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 
Wonder if they will offer a vaccine and match tickets package.
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Well? Will they?
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Willemse gets a two weeks ban. Could’ve been worse.
Leroux seems OK and surprisingly Taofifenua – who had to be subbed after only 25 minutes vs Wales – trained with the squad today. If none of them can play, it will be Rebbadj and Pesenti (23yo, from Pau, excellent last autumn).
I don’t understand why Scotland can get only 5 players released from Premiership duty for the game vs France. Why is it a collective decision? Aren’t English clubs free to do what they want individually? Seems unfair on Scotland, and Maitland in particular.
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All the premiership clubs including saracens (even though they’re not currently in the premiership) are represented by premiership rugby. Who are evil.
My understanding is that it took a lot of negotiation and money to get 5 released. Maitland misses out as while he’s a quality player there are at least decent quality back 3 options while we’re somewhat thinner at lock, scrum half and centre, and Hogg is the captain. All rather sub optimal considering the delay isn’t our fault
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Thanks Chimp.
I wonder how much it cost to release the players. Hope the FFR had to pitch in.
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You can find the last Lions starting XV here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170916184242if_/https://www.lionsrugby.com/report/dramatic-draw-eden-park-means-series-shared/
By no means unbelievable that 13 of 15 could start again …. maybe it’s a stretch to see Daly at LWI(on current form) – otherwise you’re maybe looking at Beirne at #6 and Curry/Tipuric at #7 as changes.
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Hand near the eye – yeah, seems quite lenient based on other cases I’ve seen where a hand ended up in/around the eye area accidentally (what was it Ashton got that time? 10 weeks??)
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@Flair
think it was 6N rather than the SRU that did the negotiation so wouldn’t think that the SRU is solely liable for the cash.
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H. Watson at 7. I like Curry as a player, but nothing I’ve seen from him this year makes me think he’s better than Hamish. Apart from the fact that he’s English (which obviously counts for a lot with the likes of Lolly). And the choice should be made on how they have played during this year’s 6N, not on how they’ve played over the last few years. That seemed to be a big thing on some of the comments on the Graun.
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But class is permanent BB. So just put the whole England team that beat the ABs in the WC semi in.
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Obviously worked as a strategy for the 2005 lions.
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Chimpie – it’s not the clubs fault either. Blame Ginsters.
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@Trisk – I think there are a few of them that you’d struggle to pick on current form (JD2, Daly, Farrell, Murray, Mako, George, maybe even AWJ as there’s a lot of competition), but they will mostly go and Gats may well just feel they’re the best players regardless.
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I can’t decide whether the English players not being exposed to Gats is good or bad for them.
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Hopefully Watson has another big game on Friday (for all sorts of reasons), but he should definitely be in the mix. Hogg too. A lot must obviously depend on how Gats decides he wants to play.
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@Craigs – After the last Lions tour England finished 5th in the following Six Nations. This time they’ve done it beforehand. Maybe it isn’t Gats.
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It’s always Gats.
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@BB – sorry, forgot Watson – bit like musical chairs ….who out of Watson, Curry, Tipuric will be left standing when music stops (and remember Gatland loves a “chop” tackler like Connors) – some good candidates going to be disappointed
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‘Chimpie – it’s not the clubs fault either’
Galthie’s fault originally. But the clubs could have been a bit more reasonable regarding letting people being available. I’m sure they’ve been adequately compensated.
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Sorry, premiership rugby AKA The Great Evil.
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Yep, you see “form is temporary, class is permanent” trotted out – and I think that applies over a full season (Pro14, PRL, Top 14, any league in any sport you care to mention) – but in a short, sharp tournament/tour – there’s little or no leeway for “class players” who are off-colour
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Perhaps the prospect of having to spend a lot of time with Gats after already spending a lot of time with Eddie was too much for some of them to cope with. For the ones that still have to go against their will they’ll at least have something to take out on the poor old undeserving Boks. Should be one of the other two that cop it really.
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@Trisk- That’s all very well, but the likes of Ugo end up getting picked.
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And look where that leads.
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Time to get excited about the Lions tour! Although given that the Boks haven’t played since THAT World Cup Final (thing of beauty that it was), you have to install the Lions as favourites. A large chunk of our probable side hasn’t even played more than domestic rugby in small amounts over that time either.
#Underdoggedherefirst
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“Time to get excited about the Lions tour!”
Not yet. It’s time to get excited about Scotland’s impending victory over the dastardly French handing a well deserved Six Nations title to Wales.
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For Wales dear old Gatty was hardly averse to chucking his best players in when they had very little rugby or form behind them. Of course that will have had something to do with what he felt about the alternatives, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise if he did some similar things with the Lions.
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And look where that leads.
To the Graun? Somebody has a lot to answer for!
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It’s time to get excited about Scotland’s impending victory over the dastardly French before being roundly ignored for Lions selection by Gats, is what you meant to type, I think?
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@Deebee – Indeed. And beyond as Ugo is an equal opportunities employer of the spoken and written word.
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I’m a massive Lions fan, but not this time when I think about it from a players’ perspective. More covid bubbles away from family and friends, lockdowns, and no supporters. Won’t they be isolated from the social, cultural, scenic and local experiences that make a Lions tour so special for the players?
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It would be useful for Gats to not select them tomorrow or Friday to help get them properly up for The Big Game, but I suspect they’re not going to get not selected until afterwards.
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When is the Lions squad announced?
I’d love it if they could play a few games in France as warm up.
Forgot where France is heading in July but they could also use “friendly” games before.
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France have three tests in Australia all before the first Lions one. They could win 3-0 and become the new Eddie Jones’ England.
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“all before the first Lions one”
Though I guess that could change.
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flair, they’ve got a game lined up against Japan before they go to SA. On the 26th June.
France are supposed to be going to Australia. First test is July 3rd. Top14 final is on 25th June.
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New Zealand get to play Italy. Argentina were meant to be playing Wales but that’s been called off.
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Poor old Jason Leonard’s got management-technocrat speak:
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CMW – it was more a quip against the (notracist) Chiefs form under Gats.
That aside, it will be interesting to see what happens to Eddie. Some of the disastrous campaign has to be attributed to the other teams improving. This always seems to be forgotten.
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England were shite though. Not doubt about that.
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@tomp
There’s no way Fun Bus said that.
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with all the appropriate apologies etc
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Flair, aren’t France going to Oz this summer?
I looked it up when it was mooted that the Lions could switch with SA and play in Australia this time and next time go to South Africa, and I’m sure there is a French tour booked for this year
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Hopefully the review will identify why we played well against the French and not the other teams.
Probably not though.
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Why did England play better against Covid-racked France?
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Did OK against Italy too. I guess they haven’t improved though.
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Tomp – 2 Squidge videos. 2!!
BOOM!
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OT, Funbus wouldn’t have said it but Funbus is dead. This is Chairman Leonard.
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@tomp
I need to hear the tapes before I’m convinced.
To be fair I’ve recently been quoted in a press release and I can safely say I have never, ever uttered the words attributed to me.
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