Starters:
The U20s play on Friday.
The first amuse-bouche will be Ireland vs Wales at 7:15 pm
The second one will be Scotland vs England at … the same time!
Duh! The bloody Six Nations Committee have not understood yet that some of us would like to see all the games. And VCRs aren’t cheap these days. But if you still have one, and you can avoid the recap at half-time, then you might enjoy both games without knowing the result in advance.
I must say I often prefer watching the U20s games to the senior ones. More invention, more naivety therefore more risks, fewer shackles. I didn’t see any of Wales nor England but my money is on Ireland (they got a superb result in France a fortnight ago) and England, as Scotland seemed quite brittle vs France.
The third one, France vs Italy, kicks off barely an hour later. Thanks, dear committee!
France will be much changed as usual (T-14 and ProD2 take precedence over the 6N), but they have far more experience than the Italians. Yet they should be on their guard: Italy were tonked by England but they pushed Ireland to one point. Watch out for their monster tight-head, Gallorini.
For a short pause half way through the feast, pause with what the French call “un trou normand”. That’s a shot of calvados, meant to make room in your stomach, “trou” being a hole of various proportions. As your appetite.
Main dish:
The Six Nations committee having failed to mingle with the schedule, a well-organized selfish rugby lover should be able to watch all games.
Saturday will see Ireland take on Wales at 2:15 pm.
Despite missing the terrific Keenan and with obviously too few Ulstermen in the team, Ireland should win this at a canter. Don’t see many weaknesses in this Irish squad with the possible exception of Murray on the bench. Wales are rebuilding as they say but they may have the foundations (and some player in Reffell) but neither the walls nor the roof yet. I expect Ireland to get the bonus point early on.
Plâteau de fromages:
Scotland / England at 4:45 pm.
Scotland vs England, at least on paper, seems the most balanced game. England have had little success lately versus the men in dark blue, whether up north or in Twickenham. England are rebuilding, as they say. They may have the foundations and the roof but they don’t have the walls. Wheel-cart, horses…. Quick defence but ponderous attack. We should see a true opposition in style. If Scotland’s pack can hold its ground – and let’s be honest, the English pack does not terrify the opposition these days as it used to – the Scottish backs should have fun. Borthwick’s limited game plan should spring few surprises, even with Furbank at full-back. On the other hand, Kinghorn back from injury, and from Toulouse where he nicely boosts his confidence, will be a threat hard to contain.
Dessert:
France / Italy on Sunday at 3:00 pm.
Italy are rebuilding, as they say. They have been rebuilding for aeons now. At this rate, they should have built the great wall of China.
France, still smarting and still hung-over from the WC, are also rebuilding. What the British call a hospital pass, the French call “une passe de maçon”. No wonder we get so much building.
Italy are missing Tommaso Allan, so I guess they’ll have to rely on Garbisi for their kicks, and that’s not good news for them. But they shouldn’t get the spanking they received at the WC. Their pack may not be as scary as when Castrogiovanni led them, but their backs are much improved.
France are trying to change their style. From a team that did not mind being dominated and relished defending and scoring from lethal counter-attacks, they now want to hold onto the ball more. It’s not an easy change as the best clubs (Toulouse, Bordeaux…) don’t play like that. They’ll be missing half a dozen major players, but they should have enough firepower to get a bonus point. Or else Galthié will be in trouble.
Finally, with the help of several “trous normands” the gluttons may even enjoy a ProD2 round on Friday night, and a full T-14 round on Saturday, from Montpellier vs Bayonne at 2:00 pm all the way to Sunday night, when Racing will host Stade Français at 8:05 pm. Be reasonable, plan to stay in bed on Monday.
Your maître d’hôtel this evening has been Flair99.
Onna telly this weekend
Showing matches that are televised in the UK and Ireland or on popular subscription services. Bold indicates that it’s on a free to view channel. Times are in the UK zone, so adjust as necessary.
Friday 23rd February
| Scotland v England U20s | 19:15 | iPlayer |
| Ireland v Wales U20s | 19:15 | S4C / iPlayer |
| France v Italy U20s | 20:00 | iPlayer |
Saturday 24th February
| Montpellier v Bayonne | 14:00 | Viaplay Sports 2 |
| Ireland v Wales | 14:15 | ITV1 / S4C / iPlayer / RTÉ2 |
| Pau v Toulon | 16:00 | Viaplay Sports 2 |
| Scotland v England | 16:45 | BBC1 |
| Racing 92 v Stade Français | 20:00 | Viaplay Sports 2 |
Sunday 25th February
| France v Italy | 15:00 | ITV1 / STV / RTÉ2 |
Ovally Balls 
Had to score then really to make a game of it. Just can’t get that one big carry to bring any pace into the game. never mind.
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TRY Aki! Pretty sure there was a forward pass in the build-up, but see previous discussion.
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Couple of forward passes in there, probably needed them to score a bit sooner to get it struck off.
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Huh. Never mind the forward pass, there was a knock-on no-one spotted.
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Ireland penalty that started that should have gone the other way, ne release on the tackle at all.
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Not sure that the one that was given still wasn’t too far back in play. Not complaining though!
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McCloskey on to replace Nash. Really?
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TRY Frawley!
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Ireland unlucky not to get that 50-22. Think Lowe was in touch before they won this penalty though.
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Which of course ends up as a try. Game over though we never really properly got back into it. Second half has been respectable at least whatever happens now though it still hasn’t exactly been a great watch.
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Clyde – and I think Aki threw a forward pass. Never mind!
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fine Irish try followed by a rampaging Ryan Baird. Looks like they have weathered the Welsh storm
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Nice break from the big guy.
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Ireland’s discipline turns to shit and we get a man sent off.
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Poor to get held up like that.
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Apparently MotM Bundee Aki had a massive tackle on James North. Jesus christ.
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YEEEESSSSS! BP try after the clock goes red!
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Didn’t really deserve to ‘lose the second half’ and didn’t think Ireland played well enough to be worth a BP, but so it goes. Hope this isn’t the best game they get on the way to a slam as it wasn’t much of a game. Suspect it might be though.
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I’ll tell you what, I think this Welsh side is going to worry everyone next year.
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Ireland were flattered by the score but deserved the win
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Clyde – agree with all of that.
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@Thaum – It’s not impossible, not sure it’s all that likely though. Surprised they’ve done as well as they have and a few individuals have certainly shown that they might have what it takes. One shit half every game is quite a lot though even if the rest has been promising. The shit half wasn’t as shit this week to be fair – it was worse on the scoreboard than against England but Wales had to defend well to keep Ireland out as much as they did – so that’s progress of sorts.
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Clyde – it was your discipline that let you down in the first half, and maybe that was necessary (well, some of it) to keep us from scoring.
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@Thaum – weirdly I thought we weren’t too bad on that front in defence. Most of the worst penalties were the ones when we were in possession. Those were well won by Ireland, but we got isolated very easily or the player clearing out went off his feet needlessly. Then there were several scrum penalties – Porter always gets things his way against us for some reason and maybe fair enough today, not sure, though he came unstuck in the World Cup for doing what he always does. Don’t think we actually gave many up in defence – a couple that could have gone either way when the ref ruled the ‘jackaller’ was OK but that there was a player on the ground, and a tackle that rode up round Lowe’s neck largely because of his efforts to get to the ground.
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Clyde – yes, that’s true. You put up a pretty good defence against our maul in the first half.
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Sorry Andy, that wasn’t a game that had ‘a bit of everything’.
Gats spoke sense at least.
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Everybody seems to be saying we’re going to win. So why am I so worried?
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BB – because you’re Scottish. And you have a memory.
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And there you go. Far too easy for England.
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Fuck
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That was a lovely play.
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that was a lovely set move by England there.
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Seems the Furplexity was short-lived.
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Scrum, scrum, scrum, scrum
Scrum, scrum, scrum, scrum
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These scrums would be better if the ball ever went into them…
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Are you sure?
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Touch of the rucksy-dropsy about this at the moment.
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TRY McDuhan!
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Better
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Huw bloody Jones again. Git. Good finish by Duhan.
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It was Huge Owens who really made the try, though.
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very good reply by Scotland there. Odd game with lots of errors and yet two lovely tries as well
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Excellent try from Scotland. Could be a cracking game, going well so far.
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Nice try. Not sure Duhan’s fooling anyone throwing dummies, but that’s by the by. This game is quite an enjoyable shambles. Much better than the formulaic stuff from earlier though I admit I might not be the target audience for the ‘Ireland have the ball until they score’ formula.
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VdM again, or was there a foot in touch?
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If Duhan didn’t put a foot into trouch that is a superb try from McDuhan!
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Fuck.
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Blimey, Finn has his kicking boots on. Two superb conversions.
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All good! Bloody hell, we’re in front!
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Fordy passing really poorly at the moment, dunno whats up. Mc Duhan with an excellent finish.
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