates a better defence. Any fool can score tries against a weaker defence. In the case of England, we can see that their attack and defence are equally great / rubbish [delete as appropriate]. And Scotland are the only side to have achieved two bonus points, although perhaps for the wrong reasons.
However, it’s still wide open for at least four teams. The remaining fixtures are as follows:
| 22/02 | Italy v Scotland | 14:15 |
| Wales v France | 16:45 | |
| 23/02 | England v Ireland | 15:00 |
| 07/03 | Ireland v Italy | 14:15 |
| England v Wales | 16:45 | |
| 08/03 | Scotland v France | 15:00 |
| 14/03 | Wales v Scotland | 14:15 |
| Italy v England | 16:45 | |
| France v Ireland | 20:00 |
The Super Saturday fixtures are, of course, being played in Heidelberg, so all true rugby fans should get their arses there.
My prediction is a narrow win for each of the home sides next weekend, which will bolster the excitement of the following rounds, except for Scottish fans, who will be gurning into their whiskey and cursing SuperSergio, homer refs and the professional era in general.
Meanwhile, this weekend we have Pro14 / English Premiership matches, if Dennis doesn’t menace all of them; Dragons v Treviso has already been cancelled.
Further Reading
TomPirracas has a better idea of how the Italy v Scotland match will go.
Chimpie is looking forward to this weekend’s ProWoo.
On the telly this week
Friday 14th February
| Blues 8 – 25 Crusaders | 06:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Rebels 24 – 10 Waratahs | 08:15 | Sky Sports Action |
| Glasgow 56 – 24 Zebre | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Munster 68 – 3 Kings | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Gloucester 15 – 26 Exeter | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 15th February
| Sunwolves 17 – 43 Chiefs | 03:45 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Hurricanes 38 – 22 Sharks | 06:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Brumbies 22 – 23 Highlanders | 08:15 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Lions 30 – 33 Stormers | 13:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Leinster 35 – 12 Cheetahs | 14:30 | Free Sports |
| Leicester 18 – 9 Wasps | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Scarlets 9 – 14 Edinburgh | 15:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Ospreys 26 – 24 Ulster | 17:15 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Connacht 29 – 0 Cardiff | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Los Jaguares 43 – 27 Reds | 23:00 | Sky Sports Action |
Sunday 16th February
| Northampton v Bristol | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Might have to do some detective work.
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@Iks – I thought that about that try too. We’ve still got the same people available to miss the tackles if we need them.
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He’s still mourning the world cup I reckon.
Could do with him back to be honest. Craigsmans not been the same since he left.
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Ceej is OK. Had a baby. I’ll check on him. He still hasn’t lent me Jonathan Haidts book like he promised.
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“your”
CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
15 Phil Dollman, 14 Tom O’Flaherty,, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Olly Woodburn
10 Joe Simmonds (capt), 9 Nic White
1 Ben Moon, 2 Elvis Taione, 3 Harry Williams, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Dave Ewers
7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Sam Simmonds
16 Jordon Poole, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Don Armand
21 Jack Maunder, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Max Bodilly
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The bad guys behind the mysterious goings on at Castle Bogle turned out to be a pair of Irish Wolfhounds called the O’Reilly brothers. Hound in the Highlands is probably a bit racist, but with no pretensions to realism.
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What is it with all these racists and IQ anyway?
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The marvels of modern science!
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Looking rather splendid there, CMW
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Toner in for Henderson on Sunday. Dillane to the bench.
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Still a mere 3 locks to counter England’s 5. England by 39.
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Just wondering if CJ went up in flames, starved to death in an attic, or drowned in a vat of kimchee.
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Would probably need to send Sherlock Hound to inspect Craig’s shrine for clues.
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CJ disappears and Craigs gets a CJ shrine and acts as a CJ mouthpiece. Is this a coincidence?
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@Ticht – I was a bit surprised to discover that there had also been a cartoon series of the same name, an Italian-Japanese thing apparently and totally unrelated to the stories I’ve got. I had to wade through an awful lot of inferior images to find what I was looking for.
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So this leads to the troubling conclusion that either craigs has CJ tapped in a small box in his ‘shrine’ with a small opening for feeding and passing on of philosophical gems or he’s been plastinated to preserve his otherworldly perfection and to ensure he’ll never change.
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logic innit.
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Nothing inferior about this
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Just to distract us from fretting about Craigs heinous activities, the Drags are sending out an ‘interesting’ team to play the artificial tack bullies:
Joe Goodchild, Jared Rosser, Adam Warren, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (c); Brok Harris, Ellis Shipp, Lloyd Fairbrother, Joe Davies, Matthew Screech, Huw Taylor, Ollie Griffiths, Harrison Keddie
Replacements: Rhys Lawrence, Josh Reynolds, Aaron Jarvis, Max Williams, Taine Basham, Tavis Knoyle, Connor Edwards, Jacob Botica
Big yay! with fingers crossed for Ollie Griffiths, making his eleventy-twelfth comback!
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Pffft.
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Which player is most like Sherlock Holmes Hound?
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Iks, by ‘interesting’ do you mean surprisingly good or horrifyingly dogawful? I can’t get a reading on my sarc-o-meter.
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CJ was always up for getting plastinated.
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Bit tapped as well of course so it’s going to be hard to get to the truth of the matter.
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Cj’s mouthpiece – boak!!
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*Whiskey payment update*
Whiskey payment received.
*whiskey payment update ends*
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Artificial Track Bullies I meant of course.
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I would never put CJ in a box. NEVER!!!
I’d obviously keep him hanging in a cage from my garage ceiling.
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I don’t know either, Chimpie. It’s a team of contradictions.
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Sad that TMHMIR™️ is nowhere to be seen. Hamstring still being knotted I suppose.
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Tyler
Morgan
Had
Many
Injuries
Rugby
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Tyler
Morgan
Had
Many
Injuries
Rugby
Too
Many
For the trademark.
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New post up shortly.
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