What does this beauty spot have in common with the England 23 selected to play Ireland on Sunday?
The only other exciting news to report is that Ticht found an old version of AoD still extant.
On the telly this week
Friday 21st February
| Crusaders 33 – 13 Highlanders | 06:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Wales U20 14 – 11 France U20 | 19:35 | BBC Two Wales / BBC Sport website/ BBC red button |
| Zebre 0 – 28 Munster | 19:35 | FreeSports |
| Edinburgh 41 – 14 Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Ospreys 13 – 21 Leinster | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| England U20 21 – 39 Ireland U20 | 19:45 | RTÉ Two / YouTube / Sky Sports Mix |
| Sale 36 – 3 Leicester | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 22nd February
| Rebels 34 – 26 Sharks | 03:45 | Sky Sports Action |
| Chiefs 14 – 26 Brumbies | 06:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Reds 64 – 5 Sunwolves | 08:15 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Stormers v Los Jaguares | 13:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Italy v Scotland | 14:15 | ITV |
| Bulls v Blues | 15:15 | Sky Sports Action |
| Wales v France | 16:45 | BBC One / S4C |
| Glasgow v Dragons | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Ulster v Cheetahs | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
Sunday 23rd February
| Wales v France (women) | 12:00 | BBC Two Wales / S4C |
| England v Ireland (women) | 12:45 | RTÉ Two / BBC Sport website / Sky Sports Action |
| Exeter v Northampton | 13:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| England v Ireland | 15:00 | ITV |
| Italy v Scotland (women) | 16:10 | BBC Alba / website / red button |
| Cardiff v Treviso | 17:15 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Scarlets v Southern Kings | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Think Mr Carley probably got that one right.
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The shocker was that pen vs Lewis. Cannot fathom that one
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FFS
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Good job by Demba Bamba.
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Bamba seemed to go across the scrum much more obviously than the previous one there.
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@Tomp
Yes he ate Rob Evans and sht him out in short order. More yellow card time wasted
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Wales too inaccurate again.
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Jeez, have the BBC employed a French director? Cameras are all over the shop. Almost missed that.
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Thriller!
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Fair decision.
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Biggar tells the ref he didn’t score. Good lad.
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What a game this has been. Wouldn’t put it past Wales to steal it!
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Ah, telling him he didn’t knock it on. Good lad.
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Taken almost 2 mins since the whistle to get the tee on
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On that last replay, I wasn’t convinced Biggar grounded it. I don’t think he lost it but it didn’t look like he actually got it down.
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Tomkins, you twat.
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What a match.
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France are good but flawed and only slowly groping their way to be an 80-minute team. We’re fiddling around a bit and making too many errors. Exciting match.
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Well deserved win by France. Much stronger up.front and more incisive in the backs.
Yes, a few big calls went their way (I am biased but was not at all impressed with Mr Carley) but that wasnt the difference. And anyway serves Wales right for their shtty mindgames midweek
France much the better team in all respects, played sublimely at times, and good luck for the GS. Really building a special team.
I will post on Wales at some point in the week. It wont be pleasant.
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Tired and emotional at the whistle. Well played France. Chuffed for them.
Biggar is a dick, sorry to say.
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Can’t understand that last penalty. Tackler made no effort to roll away whatsoever.
Right result overall but France really need to work on their discipline.
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Well, that was a cracking match, and a well-deserved win for France. I’m very, very afraid of them.
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Well done France, well deserved. Game in two weeks is going to be an amazing battle at the break down.
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Biggar is a legend. If we had 2 more players who cared as much as he does, and put their bodies on the line and played with half as much heart….
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Last penalty Chat was right over the ball, nothing wrong with it.
AWJ saying you don’t want to pressure the ref. Might need to have a word with Dan in that case.
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I don’t think lack of effort or ticker is the problem – they were the only areas we can’t complain about.
Terrible decision making, relying on individual skills, being unable to build anything, high error count were all far more important.
France much better and we didn’t deserve to be close.
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I’m in the Dan Biggar fan club as well.
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Great game that. France starting to look scary. If they’d kept their discipline then Wales would have been kept under 20.
Biggar is a great player but I’d love to see the refs penalise the ‘guidance’ he and other players give. All teams do it but he seems to make it his mission every game.
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Good win for France, playing as usual with 14 players ( looking at you T.Thomas).
Tense until the end but with a bit more confidence, it could’ve been a rout.
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Biggar has mitigating circumstances: he’s been concussed so many times lately he probably thinks he’s the ref.
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Wales looking confused, the players and coaches not in tune at all, which is understandable when a new coaching team comes in.
I am a bit concerned however about Pivac’s match day selections and decision making during the game. It looked a bit random and finger in the wind today.
Anyway congrats to France. That old momentum thing is building and they look like they believe in their ability and team spirit. Well done them.
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Bloody hell, a nature programme has just made the assertion that 75% of British children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates do.
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2 minutes into the match, and Luke Marshall is already getting some physio attention for his shoulder.
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Biggar’s a great player and single handedly gets Wales over the line. I’m not sure though if he’s fast enough or has the passing range to play the Pivac way on the break. Thought Evans looked quality when he came on.
Didn’t think there was much in that game and I don’t think Wales are too far off being good, just need to improve our skills to make the offloads stick.
Imagine how good France would be without Teddy Thomas!
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I was under the impression it’s not a penalty try if the ball is grounded unless the ref is of the opinion that the scorer was prevented from grounding closer to the posts by foul play…. we had one given against us at U14 so I googled a few ref forums
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Ha, Shanahan’s just outsmarted Pienaar.
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LRZ scored today for Gloucester but the Irish winger Oliver Hassell-Collins grabbed 4 in LI’s win.
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Ulster 10-3 up at HT.
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Plucky Underdogs Glasgow beating Iks’ Mighty Dragons 17-7 at HT.
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Ahhh – Hendo not playing tomorrow turns out to be because his wife’s just given birth.
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@Misteriks
Some conversations about me leaving on Saturday for my Frankfurt work trip instead of the Monday. I looked and it’s about an hour’s train ride.
If I can get work to change my flight I may be a late possible for the meet. Is it going to be in central Heidelberg?
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Cheetahs lose a man to the bin, and Baloucoune goes in for a try.
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Tagive should have finished that
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Dobie is some player for an 18 year old
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Only caught bits of today’s matches due to an underage game and a family meal….
We had a decent win at U14 today over a team that had beaten us 3 times previously. Well we’d had a good look at them by now and were able to pick them apart. Easily the best performance we’ve put together- good aggressive defence – finally got the blitz working…. didn’t commit too many to rucks, moved the ball wide and crucially played the elements – kicked in the 2nd half when we had the wind.
I think we’ve got some good players … good outside half who has an eye for a gap, mouthy 12 yo scrum half, two good props and a number of decent ball carriers – last of which is our weakness – they’ve a tendency to over carry the ball when a pass would put the supporting player away in space.
It’s really frustrating- our best player – playing at 8 – is quick, strong, elusive, can break tackles but he’s probably butchered as many tries as he’s scored by not passing to a team mate.
Despite all that we won 29-7… and tomorrow our other team gets a run out. With luck 29 -30 lads will get a full game over the weekend.
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Quite impressed by Bill Johnston at 10 for Ulster.
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These Ulster subs look like they’re probably still breast-feeding.
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And Cheetahs score!
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Ruan of course slot the conversion. 20-10 with 13 mins on the clock.
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