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 
It’s the only Costa that sells Worthington on draft.
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This is the river just down the road from me.
And here’s the normal water level:
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2752680
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Stay safe, yos.
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Cheers dude. I’m alright as I live at the top of a very steep hill, but Ponty town centre has been very badly hit along with pretty much everywhere where the rivers carve through the valleys. Red weather warning still in place.
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My bin is now upright.
#staysafe
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I thought you said that you’re protected from extreme weather, OT.
It was probably a fox that knocked it over. Or an evil spirit. It’s no coincidence that, like you ,Matthew Hopkins decided to base himself in Essex.
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Mrs BB….
“The door between the kitchen and the living room needs a new coat of gloss, it’s looking a bit grotty.”
“Mind you, if we (meaning you) do that, the walls and ceiling will look a bit faded, perhaps we could change the colour to freshen things up a bit.”
“But if we change the colour, then we’ll need to change the curtains too.”
“But if we do all that, then it will just show up how dingy the suite is, so we should maybe think about changing that too.”
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Any German ancestry in Mrs.BB’s family? The Familie Groß perhaps, from Bad Saulgau?
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Seems to work.
Thaum, please delete. Nothing to see there, just the boat that takes you to Devil Island in Fr. Guyana.
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I reckon you’ll win the argument, BB. And Lady BB’ll get everything she wants.
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@Flair – binned it for you.
@Yos – sad to see Ponty like that. It’s my dad’s home town. My gran lived next to the river. I can still remember seeing Neil Jenkins walking round the town centre.
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@tomp
I consider myself an expert on extreme weather, having grown up half a mile uphill from the snow line at Watersheddings.
Essex appears to be soft and mollycoddled in comparison. On the rare occasions it snows I laugh at some of the car driving efforts I see.
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Thanks Refit.
I was testing my ability to post a photo later from the Racing game.
Took me longer than it should but I hope to provide a picture to all Finn’s fans. I’m also among those who doubt he’ll play for Scotland during the 6N.
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Blimey Yos!
I am only about 170m from the Taff in Cardiff. So far we have been OK but there may be another high water level around 11 tonight. We have stuck sand bags around our house but nobody else seems to have.
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I suspect Risca RFC will be flooded, being right next to the river Ebbw. Maybe the high street too as it’s happened before.
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Nice team try for Saints, ending with Mallinder crossing the line on his return after 16 months out.
Gits.
5-0
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Just got back from ice skating. Was like an Essex motorist in the snow. There was a 6-year-ild Czech kid playing the part of OT.
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Nice hairdo by Woody, looks like he,s off to see New Model Army at the Roadmenders with Sam Harrison.
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Hope this works
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Ain’t no party like a Racing Club party.
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Yellow card for Hutchinson (deserved too), but could have been penalty try? There was another player behind him, but I’m not sure he would have stopped the Bristol player.
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Testing
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Nice try from Bristol! Game on. 14-10.
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Another try for Bristol!
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I would much rather Bristol didn’t spend 8 phases playing in their own 22.
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Good win for Bristol. Neither side looked that good. Ulster, for instance, would beat both. Which means that so would the Ospreys.
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Can’t fault a Matthew Hopkins reference. Vincent scared the bejabers out of me when I was a nipper. Also disturbing my all films have a happy ending comfort zone.
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Thought the first Bristol try was a bit dubious as the Saints prop was poleaxed by a supporting runner rather than the bloke he was lining up to tackle .
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WalesOnline (boaks) are running a story that Wales are looking at bringing the The Priest into the squad because of injuries to 10s.
Now I thought this would make sense long before now, but dismissed the idea as sentimental tomfoolery and bias on my side. But I did have a heart leap.
Trawling around though I can’t find any source that WO might have tapped into (they generally don’t write their own stuff). Bastards.
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Can’t do it under Gatland’s Law I saw earlier. The Priest’s only on 50-odd caps and signed up again for Bath. Pivac could go for it but has to get agreement of the Professional Rugby Board.
Let Jarrod play there and call up Sam Davies or the Scarlets lad I reckon. No point fucking over the rule just yet.
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Cross Keys RFC:
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Mike Hook’s James’s brother by the way.
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Proper rugby…..
(hope this picture loads up)
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That’s Musselburgh against The Mighty Selkirk, by the way.
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Will upload more photos later as we were lucky to seat close to a lot of action.
Finn was amazingly schooled by Kolbe, who had to play 10 as all Toulouse FHs are in camp with France. He played a stormer.
Very entertaining game, till the end.
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What a privilege to see such a top player, flair.
Pleased he went well. He could play anywhere in the back division. Nick Mallett used to bang on about him playing at 9 if he wanted to make the Boks.
Kolbe is much loved by my kid, who’s the youngest and smallest in his class at the moment. We were watching a few things of his wonder tries on youtube. Possibly my favourite at the moment is not one where he dummies or sidesteps his way past defenders but this one where he just falls over and gets back up again. It’s superb:
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Risca’s ground looks the same as it’s are only a couple of miles down river. It’s also the damage to the club house and facilities as well as the pitch that’s despairing. Hope the housing and streets avoid the worst of it.
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Yes TomP, it was the 60 cap thing that had me dismissing the idea of the The Priest making a comeback when I was musing on it a few weeks ago as an option if the cupboard was bare.
WO are fecking hopeless – the story gets a banner headline but there’s nothing of substance underneath it.
I’d be all for it though, just for the larks and tales.
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RG Snyman with a team mate:
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No – but there have been musings about re-introducing wolves…..
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Bears and wolves have been reintroduced in the Alps and the Pyrenees alwayd had bears ( plus a few recent ones from Croatia, I think), much to the dismay of local sheperds. It’s a conundrum but we should find room for them.
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Yeah, we introduced white sea eagles a few years back – over farmers’ protests. There’s no evidence that they predate on sheep – however, a good few have been poisoned. Plausible deniability says the poison is laid down for foxes….
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At least one Legends team got a win on the weekend: the U18s beat Scotland U18s by 6 tries to 4 (3 thirds of 30 minutes, so I don’t know if this counts as proper rugby).
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Sam H-C signs two year deal with Exeter
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Is he a classic baxter signing – mid-career underachieving player who should be capable of more……………………….or is Scotland’s captain getting his mates around him?
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I’d go with your first option Slade
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Stu Townsend and the Maunder brothers are all pretty good but injury prone. H-C will have to be able to suit Exeter’s hi-tempo rhythm and accuracy – mainly driven by the 9.
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