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 
Considering how far out he was, that was an extremely languid conversion by Finn.
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Both sides need to cut out their silly errors , both sides looking dangerous
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Slightly embarrassing try from an England point of view though both sides look like they have it in them to concede like that.
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His giant feet can not control it!
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Good drop goal from Ford.
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The giant feet have now been apologised to. Which is what you do to giant feet.
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What’s with Dan Cole and the kick-chases?
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That half only seemed to take 5 minutes. Much better game!
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England blew a big overlap there, forward took it into contact. Scruffy type of game, but have to say em enjoying it, at least England trying to play some rugby. Scotland doing really well slowing down the breakdown on Englands ball, and uncharacteristically they are being clinical with their scoring.
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Both sides dropped the ball a lot, there were loads of bad kicks and several non-scrums. There were also rampaging forwards, rampaging Duhans and three fun tries. Easily the best game of the tournament so far.
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As a neutral this is more my type of rugby, however imperfect, than the previous game. Both teams equally making handling errors and yet still trying to play is quite entertaining. Three excellent tries . More, please.
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Am I the only one who wants to scream every time someone says ‘100 percent’?
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@Thaum – Yes. 100%.
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Bugger, Sione off.
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Clyde – you unspeakable horror.
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Only a matter of time before England won that pen. They seemed to have the only players on their feet before that and were told to leave it.
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McHatTrick!
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mcDuhan hat trick!
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Bugger.
Lovely break by Redpath.
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@Thaum – the 110 and 50 settings are on the blink and my meter never had any others .
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How many tries has Duhan got against England?
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Other than landing the ball directly in Duhan’s hands, I don’t think Finn could have placed that kick any better.
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Clyde – too many.
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Re the Genge shoulder barge: if the point of the laws is to protect players, does it matter if it’s his own player that was hit?
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Scotland making the same mistake as vs France. Too many kicks when they’re so good ball in hand.
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And try England!
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It would be a lot harder for Scotland, if England didn’t just keep handing the ball over to them.
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Ooh, Redpath going off as well. That’s not good for Scotland.
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Ha, he’s coming back on with bungs up his nose and blood all over his face.
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McDuhan named MotM as he heads for the sin-bin.
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McDuhan gets the MotM and a yellow at the same time.
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We might win now…
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How does Brace not call “tackle” when Spencer’s knees are on the floor?
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Yes!!!!!
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Well done Scotland!
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Refit – he did the same earlier, although that one was more obviously a tackle than the previous one.
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Well played Scotland. Patches of great play from England, but they weren’t consistent.
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Cracking game. Well done Scotland.
I still wonder why England that were so good for 20 minutes, didn’t carry on with the same ambition. The winger Emmanuel Feyi Waboso looks the deal.
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Lot of talk about the power of the English bench and how it was better than our bench – didn’t work out like that.
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Well played Scotland, England, well at least they tried some stuff, just not very well. Fun game, wonder why England continue to play slow, sauntering to line-outs, and kick the ball away when they are 2 scores down with seven minutes to go ? Maybe they all had a few quid on Scotland ?
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Mc Duhan just said ” I have never scored a hatrick for England”
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SBT – That’s what I thought I heard too!
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Apparently we’ve ended England’s Grand Slam hopes, according to the Graun. I suppose that’s technically correct but there’s a big Ireland-shaped problem with that (even if Ireland weren’t great today).
If Ireland win in two weeks with a bonus point, then it doesn’t matter what we do in the final two games, they’ll win the title.
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BB – there’s also a France-shaped hole in that argument! Delusional.
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Yeah, but to be fair (although I don’t see why I should be) before this weekend Ireland and England were the only two sides who ‘could’ win a GS, which is perhaps what the headline was meaning.
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Yes, that’s true.
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Yes it was the 6N today. But the best try of the season might be the one scored today by the Stade Francais winger vs Racing. Daquwaka ran 127 m (backward and forward) to score a wonder try all by himself, that I’m sure will be shown everywhere. Just stunning.
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Well, this has been a pleasant evening. I’ve had a Talisker or two and a bit of Green & Blacks dark chocolate
The best thing Richard Cockerill has ever done, in my humble onion, is to convince the Scottish Rugby Union that this kid who had failed his medical was worth it. They paid for his operation and put him through rehab. Prior to that his career was over aged 20, out of contract at Montpellier and no interest from anywhere.
It was quite the afternoon for Duhan van der Merwe, there is an interview from a few months ago that shows he wears his heart on his sleeve, he is very grateful to Cockers, to Edinburgh to Scotland and he is obviously very close to his brother.
I maintain that Darcy Graham is by far the better rugby player, but Big Duhay does know how to get to the try line.
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Flair, unfortunately the only footage I can find of the try is on a tweet by Canal+ and it’s not available to view here
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@Ticht – Glad you had a nice time.
I had to stop watching to cook dinner and put The Little One to bed, but caught up now. Just nice to see a genuinely fun game for once. Happy with the result too, but even if it had gone the other way it would still have been easily the best entertainment of the tournament so far.
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