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 
SHC shoulda been pushing for a Scotland place alongside price and Horne, but has been fannying around various leagues for the last season and a half after a failed move to the scarlets.
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Would rather have him back at embra than groom.
He’s pretty quick, can do a decent enough box kick but not always the most accurate pass.
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RIP Harry Gregg
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That was the start of the apocryphal story in the late 80s/early 90s that the former Arsenal goalie John Lukic had survived the crash… (notwithstanding that John Lukic was born 1960-ish) – turned up a potential quiz question…which current player etc etc
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Pedrag Lukic was a one-time owner of Stockport County
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What I discovered from this is that there are four players who have played in the top division of English football in four different decades. Two of them are pretty obvious and two of them are goalkeepers with Yugoslavian parents.
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Steve Ogrizovic being one? (Spelling is probably completely wrong).
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Willie Donachie would have been one of he played for Oldham after promotion in 1991. But he didn’t.
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@BB – yes, he’s the other Yugoslav qualified one. Other two are very easy to guess.
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Peter Shilton
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One to go.
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Sir Stanley Matthews
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CMW, Peter Shilton?
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OT crosses the line.
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Dagnabit!
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Though BB did the heavy lifting.
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“OT crosses the line.”
Tell me about it!
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Man City are in a spot of bother, then
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I suppose Bob Wilson playing for Melchester Rovers doesn’t count?
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What a team that 1986 Melchester Rovers side was – Bob Wilson, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman out of Spandau, and Emlyn Hughes.
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Watching the Pro Woo highlights – Big Duhans try was a stonker, Even Bigger Leone’s off load for Dolokolo’s first try was just ridiculous.
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BB, the “highlights” of Scarlets v Embra really do stretch the meaning of the word. Two decent tries and Scarlets swinging a banjo at an unhittable cow’s arse for the other 78 minutes.
Not that Embra were any better, we couldn’t get hold of the banjo to begin with.
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In mitigation, those were some mightily appalling conditions
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I felt very sorry for Eroni Sau on Saturday, of course it rains in Fiji, and heavily, but he had a horrible time trying to catch a ball that was moving a good 15/20 metres away from the trajectory you’d expect under calm conditions, and it wasn’t like it was a predictable movement, the gusts were all over the shop. Dan Jones had a heroic game kicking at goal, aye we was kicking sitters on any other day, but they were far from it on Saturday.
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Big Duhan did well for both tries. I don’t want Matt Scott going to Italy unless he’s in the 23, he is too valuable for the league game against Connacht on Friday
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Ticht @20:17 – just proves that country music and its associated horrible instruments are inherently evil.
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One of these two, after playing 70 minutes, while anxious to see if Racing would score a try at the last minute, stopped by the guy sitting right next to me, waving his beer glass at him, and quietly but forcefully downed about half the glass.
The guy was English and I told him it was too bad he wasn’t smoking a Gauloise at the time. He understood quite well what I meant.
Thank dog for rugby.
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Thaum, the tenor banjo is big in Irish trad
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Fuck me, do banjos come in flavours now? I thought they all just went plinkety-plonk in an unmelodious and out-of-tune sort of way.
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I had (probably still have somewhere?) a kalimba that is waay more tuneful than a banjo:
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@thaum
Bet you love this banjotastic tune
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Bet I don’t. Not clicking on it, to be safe on t’internet.
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I mean, once you start clicking on banjo links, the historical serial murder units start investigating you.
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But it’s the Fureys. Soundtrack to church Christmas fayres and all that.
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Soundtrack to church Christmas fayres and all that
Precisely.
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How about the mandolin?
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Mandolins dubious, but apparently more tuneable than a banjo.
But no, I am not currently going to listen to mandolin tracks either. Partly because the mister’s watching summat on the telly, but also for my own peace of mind.
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@thaum
There’s no mandolin in this
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However …
I hear the sound of mandolins
Played a Bowie tune the other night & then went to bed, missing the subsequent discussion. Ticht said he wasn’t a big fan although he liked the Brel cover. Someone else, Iks I think, said he liked the B side of ‘Heroes’. I love all of it to greater and lesser degrees up until roughly 1980 (including Scary Monster), especially the melancholy Berlin albums. And I love the – dare I say it? – proto-prog-rockiness of Diamond Dogs. The Candidate / Sweet Thing / Candidate (reprise) suite is usually my all-time favourite track.
It’s my contention that it’s a rare subject that you can’t find a Bowie song to address, as his interests were diverse, both lyrically and musically.
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OT – is that Sweet Child of Mine? But that’s a horrible song. ;-)
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Think Thauma would make a great American customs officer.
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IKS!!! Aaargh, I am mortally offended!
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*cancels trip to Heidelberg*
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I am off to bed again, but I expect a full and proper apology from Iks in the morning. Hmph.
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More like side 2 of the Heroes album, plus the title track. After that chat I ended up drawing a line from then till now (sort of) and why I still like stuff like this. Bit cheeky of the lad on the left to copy all my dance moves though.
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Dismantling banjos and mandolins Thauma. And taking the occasional kora to pieces.
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Nice one Iksy – had a sort of ‘New Order Fronted By Phil Oakey’ vibe to it. Reminded me of some other tune, but I can’t place it at the moment.
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Cheslin Kolbe, about to kick a conversion.
Yes, TomP, it’s a privilege to watch such players. Not just him but Finn, for all his mistakes yesterday, or Tekori, Ryan, Tameifuna ( at least 140kg and running!), Tauzin, Iribaren, almost of them are incredibly good.
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A scrum seen from 10 meters away is quite a different beast.
And so are the hits. TBH, a bit scary.
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Maxime’s beer.
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