I was vaguely interested in rugby as a child; we used to play it in the playground, although we didn’t have a rugby ball (any kind of ball would do), none of us knew the rules, and it resembled a particularly vicious bout of British Bulldogs more than the game we know and love today.
Then, in my twenties, I found myself in Detroit working with a load of Brits and French, and there was a local Irish pub, Dick O’Dow’s, that put on all the Five Nations matches. Of course they started at an unreasonable time in the morning, and of course this did not deter us from assembling to watch them, and downing the Guinness in camaradic rivalry.
It starts like that: you think you’re just getting together with some colleagues for a little fun, then you start watching other Test matches, maybe a few European Cup matches, and before you know it, you’re obsessively watching obscure dead rubbers in the Pro-infinity and desperately starting a rugby blog because the one you’ve become addicted to has suddenly disappeared.
As a footnote, during the last World Cup but one, we went to a pub in Cardiff after one of the matches (possibly that horrible one where Ireland were knocked out by Argentina), and there was a bloke there who we overheard mentioning Detroit.
“Oh,” I said, “I used to live in Detroit. I went to watch all the matches at Dick O’Dow’s.”
Turned out the bloke was the one who’d brought the television rights to Detroit, so responsible for my addiction. Small world.
Right, on to the matches!
Italy v France
Teams
Italy: Jacopo Trulla, Luca Sperandio, Marco Zanon, Juan Ignacio Brex, Montanna Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney, Cherif Traorè, Luca Bigi (c), Marco Riccioni, Marco Lazzaroni, David Sisi, Sebastian Negri, Johan Meyer, Michele Lamaro
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Danilo Fischetti, Giosué Zilocchi, Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Maxime Mbandà, Guglielmo Palazzani, Carlo Canna
France: Brice Dulin, Teddy Thomas, Arthur Vincent, Gaël Fickou, Gabin Villière, Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont, Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Bernard Le Roux, Paul Willemse, Dylan Cretin, Charles Ollivon (c), Grégory Alldritt
Replacements: Pierre Bourgarit, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Dorian Aldegheri, Romain Taofifenua, Anthony Jelonch, Baptiste Serin, Louis Carbonel, Damian Penaud
Blog ‘wisdom’
Anything but finishing first will be considered a failure in France. I doubt there’ll be a Grand Slam, given that France will travel to both England and Ireland, albeit in empty stadia. (Flair99)
France by 13 over Italy – the Italians will have their customary strong start to the 6N before injury and lack of depth give those following bonus point chances. (Deebee7)
That’s about all anyone had to say about this match.
England v Scotland
Teams
England: 15. Elliot Daly, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Jonny May, 10. Owen Farrell (C), 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Mark Wilson, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Beno Obano, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Courtney Lawes, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Dan Robson, 22. George Ford, 23. Max Malins.
Scotland: 15. Stuart Hogg (C), 14. Sean Maitland, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ali Price, 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Scott Cummings, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: 16. David Cherry, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. WP Nel, 19. Richie Gray, 20. Gary Graham, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Huw Jones.
BLOG ‘WISDOM’
There was a bit more interest in this match.
Full-strength Scotland at Twikkers confident of catching England cold, anticipating many England players off the pace.
As it turns out, Scotland, as usual, force the game and surrender numerous knock-ons in promising attacking positions.
Ford, Farrell, Slade, Daly kick, kick and kick. May secures two kick-chase TDs (Hogg missing his tackles) and Farrell doesn’t miss a kick – conversion or penalty. Slade intercepts a long, telegraphed Russell flat pass for England’s 3rd try. LC-D barrels over late in the game for the fourth.
Final score 40 – 10 as Ritchie gets the consolation and Genge gives up 3 points and a yellow card for lamping Watson.Dream on……………………………………………………. (SladeIs42)
My dark horse, as often, are Scotland, specially as they start with England. With a bit of wind in their sails, they could go pretty far. But then, that’s what we say every year. (Flair, ibid)
Dayboo for young Redpath, and probably Cherry off the bench
Hope Turner can keep the heid & his darts are a worry. Not convinced yet by Fagerson junior at 8 but hope he steps up a bit. Bigger Gray back is good, he’s been looking back in form.
England by 20. (Chimpie)
” Daly = Hogg in many ways.”
Good lord, Slade. What pills have you been taking ?
Was going to announce Ford to bench before the team came out, Eddie just couldn’t play Ford ahead of Faz after Squidge report. Could this be the day a total Owen meltdown costs England the game? Dunno about chipping in behind Farrell, I think running thru him is a better option, with a nifty little offload down low.
So, the scene is set for George to come on with 20 mins to go, and England 20 points behind, will he secure the comeback win ? Has Owen been practicing spiral bombs ??? Nope, cos Eddie rarely brings on subs until its too late for them to change the game.
Scotland by 10. (SunbeamTim)
England by 12 over Scotland – Scots passion, fury and flingaboutery will keep them close until the 65 minute mark when George Ford comes on to change gears and get the spluttering engine purring. (Deebee7, ibid)
Wales v Ireland
Teams
Wales: 15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. George North, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Hallam Amos, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ken Owens, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Adam Beard, 5. Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16. Elliot Dee, 17. Rhodri Jones, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Josh Navidi, 21. Gareth Davies, 22. Callum Sheedy, 23. Nick Tompkins.
Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Jonathan Sexton (capt), 9. Conor Murray, 1. Cian Healy, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. CJ Stander.
Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Will Connors, 21. Jamison Gibson Park, 22. Billy Burns, 23. Jordan Larmour.
BLOG ‘WISDOM’
The Irish have been shy on this one. Not surprised, because I honestly don’t have any idea either.
Wales by 2 over Ireland – early season burglary by Wales over a fancied Irish side. (Deebee7, ibid) (boo, hiss)
I had the grizzles with Pivac’s Autumn teams, but this feels a tick better. Amos back (as NostradamIks predicted) is alright, not too bothered one way or the other. I much prefer Beard to Seb Davies, especially for his Aardman features.
I’m glad those run-outs for Botham and the Other-backrower-who’s-name-I-can’t-remember-but-it-was-hyphenated, are over for now. Don’t know much about the next big thing at centre called Williams since the last big thing at centre called Owen Williams, who turned out to be overrated and over-hyped – except by me of course. I hope to see what the fuss is about on Sunday.
Lydiate coming back is an odd one. I should be horrified, but I’m not, for some reason. I’m more curious to see how it goes than anything.
Positives are mainly a good pair of 9s, the usual suspects in Faletau and Tips, and two Drags to liven things up off the bench.
What I’m expecting is a stodgy attacking display, an improved set-piece, a mix of iffy and whiffy defending, and a right-good rogering at the breakdown.
Ireland’s to lose. (MisterIks)
I think we’d take them in a packed-out stadium. In a empty echoing cavern it’s theirs all day long. (TomPirracas)
My flabber is gasted by the absence of Wainwright. I simply overlooked it. Says to me that Pivac’s pendulum has swung from adventure to stolid, and Lydiate is there to stop the opposition, rather than start a bit of Welsh rugby.
Pivac out! (Iks again)
Some more general thoughts on the tournament:
Both England and Ireland seem rather stale at the moment, with little threat in attack but they can defend. It will be tight.
Wales look mediocre, Italy pffft…
England will probably bully every team but France, so should finish 1st or 2nd.
Wooden spoon beckons for Italy while Ireland and Wales should fight within the soft belly of the tournament. (Flair99, ibid)
Wales’ matches will in all probability be tedious affairs with depressing results. Or depressing affairs with tedious results. With it being the last hurrah for the Six Nations on proper telly and the unlikely occurrence of Test cricket on Channel 4 I expect to spend February watching an inordinate amount of sport from which I will glean no satisfaction whatsoever.
They’ll probably score the odd nice try either before hopelessly capitulating or more likely after the game is done as a contest. (ClydeMillarWynant)
Don’t think we’ve got a hope in hell, really. Haven’t played a Test since lifting the Webb Ellis trophy, half of our players are being denuded of their skills and enthusiasm by playing in England, we’ve got a long injury list and our domestic competitions have been pretty poor fare. (Deebee7, who frankly seems to be confused about which tournament we’re on about.)
Let the games begin! We all have the HOPEFEAR.
Onna telly this week
Friday 5th February
| Dragons v Connact | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Bristol v Sale | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 6th February
| Wasps v Northampton | 13:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Italy v France | 14:15 | ITV |
| Bath v Harlequins | 14:15 | BT Sport Extra |
| Leicester v Worcester | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| London Irish v Gloucester | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| England v Scotland | 16:45 | ITV |
Sunday 7th February
| Newcastle v Exeter | 13:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Wales v Ireland | 15:00 | BBC1 / S4C |
Ovally Balls 
You mean like Maitland? Thought he looked pretty good yesterday and he’s still a Sarries player, isn’t he?
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Yep he played well but he’s not the core of your team though is he?
I’m not trying to belittle Scotland’s achievement yesterday, I’m just worried about overall situation given that Eddie’s England are built around Sarries players. Only Maro and Maitland played well.
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Actually, mallins is sarries on loan to brizzle isn’t he? We looked way better with him.
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Wonder if Kitson ever actually watches a game of rugby? Not only does he pick Finn as the star of the match, when he definitely didn’t have one of his best game, but also he found time to have a couple of TomP like digs at ‘Tartan Boks’. Think there were only 3 players in the 23 who qualified that way?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/feb/07/finn-russell-scotland-england-magic-show
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If Eddie picked players on current club form and not the team they play for, how many of yesterday’s team would start against Italy?
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BB – Hill, itojizz, Williams, Cowan dickie, mallins, Ford maybe slade, Robson.
May and Curry had bad games but I’d consider another run out.
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For today’s game it is possible to attempt to vicariously experience the joy of the match programme for free via the WRU website. It has an interview with that dreamy Alan Wyn Jones:
https://www.wru.wales/wales-v-ireland-programme/
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*Alun* obvs, stupid tablet autocorrect
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BB, I can assure you that very few people in the Western Cape gave a shit. I don’t say that in a derisory manner (although it doubtless comes across that way), but I don’t know any rugby fans here who watch the 6N to see how our expats do. If anything, like me, they look at Duhan and wish he was in Green and Gold. And not the Aussie yellow they pass off as gold.
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You’re world champions, why should you? Think there are actually more players in the original 35 strong squad that were born in England than were born in South Africa. But that doesn’t fit the narrative of the likes of Kitson.
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4 in the 23, BB. Jaco van der Walt didn’t get on so let’s scratch him. But who’s counting?
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I had a look at Duhan van der Merwe’s alma mater’s facebook page earlier. Nothing about him scoring a try for Scotland but they are highlighting the fact that another ex-pupil won the Best Au Pair in America award for 2020.
The 6 Nations does get shown on SA telly but they generally don’t care much about it.
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van der Merwe cut his ties a few years ago when he went to Montpellier. He was always really good in attack but was seen as a bit of a liability in defence. Plus, he was injury prone. If I remember right, he also had major problems when he was in France and Cockerill basically saved his career.
This is going to be a bit tough to believe but he was only the 3rd or 4th best player in his high school 1st XV’s back division – not a knock on him just that that back division was superb. He still scored loads of tries through pace and power.
It’s South Africa’s problem, they produce so many talented players out of school, players who play pretty good rugby, and the pro system can’t support the numbers. Recently, the big unions have reduced the numbers they sign out of school and so these lads look overseas and there’re plenty of clubs willing to spend money on them.
Anyway, my top tip for the Duhan vdMerwe of the future is Marcel Muller. He got signed out of school by Montpellier in 2019 but came back to the Cheetahs last year. He’s massive and quick:
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BB, TomP, there are loads of us who watch the 6N and love it and watch the Heineken Cup etc, even if we have little invested in it.* Just like lots of folk on here watch Super rugby and 4N without being emotionally attached to it. Kitson’s just being a dick. Maybe he had a word quota to fill and couldn’t bring himself to say anything else nice about Scotland? Did he do the same when a string of Saffers played for England?
* Even those of us with 75% English heritage.
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He said loads of nice things about Scotland in the article, Deebs. The stuff about Russell was mostly nonsense.
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Read the article, he waxed lyrical about Finn, who wasn’t great – he even admits as much in a roundabout way – but feels the need to mention the SA connection twice, including the idiotic closing remark? Sounded a tad bitter.
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In cauda venenum.
Kitson praises the Scots then has a dig at them.
Connard.
All teams do it, including nations that shouldn’t have to do it. It’s called the rules.
Don’t like them? Change them. Otherwise, just shut up.
In other news, it was a great game of rugby, intense and clean.
Made my day.
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Was a very intense match, Flair. Loved it.
I often lament the exodus of talent from SA to other countries, but it’s not new and it’s not just us. Or one way. Most developing nations are in the same boat, whether it’s Saffer and PI rugby players looking for a decent wedge, or East African athletes representing Qatar, UAE etc at the Olympics or the other way – French born and bred footballers playing for their ancestral nations. At one stage England’s cricket team had almost as many South Africans as English born players.* I don’t recall seeing any articles about the good burghers of Franschhoek dancing in the streets because you guys had an all Saffer second row? Kitson was being a dick.
I do like the 5 year rule that’s come into effect as it makes players take a much more committed approach to a new nation knowing they’ll miss at least one World Cup opportunity. Fair play.
* only just hyperbolic.
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Even Dawson’s article is better than Kitson’s. Although comparing us to New Zealand is a bit much…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/55963063
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The Qatari handball team is my favourite. They bought up loads of European players for the 2015 World Championships that they hosted. They also paid 60 Spaniards to come in to cheer for them. And bought the refs off to favour them in the three knock-out games that took them to the final.
One of the players is a guy called Saric. He played for Serbia. Then after 3 years out of the international game he got picked for Bosnia, where he was born, He retired from internationals in 2011 and then 3 years later rocked up for the Qataris.
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The 5 year rule is good.
France went a bit further and require its players to be French citizens.
I’d be a bit more easy on developping nations. For instance, lots of French players, not good enough to make the national team, go and play for Morocco, Spain, Portugal etc…. It might help develop rugby if they could play for these countries sooner (with a limit put on their number of course).
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Watching a very entertaining Racing 92 vs La Rochelle in R92 closed stadium.
Last time I watched live rugby it was there, with the same teams, about a year ago, just before the first lockdown.
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Nice open running game at Newcastle in the sleet
N 6 – 10 Exeter at oranges
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Just saw Simmonds try at half-time. Why the hell isn’t he (and his brother) not playing for England?
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BB
Eddie suffers from ‘little man’ syndrome………….and is in love with players over 6ft 5 or 18 stone
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nice try by Horse
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I think England’s best backrow would consist of Underhill, Curry and Simmonds.
Billy is not hitting previous heights and you’re not losing a lineput option by punting him into the long grass
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OK guys, invoking Welsh granny here, looking to see the Pivac game come to fruition, and the unsmiling Irish Auks to be run off the park.
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Nothing like a bit of Muse’s space rock to get the players ready.
Afternoon all…
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Auto-crowd noise is weird . The lag means it’s usually cheering or oohing about a ruck.
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Oh. that was a lovely dummy by Tips, to draw the Irish defender and make space.
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The camo effect on the Ireland shirts is quite odd.
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Halfpenny playing the Willie le Roux auxiliary 10 slot. Not a bad start to it either.
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Ooh, that looks bad from POM.
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POM could be done there
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A video has appeared on Facebook, it’s a guy from Dunbar RFC, he played as a lock in my day though he is a few years older than me. He is not in his athletic prime anymore.
The video is of him last night stripped to the underwear singing Flower of Scotland in the garden
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Stone cold red
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Stupid bugger. He did something similar last time he played for Ireland.
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Red for POM. I don’t see anything wrong with that decision.
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Red.
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Good night, POM.
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This is going to play havoc with my ‘bru pick
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Here’s another situation where McCloskey would be good: packing down in the scrum.
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Billy V is no Talupe Faletau.
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Good to see Herring carry on the strong Best-Flannery tradition of fecking-up the 5m attacking line-out.
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“He’s frog splash”
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Cricket’s going well
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I’ve worked it out. I can post freely
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Just at the worst time
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Congrats to our Scottish contingent
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