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 
I have a song for when the rugby is finished, it’s like a film in three and a half minutes
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Kings. In February. In Ireland. Hardly a shock. It’s high twenties in PE at the mo. Only the wind might be similar.
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Ah, that was a lovely break from Gloz. Shame it couldn’t be converted.
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Now I’ve got the worm in my ear, I have to listen to it:
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The teeth of a front-rower:
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Thaum, that was the first Bowie song I really liked.
I grew to love Heroes and a few others, I can recognise his importance as an artist, but I’m not his greatest fan.
My failing, not his.
It was the melancholy that got me, again, it put me off.
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I don’t mind melancholy per se, I love Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen American Music Club etc, but there is something “winter Sunday night before school with the big light on” about British melancholy.
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I don’t get that feeling with Bowie at all.
Additionally, his cover of the Last of the Summer Wine theme tune is marvellous
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@TomP
Caught most of 2nd half of Munster vs Kings. To be truthful – Kings looked gassed at 60…. weather not so bad (yet) .
Our boy Hodnett got a try and MoTM….
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Good on him. Did Healy get on? He’s a neat looking player. Also, what’s up with Casey? He looked the biz at under 20 level.
I have a soft spot for the Kings cos Port Elizabeth has a lovely seafront and beach, the old stadium’s amazing and the local area is Rassieland and Siyaland and is proper interesting. Did ok last year of Super Rugby and played nice rugby but were always the poor relations. They’ve got some good players but the pack’s too soft.
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South Africa could make the Kings a powerful unit which contends for the Pro 14 title if they wanted to, Tam.
Same with Cheetahs
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Chris Harris try (made by some young Welsh guy, can’t remember his name).
I have to say I like Harris. I do think though, that he and Twelvetrees might be too similar.
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Great try, BB, I hadn’t seen that before.
I have no opinion either way on Harris, I haven’t noticed him either being terrific or really poor.
He covers different options to others, so I can follow the reasoning for his being selected.
I’m, gutted for Matt Scott, though, he has been our form 12 over this season so far
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I liked the chilly aloofness of the Heroes album, especially side two. One of those influences like Kraftwerk, Joy Division, Bauhaus etc. that ended up with me being partial to some goth and darkwave, EBM, coldwave and all that malarkey.
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I’m up for a tinge of Goth myself, MrIks.
I’m too long in the tooth for it now, but if I was in my teens I might be tempted by the whole Steam Punk thing – everyone looks cool in their teens, no matter what tribe they side with
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Why do you think that?
I mean they could if that’s the way SARU operated but they don’t. They’re feeder teams at the moment. or alternatively a dumping ground for the not quite good enough at Super Rugby teams. If SARU has a long-term goal it’s probably going for Europe over the SH but the sentiment is that NZ is what you measure yourself against not Europe. But money talks and at the moment they don’t need stronger teams in the Pro14,, just a foot in the door.
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Why do I think that?
Because the Kings could have a 23 that is full of (now) internationalists from other countries if the SA union chose to offer the incentives to keep them on, from CJ Stander to upcoming caps like Pierre Schoeman
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Ticht, I was trying to explain to Mrs.Iks only last week why her idea of a peaceful Sunday could be my idea of misery. She likes total silence through the day regarding background noise, music, telly etc. so she can really concentrate on leftover tasks or unwind after a stressful week.
I said the risk was that when the late afternoon comes creeping in all those sapping moods from childhood come back. Ski-Sunday, Songs of Praise and the dreads of going to school tomorrow.
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Exactly, MrIks.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a bath on a Sunday evening since leaving home at 18.
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Yes, they could have if that’s how things worked in South African rugby but they don’t, It’s nonsense to think otherwise.
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Thing is, I actually loved secondary school, but I still hated winter Sunday nights
Later, from 14/15 on, I used to go to my mate Chippie’s house on a Sunday and we’d play records, he was a great Iron Maiden fan
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We both had a paper round from the same shop, I did the harbour, he did the “Tree Scheme”
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It’s not a nonsense, Tam, wind yer neck in.
There is a choice, SA make one choice, and that is fair enough, but my original contention was that if they chose to make another choice the outcome would be that their Pro14 teams would be contenders and not whipping boys.
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The Cheetahs are above Glasgow in the standings so not sure how they count as whipping boys.
Read what I wrote about the way it’s working now and find out more about how the Kings in particular have had to operate (and failed to operate) over the years. I’ve no great admiration for the way SARU works but to simply to say they could have flicked a switched is wrong.
SA produces loads more good players than, say, Scotland. And are current World Cup holders. At international level it’s worked for them despite having one poor and one ok team but those teams are not the priority.
The broadcaster Supersport now cover Pro14 but when I was there it was an unknown league. If SARU had been interested in sending a team to win the league they’d’ve sacked off the the team from one of the richer( or more historically important provinces.
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So the SARU could have had no influence on the strength of the Kings side?
You can’t possibly be saying that, not with so many players making international teams abroad.
Who said anything about switch flicking? I only said it was a choice, a long term one that goes back a long time to guys like WP Nel – I’m sure it was before then but he was the first on my horizon as a project player.
This is silly, my contention was that a choice was made by SARU, I’m not arguing the details of the choice.
If you are saying it wasn’t a choice by the SARU to not have the super sides and the two pro 14 sides equally funded and staffed, then I’d be more than happy to read about why they did so.
What led to all those players seeking careers overseas?
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“SA produces loads more good players than, say, Scotland”
Your attempt at a dig makes my point for me – the Kings should be as good as the Cheetahs, better than Glasgow or Edinburgh for sure.
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Can they not just be happy about being better than the Ospreys?
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They probably have a better Twitter presentation than “Team Gravestone” to be fair, CMW
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I’d not heard of this group before. But when I listened to some of their tunes, I thought there may be a couple of folks here that may be interested;
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Thaum, once again, thanks for keeping the dinghy afloat. I appreciate your efforts.
Ticht – despite not moving back to Scotland as planned, you and the Missus must be right pleased to have that brutal schedule behind ye. Seems like you’ve done a great job of raising your bairns, as well. Good for you, all the best.
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On the Kings and Cheetahs. The Cheetahs have one of the great schools in world rugby providing talent in Grey College. It’s the source of many of their best players but also a feeder for the Sharks, mostly. Think the brothers Du Plessis for the best example. Now a lot of those kids are from farming stock in the north of Kwazulu-Natal the argument goes, so just going home. The Cheetahs as a union don’t have the money to keep those guys.
The Kings story is sad. They’re the cradle of black rugby in SA, to the point that there isn’t a top flight football team in the Eastern Cape and I can’t think there ever has been. They produce a raft of excellent players – black and white – who usually end up in Durban, Cape Town or bizarrely Pretoria. Lack of money is a real issue, from dusty townships (see Kolisi’s story) to rural areas. Developing and retaining that talent is almost impossible given the resources at their disposal. To compound the problem, they’re saddled with a politically connected mob in suits who have picked the bones clean of whatever money they do have.
SARU isn’t any better than suits around the world in terms of nurturing and developing talent and had it’s own set of politics and toxicity to deal with. Could they flick a switch and make the two sides strong? Sure, with Sarries type money, but that isn’t realistic in our game – all the unions bleed players to the NH. Our Super Rugby sides lost over 50 this season between them.
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And Thaum – lovely ATL. Especially the England bloke with the long beard. Looks a bit creepy. And positively EVIL.
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17-17 between the Canes and Sharks in Wellington at the break. Sharks hoof it downfield shortly after the break and then simply don’t follow up or tackle allowing the Canes receiver to jog through untouched. Pathetic.
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Dane Coles on as a replacement. Niggle to follow.
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31-17 Canes after more woeful defending from the Sharks. I only switched on at HT, so I’m probably to blame for their collapse, thinking “they can take this, you know”.
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Deebee – it’s a photo of Craigs I took when he wasn’t looking.
I’m with MrsIks on peace and quiet; love it when all I can hear is birdsong and clocks ticking. Hate noise.
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38-22 with a minute or so to go. Sharks simply not good enough in the 2nd half. It’s been my fear for them this year, that they’ve got a great starting side, but the drop in quality is almost Australian thereafter.
Sharks with a whole lot of pick and goes, Coles in the middle of the niggle, turnover and tickets. A lousy result for the Sharks from the HT position, but the Canes really punished their mistakes in the 2nd half – and dominated a scratchy Sharks set piece. Sharks also don’t have any really meaty ball carriers with the departure of the du Preez twins and Beast.
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Brumbies v Highlanders up next. For a minute I thought the Brumbies side looked a little on the old side, but I think it’s a choir or sorts.
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I saw that Chamberlain went off early with a head injury so no regular outside half playing. And Boeta’s already a reserve.
Anyway got their NZ away games out of the way early and picked up a win. Now to Aussie and a chance of two Ws.
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Thauma – never thought Craigs was that good looking.
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30 in and the Brumbies are just about holding their own. Into the 2nd minute now and the Highlanders have it.
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Or as John Bercow would say “The Hiiiiiiiiiiiighs have it! The Hiiiiiiiighs have it! Awwwwwwwww-da!
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@TomP – Yeah, I saw Nohamba was on in the 23 jersey and assumed he was playing 9, but obviously playing 10. And kicking. Very talented kid all round!
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They had a 6-2 bench, which is great but if the 10 or one of the outside backs go off early it limits the options.
If Lukhanyo Am had got injured at any time in the World Cup before minute 70 in the final I’m not sure you’d’ve won the Cup.
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Pffft! PS du Toit coulda slotted in there. Or at 9, 10 or 15.
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“The Cheetahs have one of the great schools in world rugby providing talent in Grey College. It’s the source of many of their best players but also a feeder for the Sharks, mostly. ”
The rugby Grey play is beautiful. Right across the age group and all teams.
I think the idea that Grey boys will go to the Cheetahs is a bit old-fashioned. They’ve got a couple of Old Greys in a training squad for the SA Under 20s and both are at the Bulls. They’ll go to one of the bigger richer provinces for opportunities. Nowadays, of course, Montpellier is the even more attractive option – I think 6 or 7 of last year’s brilliant Grey 1st XV are away to France or elsewhere.
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Good post at 04:26 Deebee.
The world cup victory, whilst not exactly pyrrhic, will stifle concerns about players moving overseas. My argument was based from the beginning with a desire to see the Kings and Cheetahs at the same strength as the Super sides.
Maybe the incoming CVC money will shake things up, it will certainly be a more lucrative option for SA teams
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I’m not sure if and when they can do so, but the SA teams should be playing in the Not Heine cups asap
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Here’s a tech question, has anyone connected a phone to a tv to watch a programme?
I ask because Sky sports are doing a deal where you can buy a day pass and they give you five months free watching on your phone.
They have blocked the ability to cast it to a tv, but I’m thinking it could still be done with a cable, would that be possible?
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I see the Heilanders have gotten their season off to a great start
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