The pundits tell us that Ireland will almost certainly win the championship, as they only need a single point from their match given their enormous points difference. How wrong they are. TAO (pictured) wants to out-perform Predict-A-Bear, and has shared her wisdom and predictions through the medium of interpretive wags.
Wales v Italy
In a surprise couple of last-minute changes, Italy announce that Ange Capuozzo’s broken finger has been healed by the headmistress of the Italian branch of Hogwarts, and that Sergio Parisse will start at no. 8 as a tribute to Italy’s best Six Nations ever.
Ignoring most of the rest of the team for large portions of the match, these two players score seven tries between them, and Parisse succeeds in all the kicks at goal.
But Wales don’t take all this lying down, and score four tries of their own, including a hat-trick by retiring winger George North, who works out the tactic of simply stepping over Capuozzo. Parisse also gives away a lot of penalties.
Score: Wales 38 – 55 Italy.
Points: Wales 1, Italy 5.
Ireland v Scotland
The match begins well for Ireland with James Lowe scoring one of his trademark tries in the corner within thirty seconds of the kick-off. However, Crowley misses the conversion due to being discombobulated by the thirty-five minutes it takes the TMO and referee to decide that it was a try.
Then it all goes wrong.
The restart results in an Irish line-out that goes awry, Finn puts in a clever kick to McDuhan and he’s away and under the posts. (In fact, Ireland are to lose every single line-out.)
Then Andrew Porter gets injured, and Cian Healey comes on in the seventh minute.
Next, Peter O’Mahoney gets red-carded for taking out a player in the air at the next line-out, quickly followed by Aki Bundee for head contact in the tackle.
Shortly thereafter, Jack Crowley gets sent for an HIA and fails it, so Harry Byrne stays on.
McDuhan scores two more tries in the first half, and Darge gets one too.
The second half is unwatchable for Irish fans as Cian Healy is too tired to scrummage and Byrne misses/slices nearly all his kicks. JGP bizarrely gets replaced on the 42nd minute, and Conor Murray is nearly as slow as Healy.
Let’s cut to the chase.
Score: Ireland 5 – 55 Scotland
Points: Ireland 0, Scotland 5.
France v England
Lyon. It’s not the most glamorous French city, but it’s still a home match for Les bleus. A wounded side against an English side feeling Englishly arrogant and complacent after beating Ireland.
What could possibly go wrong for Borthwick’s team?
Well, first Elliot Daly replacing the concussed Feyi-Waboso. Second, George Ford continuing his obsession with drop goals but failing to execute them in any convincing manner whatsoever. Third, Le Garrec even more impressively causing people to ask, Antoine Qui?
The invoice-creating French pack marmelise England. Genge gets yellow-carded. Itoje gets yellow-carded. Penaud, Fickou, Atonio run rampant (well, it’s more of a waddle with Atonio). Ramos kicks superbly.
England score one lovely try through Slade, and Atonio also gets a card later on.
Score: France 30 – 10 England
Points: France 4, England 0.
The Result
Scotland for the Championship and the Triple Crown!
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | PD | Bonus | Points |
| Scotland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 157 | 103 | 54 | 4 | 16 |
| Ireland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 132 | 102 | 30 | 4 | 16 |
| France | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 125 | 101 | 24 | 1 | 15 |
| Italy | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 123 | 143 | -16 | 2 | 12 |
| England | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 120 | -23 | 0 | 12 |
| Wales | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 109 | 157 | -48 | 4 | 4 |
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 15th March
| Ireland v Scotland U20s | 19:00 | iPlayer |
| Wales v Italy U20s | 19:30 | RTÉ2 / iPlayer |
| Gloucester v Leicester | 19:45 | TNT Sports 1 |
| France v England U20s | 20:00 | iPlayer |
Saturday 9th March
| Wales v Italy | 14:15 | BBC1 / S4C / RTÉ2 |
| Ireland v Scotland | 16:45 | ITV1 / STV |
| France v England | 20:00 | ITV1 / STV / RTÉ2 |
Ovally Balls 
I’m afraid I find that a peculiar response that makes me feel I have to clarify that what I would be missing Sag for in this instance would be his way with words to dimiss any notion of envying the fuckers regardless of them winning stuff. Whilst still managing to be pleased for their representatives on here of course. Thought that was blindingly obvious, but hey ho. I relish Ireland victories no more than he did. Not sure about the notion of vicarious gloating either regardless of whether the recipients are absent or present, certainly wouldn’t be indulging in it with my team where they are, but I wouldn’t be if my team were fourth with the fifth best record either.
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I wish all posters from the old AoD were still around. A formidable bunch, regardless of the various biases and pouts. Wish I had met seveeal of them in person too.
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Closest I came to meeting any of the old AODers was TomP – we were in neighbouring cities for a couple of years. Never got past chatting via email though. He supported the Bulls, so I had a natural and healthy suspicion of him as a human being, obviously.
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To be clear my wish for Sag to be around was to have his way with words. I think the notion of Ireland-envy would have been soundly dismissed to some comic effect (probably with overtones of historical half-truths) regardless of what they might win and it would have given me a laugh.
Find the idea of wanting to gloat at absent people a bit off and as it’s just gloating about a team doing badly (it’s not as if Scotland have done well looking at the table) it’s as good as equal to gloating at those present which isn’t particularly necessary to my mind, but hey ho.
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CMW, I have no complaints against yourself or Tov or MrIks. Christian is the one poster I met in real life, the Welsh guy who worked for the Guardian.
Similarly I have nothing against the Codfishes, Dab, the DCI, SBT, Refit or any English posters.
Like Flair I regret the demise of the AoD notablog and if I’m being honest I feel partly responsible for it. There was a lot of rancour and it got worse and I was very much one of those who perpetuated that bad feeling. It was not a great time in my life, there was some really serious things happening and I put far too much importance on rugby as an outlet. For years it seemed I couldn’t write anything without Boa storing it for later and repeating it in a snide context. I have an idea of why he did it, Cat understood that too. Of course in retrospect I should have ignored it and just carried on without rising to the bait, or just made a joke about it or not taken myself too seriously. I very much regret that I didn’t – 20/20 Hindlegs as Sag would say.
I found TomP to be similar if not quite as bad.
I really would like to meet Sag in person and apologise to him. I tried asking around friends I knew in the music biz in and around Glasgow but none of them knew him. Brookter and I exchanged a few emails about Sag, genuinely in concern for him, but we never did track him down.
I thought twice about my post yesterday, despite what I’ve written here it was actually meant as a joke – there has been a lot of water under the bridge and I it really was meant light-heartedly because those who still read here would remember me flying off the handle at seemingly innocuous things. The joke failed, hey ho.
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@Ticht – fair enough, but as it seemed to be a response in kind to my post I felt I was being wrongly accused of somehow being snarky myself and you can probably see why.
I don’t think you (or anyone else really) should blame themselves for the notablog’s demise. I don’t really have any time for people leaving things through huffing off – sometimes people have rubbed me up the wrong way and sometimes I’ve done the same to them, but that sort of thing has always been something I could get over and I find it a bit weird when others don’t. Similarly some folks seemed to get agitated about repetitive posters irritating them and I couldn’t really see why they couldn’t either just take the piss or ignore such things and just engage with the posters whose company they did enjoy.
I’m sure most of the people I miss have left for other reasons than getting annoyed in any case, life moves on in all sorts of ways.
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On the rugby itself I do feel for Wales, domestically they are having a torrid time and internationally they are in the place where Scotland have been for long periods. Some of the young lads are promising, particularly in the back row, Morgan wasn’t missed as much as I thought he would be because of the quite brilliant performances over the ball of Refell.
England always have the punchers chance of beating anyone other day – it’s a much used cliche but in their case it really is true. I think if they build a team around the likes of Marcus Smith, Chessum and van Portfleit (sp?) then they will be on to something.
Italy are quite something, they look the real deal now and their U20s are give the others a few headaches, they are on to something.
I think France was the most disappointing team for me, with the squad they have they should be performing much better, they seem to have a replacement for Dupont and they have two terrific guys in the U20s.
Well done Ireland, when on song they are very good and when underperforming such as on Saturday they still have enough to get the win.
Scotland are poor. We can’t play for a full 80 minutes and as this current crop all inch towards the 30 years old line and beyond, I really fear for what’s coming up behind. We have just gotten rid of the semi-pro level under Glasgow and Edinburgh with the status returning to the amateur clubs, that was the driving force for the change.
Our U20s lost all their games but for once we didn’t look totally overwhelmed up front, this was a direct result of that Super 6 level.
Oh woe!
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“but as it seemed to be a response in kind to my post I felt I was being wrongly accused of somehow being snarky myself and you can probably see why. “
Oh blimey no, that was the furtherest thing from my mind – I just used your wording for my attempt at a joke.
“Similarly some folks seemed to get agitated about repetitive posters irritating them and I couldn’t really see why they couldn’t either just take the piss or ignore such things and just engage with the posters whose company they did enjoy.”
Now that I’m in a much better place and the issues that were around at the time have resolved themselves, I can see that point of view and it’s one I try to employ. At the time I was in a dark place and as there aren’t many around to read this I can admit to abusing alcohol at the time as self-medication. I wasn’t drinking during the day, but I was constantly hungover and trying to deal with a life-threatening mental health condition with one on my children. I did manage to pull them through it, the service we got from the local authorities were pretty useless tbh.
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furtherest is a better word than furthest, even if it doesn’t exist
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Does now Ticht. Glad that you’ve come out the other side, so to speak.
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I can’t like comments so I usually do not bother to express my agreements, but in this instance, I wish I could “like” BB’s post about Ticht turning a corner. Good on you!
Speaking of Sag, I too tried to reach him though Dermott, to no avail. Hope he’s fine, as are the rest of that brilliant bunch.
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I did go to one AoD get together – in That There London. 2016 I think it was. Of the AoDers Into Ovallyballers, I think only Thaum (and the Mister!) and Clyde are left.
There was also Boa, Meades, DCI, Claw (and Mrs Claw), Iks, TCod (minus Stare), BedfordBluesFan, if my old brain remembers correctly.
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Amazingly I’m wearing that same rugby shirt today! (I have washed it in between times…)
Even more amazingly, it still fits!
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Have to admit there are a few faces there I don’t recognise.
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I’m pretty sure Lara was there too. We were probably outside having a fag.
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@BB – I’m sure there was at least one further Irishman, one of the less regular posters, but I can’t remember what name he used. I know I had too much to drink and not enough to eat so memory is a wee bit hazy.
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Clyde – might have been KJH (and Mrs KJH)? I know I’ve met them at at least one get-together, but suffering from similar memory problems.
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Is that killer line or his brother in the shot? I recall they both used to go to the meet ups.
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Ticht – Killer is wearing a hat and a white England t-shirt, on the left hand side. His brother is between Boa and DCI.
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Ha, I did not recognise Boa until you said that, Refit! Thought it was a woman with long hair. It’s a scarf, I think!
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AoD meetup 2017
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AoD meetup 2015
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Went to one in Tooting a while back, can’t remember much tho, except England were infuriatingly rubbish, and I had a really nasty kebab just up the road on the way back to my mates place..
Ticht, you’re good, your flounces were always entertaining, as I recall, you tended to be succinct and to the point , you never descended to the Expro levels of personal abuse, just a basic ” I disagree with you because” , altho sometimes with excess vehemence.. Usually apologised as well, and said that you needed to take a break from posting. Glad you and daughter thru the bad times.
Harlequins watch:- Tyrone Green is actually quite small, and currently looks like Chewbacca’s mini-me, he would definately win the prize for facial hair at an AOD meet up, and thats saying something, surprisingly dapper too, for a guy on his way to a workout, may have been a Boaesque scarf in the outfit, and Will Evans sporting a beard is wider than he is tall. Both looked like they were late for training yesterday.
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Great pics! I’d love to get to one (eventually).
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Ticht’s problem is, he’s too woke 😉😅😅
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@refit – wow, to my shame some of these faces escape me now….anyone fill the blanks?
2017 – I’m fourth left in black Killarney RFC shirt.
Mrs KJH,
LADOAB (like a dog on a bone – all the way from Canada – David),
Gedmen/Justin,
me,
Alex - brother of Killer
KJH (Keith Hennessy) – behind,
Simon – kneeling – can’t recall his handle/screenname
????
???,
Killer (lived in Sweden / Finland(?)),
Boa
Claw
IIRC Thaum and Mr were in Galway as well as TCod
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KIller’s brother was Xander not Alex
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and reading back – it’s Meades in the black/grey hooped shirt…..
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I also attended a AoD meet in 2014 in the Old Shillelagh in Stoke Newington – DCC and Craigsman were at that…..
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Trisk – yes, we were in Galway!
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AoD meetup 2014
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Now that’s a Tcod stare!
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I still have the imprint of a rugby ball on a pair of glasses that was sustained during the Heidelberg piss-up.
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Told you Iks was dangerous…..
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The guy with the long hair and bear in all the photos – that’s Bedford Blues Fan, isn’t it?
Meadesian was the name I couldn’t remember from earlier photos. I was never at these meets though I remember the chat around them at the time.
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long hair and bear, eh?
You’d get thrown out of most pubs for that, but not if you are with the AoD.
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Ticht – I’m a bit wary of identifying anyone, even though we don’t know their real name.
The meets were a lot of fun, although it’s true I don’t remember a whole lot about many of them!
The on-line one that you were on was fun too, but not in the same way. It was good to put a face to your name.
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Dino Lamb. Tick.
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Hurricanes hammering the Rebels in Super (?) Rugby – 54 – 28 with a couple to go. The Rebels are actually winning the last 50 minutes, having been 33-0 down after half an hour or so.
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Deebs, the Canes’ coach is Clark Laidlaw, son of former Scotland scrum half Roy, cousin to Wee Greeg, erstwhile Scottish captain.
Eyes are turning towards him as he continues to improve and impress as a coach, he was in charge of the New Zealand Sevens team for five years before this gig at Hurricanes.
I can see him being the replacement for Gregor Townsend in the Scotland hot seat if he continues this way. Townsend is contracted until after the next World Cup, iirc.
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That’s interesting Ticht! Sounds like a good fit for Scotland. I do wonder if Townsend will make it to the next World Cup, though. What’s the talent pool coming through, because there are a number of senior players who are probably in their swansong year (or two).
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DB, where there will be players retiring, mainly in the second row Richie Gray is 34, Grant Gilchrist 33, we have guys coming through – we’ve got decent young players coming through elsewhere in the pack too. Though to be honest we really need a five bullies across the back five of the scrum and we just don’t breed that type of player, having said that there is a guy called McVie in the U20s who looks like he enjoys throwing his considerable weight about. Also a guy called McConnell who is an 8/6. He ruffled a few feathers in training at Edinburgh by getting really stuck in to the first team forwards. There is a tighthead prop who wasn’t allowed to play in the recent U20s because he’s only 17. He’s 135kg and has been shunting fully grown men around in the scrum this season in the Super 6, the soon-to-be-scrapped semi-pro level below Edinburgh and Glasgow. The word is he’s another Zander Fagerson who having just turned 28 has made 139 appearances for Glasgow and has 67 Scotland caps – the most capped Scottish prop.
Even across the backline we have, for us, good depth. The one player who is irreplaceable is Finn Russell. He’ll be 32 in September.
After a good start at Edinburgh Ben Healy has faltered a bit, Ross Thompson at Glasgow hasn’t kicked on and is injured a lot, as is Adam Hastings.
The current U20s fly half is in the Edinburgh Academy, he looks like he can get the backline moving but had real trouble kicking from hand – that part can be coached, I guess.
btw, WP Nel is set to make is 200th appearance for Edinburgh this weekend, if selected for the Stormers game.
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Thanks Ticht! Having grizzly locks is essential in any top side, they provide good ballast in the scrums and go-forward in the tight loose. Most props, as you know, are actually soft bastards who need that shunt up the spine to stay engaged. Scotland have always had great terriers in the back row but maybe lacked that one out and out oaf to knock tacklers backwards consistently.
In the backs, 10 is an issue for many sides, not just Scotland. Not too many around the world knocking on the door for Earth’s XV vs the Martians.
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Maybe Laidlaw could persuade a couple of Kiwi 10s to join him in the sunshine of Scotland and escape the dank misery of the South Island?
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Munster mangling the Ospreys. You don’t even know if Munster are any good, though, given the Ospreys effort so far. And then they muller the Munster scrum. Don’t think it’ll make a difference in the end though.
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Snyman making a guest appearance for Munster?
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Bristol doing a number on Saints. 15-0 up in 20 mins.
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Surprisingly, it’s Glasgow 0 – 13 Cardiff at 33 mins. Happy mister.
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Bugger. Saints score and Bristol get a man in the bin. 17-7 after 35mins
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