The briefest of all possible previews.
Georgia v Fiji
Fiji are a very good side, but have not played a test match due to their Covid problems. Georgia were much improved last week. Georgia by 5.
Ireland v Scotland
Both sides looking rather pedestrian at the moment. With the inexplicable void where Hamish McFuckface should be, as well as the return of Sexton and Ireland’s home advantage (and despite the dropping of McCloskey), Ireland by 10.
Wales v Italy
Wales by 25. You know why.
England v France
With France putting out a C side, there is not much doubt: England by 15. Although I suspect France will throw some surprises England’s way.
Onna telly this week
Friday 4th December
| Bristol 18 – 17 Saints | ||
| Connacht 31 – 14 Treviso |
Saturday 5th December
| Australia v Argentina | 08:45 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Georgia v Fiji | 12:00 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Ireland v Scotland | 14:15 | Amazon Prime |
| Bulls v Cheetahs | 14:30 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Leicester v Exeter | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Wasps v Newcastle | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Worcester v Bath | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Wales v Italy | 16:45 | S4C / Amazon Prime |
| Golden Lions v Western Province | 17:00 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Glasgow v Dragons | 19:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 6th December
| England v France | 14:00 | Amazon Prime |
| London Irish v Sale | 14:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Gloucester v Harlequins | 16:15 | BT Sport 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Ticht – yep, I don’t think Healy has been the player he was before that injury.
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Am enjoying this opposition of styles.
Ireland’s try a bit fortunate but kick well taken by Sexton.
Is it raining in Dublin? From the quality of play, you wouldn’t think so.
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‘Is it raining in Dublin’ is a bit like ‘is the pope catholic’.
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O’Mahony battered Price in the first half and hit Hogg hard there.
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And Healy scores.
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The Scottish lads look as if they’ve done a little wee wee in their shorts.
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That was a brilliant kick from Sexton to set that up
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Poor by Hogg, though. Should’ve collected it.
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We”re getting sfa from the ref today
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What decision, nether 5 nor 3 changed their binds
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KEEEEFFF!
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Real winger’s finish this time.
Lovely pass by POM.
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Fuck.
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And just like that a 16-point lead.
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Doris a couple of times now, Porter and Stander have all made strong carries in the last few minutes.
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Well done, vdM.
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Better.
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Great finish. Smart play.
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At last!
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Porter did exactly the same as Fagerson at the maul, no penalty
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Shame for Fraser Brown (was it?) that the camera was on his face the whole time.
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Sexton’s done his groin again.
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Think maybe Ritchie should go off, not been his best day.
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Earls looked well offside chasing that kick.
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Hear that, Ticht? Barclay saying the ref has been excellent. (At least, I think it was Barclay.)
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Tigers rough-housing their way to a 1st half lead!
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Scotland certainly miss Watson
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What happened to Hamish?
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Thaum, the Glasgow board have been complaining all game about Barclay’s faux neutrality
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Suppose it’s better than doing a Ferris.
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POM’s still got it! Very unlucky with that toenail in touch.
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Earls woulda scored that.
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I was watching carefully & was sure he hadn’t gone into touch, but fair enough on the replay.
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Watson rested. Needed him today.
From a Scotland point of view 20 good minutes then dross thereafter
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Good pass out to POM, unlucky not to score.
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If Scotland get an unconverted try, my prediction will be bang on. :-)
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JGP coming on. We could still lose this.
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Doris was the best player on the park today, good individual effort from big Duhan
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Well, that was surprising after Scotland’s performance up until the yellow card.
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I think Scotland ended up with 8 lads who first played pro in the SH on the park.
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All of whom are entitled to play for Scotland, of course.
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Could we give this SH thing a rest? Seems like EVERY time Scotland play, that’s the biggest topic. It’s not like it’s something new.
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At least you haven’t got Josh van der Flier.
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Conclusion: if you want to win through possession and passing the ball rather than kick and chase or pick-and-gos, you need perfect ball handling skills. Am afraid we’ll see more and more risk averse teams.
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It’s just the first time I think that’s happened so was worthy of note.
It’s within the rules so they can go for it as far as I’m concerned.
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Flair, imo the new breakdown interpretations are exacerbating this, it’s just too risky to be caught in possession in your own half now.
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That’s been true for a while. Didn’t see the first 20 minutes of this game but Scotland weren’t flinging the ball around in their 22 in the last 60 minutes of the game. Earls’s second try was the pick today thanks to POM’s hands.
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TomP – Scotland were well on top in the first 20 mins. I was losing hope.
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Looking for plusses, Jaco made a decent fist of it, big Duhan’s try was first class, Duncan Taylor and Chris Harris both had good first halfs. We were up agin it in the second.
None of the pack were outstanding imo, the backs dropped off when the Irish 8 had the better of the game, which is funnily enough when the Ireland backline looked decent
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You couldn’t possibly win when both me AND the dug were wearing our lucky Ireland shirts.
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