The French are coming, you say? Jesus, Mary Joseph and the wee donkey.
Ireland vs France tomorrow is – in the view of many people – the match to decide the destination of the 6 Nations championship and put the winners on course for a Grand Slam. These are not so common in Irish rugby history to be sniffed at, so while other nations experiment with an eye on the autumn’s RWC, Ireland keep with the tried-and-tested and changes are very much enforced. Sheehan’s hard autumn and winter has finally caught up with him, so Herring gets a chance with the returning Kelleher looking over his shoulder. Bealham continues in place of Furlong.
Ireland had a nice tune up last week – as they say in GAA circles “to blow out the dirty petrol” in preparation for sucking diesel. The game vs Wales was won to all intents and purposes after 30 mins. Wales fought back after half time but Ireland – if not completely at ease – rode out the storm and closed the game out with a BP try. In many ways, reminiscent of Ireland’s trip to Paris in 2022: in command at half-time, France rode out Ireland’s 2nd half comeback and won comfortably enough.
France had a nasty scare last week and any complacency is probably now long dispelled – so we can assume no chance for Ireland to catch France cold. It could also be said that given the big changes in the Welsh panel that maybe the win last week wasn’t as impressive – did Gatland really decide to let this one go and give AWJ and Tipuric a farewell at home before making changes for the remainder of the tournament? Who knows? Maybe we overthink these things.
The big doubt about Ireland, expressed in many places, is that their “kryptonite” is a big pack. Leinster have come unstuck repeatedly against big packs (La Rochelle x 2 and Bulls) and the signing of Jason Jenkins was intended to give them a heavier presence. Ireland won out vs South Africa in the autumn, but they lucked out with SA’s choice of experimental halfbacks and no reliable kicker. So the jury remains out. Beirne and Ryan are not a traditional type of second-row pairing, and in many ways Beirne is something of a hybrid. Many would put him at 6, and have Henderson, who is more of a traditional second row – to bring heavyweight ballast. Of course, back row is where Ireland are pretty well stocked, so the question then becomes how to fit in a player with Beirne’s gifts into the team and not disturb a settled and effective backrow.
On the other games, Scotland followed last year’s win over England with a fairly dreadful performance against a Wales team that had been soundly defeated by Ireland – and here we are again. Lightning doesn’t strike twice, does it? Scottish fans will hope not and that they can build on the promise of last week. Huw Jones looks to back to the form of 2017/2018. Wales will be looking to start a bit quicker and maybe still be competitive at half-time. The regions had shown an upswing in the matches in the weeks running up to the 6N, notably the Ospreys in the Heino.
England vs Italy – England have tended to make hard work of this in recent years but they were forewarned by the Italy / France game. One would expect a backlash from last week’s defeat from England.
From the crystal ball of Mystic Triskaidekaphobia
Onna telly this week
Friday 10th February
| England v Italy (U20s) | 19:00 | BBC iPlayer |
| Scotland v Wales (U20s) | 19:15 | BBC iPlayer / S4C |
| London Irish v Northampton | 19:45 | BT Sport 3 |
| Ireland v France (U20s) | 20:00 | BBC iPlayer / RTÉ2 |
Saturday 11th February
| Ireland v France | 14:15 | ITV1 / RTÉ2 |
| Scotland v Wales | 16:45 | BBC1 / S4C |
Sunday 12th February
| Exeter v Sale | 13:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| England v Italy | 15:00 | ITV1 / RTÉ2 |
Ovally Balls 
I can’t remember any of the England players holding a player on the floor and putting a hand in their face though.
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Refit – I agree on that, but perhaps the fact that Faz retaliated in kind had something to do with it.
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Imo they should both have gone off.
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Faz had him by the shirt. It was an absolutely bullshit copout by the ref, capped off by just awarding a scrum.
Hang on, yay England try.
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I’m pretty sure that Faz then got on top and had his forearm to the Italian player’s neck, pushing down, and I think face too.
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I did like Walker standing on the sideline, grinning, then putting the game face on when he realised the camera was on him.
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Itoje has been much better this week.
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Fusco has some real zip to his pass.
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That’ll do. Might well be our only win this tournament, and not the game plan that will trouble the better sides, but some signs that better days might be ahead. Willis, Lawrence, Chessum all very pleasing. Need to find a decent number 8.
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Better!
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Well, that was nicely OK. Must admit that I would like to see Mitchell start over VPF. general positives all round for England, not stunning, but better. Lawrence worked well . Have a suspicion that if Eddie had given him a longer run , Eddie might still be the manager ?
Oh, and what is Mako still doing there ?
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Dab, Dombrandt went well today, I thought.
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@SBT – I don’t rate him, could see he was busy today but busily ineffective.
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Well done England. Not the most exciting game, I have to say, although I reckon England fans may disagree.
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My main takeaway is that the ITV commentators can’t say Capowutzzo properly.
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No, I’m with you on that one, BB.
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Today’s completely useless question. If there was a Lions squad being picked now, how many players would NOT be from Ireland or Scotland?
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BB – they’d all be from Wales.
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BB – I dunno, but there are only 3 points between the two teams on points difference.
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Squad or team ? Genge for sure. erm.
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*just cooked our first barbecue of the year. Might have drink a bit too much wine too early.
Dab, the Laws of Fire state that as soon as you light the fire, you are obliged to pour your first beverage (assuming you haven’t already), so you’ve nothing to apologise for. In fact, everyone else should be ashamed that they’re not in a similar state. I know I was, and I didn’t even see the rugby or light a braai.
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I fell asleep during yesterday’s game.
Thaum, did I see you ask what had happened to Rory Darge?
He picked up a bad ankle injury in September. I thought he was the heir apparent to Hamish Watson, in terms of ability he certainly is, but he does pick up injuries.
If he can stay fit he will be some player.
Interestingly, if you are Scottish, Connor Boyle was supposed to be ahead of Darge, and whilst Boyle is beginning to find his feet at Edinburgh he is way behind Darge now, and he’s got Crosbie and Watson ahead of him at Edinburgh – that log jam was why Darge was moved over to Glasgow, along with Ally Miller who was also vying for back row time at Embra.
There’s also Rudi Brown who is in the U20s team, he just turned 19 in December, he’s very big and quick. He plays 7 for the 20s and has played there for Edinburgh, he was one of those lads at school, “Give it to Big Rudi”, where he’d skittle the entire opposition running in tries from half way.
It’ll be interesting to see how he goes as a professional, there is similar buzz about him as there was for Jamie Ritchie, maybe not quite as loud, but it’s there.
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Some of my favourite bits of social media this weekend is people trying to justify sticking your fingers in the eyes of the opponent so long as that opponent is Owen Farrell. As far as I can see sequence of events is this:
1. Good tackle by Negri
2. Negri sticks arm in face of Farrell
3. Farrell shoves him up to get arm out of face
4. Negri sticks his fingers in Farrell’s eyes
5. Ollie Chessum rolls them over to put Farrell on top
6. Farrell grabs Negri’s shirt.
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Has Negri been cited? Looks pretty clear cut to me.
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OT – quite like how Chessum rolls them over and carries on.
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@deebee
I expect they have 48 hours to make any citations so we’ve got another day left to see
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I am fine with it. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Not as if Farrell hasn’t been guilty of niggly behaviour in the past . Agree with Craigs, Chessum casually rolling them over and walking off is way cool. Can see a pair of Chessums playing together in the second row sooner rather than later.
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@sbt
This appears to be the crux of it. Farrell is niggly so therefore his eyes are fair game.
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Don’t think he went for the eyes, hand over face, no curled fingers into sockets OT.
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@sbt
I’m not so sure about that – this still suggests there is a case to answer
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That does look like a finger curled into the eye socket. Lifetime ban.
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Atonio has been cited for his concussion-causing tackle on Herring, though.
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I’m quite surprised by Antonio citing (ducks incoming flak).
I thought he owned the ground in advance and was reasonably static – perhaps Ineed to look again -old age etc
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Farrell incident was all Negri – was there previous in the game between them.
Looks like season ban for Negri……………….?
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@slade
The only previous I know of is this nice story from last year when Ellis Genge saved Negri’s life, apparently
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I’d be fine with Atonio (or anyone for that matter) being cited as it is a great opportunity to clear your name or the situation. But the problem with citings is that they end up in convictions 99% of the time, the worse being when the player claims he is innocent, as if the panel could not accept the ref though human could be wrong.
For my money, I think Barnes did the right thing, but it could’ve been different. I just hope Herring is OK.
As for Farrell, I don’t see any gouging in the incident, and I thought Farrell reacted poorly to a perfectly good tackle. But maybe he hasn’t spent enough time yet with the tackling school to appreciate the legality of it ?
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He didn’t have the strength or technique to roll Negri over, Chessum did it. So yet again, Faz lovers seeing what they want, ie nothing wrong with the tucked arm shoulder slam into the point of Jack Clements chin a few weeks ago, and those of us that think he is a dick,( all be it a talented dick,) see something else. As is, as will ever be. You see worse just about every single tackle in league, and noone gets upset about it.
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Flair, I think the reason that citings end up in convictions 99% of the time is that the citing comes about due to incontrovertible video evidence. Herring is probably ‘okay’ in that it wasn’t a terrible concussion, but the evidence is mounting that repeated concussions of any sort cause long-term health problems of a very serious nature, such as dementia by the time you’re 40.
I did see hands on face in the Negri/Farrell incident, but thought it was just that. Maybe an implicit threat, but no more. However the still picture in OT’s post above seems to show a finger definitely going into the eye socket. Maybe there was no pressure but threatening someone’s eyesight is WAY beyond the pale.
SBT – I agree that Farrell has been let off with shoulder barges countless times, which has made me angry, but I don’t remember him doing any gouging. Except that I thought I also saw him put hands on face after he got rolled on top of Negri, but I could be wrong about that. He definitely had forearm to windpipe though – but again, there might not have been any pressure.
Based on what I think I saw at the time – and there weren’t endless replays because the ref didn’t bother with it – I would have carded both players. What colour the cards would have been I can’t say as the replays weren’t there, but possibly more severe for Negri as he was the aggressor in this case (unusually when you’re talking about Farrell).
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I’ve watched the Antonio tackle a few times now, it looks to me like the initial contact was shoulder to upper chest and the momentum whipped Herring’s head forward, making contact with Antonio’s shoulder.
Antonio had time to dip into the tackle, and the annoying thing to me is that had he done so he would have smacked Herring back a metre or two and probably dislodged the ball due to the force of the tackle.
We’ve got to get rid of this mindset of “dominant” upright hits.
For the record I thought Scotland’s George Turner should have seen red rather than yellow when he hit a Welsh player in the head with his arm, though that was due to a significant lowering of height from the ball carrier at the last second
Red cards is the only thing that changes behaviour, it stopped the vast majority of dangerous tackles on players in the air, I’d rather some players were feeling aggrieved at a borderline card than some players ending up with brain damage
The game itself is only part if the problem, coaches must instil the technique of tackling low and they MUST reduce the hours of contact in training to a statutory maximum, enforced by huge fines
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Munster training session, looks weak…
But! RG Snyman in training and only a couple of weeks away from a return!
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Very hard to roll someone over when they have their legs on the outside (which is called ‘mount’) vs when you have your legs on the outside (guard). That’s why it was cool when Chessum did the necessary and let them get on with it.
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TBH Ticht, I feel that , given the effect a red has on the game, in borderline cases it is better to show a yellow and follow it up with a ban. That should be an effective ban too, not a sent back to your club to have a rest and then lay in the next big game type ban. If Antonio had been sent off, that would be the end of the game as a competition. If he was afterwards found guilty of dangerous play, a ban for the rest of the six nations or a whole tournament, or the next 5 internationals or similar might be appropriate, with loss of pay. I think this would have just as much effect as a red, and would allow for a bit of leeway in cases that may otherwise be straight rugby collisions.
Have said before, I think that the repeated goal line pick and go drives also need looking at, they can’t be good for either the attacking players or the defense.
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SBT – I don’t agree. Yes, it might have been the end of that match as a contest, but that is the point of a red card. Surely player welfare takes precedence over how much we enjoy the spectacle?
Do agree on the pick and go drives though.
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What about orange cards?
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SBT, that’s why they have the expression “rugby collision” to allow for the borderline cases. There is a process the ref and their team have to go through and contact with the head always starts at red, then other things are taken into account, things like, is the tackle aggressive or passive? (that is not the exact wording, but it’s the gist of it), is there a high degree of danger? Is there a significant drop in height by the ball carrier? etc
Any of these mitigate a red card down to a yellow, in fact Barnes went through that exact process and ended up at yellow. The citing commissioner has obviously decided that yellow is not enough, so in fact it panned out exactly as you outline in this case, the player is sent to the bin for ten minutes and afterwards will probably receive a ban.
Antonio is completely culpable in this case, he had time to lower his height but didn’t, it should really have been red to begin with.
There is a way to stop these tackles ending in red cards – get your fucking shoulder down and hit the midriff.
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“What about orange cards?”
Not in Belfast or Glasgow.
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…hmmm
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Yes, player welfare should have precedence over spectacle, I think that heavier penalties/bans after the game might have more impact. I suspect that all three games could have had reds if the letter of the law were applied correctly in each case. Its definately something that needs sorting, but how would it work if one of the Irish pack does what Antonio did and he gets sent off in the first minute of the world cup final this year ? You also have to look at how the laws are applied too. Southern hemisphere refs seem to be generally more lenient at the moment. Again, I feel that there would have been not much argument if Barnes had shown a red, I thought Matthew Carley looked like he wanted to debate the decision, but deferred to Barnes, but Barnes took the right option in my opinion.
Tricky.
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I wonder what went through Herring’s mind in the build-up to the collision?
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What are you suggesting, Slade ?
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