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 
I thought were really good as a TEAM yesterday – everyone looking content in their role. Not perfect by any means, but the ethic shone through. Plus, Russell was fantastic – looking so laid back but so accurate. Well done.
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In contrast, very annoyed by aspects of England’s performance:
– Ford’s poor passing
– Genge’s poor passing and general sulking
– I was taught to imagine the ball was an egg: pass it and catch it carefully and for the receiver’s benefit – not slamming it to someone 2 metres away at unpredictable height.
– still too many unforced errors
Grrr……….
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Congratulations to Scotland and Ireland for the wins. Thought Scotland were excellent, but it was at least nice to see that England turned up.
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May have to watch it again, and haven;t done that for a couple of yeras now, as England have been so disappointing. Scotland were good, but totlly agree about Fords passing, it was horrible. The Telegraph mentions that Furbank made too many mistakes, including dropping the ball that led to McDuhans second try. Good grief, Fordy threw a bullet at his head. It does cross my mind that it may well be poor delivery from Care causing a problem, will have to check, but it was noticeable that Spencer has a much cleaner , longer pass. His box kicking was also better, altho why they reverted to that when surely at two scores down they should have been trying to hang on to the ball in the last ten minutes, I cannot understand.
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“Ford’s poor passing
– Genge’s poor passing”
Not sure Genge playing at outside half as much as he does is as good an idea as Borthwick seems to think.
Ford kicked well in the second half against us but otherwise wasn’t great.
“Furbank made too many mistakes, including dropping the ball”
Thought if anyone stood out as having a bad day dropping the ball it was probably Ollie Lawrence. He’s looked good in any bits of club rugby I’ve seen the last few years but doesn’t seem to be making the most of his chance.
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I get that Scotland did well in defence with the two-on-one tackles that Warburton was going on about afterwards and they did have a good ‘dominant tackle’ stat that came up on screen at one point in the game, but thought that the England forwards still did manage plenty of decent carries. I really think if Wales got anything like the amount of front foot ball that England do then we’d manage to do a lot more with it. As it is we seem to produce about as much in a game with very little to work with. Wainwright seems to manage a spell in each game where he gets going for a bit, but otherwise we really struggle on that front.
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Ticht, would this work?
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Actually, you can find it on the planet rugby web site.
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Good Grief
England A 81 – 5 Portugal after 65 minutes
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So…France have remembered how to play again.
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This is utter chaos.
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I reckon Dante’s gonna get a red on review.
Not sure how France are only 10-3 up at half time, considering how disorganised Italy have been.
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Never mind chaos, absolute madness that first half. France could be down to 14 for the rest of the game if Danty’s yellow is upgraded.
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Refit, it’s simple. France are just as disorganised as Italy. The loss of Jalibert and the probable red card for Danty shall make for a more balanced second half. France will rue their profligacy, as I reckon they’re now in trouble.
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Yep, upgraded to a red.
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Italy score! Difficult conversion though to level!
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He’s got it! 13-13. Just under 10 minutes left.
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What a conversion by Garbisi.
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Clock goes red and Italy have a penalty!
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Hits the post!
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The ball fell off the tee, so he had to rush the kick before the clock went to zero and he hit the post. So unlucky for Italy.
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Poor quality but excellent drama. Could I say the best team won?
France obviously a bit better but so sloppy!
Italy waited too long before attacking with a man up, but quite unlucky at the end.
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Also, French players moved towards the ball before Garbisi kicked – he hadn’t even started his run up (or ‘moved to the side’ like Ford did), but then it was a penalty not a conversion. Should Ridley have restarted the shot clock?
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My earlier post about France remembering how to play may have been a little premature.
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France definitely still in post RWC confused mode. How they did not build a score in the first half is a fine tribute to the superb defence of Italy, that by itself deserving of the draw. Would expect an Expro appeal at the ECJ at such unfair competition!
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Ich bin ein pizza – you know what I mean!
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Refit, France spent 22% of the first half in Italy’s 22. That’s about ten minutes. Usually France would’ve scored half a dozen times with that much possession in the opposition 22. They didn’t and even their try was a bit controversial. They missed several opportunities despite a dominant pack.
I’d blame mostly the ponderous SH but all the backs, bar Ramos, were dire. Willing or not, Galthié will have to reshuffle his back line entirely after Danty’s red card and Jalibert’s knee injury – which seems serious. I hope he picks Legarrec (and Couilloud on the bench) and several youngsters, among which Depoortère (centre with Bordeaux) and Gailleton (Pau).
But ultimately, whatever your famed strenght in depth, it shows you simply cannot replace like for like top players like Dupont, Alldritt, Flament, Jelonch or N’tamack.
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Well done Italy I guess – only saw the last ten minutes. Don’t know if that’s good or bad for Wales. Backlash from France is possible but I suppose they might also go into full couldn’t give a shit mode.
The race for last place is certainly hotting up. Assumed we were in pole position, but the BBC still has us 5th on points difference from the Italians.
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Furbank will at least run a bit more quickly after Duhan.
Well, that was prophetic!
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Profurcy.
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Nearly caught him too! Must admit I was a bit worried when Duhan took that step to the left before he jumped for the try. Though it took him very close to the touch line, but I suppose he was just making the angle more awkward for Furbank to tackle him into touch. Should have figured he would know what he was doing.
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Furbank seems to have run away with the notablog.
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Nah, it was Duhan. Furbank’s still trying to catch him. (And Ben Earl’s lying on the pitch annoyed that he can’t find a camera to gurn into).
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Furked.
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This sounds like a good thing.
https://www.world.rugby/news/910449/pacific-nations-cup-2024-set-to-level-up-global-competitiveness-as-new-brand-format-and-fixtures-are-announced
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Morning all! Been a bit under the pump at work and looks like it’ll only be getting worse/better depending on your viewpoint, so not much commentary from me on the rugby (or anything else). 6N has been a bit of a damp squib this year so far, with Ireland battering all and sundry and the rest looking well off that standard. France the biggest disappointments so far – is it a lack of depth when the stardust is removed, or the longest post-WC hangover in history? Scotland could’ve been contenders but for a call that would’ve been controversial either way: I could see why the try wasn’t given, and equally can see why it should’ve been given. Scotland win and it’s all to play for against Ireland. England and Wales have been pretty dire, to be frank, a couple of sparkly moments aside. A bit like one of those horrible, stodgy birthday cakes with a single sparkler on top – looks lovely until you realise you have to eat the bloody thing once the sparkles have gone! Italy? Well, maybe next season – are Italy the new Scotland?
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Get to work! Those lunches won’t eat themselves, you know.
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Yeah, like Thaum said, back in yer box, Deebs.
In other exciting news, the NRL season starts this weekend with a humdinger of a double header in Las Vegas, of all places. What are the chances of some of those Aussie league boys blotting their copybooks with a spot of excessive drinking and gambling after the match, with the option of transgressing the laws of decency in the presence of a few Vegas ladies of the night ?
Taylors man reckons it will go well :-
https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/02/29/america-is-where-you-go-to-make-it-kelce-designer-backs-nrls-us-bid/?utm_source=nrl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024premiership&lid=ijikin4ndyhz
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Lunch? A quaint concept lost in the mists of time, from a mythical age long since consigned to the fucking scrapheap of slavery to global capital. I’ve realised I’m trapped in that space of not being important and rich enough to simply dump stuff on minions, but just high enough up the infernal ladder that I have responsibility that shackles me to the desk and sees luncheon invitations waft by like the enchanting whiff of a neighbour’s braai on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Doomed, I am. Odysseus had nothing on this when he breezed past the Sirens. Soft wanker!
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Hoggy’s been a naughty boy.
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Much as I loved Hoggy as a player, he does seem to portray prattish tendencies at times/most of the time.
You can tak’ the boy oot o’ Hawick, etc., etc.
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Let’s hope the altercation was with another bloke, and not his partner (if he has a female one).
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Much as we like to put our sports heroes on a pedestal, they’re ordinary humans when all is said and done. We’d like them to be role models, but they’re not paid for that.
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Deebee – they sort of are. Although of course Hogg has retired.
Anyway, I don’t see Edinburgh losing to the Ospreys like we did.
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Oh bugger.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/68444223
Darcy hasn’t played at all, but Sione will be a loss. Probably means Cam Redpath in at 12, not a dip in quality, but different type of player.
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Lions 19-10 up against the Bok-laden Sharks at oranges. Long may it continue! Sanele Nohamba having a cracker at 9 for them.
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Glasgow get a win in Benetton on what seems to have been a bit of a glaur pit. Thought Italy was supposed to have better weather than here?
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Cardiff beating Leinster at half-time!
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Sadly, Cardiff game doesn’t end at half time and they lose by 13 points.
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Lions hammered the Sharks 40-10 in the end, piling more misery on the chequebook chokers.
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