I first remember watching the Five Nations as a teenager, back in the eighties. South Africa had only introduced television in 1976, with the apartheid government, in its Calvinist zeal, deeming it evil. Given the Kardashians and plethora of similar series, they may have had a point. My folks, bless ‘em only got a big, fat, shiny set replete with bunny ears and no remote in 1980, so my dad could watch the British Lions series.
‘White’ South Africa in those days was a shambles of ethno-nationalism, with Afrikaners dominating politically, English-speakers controlling much of the economy, a large Portuguese community that migrated here after Angolan and Mozambican independence, pockets of Italians who’d who stayed here after the Second World War (prisoners from North Africa were transferred here), very strong, if relatively small, Belgian (ex-Zaire), French (built our nuclear capacity and key dams, and gave us fighter jet and missile technology), German, Lebanese, Jewish, Zambian and Zimbabwean ‘whites’ (who still called themselves Rhodesian in the main), and a whole heap of first generation Brits, who came over in the sixties and seventies to work on the power stations, dams, mines, telecoms etc that the apartheid government was building.
The point? Amongst all these groups there was fierce sporting rivalry (and a fair amount of pub violence too), largely in football, which attracted huge whites-only crowds back then, but also spilling over into rugby. What of the rugby? The hair was big, the shorts were, er, not, the players largely looked normal-sized and there were no television match officials. It was glorious chaos. In South Africa, we had only the Currie Cup – a ferocious tournament at the time – and a handful of tours, with isolation starting to bite.
With an English mum and dad of English heritage, I naturally supported England in all matter sporting, so the early eighties were alright. Bill Beaumont led a grizzled pack full of policemen and other thugs magnificently! The Welsh wizardry of the 70s was waning, but still spoken of in hushed tones by our parents, Andy Irvine was my favourite Scot, Ollie Campbell and Tony Ward great Irishmen, but my oh my, it was Jean-Pierre Rives, the one and only J-PR, who stole hearts with his frenetic, fearless and gallant approach to rugby. It was a great time to be exposed to northern rugby. And Bill McLaren. The greatest sports commentator of all time? Certainly best UK one, in my books.
Watching those matches as the eighties meandered into the nineties, Scotland’s final hurrah in 1990 with the Grand Slam and a win over England (who I was backing, whilst my best mate rooted for Scotland) are some of my favourite sporting memories.
Fast forward to 2025, the Six Nations, the razzmatazz, the massive players, the huge squads, tactical subs, endless law changes, endless TMO reviews and endless bickering by fans on social media – it’s just not the same, is it? No. It’s completely different: and just as compelling. The skills on display, the crowds, the anthems (Flower of Scotland for me, just ahead of Land of Our Fathers and La Marseillaise) and the ancient rivalries, along with the addition of Rome and Italy make it a special tournament, to be treasured. Not to be fucked with. No relegation and promotion. No Springboks. Just as is. Progress and change be damned – the tournament is a beacon in a sea of endless repetition and tinkering.
And this year’s tournament promises to be a great one. France and Ireland or vice versa are favourites to win it, although most don’t expect a Slam, while Scotland (assuming they can keep 23 players fit) have a wonderful set of backs who can turn a Test on a tickey. The English media’s schizophrenic lurching between bombast and blubbering belies a side not far off being very, very good – capable, in my books, of beating any of the others on their day. In either hemisphere. Wales are rebuilding and will hope their arrested development turns the joke on someone else, whilst Italy have proven that on their day, they can play some magical stuff and trade it with the best. So as 2025 dawns, may young fans (of all ages) around the globe marvel at the likes of St Maro, Marcus Smith, Rabah Slimani, Julien Marchand, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Antoine Dupont(!), Damian Penaud, Sebastian Negri, Juan Ignacio Brex, Ange Capuzzo, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Rory Darge, Jamie Ritchie, Darcy Graham, Finn Russell, Christ Tshiunza, Jac Morgan, Liam and Tomos Williams amongst so many others. Let these names be spoken of in hushed and fond tones as arguments echo down the ages, rivalries remain, growing stronger and closer: let the Six Nations speak on the field. Let’s enjoy one of the great sporting spectacles!
Reminiscences by deebee7, of course.
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 31st January
| Scotland v Italy (U20s) | 19:15 | iPlayer |
| France v Wales | 20:15 | S4C, STV, ITV1 |
Saturday 1st February
| Scotland v Italy | 14:15 | BBC1 |
| Ireland v England | 16:45 | STV, ITV1 |
| France v Wales (U20s) | 20:10 | iPlayer, S4C |
Ovally Balls 
Fuck.
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BP TRY Sheehan (if there wasn’t a etc.)!!!!
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That’s that then. England haven’t really had a sniff in the second half as Ireland have cut the mistakes out.
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I hope Wossname was watching. Sheehan was smiling quite a lot after that try. As was Lowe.
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Ok, maybe only the moon for Murley. Curry looks absolutely fucked.
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And now David and Suzanne are smiling.
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Coughing the ball up to Lowe, inside our own 22, seems like a poor idea.
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I’ll take a LBP, after being 17 points down.
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David and Suzanne are probably very happy that Ireland just fucking switched off after scoring the BP.
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Part of me was hoping the TMO would step in and wipe the smile off Suzanne’s face at the end, but I guess really she and David deserve their moment.
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Two good games today in their own ways.
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Well done Ireland, deserved winners, score made it look closer than it felt. Was it tactical ? In the first half, England were getting clean ball and looking to vary the attack, in the second half they seemed convinced they could boxkick their way to victory, and stopped getting any clean ruck ball. Infuriating really, but Ireland took total control and never looked back. Crowley looked very composed when he came on.
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“Suzanne, bunnykins!”
“Oh, David, I’m simply thrilled!”
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SBT – yes, Crowley looked better than Prendergast today. Too bad neither of them is very good off the tee.
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And no, I think we were genuinely clueless in the first half.
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Find someone else to kick then. Keenan? Gibson-Park ? Probably find out that Lowe is a fantastic placekicker, the annoying twat.
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As I get older, watching England play grows more and more exhausting!
Well done Ireland – the better all-round team – but still not very likeable.
I thought England looked better balanced and inclusive with Finn Smith at 10.
The combination of Murley and Marcus Smith as last line of defence not exactly encouraging!
O’Keefe still a twat.
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Cooney and Doak are both excellent place-kickers!
I like Lowe, he does some amazing things, almost like Dupont. He’s one Leinster player I don’t mind being first on the team-sheet.
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……………still annoying, ‘though
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I preferred the chaos with occasional good bits and hardly any scoring of the first half to the relentless precision of the second. Took me back to better days. Still well played Ireland.
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Thought Slade had one of his best games for a long time :) Lawrence my England MOM.
Yup, I thought all the really borderline calls went against us, several nonsensical, and was surprised that the Curry headshot wasn’t looked at. Also, next one who comes in and shoves someone after the whistle gets a yellow. Unless its a fellow Kiwi. England would still have found a way to lose tho,even if all the decisions went their way.
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Maybe Lowe is Ireland’s Ashton. When you support his team, he scores a lot and makes you happy, but if you don’t support his team, he’s fucking annoying?
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I maintain that I did not see the Curry head-shot, but I also didn’t see the alleged push at the line-out that won Ireland a penalty, despite about 45 replays.
As for the yellow for shoving, I thought the same thing except I thought it was the English player doing the pushing.
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@Thaum – Far more skills, less gas, same grinning gum-shield twat factor.
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At least he doesn’t do that annoying swan dive thing.
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Just for you Thaum
(be thankful I didn’t choose the 30min compilation)
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Like I would spoil my mood by clicking! :-)
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Young Master P-a-B feeling slightly smug about his predictions, only really out of whack with the French margin. He said 15, actually nearly 3 times that. He said Scotland to win by 10 (it was 12) and spot on with Irish victory.
Roll on next week!
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Would Young Master P-a-B care to put his predictions in a longer format for next week? :-)
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France v Wales U20 is on the iPlayer at the moment
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Fra 14 – 5 Wales.
30 minutes. France not huge, shocker.
At least not all of them.
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Fra 14 – 12 Wal as we approach HT.
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Encouraging for the Welsh future!
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ahem, I’m sorry I brought it up now. It finished 63 – 19 to France.
I switched it off when France really started to cut lose.
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…and to makes things worse, France don’t really have access to all of their top U20s players for this tournament. The Top14 clubs keep them or some are kept in reserve for the full team. They will be at full strength for the U20s World Cup.
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I’m not sure if I was autocorrected to “lose” when I meant “loose” or just made a mistake.
It’s funny because it’s a misspelling that really jars when I see people write “loose” when they mean “lose” and I’ve just done the opposite.
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Thaum – I’ll have a word, see if I can persuade him.
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Ticht, it is the main reason why France U20 won the RWC a couple of times recently but not a single 6N.
T14 (and ProD2 actually) clubs don’t release them during the 6 N but they do during the RWC.
Yesterday to my surprise the young Welsh were more powerful than the French but the second half was a master class of pace vs power.
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Thoughts in the Graun that Borthwich will shift Marcus Smith to fullback against France and start with Finn Smith at 10. I think France will be okay with that, frankly. Jamie George fit, so Borthers gets some experience back in the side, but England need to pitch up for a full 80 minutes if they’re to challenge. I still believe they’re not that far off, but seems a mental thing of not being able to stay focused for a full match.
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Sliding doors moment – the pass from Mitchell to Genge that was called forward and the subsequent pen at the scrum – looked like Bealham bellyflopped. Could have been looking at 13 or 17 to 5.
From the scrum pen, we get another pen for the “invisible” push at the lineout by Itoje, and the Aki try finally follows. Brilliant finish by Aki by too – 9 times out of 10 the ball carrier is bundled into touch by the 3 covering defenders.
Ireland pushed on from there. Murley got a good early try but seemed clueless under the high ball… I get he touched the ball on the first “mistake” so couldn’t let it run dead but on the second occasion – why not dab it down ?
A lot better than the AIs but stuttering for a lot of it
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Deeb, I disagree on the mental aspect, always hard to quantify anyway. I think the explanation is simpler: England had emptied the tank in the first half, with that ferocious defence. When they ran out of steam, the bench was not as good as the Irish’s. Cromley was a big factor as well, Prendergast too slow and indecisive.
As a foot note, I thought Earl had an excellent game and I was surprised to see him benched so early. Was he injured?
Itoje also seemed to grate the ref. Wonderful player but captain material, am not so sure.
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Hansen – technically a blood sub as he cut his leg and they stitched (according to accounts)
I’m not sure that the blood sub rule was designed for that – really, I’d think of it for facial cuts…..
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Flair, England have led going into the final quarter in a number of matches in the last few months, only to blow it. Either it’s fitness and conditioning, whihc is surely easy enough to sort out, or it’s not being able to focus and make decisions properly for 80 minutes (which I suppose could be the result of fatigue). What I was amazed at is how callow the bench was on Saturday – the three replacement frontrowers were all 24 or younger! I think only one player of 27, so maybe that’s the issue? No proper succession planning: if you’re throwing in a 22 year old prop and 23 year old hooker against Sheehan and Healy, you probably will struggle!
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Squidge really isn’t a fan of Nick Tompkins (and is still putting jabs into The Hask)
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Cromley was a big factor as well, Prendergast too slow and indecisive
Aah …
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Thought Prendegast looked pretty decent for the most part, especially for a 21 yr old who had 3 England sevens gunning for him.
After second watch review :-
Same old England, decent first half then…….
Steward stepped Again by someone he should have been able to close down, JGP could only go right.
Two England line breaks, Smith and Earl, both could have been walk in tries if they looked left, but they faded right and ran out of free support players. Ireland in similar situations looked both ways, chose left and scored.
Covering players falling off tackles, OK to blame Smith and Mitchell for missing a winger flying down the touchline, but surely a guy like Lowe should be marked by a wing or 15, who is used to defending wide. It was something that Jonny May became excellent at, after a couple of early embarrassments, he became lethal at closing down two or three guys on wide line breaks.
Subs started coming on ten minutes too late, when several players had already been shown up as seriously fatigued.Tom Curry could barely walk when he came off, for example, and Sladey, who was magnificent in the first half, also looked shot for the last half hour.
Ireland changed their tactics at half time,England tried to keep playing the same way, and when it was obvious that their magic system wasn’t still working, they went to a 15 minute spell where they looked like headless chickens, until Finn came on. Strike one, Maro.
Randall wasnt as bad as Graun readers like to think, not International standard etc, one poor kick, but everything else looked pretty decent, quicker passes from base etc. Mitchell looked shot at 50mins.
Our set piece has looked underpowered for too long, against everyone. Genge and Stuart can take on anyone with their clubs, so why not in white ? Got to be personel and technique behind them.
Ireland looked better, plain and simple. Better coached and better drilled.
Lowe actually has ridiculous oversized legs and arse, to match his annoying grin and stupid haircut.
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Prendergast looks fine with the proviso that he’s 21 and making his 13th senior start ….
Maybe he’ll be the bees knees by RWC2027. The assumption is he’ll get better – but how? Maybe his upside – good line kicker, good long pass is enough.
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Lowe ? He’s more like a wing forward than a winger – we’re looking for him to break tackles on the edge not skin the opposition winger
And yeah, he was lucky not to get carded after O’Keeffe said next man in gets a card. I think refs don’t want to reverse pens given for foul play – here I’m referring to Cunningham South taking out the catcher in the air.
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On the other matches – Wales tried hard but France had them outmatched in every area. Structures were ok, but they were just going over and across for most of what I saw.
I thought for a short while Scotland were going to hand victory to Italy. After the slow start Italy came back – and it’s a wonder what giving away penalties directly in front of the posts will do for the opposition.
I’d guess it’s one of those matches where you’re happy with most things but still wondering how a 14-0 lead after 10-12 mins was 19-all early in second half.
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“I’d guess it’s one of those matches where you’re happy with most things but still wondering how a 14-0 lead after 10-12 mins was 19-all early in second half.”
You’ve watched Scotland before? (See last year’s game vs Wales for comparison).
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