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 
Just in case you think you can escape
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Find a country version played on banjos – just for Thaum…….
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Ask, and you shall receive:
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Half way there – country version, no banjos from what I picked up in the 20 seconds I managed.
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You can go right off people.
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True story BB. When I was driving around yesterday between towns on errands I has one of my driving ‘tapes’ running.
So there I am nodding along to some old house / ambient malarkey and this fav of mine plays. Lo and behold after about 4 mins the banjos kick in (I think). I probably can’t listen to this anymore without thinking of this place, which is quite sweet actually.
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I has?
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Bugger it is from a radio station, not the song pure. Soz.
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Genuinely shocking, OT. At least Kate, good old Kate, will still support England, no?
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You does mun.
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@tomp
I’m quite happy for other countries to adopt members of the Royal Family so we can be rid of them. Canada can have Harry, Wales can have Billy, Scotland can have Anne, Ireland can have Philip etc
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OT – we’ll take Meghan as the part-African part of the Royal Family.
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The US look like they’d be willing to take Andrew for a bit.
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We cravenly named William as Honorary Life Vice President or some bollocks. Even worse when we play South Africa we’re playing for the Prince William Cup.
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Greece can have Phil back. He’s almost as old as some of their other relics anyway.
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@tomp
Makes my skin crawl. I didn’t see that job advertised.
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On where are they now AoDers/OBers, the Cat’s busy with his university’s twitter page:
(And East Asian porn)
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This is definitely him:
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Nothing worse than the WRU fawning over the royal family. This, though, was hilarious:
https://www.wru.wales/2013/05/queen-portrait-revealed/
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I would love that to have been Cat.
That would be funny as fuck, as funny as the pic
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She’s got hands like Mervyn Davies.
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I’ve got a fit of the giggles now.
That pic of Lizzy is hilarious right enough.
The weird thing is that none of the blokes are obviously gnawing the inside of their face off, trying not to laugh.
I would definitely be doing that.
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That AOD link is to the original site that Cat made. The one that went *poof*, is the one Sag replaced it with – hence the last post on there is “We’ve moved”.
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Tam, that was the first thing I noticed, the huge hands.
Mind you, it worked for Michelangelo, so what do I know?
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Has anyone heard from Cat or has a contact for him?
I was thinking earlier that the last time he posted he wasn’t well at all.
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This is great:
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More importantly, it worked for Mervyn Davies.
(Mervyn would have got his injury and retired when I was 4 but it’s something I knew about from then. My memory of Welsh rugby teams and players only dates from when I was 6 but from then (’78 and ’79) it’s clear. Maybe it’s we had books about that period (and I later collected them) . The 80’s and 90’s are mostly unclear. Things picked up again around 2005.)
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I skipped ahead of the page ticht put up (and looked for my own contributions). I didn’t contribute very much it seemed in that period. Perhaps I was working more than I do now.
FD’s really good. Dermott as well. And boa was just a machine – funny if you like the snark and have to be coolest rugby boi in town line.
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“She’s got hands like Mervyn Davies.”
Early draft of Bette Davis Eyes?
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Stereophonics’ version.
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OT
Ireland can have Philip
What the fuck have we ever done to you?
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That portrait of Brenda is hilarious. No danger of her dropping a one-handed try with those paws.
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I guess Gerald Davies’ Tache was also rejected.
Anyway evenin’ all.
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Michelangelo or Stuart Hogg at 15 for Scotland? Discuss.
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Japes’s sideburns.
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In other matters (having enjoyed the catch-up read)……………………proof that American politics is fnaly, utterlyand truly f**ked:
“The United States condemns the move by China to expel three @WSJ journalists. Mature, responsible countries understand that a free press reports facts and expresses opinions. China should not restrict #freespeech. https://go.usa.gov/xdUW4”
Says Secretary Pompeo………………………………………………………….I give up
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Wait, Sladey, for Bloomberg v Trump.
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Quite an inspiring bunch the Davis/Davieses with their notable physical characteristics. Bought a lot of tickets in the lottery though i guess.
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Jonathan Davies’ Voice, that’d be the show-stopper. Only the sleeping child on the sofa restraining me from trying out a rendition.
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By the way, I don’t know if Michelangelo had big hands, I was referring to David, who has mahoosive shovels for hands
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Slade, the person running against Mitch McConnell (sp?) in Kentucky is a decorated marine fighter piolet, she was the first woman to fly these machines.
Her pitch is that McConnell is the source of the current state of fuckedness of American politcs.
I think she has a point.
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“I don’t know if Michelangelo had big hands”
I think we should decide that he did.
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Amy McGrath, though I’m not sure now if she has won the nomination to run for the Senate yet, I thought she had
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CMW, he’d need big hands, he got through a power of work, like Merve.
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At the very least he’ll have finished up with bigger ones than he started out with.
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Biggest hands?
David, Leone or Pat Jennings?
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It’s the fucking Queen, BB. Look at the evidence.
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“Biggest hands? … Leone”
No wonder he wanted a fistful of dollars.
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