Could anything be more exciting than last week’s matches?
Read on to find out.
Wales vs Scotland
Scotland, all day, easy peasy, we lost to the eventual winners innit.
Ahem. Ok, victory for Scotland for the first time in Cardiff for a while (but they did win in Llanelli) against a team who has had their number for a while now. Wales have too many injuries and lost 90% of their caps in Alun Wyn-Jones. They also don’t have Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau or Justin Tipuric so I can’t see them win the battle up front. Scotland on the other hand have only lost Jamie Ritchie (big loss, mind) and will feel confident after their recent win against … err … can’t remember. In fact, looking at the line-ups, it’s only n° 6 where Wales have a significantly better player.
Wales won by a single point last year and have regressed since. Their defence has become pretty bollocks after Shaun left and they lack the experience at international level (this does not mean they are like England. Repeat, they are NOT like England). Further, they didn’t really set the world alight in the autumn (win against Australia aside). Whereas Scotland have won 6 of their last (arbitrary point in time warning) 7 matches and will be confident going in.
30 – 20 to Scotland.
France vs Ireland
Some people might point out that Ireland don’t have Cateyes and therefore are not going to be as competitive as they could be against France. I, on the other hand, think that this is more than counterbalanced by the number of Ulster players in the team which shows strategic and forward thinking on Faz’s part.
This is probably the game of the weekend. Both sides are in great form having won their opening games and recently beaten the All Blacks (but who hasn’t nowadays? Scotland and Wales actually, but we’ve already discussed that) in convincing style. Ireland play a brand of ‘Pro-pleasing precision rugby and now have a pack which won’t get munched by the opposition whereas France have actually made a team worth the sum of its parts. Both teams are very strong in defence whereas France are a bit better in open play and will score some tries against the run of play. I think Ireland will win the breakdown so these are evenly-matched foes.
I think the key battle will be the set piece with these two teams. If either one can get an edge in the scrum and/or lineout then I expect them to win; probably Ireland. It won’t be by much but it will be down to the old heads such O’Mahoney at the end to see Ireland through.
28 – 22 to Ireland
Italy vs England
England v Italy is always a tough one to preview. Either it induces 50 Shades of meh as England eventually beat them or there’s a surprise around the ruck laws or there is a comedy rage moment where Brian Moore reveals how many toys his ma bought him for his birthday. Recently, England rarely seem to come out of these encounters with glowing match day reports. Either they won well, but didn’t lay down a marker, or they won and it was a poor performance. Or it wasn’t rugby maate.
Apparently Eddie is going with the same team as last week. I think it’s good to have a settled team to build confidence but I’d prefer it if we had some more bosh and experience. Courtney buggering his beautiful noggin is a big loss for us and after last weekend England need Faz’s direction. So I’m thinking that next Monday we’ll have a column from Matt Dawson saying how he would have done something different in hindsight. That’s because he is well clever and if you look at his articles, he doesn’t write many paragraphs, just widely spaced single sentences listing the random thoughts he is having at that moment.
Eddie normally talks about how England will ‘smash’ Italy, but he’s been quiet on that front so far. Which is actually quite nice. I’m expecting a disjointed first half, and then a comfortable gap to open up in the last 20 minutes. I am hoping that we show a bit more attacking shape than last week, and that Marcus Smith finds his feet (watch Squidge’s video about the Calcutta Cup for what I mean by that).
I think Italy will score a couple of nice tries but also shoot themselves in the foot more often than not. They have a young and exciting fly half and Benetton won that cup thing which I think was good, but not sure how seriously the other teams were taking it. Like that development cup in the Prem.
25 – 17 to England.
UPDATE!!!!
Randall starts!!!! And Marchant is in the centre and we have proper wingers and, and, and FFS Eddie, why can’t you do this when we play Scotland?!!!
Hand-wringing by Craigsman
Onna telly this week
Friday 11th February
| Leinster v Edinburgh | 18:00 | RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Italy U20 v England U20 | 19:00 | BBC iPlayer |
| Leicester v Northampton | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| Wales U20 v Scotland U20 | 20:00 | BBC iPlayer / S4C |
| Toulouse v Stade Français | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Glasgow v Munster | 20:15 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
Saturday 12th February
| Lions v Stormers | 13:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Wales v Scotland | 14:15 | BBC1 / S4C |
| Bulls v Sharks | 15:05 | Premier Sports 2 |
| France v Ireland | 16:45 | ITV |
Sunday 13th February
| Saracens v Harlequins | 13:00 | BT Sport 1 | ||
| Italy v England | 15:00 | ITV |
Ovally Balls 
Yeah. Boks out.
Fucksakes! We’re not even in yet!
I agree with TomP (sadly) that money usually wins and if this is what the moneymen want, they’ll get it in the end. For South African rugby, it’ll be good financially and hopefully it’ll allow us to keep more of our players here and build up the playing depth of the other sides here that aren’t in the URC. Sides like Free State, Griquas, Pumas and even the EP Kings and Boland would hopefully benefit if players could be enticed to move provinces, rather than continents in search of a decent paycheck. Fuck, maybe even the Lions could keep a couple of players!
The Boks in the 6N would probably win relatively often, especially if we play 50% of our matches at home, given that none of the NH sides have good records down here and we have an ok record in the NH. I’d advocate for every match to be played at altitude in scorching heat, since we’re presumably going to play in arctic conditions on the away legs. Still don’t like the idea though and prefer the 4N down here for us.
The crappy World Championship idea can do one though. The marketing speak quoted in the Graun article about it is enough to know that it’s got piss all to do with rugby.
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Durban or Nelspruit in February with a 2 pm kick off would be a challenge as well.
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Eben Etzebeth to the Sharks next season. They’ll have a very strong squad, best to play them during the Rugby Championship I should think.
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Nelspruit would be good. Still got decent altitude and hot and humid. I like it!
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That field in Kimberley or somewhere in Potch would be tough as well.
Durbs, though, like a sauna, bru.
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“none of the NH sides have good records down here”
I’m surprised France has the best record* though it’s boosted by some wins in the 50s and 60s while the other teams pretty much left it to the Lions until later on (and still haven’t been very much).
*thought it would be England, knew it couldn’t be any of the others.
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There are few more spectacular settings in world rugby than Cape Town for an International stadium. Playing on the high veldt is the stuff of rugby legend, but if Scotland or whoever are playing rugby down there in February they are not playing in the 6 Nations, they are playing in something else entirely.
I thought Italy are stakeholders in the 6N, but money talks, if they can get turfed out there is nothing protecting Wales, Scotland or Ireland. France and England will always be okay because of their populations and potential sales, there is that money talking, but give it a decade or so and if one of the other teams has a bad run like Italy then the money starts whispering that why not make this a “proper tournament” where people can see the best teams on display, why aren’t New Zealand part of this? They will bring in far more viewers and world wide sales than boring old Scotland/team on bad run.
The new traditions will have been established and shoulders will be shrugged and that will be it.
Some things are worth far more than money, imo.
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I find the SA into 6N story terribly depressing. Much as I think that the Boks are a marvellous rugby nation and am happy to see my teams (!!! honestly, I don’t know what’s happened to me but I now really do consider Wales my second team) measure themselves against them regularly, it would entirely change the nature of the 6N to include them. It’s a terrible idea for the current six nations. Get tae f***, moneymen.
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Fact check on TomP, 5.71 % actually. Interesting to know how Kiwis think about it.
“Silver Lake owns over $US90bn ($A125bn) in worldwide combined assets, including many sporting brands.
It has a stake in the New York Knicks basketball team, New York Rangers ice hockey team, English Premier League giants Manchester City and its parent company City Football Group, and more recently A-Leagues operator the APL.”
Money moves in mysterious ways. Quick handshake over a line of purest Columbian and glass of 1858 Cognac, and these guys will have a stake in the Six Nations. Then the USA will come onboard. I’m with Dab on this.
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The desire to hoof Italy out of the 6N seems tome to be a very ‘Brexity’ thing.
For me, that Italy remain is a wonderful thing – they will get there in the end, by which point there should have been established a home/away playoff between bottom of the 6Ns and top of the next lot.
To include SA is rubbish and misses the whole cultural point.
As an aside, what has been the financial impact of including SA teams in the Celtic thing? What do players and fans think of it?
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Hmm…………………………Tuilagi set for 5 minutes mayhem vs. Wales. If EJ is so wed to the tactic/strategy, why oh why doesn’t he patiently groom another one or two boshers for #12?
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Slade, the URC’s more about foot in the door as far as I can tell. This is an article with some more info:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-02-16-sa-rugby-reaffirm-commitment-to-sanzaar-until-2025-but-no-further/
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Never mind all that, check this out!
Wordle 243 2/6
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
(It could still have taken too many goes….)
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@Thaum – It’s the first one I haven’t managed to get. Had the first, third and last letters in place with my second go, but failed the guessing game from there.
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Ooh, that would have been tough. Too many options!
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By the way, we’ve recently passed 500,000 views on this site.
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Any from Argentina?
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No, but a handful from Fiji.
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Any from Italy? I’d like to know if they’re committed to the 6N. I’m fairly sure you’ve got a few hits from South Africa.
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Listened to Jeremy Corbyn being interviewed on radio here. He comes across far better in an interview situation where he’s given time to not only express an opinion, but build on it as well. He also says you lot owe us lot a lot for slavery and colonialism. Pay up!
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Far better than on the hustings or PMQ? is what I meant.
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No idea where the question mark came from.
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Ha! Someone has a very similar starting word to me….
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Deebs – yes, 93 hits from Italy.
We picked up a few African followers after your articles on Kinshasa, and have hits from Nigeria, Angola, Somalia, Congo – Kinshasa (sic) and Egypt.
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Nothing from Congo-Brazzaville?
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Tomp
thanks for the link I can now see some of the attractions to SA
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‘Fraid not.
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Cambodia? Not in my neck of the woods.
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Cambodia? What’s this about Cambodia? *whistles innocently*
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@thauma
I always start with OLIVE, FRANK for the 2nd line, and STUDY for the 3rd. I usually get it in 4 and in less than a minute. It’s quicker this way.
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I know Kim Wilde sang a song about Cambodia, and I had a huge crush on her as a teen, so the link isn’t as tenuous as some may think.
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Deebs – seriously embarrassing brain fart.
OT – I always start with SHALE and then try to guess the word(le). If I don’t get any hits with SHALE, then I go for TONIC.
If you’re starting with OLIVE, then surely MABEL should be your next one?
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@thauma
It repeats E. I don’t try and do it in the smallest number of guesses, just the quickest time. So with the 3 words I use I eliminate/confirm loads of letters very quickly
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OT – and the L! I was joking….
My goal is always to do it in the fewest number of guesses. I did consider trying a second guess of something like DRIVE today to eliminate various possibilities, but then decided to gamble on the rarest letter available. And won!
Was furious about a week ago when it turned out to be an American spelling – that was one of my 5-guess fiascos. In revenge, I have been thinking of nasty words to use. I would probably start with QUARE if they’re going to use Yankisms, then move on to VIVID and CALYX.
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That American spelling was a dark day in the history of Wordle.
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*shudders with revulsion*
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Very non-U.
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I’d like to give them ANGST.
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My best friend’s younger brother is a journo with the BBC – got a few moments on screen on 9 o’clock news but has always preferred to stick to radio where he says you get a chance to build the argument. (wrote a book on that strange case in Iceland where a bunch of people confessed to a murder they didn’t commit)
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The Boks have nothing to do with the 6N.
Not only could they face relegation ( and who’s next then? shall we promote the ABs or Oz?) but how can the mingling of the various fans, which is the basis of the 6N happen when facing hours on a bloody airplane?
Less is more, as usual. I’m all in favour of fewer games, including losing all the ludicrous money oriented games outside the “official windows”.
Les boks dehors.
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Meanwhile, proposals for South Africa to replace Italy in the Six Nations – as opposed to joining a seven-team competition – have been rejected by a well-placed source in Italy, where a plan for an expanded tournament with the Springboks joining the existing teams is considered a more likely outcome.
Getting messier as it become clearer. Wouldn’t make a difference to the Bok workload, just replace six matches in the 4N with six in the 7N. Still not keen on it, personally, but I don’t think my representations to SARU that they’re money grubbing blazers will prove decisive in blocking it.
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Quote from a Graun article, by the way. If it happens, looks like the Lions will be touring that rugby bastion of the USA.
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flair, I agree with you that there are too many tests but don’t see the mingling of the fans as so important. Besides, there are around 200,000 South Africans living in the UK so numbers of Bok fans won’t be small at the European fixtures.
It’s a curious thing when I was a kid I’d’ve loved to see the All Blacks and Wallabies more often – I think the Blacks played in the UK in only 3 years in the 1980s – and even better to see the games they played at home. Now they play every year and it’s amazing and I can watch, say, Hawkes Bay v Taranaki or Auckland Grammar v Palmerston North Boys High but some of the mystery’s gone out of it and the mystery was part of the attraction.
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When I was younger the games vs the SH giants were rare and seldom televised. Hence the mythology, the reports in the press were the stuff of legend. When I first saw the haka performed (on TV) I was thrilled. Just as when I saw it later for the first time live. Nowadays it’s so banal, I’ll go to the bathroom when they do it.
I don’t want the NH to play the SH every year, once every two years would be fine with me (and probably good for the players health too). Bring SA in the 6N, and it’s the end of the Lions and the WC as well.
Tomp, it’s all very well to have 200.000 Saffers in the UK to support their team vs the home nations, but how do we afford to go there?
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And I disagree with you about the mingling of fans. I believe it’s one of the most important features of the 6N. Makes people less stupid and more open to the rest of the world too. See football for comparison. Or even this blog and the previous one.
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Don;t get me wrong. It’s nice enough the mingling of fans. I just don’t think it’ll be a consideration among the people who decide such things when there’s cash to be made.
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Plenty of UK expats down here too, but I don’t see an expanded 6N as being as exciting as the 4N from a Bok perspective. The URC, albeit launched with the stunning timing seemingly reserved for sports administrators, hasn’t really got anybody terribly excited. For us, playing the ABs is the real thing, and the Aussies only slightly less so, whilst I think most Bok fans have both a healthy respect and a soft spot for Argentina.
Prior to SA leaving Super Rugby and joining the URC, it was only really hardcore fans who watched the leagues in Europe. Most fans down here have little interest in NH rugby, other than following our players up north. Parochial, sure, but probably no different to NH fans and our domestic rugby comps. Obviously if we did join the 6/7N, I’d be behind the Boks all the way, but I’d still rather go to Ellis Park and watch us against the All Blacks or Wallabies than the European sides.
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Statement from 6N
“Six Nations Rugby, comprising the six Unions and Federations and CVC, wish to confirm that they are not entertaining any discussion nor developing any plans to add or replace any participating Union. All its energy is focused on the current strategic discussions regarding the July and November international windows and structure of the global season, and to ensure a positive outcome for the development of the game.”
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This is in line with what I was saying earlier, Italy are a full shareholder, they can’t be kicked out, not unless they get bought out, which would cost an effin fortune
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One test since Australia at Emirates Airlines Park since 2008, no tests against the All Blacks since 2015. This is another question for SA, should it happen do they make Johannesburg (or wherever) the home stadium or do they share games around the country as they have done (for historical reasons) until now?
SARU (and its stakeholder unions) should like to have 6 home tests a year as they do now, even though the financial benefit is dwarfed by television money.
A side point, as they’ve been sidelined by the Aussies and NZ, is what happens to domestic rugby in Argentina and the international team?
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