Preamble
Following the lead of the esteemed French rugby philosopher and Chef de Cuisine Flair99, I will try to keep this short, at least by my standards.
In keeping with the odd times we live in, the 6N Super Saturday ingredients are not all there for a grand finale, and we’ll have to pop France vs Scotland back in the popty-ping microwave at some point to truly finish the feast.
Scotland vs Italy
Move over France, because it is time to ask the question ‘which Scotland will turn up?’ Having got off to the best possible start to the tournament, the Scots have coughed and spluttered their way through the following games and were unfortunate to find their progress further stymied when the French overdid the ‘Liberté’ bit and burst out of their corona-bubble to do some coughing and spluttering of their own.
With Finn finally HIA-d after playing in a slightly detached dream-state for most of the tournament, we are going to be treated to Hoggy at 10. Could go well, but it might not as he has enough on his shoulders captaining a pretty unfamiliar lineup while playing out of position. Then as I ignorantly ponder on, are the two new second rows going to ease themselves into the set piece, especially in a line-out which had a torrid time against Ireland?
Hark! The voices of doubt grow louder. An exciting backline, but are the omens pointing towards chaos and a replay of that infamous match against Italy when Scotland opted to only pass to Italians for the first quarter of the match?
This Italian team must have one good rather than just brave performance in them. Brex and Mori at centre are likely to do better at defending and crossing the gainline. Garbisi is a dangerous playmaker at 10, and Stephen Varney just might orchestrate things as well as his uncle Manto did. Throw in a decent backrow led by the all-action Negri and what are we left with?
Italy by a score.
Ireland vs England
England played well against France last week, but it is worth remembering that France entered the game looking like they expected to give England a thrashing – similar in fact to how England started their RWC Final – and went a bit run-it-from-anywhere bananas especially after scoring such an early try. England maintained their structure, but also looked sharp when attacking through Slade and Watson particularly.
Ireland are entering the match in good form, playing to their strengths of playing controlled, driving rugby, going through the phases, loads of bosh up the middle and at the breakdown, and Murray re-joining Sexton for some box-kicking and pill-roosting to bring joy to the purists, and to remind Malins that he is not playing away to Worcester any more. Ireland will miss Ryan though, and I fear that Beirne’s influence will diminish at lock, and the lineout will suffer accordingly.
I see a close game, but the England camp sniffs off to me. Even after good performance and what should have been a cathartic win, it still sounds like it’s all a bit of an ordeal for Eddie and his boys. Choosing a solution which involves having your captain – who sounds like an over-tired 7-year-old at bedtime – stop talking to the referee altogether might well backfire. I’m not sure how this will work if Ireland’s phase play starts drawing a string of penalties out of England at the breakdown, and Faz’s frustration builds up in front of his dad.
Ireland by about 9, and a shoulder-to-the-head tackle by Farrell on Henderson, followed by the patented Faz-flop n’ roll on the grass. Yes, the game might depend on the rat-poisoned mindset of the English players, and a French referee.
France vs Wales
Is the Jam-Slam on? Possibly, he said with authority.
Wales have annoyed and frustrated France over many games in recent years, up to and including the last RWC, when Vahaamahina elbowed his way to the front of the early retirement queue. But lately the pendulum has swung back in France’s favour – a relatively easy win last 6N, and a thrashing dished out last October. Ominously, France have sensed they can score tries at will against Wales if they quickly move the ball into the outside channels, and the marvellous try they scored direct from a lineout against England last week doesn’t bode well for the Welsh defence.
An injury-free Gaël Fickou has been a delight to watch, seeming to almost effortlessly create time and space for himself and others. Both sets of forwards have a settled look about them, but unlike the rest of Wales I do have concerns about Navidi’s defending against a team adept at offloading and running into space rather than contact. Botham offers much the same off the pine, so I think the omission of Wainwright could prove to be a selection mistake.
On the other hand, I expect JD2 to have his best game of the series so far (a low bar) and hopefully his Foxy wiles will compensate for the injury problems he still seems to carry in his legs. I even dreamt he scored the winning try last night, in identical fashion to the one Hendo flopped on for Ireland in Scotland’s in-goal area last week.
France by 13, I just feel they will score more tries. Our best chance is an over-confident France being put on the back foot by a Welsh team determined to win, and one that keeps the scoreboard ticking over much to French annoyance.
As dreamt by MisterIks
Super Saturday Zoom Piss-up
We can’t let a Super Saturday go by without having a blog piss-up. This year’s will be via Zoom. Let us know BTL if you’d like to join, and I will email you at the address you sign in with to give you the details, or if that address doesn’t work, email Craigs at craigsman@outlook.com.
Expect the details on Saturday morning.
Onna telly this week
Friday 19th March
| Munster v Treviso | 18:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Newcastle v Wasps | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| Ulster v Zebre | 20:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Leinster v Ospreys | 20:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 20th March
| Harlequins v Gloucester | 14:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Bath v Worcester | 14:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Scotland v Italy | 14:15 | BBC1 |
| Exeter v Leicester | 14:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Ireland v England | 16:45 | ITV |
| France v Wales | 20:00 | BBC1 |
Sunday 21st March
| Sale v London Irish | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Northampton v Bristol | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Dragons v Glasgow | 15:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Monday 22nd March
| Scarlets v Connacht | 20:00 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Cardiff v Edinburgh | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Fantastic game — congratulations France, and commiserations to Wales. Test match rugby at its most gripping — far better than that drivel earlier on today.
I thought Wales were going to ride their luck to the end, and for a game which was starting to look in the bag to be snatched away at the last moment, it must be devastating.
But what a game — kudos to both sides.
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Nah, Piper. France were excellent at the end of the game. Made the game too hard for Wales.
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Brilliant. Got to love 6N.
Wales showed their mettle, and while a bit fortunate till now, they showed why another GS was not beyond their reach. Bravo les Gallois. I think you’ll win the 6N on points difference, and deservedly so. What a defence, how many times did France think they had scored to be ( rightly) denied and held up! Shaun’s legacy is something to behold.
France wow. Not there yet, but shaping nicely. A bit more patience ( so unfrench!) would help.
I hope Scotland can compete next week with all their players, France may field a B team without being too embarassed , but with limited ressources, Scotland can’t. It’d be quite unfair.
Shall we all pitch in, so the English clubs let them go for one game?
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Bit upset about that to be honest, but never mind.
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Flair, they’ve confirmed that Scotland’s players will be released.
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I did think Josh Adams was held up.
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Thanks Piper, that’s great news. Racing had alreay released Finn, although am not sure he can play (HIA?).
Tonight’s game (and also Ireland vs England to a lesser extent) reminded me why I love rugby. Tough, clean, uncompromising, skillfull, fair. The final result does not matter as much as it seems on the moment. Both teams deserve plaudits. Tit for tat of the highest order. Thanks boys.
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A good day’s rugby.
And it was great to see faces on the zoom, even if not in person.
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Well that was all very exciting.
And so was the rugby. Some good chat and nice to put faces to names (and see some faces from previous meeting). Hopefully we might get to meet up face-to-face next year.
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@Dab – I think he probably scored, but would have understood if it was given either way. ditto Gareth Davies, and one of the French non-tries that was held up. LRZ’s might have been given and could easily have been given as a penalty try instead as that maul was going over the line. Crazy number of really difficult decisions for the refs and we’ll never know if they got some of them right or not.
I did think the sealing off penalty was very harsh and not a particularly blatant example of it’s kind, ref seemed very keen to give that. There have been teams that might not have won as much as they did if that was going to be called like that, France’s pen at the end of the first half was nonsense as well, but so it goes. I’ve no idea what Liam got binned for as I never saw a replay, but as it was him I expect he deserved it.
Either team could have won and it was a great game, but a bit hard to take at the end.
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Ultimately Wales would almost certainly have won if they’d kicked the ball (as Gibson-Park did at the end of the Ireland-Scotland match) instead of thinking they’d be allowed to grind the clock down. Also probably would have won if they’d gone for the try after LRZ’s was disallowed and the penalty try wasn’t given. Should have had just that little bit more courage about what to do with the ball rather than the putting bodies on the line in defence kind which they showed enormously.
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@CMW I seem to remember a very similar penalty given against England for sealing off against Wales. Felt harsh at the time just as that one did, but I guess it shows how these things even themselves out in the end. But yeah, would have been fair to award a penalty try, so Wales unlucky there.
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“I guess it shows how these things even themselves out in the end”
If you say so.
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“France’s head coach, Fabien Galthié, made the incendiary claim that Wales’ players specialise in getting opponents sent off. “If you watch it there is clearly no contact, or if there is it’s very limited,” he said. “If you really watch the reaction of the Welsh players, they specialise in making the opponents get red cards.””
This is terrible bollocks from Galthie, the French player clearly grabbed the Welsh player around the eye socket and it will definitely have hurt. The most obvious piece of acting in the game was Fickou making sure he bought the penalty at the end of the first half.
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I have maintained before that Wales’ results mirror those of my football team Norwich City (this goes back to Norwich losing 5-0 to Ipswich the same day England stuck 60 (sixty, vidiprinter) points on Wales). Naaarch were on a record run of nine consecutive wins going in to today’s game against Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn got an equaliser in the 77th minute and it finished 1-1. Blackburn’s manager said “On the balance of play we more than deserved a point. I think what jumps out is their quality in the final third against ours. They have international footballers and players who have played in the Premier League.” Norwich had 16 shots (7 on target) compared to Blackburn’s 11 and 4, if their forwards had shown their quality they would have won.
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Morning all. I’m glad the Zoom call went well, and the 6N threw a bit of everything at us yesterday.
As CMW said, Wales were too canary-hearted after that great rolling maul leading to LRZ’s disallowed try and a yellow card for France. The moment was screaming ‘take the scrum or lineout’, but we bagged the 3 points instead. That’s when the sands of hope started to slip through my fingers.
Congrats to France and Flair, France are building a great team and rugby as a whole is better for it. Not impressed by Galthie’s words at all though, a match like that deserves better.
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Morning all! Some great rugby yesterday with the final movement score by France putting the icing on the cake. Wonderful stuff.
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Must have been thrilling from a France perspective, great way to win if perhaps a little on the emotionally draining side.
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Good day yesterday demonstrating the range and contrast of rugby and it was good to zoom in too. Thanks for organising the hosting craigs and to thauma for keeping thr blog floating.
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As a neutral the thrilling finish was, well, thrilling. Nonetheless if my team had not been given a penalty try after a jogging maul is collapsed less than 5m out I would be very disappointed.
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Might have been one of the few things Luke Peirce got wrong last night. I’ve said before, I do like him as a ref – he seems to have a good relationship with the players on the field and, more importantly, he makes sure the bloody scrum halves hurry up!
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CMW, what’s printed in a newspaper, even the Guardian is not necessarily true.
Here is what Galthié said, verbatim:
Question:
Craignez-vous une lourde sanction pour Paul Willemse, exclu pour une fourchette face aux Gallois ?
Are you afraid Willemse will get a long ban, after seing red for an eye gouge?
Answer:
Non, il mérite la clémence. Quand on regarde les images, le contact est minime, involontaire. Le Gallois a bien joué la scène, aussi. Le body language du gallois était éloquent, il a tout fait pour qu’il y est carton rouge. Non, pour être clair : je ne vois pas pourquoi Paul Willemse mérite d’être sanctionné de la sorte. Merci d’avoir posé cette question, je voulais que le sujet soit partagé.
” No, he deserves leniency. When you look at the images, the contact is minimal , unintentional. Also, the Welsh player was a good actor ( it’s not as strong in French, may be more like: he played well his part). His body langage was quite clear, he did everything so that there would be a red card. To be clear, I don’t see why Willemse would deserve further punishment. Thanks for asking the question, I wanted the issue to be adressed. ”
That’s it , that’s all there is to it.
“The Welsh specialising in getting red cards to opponents” is an invention by the journo and IMO would deserve a blame by his hierarchy.
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Here is the link to the original article in Midol.
https://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/6-nations/2020/tournoi-des-6-nations-2021-fabien-galthie-france-paul-willemse-merite-la-clemence_sto8186004/story.shtml
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@Flair – In that case it’s very poor of The Guardian to misquote him. However, there is still an element of blaming the victim which isn’t great. I agree with him that it shouldn’t warrant much in the way of a ban though. I do have some sympathy for the people (especially the players, but the coaches too) giving post-match interviews as it must be very hard for them to choose their words. I’d also have preferred it if Pivac hadn’t raised the penalty try that wasn’t awarded even though I agree with him.
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CMW, I don’t understand the Guardian nor Planet rugby for peddling these falsehoods. It only fuels the various lunatic fringes but possibly works as click baits?
Galthié never made these sweeping generalisations but it will stick. He made what I consider an inelegant remark about one player milking a card, in an attempt to prevent his own player to get a long ban.
FWIW, I consider every RC dished during this 6N as legitimate.
And none of Wales’s fault, of course.
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Although he had a poor match overall, I did enjoy seeing the famed George Ford spiral garryowen. it made a mug of Murray,
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From the high of Scotland thumping Italy (and the fact that it obviously annoyed Pro/BFS) to the low of Glasgow losing to the Dragons. Knew it was too much to expect all 3 Scottish teams to win over a weekend. Just have to hope Embra can make it 2 wins.
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Good win for the Drags, *ahem*.
Ollie off injured again just upsets me now.
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Struggling today.
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But there’s a lot of talk on the mothership about Genge’s elbow being repeatedly smashed into Sexton’s face as Johnny was trapped under a maul towards the end of the match.
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@thauma
If I see it right Sexton goes off his feet and rolls Genge and tries to trap him on the floor. Genge’s arms are trapped in front of him and on Sexton and Genge tries to get up. Because Sexton is pulling him down it looks like Genge is doing something with his elbow if you want to see it, but I don’t think there’s much there.
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I looked at one short clip on YT, but it was so blurry I couldn’t make out what was going on.
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I think it’s a bit clearer here:
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Doesn’t look very pretty, especially when he hits his head.
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Cheers, Refit – I shall be expecting an enquiry!
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I think that looks far worse repeated in a couple of second clip than viewed once. Genge tries to get up, and Sexton pulls him back down. Its definitively not a strike, he levers himself up while grinding Sexton with his forearm, serves Sexton right. Funny he also has someones scrum cap in his hand too.
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Well, maybe we’re all seeing what we want to see. I’ve always thought Genge is an outright thug, so that’s what I’m seeing.
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I spose it needs a bit more context and some different angles too.
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Anyway, I’m orf. Some brilliant rugby this weekend. Looking forward to Friday’s match for the decider.
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… And also enjoyed the Zoom call. Thanks, Craigs, for setting it up!
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Good morning all!
Well, that was a weekend and I’m sorry to have missed the Zoom.
We had a chimney fire on Thursday which caused quite serious damage and brought lots of pompiers to the scene.
Another 10/15 minutes of flames would have been a disaster but I was able to keep it localised until they arrived.
Upshot of that is that, whilst gratefully staying with friends, had to watch the rugby with awful English commentators; but did enjoy steady-Eddie.
Well done Ireland – you handed England their arses. A pity that you allowed the soft tries at the end as I really wanted Jones humiliated. My French friends said they thought England looked like the France of 5 years ago; directionless, uninspired and lacking in team ethic.
Was thrilled by the later game. I was so impressed by Wales efforts and the ever-present danger that France are becoming. A very difficult game for the ref., who for me got it right overall.
Apologies to Scotland -I missed your game.
Today is a day for insurance experts, plumbers and electricians plus the many tasks of Spring.
Keep safe.
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Thanks to all who joined the zoom call. It was great to see some new faces. Hopefully we can all meet up for real next time (once we all have covid passports and we file for permission in triplicate).
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Sorry to hear that Slade – glad things worked out OK in the end and hope that you and yours are safe. For the Scotland game – you didn’t miss too much, just Scotland scoring 8 tries and a few players putting their hands up for the Lions (namely Hamish McFuckface, to give him his new official name). Oh, and if you ever see Hoggy turn up at 10 for Exeter then I’d get worried….
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Hope it all works out Slade.
Glasgow managed to blow a decent lead against Dragons yesterday, however
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Shit slade, hope everything is OK with you. Re the insurance company – don’t give the bastards an inch.
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BTW Genge doesn’t ‘strike’ with his elbow but does use it as an incentive for Sexton to let go (who shouldn’t have been holding on). Not sure if that will help him mind.
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Brazilian Jiu-jitsu vs Muay Thai basically.
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Morning all!
Sorry to hear of your troubles Slade…. hopefully, the insurance company will do the right things….
Reflection on Sat – was only able to pop into the zoom in bits but good to put faces to familiar names.
On the games – I’ll start with Ire vs Eng. I think what helped us a lot was we didn’t concede early or easily…. in 2019 6N and both games last year we either conceded early or gave away a try through comedy-style defence on kicks (or both) – neither is good for the confidence and leaves you chasing the game early. This time we held up (literally) the early offensive and scored a neat training ground move. 7pts up after 20 mins rather than 10 points down does wonders for the confidence. Would have been nice to have scored more tries (oh, so close) – but if you’re working kickable pens and your 10 is having a deadly day with the boot – work away.
On Fra-Wales – seemed like Wales went into their shell with 20 mins left and a 10pt lead – and tried to eke out a win – whether that was by design or by constant French pressure difficult to say (maybe both). Hell of a game though…..
Italy/Scotland – well, I saw most of 1st half – I saw a stat somewhere that Scotland had missed something like 2 tackles out of 27 and Italy had missed 15 out of 40 (don’t quote me on the stats – it just what I recall roughly) – but there’s your problem….
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I remember how dreaded the chimney fire was when I was a nipper (not because I was a sweep I hasten to add). Glad you and yours are ok and you can set about repairing the damage.
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