Six Nations

[DraconianOne]

All about rugby. Don't know who else this will interest apart from Endie and he's busy blowing up internet spaceships.

First weekend down.

England 36 - 11 Italy
Ireland 30 - 21 France
Scotland 13 - 26 Wales

Wales looking strong for a first match, especially away at Murrayfield. (Yeah, okay, I'm biased. So sue me.) They showed best form during the autumn tests so may well be in line to defend the title. Scotland starting looking better at the end of the game but had to wait until Wales had one man binned before scoring. Don't know if Wakes will get the grand slam because Ireland are looking strong too but they don't face each other until the last match of the championships in Cardiff so could be a repeat of a couple of years ago (if memory serves). Then again France are always unknown and Wales playing away this year.

England seemed amazingly sloppy still, especially against Italy.  Don't seem to have the form to take on either Wales, Ireland or France from this weekends respective performances. I'd add Scotland to that list but Calcutta Cup is at Twickenham so Scotland would have to pull something out of the bag for that.

[IainC]

You'd be mad to write off the French at the moment but the Irish team are playing like giants at the moment. Normally I'd write in France all the way but Ireland will mount a real challenge. The other four teams are also rans for my money. Wales are resurgent but they have a long way to go, England have lost the plot entirely since their senior team retired and Scotland have not had serious form for a while. Italy were only added to the original five nations so that Wales would have someone to beat 

[DraconianOne]

I never write the French off (hence France are always unknown). I thought their performance on Saturday was nothing to shout about but Ireland did play very well. They also didn't to my mind show much form during the Autumn tests. But they always manage to pull something out of the bag and shatter expectations.  I'm just very pleased Ireland stopped them from being able to get the slam.

[K9]

Italy were terrible, and England should have made more of that.

[Johny Cee]

Ugh.

Anyone know who has the rights to this in the US,  and a broadcast schedule?

[sigil]

probably setanta.

you can get it online for 15 or so amonth

[DraconianOne]

Ugh.

Anyone know who has the rights to this in the US,  and a broadcast schedule?

Don't know where you are but perhaps you can find a friendly local bar (like this place in St Louis) that might show it.  Otherwise Sigil's right have a look at Setanta which shows it PPV.

Schedule:

Round 2
Sat 14th Feb 15:00 France v Scotland Stade de France
Sat 14th Feb 17:30 Wales v England Millennium Stadium
Sun 15th Feb 14:30 Italy v Ireland Stadio Flaminio

Round 3
Fri 27th Feb 20:00 France v Wales Stade de France
Sat 28th Feb 15:00 Scotland v Italy Murrayfield
Sat 28th Feb 17:30 Ireland v England Croke Park

Round 4
Sat 14th Mar 15:00 Italy v Wales Stadio Flaminio
Sat 14th Mar 17:00 Scotland v Ireland Murrayfield
Sun 15th Mar 15:00 England v France Twickenham

Round 5
Sat 21st Mar 13:15 Italy v France Stadio Flaminio
Sat 21st Mar 15:30 England v Scotland Twickenham
Sat 21st Mar 17:30 Wales v Ireland Millennium Stadium

All times are local (GMT)

EDIT: Setanta has a venue finder.  Drink beer. Watch rugby. That's what is best in life, Conan, and don't you forget it.

[DraconianOne]

Very tense game against France who definitely deserved that win. Don't know what happened to Wales (but Gavin fuckwit Henson cocked it up at the end) but they crumbled under at first signs of pressure. Shame about that last minute try in the first half.

So Ireland still in with a shout of a Grand Slam but the last match is away against Wales. It's not over yet!

[Endie]

My big concern is that Scotland are so awful we wont even beat England :(

Hadden has gradually crumbled and has picked the sane choices instead of his lunatic initial line-up, so at least both Evans brothers are taking part, for instance.  But the fact is that we have one player in Scotland who is inarguably the best in the world at what he does - Chris Patterson as kicker - and his name should be first on the teamsheet.  He also brings the ability to break the gainline and provide a good pass once he does.

It was good to see us playing the Gamble ball more often, though: the supporting runner coming close, flat and at pace to achieve penetration (when it works).  Our problem in this campaign has been less making the breakthrough in midfield than in offloading once we have done so, however.

[NowhereMan]

So the weekend's matches were... eventful. Fucking hell I cannot believe England stomped France quite so badly, especially considering their previous form but even when they were doing really well I wouldn't have expected that comprehensive a beating

It is however looking like Ireland, personally I think the match against Wales is going to be deciding whether Ireland wins the Grand Slam or gets it on points (hoping for a victory in Cardiff) Not sure how it's going to play out though, they've been doing well but it's Ireland and despite improving greatly over the last few years they still have a tendency to lose their nerve when the stakes are high.

[Endie]

The England game was, indeed, pretty startling, although Johnson should have some concerns about the second half, which was a very different affair from the first.  I thought that the French were going to walk it, but they picked a team lacking in guile and pace and were promptly given a lesson in both by England.  The referee was pretty poor in his policing of the scrums, but France had no (legal) answer to the shortened English lineout, which I imagine we'll see more of.

As for Scotland, this England recovery couldn't have come at a worse time: it's no secret that the SRU expects a 40% win record in the six nations each year, and Frank Hadden therefore needs to beat England or he may yet lose his post.  That may be wishful thinking from me, though

[Amarr HM]

Also doesn't bode well Ireland have decided to drop Stringer for the Wales game 
Oh & I'm the Irish section of the crowd here 

[NowhereMan]

Woo! Grand slam! That was a fucking tense match against Wales, the result wasn't much more certain 1 minute before the end than it was last week. Damn.

[Endie]

That was the best game of the championship (apologies DraconianOne).  It had open, attacking play from both sides, two very different approaches to the game, and a referee who, while not perfect, was a mile away from the absolute trash who have handled other games in the last couple of weeks.  The lead changing hands and terrible decision-making on occasion to add WTF elements added to the excitement.  The way that the Irish exploited their half-breaks and ran varied, aggressive lines should be Frank Hadden's only viewing for the next few weeks, in the unlikely and unpleasant event that he keeps his job.

[Amarr HM]

That was unbelievable, nothing more than they deserve after throwing it away a couple of years ago and then the shambles of a World Cup. I don't know who I am more happy for O'Connell or O'Driscoll they have both put in some yards (I think Hayes is worth a mention) and I really think it's testament to O'Driscoll on how far he has come as a player after losing his blistering pace and coming through such a nasty injury, that he would be my choice for player of the tournament.

Still shocked 

[Endie]

Frank Hadden finally got the boot.  After three wins in fifteen six-nations games it's been a long time coming.

[Amarr HM]

Those three wins were probably all against Italy too.

[Endie]

Those three wins were probably all against Italy too.

Actually a couple of years ago we got stuffed by the Italians.  Something like three or four tries conceded in the first 20 minutes off mistakes like interceptions and charge-downs.

We should also have been in with a great shout of reaching the semis of the world cup, but bottled a hugely favourable draw.