What a first round that was: grit, determination, superb skills and complete brainfarts. Think the competition is wide open, and unsure where to make your Superbru picks? Don’t worry, our OvallyBalls experts on crack are here to progrocknIksate what will happen this weekend.
Deebee7 was quick off the mark with his predictions:
England, chastised and sobered by the realisation that they couldn’t simply kick ‘n bosh their way past feisty Scotland pick the biggest side in rugby history so they can KICK ‘N BOSH their way over, through and not around Italy, who, having realised that their first-up tackling was well below par and know what’s coming their way, pick 15 Saffas to BOSH BACK against England. Problem is, they’re playing for Italy because they can’t make it into better sides. England by 47 despite themselves.
Scotland, fresh from the Trashing of Twickers™ are primed, ready, purring and full of confidence for the visit of an abject Welsh side that had to rely on red mist and a brain fart to see off Ireland. The mercenary English Army and Tartan Boks who were apparently the only reason Edward’s Army tripped at Twickers have a solid tight five, fury in the loose forwards, flying outside backs and the Best 10 in the World™ ready to unleash hell on the journeymen from the Valleys. Thing is, it’s not their Game of the Season™ and with all their raison d’etre exhausted last week, Wales will give them the fright of their lives! But not enough to actually win it. Scotland by a couple in a low-scoring affair.
Ireland, stunned by stupidity and seething with intent, await the thoroughbreds of France, fresh from their opening training run against Italy. Expect a titanic struggle up front with neither pack giving an inch (easy on the Karl button, Iks). Ireland should be without Sexton which gives France a HUGE advantage behind the pie-munchers, and with the greyhounds and whippets willing to give it a lash, it could be a long afternoon at the Palindrome. But if the Irish are one thing, it’s bloody minded, determined and fucking difficult to boss around on their home patch (thank dog no World Cups hosted there yet). Too close to call!
Chimpie is more or less in agreement:
Scotland > Wales by 4
This goes against my deep-seated pessimism but got to back form at some point. General cohesion will keep Wales pinned back but usual inability to get points on the board will keep the boyos in it. Wales have some quality players in there and they’ll get over the line a couple of times.
England > Italy by 30
Hope Italy put up more of fight than last week. They’ve got a few bright sparks – like the look of Garbisi – but this is a very young and inexperienced team, too early for them to start pulling out results. England will grind and kick Italy down and run up a respectable score with the Best Fly-Half in the World playing. Eddie will then drop Ford for the next game.
Ireland > France by 2
Yes, I’m going out on a limb here for Ireland without human missile POM to put a shock one over on France. Would it be that much of a shock though? France ran up 35 points against Ireland last time out but there was only an 8 point difference at full time. Ireland at home hurting after last week’s effort vs. Wales, I’m going with a home victory here.
ClydeMillarWynant is ever the misfit:
Wales > Scotland by 1
Entire game takes place in Wales half giving Scotland an impressive 6-0 lead only for LRZ to go the length of the field at the death. Biggar converts from the touchline and bounces around on his space-hoppers to general disgust.
France > Ireland by 6
Ireland are just the sort of miserable bastards to spoil everything by grinding down France and stopping the beautiful game at source. But there’s been positive beaver news today.
England > Italy by 40
Italy are crap.
BorderBoy couldn’t resist bringing Prog into it:
Nazareth > Budgie (by 10)
Genesis > PFM (by 25)
U2 < Lazuli (by 12)
SladeIs#42 is sucking up to the mister:
Wales> Scotland by 4 – winners have enough ‘dog’ to resist Scots missing last week’s adrenalin rush
Ireland > France by 3 – game of the week-end – Ireland a team full of grit and experience
England > Italy by 25 – in reality, score could be anything dependant on tactics adopted: an inaccurate kicking game could make it closer, as could a good performance by Italy up to the 60 minute mark causing confusion in England’s headless ranks. If Italy collapse England could get 70. Whatever, it’s unlikely to be a credit to the Competition. As stated above, Ford will be back to the bench afterwards and George restored.
Craigsman is getting all political on our arses:
Sturgeon > Drakeford by 5LePen Macron > Adams by 10
Bojo > Berlusconi by 15
I was just going to include far right politicians / arseholes. I managed a few arseholes but couldn’t be bothered to Welsh political arseholery.
Sunbeamtim goes for the philosophical approach:
Looks like Big Faz realises that France are going to hammer Ireland whichever way, so has thrown in a 9 and 10 as sacrificial lambs to protect young payers. End of JGP and BB’s International careers ?
Very enthusiastic about all the talk of how disgraceful Italy are, and how they should be thrown out of the comp, and how its a non game for a proper side. I see Italy as being fitter and more coherent than they have ever been, and one step off defensively is all it takes to be hammered by a Tier one side. Setting someone up for a big fall somewhere this season.
Scotland and Wales both hammered by injuries, too close to call, game of the weekend.
Flair99‘s been watching my nightmares:
England by 29
Scotland by 7
France by 11.
Don’t harrumph me, I was wrong twice last week.
Not sure the omission of Sexton and Murray is a good thing for France but it is certainly a good thing for them. Enough of these concussed players blaming the doctors. I hope they recover soon.
Onna telly this week
Friday 12th February
| Gloucester v Bristol | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| Sale v Bath | 20:00 | BT Sport Extra |
Saturday 13th February
| England v Italy | 14:15 | ITV |
| Harlequins v Leicester | 16:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Exeter v London Irish | 16:15 | BT Sport Extra |
| Scotland v Wales | 16:45 | BBC1 / S4C |
Sunday 14th February
| Worcester v Wasps | 13:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Ireland v France | 15:00 | ITV |
Ovally Balls 
Flair, we were a point ahead when Fagerson was (correctly) shown the red card. We lost by a point. Now that in itself doesn’t mean the card was the turning point. We scored three tries which in an international match is not a bad return. I agree that we should have scored more for all our dominance, but international rugby is about small margins, and playing with 14 v 15 for nearly half an hour is very difficult.
Perhaps we should have kept Graham on the wing and taken a forward off, this is 20/20 hindsight of course, our scrum was never really in trouble and WP Nel isn’t exactly sprightly around the park any more, but he’s still one of the best scrummagers in the tournament.
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Ireland managed perfectly well with 7 against Wales – there was a big clue as to what the strategy should have been….
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Nige wouldn’t ‘ve awarded May’s try vs Italy.
Adam Kennedy
@adamk2326
·
13 févr. 2021
En réponse à @Nigelrefowens @DavieHenshaw1 et 3 autres personnes
How can you say he was not diving for the line? He clearly lands over the line and places it perfectly. His legs were also above his hands when dotting it down, so that discredits the (non horizontal aspect)
Nigel Owens MBE
@Nigelrefowens
His first action is to jump up to avoid tackle. How can you expect a defender to defend this as he can’t tackle him whilst he is in the air like that. Diving to score a try is is not jumping in the air. How do you dive into the swimming pool ? Not by jumping up first !!!
12:03 AM · 14 févr. 2021
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One of the stats stands out to me. James Lang playing 12 – he made two passes and ran twice. Last week Cam Redpath made 4 passes and ran 5 times. It might not seem like a huge difference, but it does suggest to me that we were looking to move the ball wider on Saturday, Harris at 13 and our back three had far more of the ball this week compared to last.
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Oops, sorry for that poor copy and paste. I lack the basic internet skills. Still get the point on the score board, mind.
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Trisk, yeah in retrospect we should have gone with 7 forwards.
Flair, I hope Nige isn’t going to start taking refereeing decisions apart after every match – that’s for us to do :-)
I saw that story yesterday and I think he’s wrong – in my vast experience of international level refereeing of course.
There’s no law against jumping into a tackle, it’s one of those mistaken ideas, like being in control of the ball when you score, that isn’t in the laws either.
There is a law against dangerous play, which trying to hurdle a tackler would cover, but that leaves a defender open to being accidently kick/kneed or shinned in the head.
May didn’t do that to the defender.
When Owens asks, “How can you expect a defender to defend this as he can’t tackle him whilst he is in the air like that?” this can also apply to any who jumps to catch the ball anywhere on the pitch.
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Both Ireland and Scotland had the ball in the Welsh 22 for over 7 minutes. Now part of it’s down to some excellent cheating by AWJ and others but certainly the Irish really lack the killer touch.
Scotland have it but as against England they found it reasonably hard to break down the defence there. The first Scottish try is very very good by Price and Graham. The second had an element of fortune. The third was a good finish but a miss by Watkin – who got run around 2 or 3 times by Harris earlier in the game only to redeem himself with the late tackle.
Wales in comparison had the ball in the Irish and Scottish 22s for 1 minute 3 seconds and 1 minute 37 seconds respectively and came away with 2 and 4 tries. That’s hyper efficient.
The second Welsh try v Scotland is really good, an extremely powerful drive from the lineout and then good hands. LRZ’s final pass to Liam Williams isn’t great but there’s so much space for him that he can amble over.
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Flair – Nige has clearly never seen my acrobatics at the local pool. If he’d struck that off he’d never be allowed back in over the Severn Bridge as far as I’m concerned.
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Nige wouldn’t like watching the NRL. Loads of finishes like that every week.
Super League not so much
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TomP, Wales had a bit of good fortune at the end of the game, After vdMerwe was tap-tackled, Williams knocked the ball back and then grabbed hold of Hogg off the ball. at the ensuing ruck Harris was over the ball for a long time before Wales recycled it and cleared into touch.
On another day, and who knows perhaps at a different point in the game we’d have been awarded a penalty for one of those two incidents. There will be moments in every game that we can point to and say we should have won a penalty, but the ones at the very end of a one point match stick in the memory.
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OT, I thought at the time that May’s finish was reminiscent of scores I’ve seen in RL.
I’d hate to thing we’d be trying to outlaw that kind of score
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OT/Flair/Ticht – It annoys me that a ref is trying to say that he jumped wrongly. Also, bahahahahahaaaa to that video.
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Craigs, am not saying Nige’s right although in some circles, he’s been described as infallible as the pope.
Would that tackle in the RL video considered legal in RU? After all it is taking the player in the air. For instance yesterday, just before the farcical Irish try at the line out, Ollivon was – harshly IMO- penalised for a much milder tackle when competing in the air.
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Flair – I know you aren’t siding with him :-)
I think there is a difference between competing for a high ball dangerously and trying to tackle someone in the act of scoring. Generally the act of scoring has more forward velocity and someone isn’t going to land on their heid.
That obviously gets blurred when someone is trying to claim a high ball behind the try line and in that case taking someone out in the air takes precedent. I. E. If a defender is taken out dangerously in the act of scoring it’s fair that the try is struck off.
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“Ollivon was – harshly IMO- penalised for a much milder tackle when competing in the air.”
I thought that was harsh, too.
It’s the lack of consistency that is annoying, I’m sure it’s very difficult to get every decision right, but it does seem that the games are down to interpretation much of the time. Players and coaches often talk about studying a referee and designing a game plan accordingly, especially at the breakdown, which is of course crucial to the game.
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Now that Nigel has retired, he doesn’t need to try and hide his ABE bias anymore! (Not that he ever hid it much when he was on the pitch.)
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BTW I haven’t watch France vs Ireland yet so I can’t comment on Ollivon.
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There’s no specific law against what May did but a ref might consider it reckless. For me, it was very athletic and great to watch.
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Having said that, May’s English so red card.
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May’s try was magnificent. And I certainly do not want to see such tries not awarded. Yet, if the defender had taken him out, I’d’ve expected him to get a YC and possibly a penalty try.
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Watched it again, I think he dives high and in such a way to avoid the tackle. Think that’s fine tbh.
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Re May’s leap – there was a very long thread of tweets going back and forth over how – as Ticht confirms – there’s no law about jumping in the air (some laws could be “stretched” to cover it) but at same time we all “know” that you can’t jump into / over a tackle.
Had the Italian defender tackled May – is he guilty of taking the player out in the air? Laws say yes…..so then presumably it’s a penalty try ? I’m a bit torn here – I’d like to discourage U14s thinking my best bet here is to leap into the air…..
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Surely there is a difference between:
– jumping to gain possession of a ball and being tackled in the air and
– having possession of the ball, seeing a tackle coming and jumping to avoid it, putting the potential tackler in a quandary?
Imagine the ball passing along the 3/4rs and every time the carrier sees a tackle coming, he jumps in the air.
psI loved the athleticism of May’s try but a defender should not be penalised for tackling him, mid dive. If he was jumping to avoid the tackle -no try.
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That law’s more about a player jumping for the ball whereas May’s already got it and carrying it before he makes the jump. I’d tend to go with this: as long as May is returned to ground safely, no problem.
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As Slade says immediately above my post.
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I think we should start the 6 nations again to seek clarity.
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Ticht, Nige now appears as a regular on Scrum 5 to dissect refereeing decisions. He said he would have disallowed Mays try, Zander was a red all day long, and Liam WIlliams elbow to face was a penalty only, if that, and the croc roll on Willis was illegal from a technical point of view but is not reffed as such, including by him, and as such should be a penalty under current laws but not dangerous/foul play.
I can’t remember where, but it may have been Alfie on the Beeb, but someone at the weekend said it is OK to tackle a guy in the air if he is in the process of diving for the line, and it is covered in the laws. Anyone like to confirm or disprove this ??
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“Zander was a red all day long, and Liam WIlliams elbow to face was a penalty only,”
Ha! Anyone would think he was Welsh.
If there is contact with the face and it is a penalty, then it’s also a card. Then the discussion can start over the colour of it.
I didn’t see the incident during the game, but looking at it afterwards there is definite contact with elbow to face.
Yellow for me.
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I’d give him a yellow for previous, anyway…………
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Hello everyone
Have lurked with interest over the past few years. Glad to see all going well with you all.
Totally gone off rugger. To the point of not even making an effort to be watching intl games unless made to. but actually enjoyed all 6 six nations games so re invigorated temporarily.
Jumping into tackle has been a pen as long as i have known (so early 70s). One of the only player safety laws in those days.
Rarely called from 90s on
Re: Mays try. Totally legal, even in the day . Yes, he jumped, but not INTO the tackle. He jumped to promote the ball. Led with the ball.
Totally different to leading with the knees/foot in order to hurdle or dispatch the tackler. Which is dangerous and has always been illegal
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In other unwelcome opinions
Wales terrible, but somehow* ok
Scotland, superb but somehow not ok
England are good, one poor game is neither here nor there
Ireland are in for a poor year but will come good next year
France are being over hyped. But are still a very good team
Italy are worthy of their place in the 6N.
* And be somehow, I mean AWJ and Tipuric and Owens
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And thanks to thaum et al for keeping this sanctuary going
Amazing that a community that has its roots in late 00s Guardian still has this warmth and quality.
Sorry, I havent been around but really havent enjoyed rugger for a while so have had nothing to say
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Hello Utna!
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It takes something special to have the lions share of territory, possession, defenders beaten, meters run with the ball etc etc.
To turn around 17- 8 in front at ht and have 72% possession and 74% territory over the next forty minutes and still contrive to lose the game is terrible game-management.;
Finn Russell not all he’s cracked up to be? He’s surely the man who has to manage the game and utilise possession properly.
Flair – “Jouer debout” – if you’ve got support runners then it’s much easier to keep passing. I remember in 1996 when the All Blacks exacted revenge on us for the ’95 Final, guys like Josh Kronfeld were absolute machines in offering support running to the ball carriers. The Kiwis are still far better than we are at ensuring the ball carrier has at least one option either side of him, lowering, as you say, the risk of passing through multiple phases.
Contrast our loosies to the Kiwis for most of the period since then and we’ve picked big bosh merchants who seek contact, rather than ball carriers looking to keep continuity of attack. Long may France’s approach live!
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Well, its been a while, but could I kill the blog one last time?
Tom Brady, eat your heart out
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Bah! Screwed up the html stuff there, but you get what I’m saying.
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Ok, Drew Brees eat your heart out
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Hello Thaum
Hope all well.with you. I now know what your name means. Well played
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Hello Utna, not enjoying rugger? Shame. How can we reinvigorate you ?
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Afternoon Utna! Great to see you back here! Hopefully the 6N will give you back your love for the game!
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Yes! Still posting with too many exclamation marks! I blame social media!
!
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Hi Utna. Most of us have nothing to say anyway but we still post….
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BOD seemed to think that May’s try should have been disallowed when they briefly talked about the games the day before at the end of the Ireland-France coverage. I can see the case either way.
Anyone know what the record for number of kicks by a winger is as Lowe must have gone close yesterday?
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Can’t see why May’s effort wasn’t a try TBH {1]. He was going for the line & leading with the ball as Utna [2] said. Really impressive effort.
At least 2 of the Welsh tries shouldn’t have stood, on grounds of being exceedingly irritating to me personally.
Otherwise as you were.
{1] Apart from it being scored by England
[2] Hi Utna!
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Wotcha, utna.
What’s this “leading with the ball” thing? I’ve never heard it before and now a couple of people have said the same thing.
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I was just copying Utna
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I’d definitely promote the ball that was being used when LRZ scored his second try. The one that squirmed under Halfpenny for Hogg? That ball’s career is going nowhere.
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Pay rise for all the balls in Dublin. Or at least if I was their union rep I’d be asking for a special rate when Lowe is playing.
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Hey Utna. Nice to see some more old faces around here :-)
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I miss Killer.
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