Rugby 2017 Discussion

Buzzing. Huge win that was. Great resilience in this team, to go with their belief, talent and depth.

Dublin decides it now, need a bonus point in one of the next 2 games I feel, even if for some comfort. Last 2 games have been tight.
 
K2K said:
This England side are something else.

Maybe this year's Lions tour should just be England vs New Zealand.
Click to expand...

That's been the case for two years. The problem is Gatland will pick all of his favourites from the Welsh team even though they're genuinely all worse than their english counterparts. Lions team should be England + Hogg. I'd include Sexton too, but he's a permacrock.
 
Peanut Butter said:
Welsh people obsess about playing England at everything. It's a bit sad.
Click to expand...
They do that's true. Rugby is their national sport though so hurts them that bit much more!

I wouldn't want to be an Englishman in Cardiff tonight. Even less so Newport, Swansea or one of the backwater towns! :nervous:
 
Last edited:
What a game of rugby, that was just so intense from start to finish.

It's the bench that makes the difference in games like these. Despite having plenty of injuries this England side can still turn the game on its head with some well timed changes. No one else has quite the same level of depth.
 
Here's the real result of the day folks …

16602754_10154548777944825_6418527175739472288_n.jpg
 
What a game, really not a classic, Eddie Jones is bringing the NZ attitude of always being able to pull it off at the end it seems. I think their fitness is superb now, two games in a row they've scrapped it out.

Everything is set up for England to tour New Zealand should they win back to back grand slams and break the record in Ireland.....but this run just has to have happened on the same year as a Lions tour didn't it. They don't even face them in the Autumns, so if Ireland don't stop the run and how nice would that be for them....stopping both World Record runs at 18. Argentina likely will, just because it'll be a depleted squad, and the pressure of keeping might be too much for the boys, so come back from the Lions tour to start again in the Autumns.

Theres gonna be so much hype for the 2018 tour in New Zealand. Think I'd prefer England to end it at 18 against Ireland, then go again undefeated until they face NZ then.
 
Halfpenny should be shot for kicking that ball down Mike Browns throat at the end there. I've seen roundabout make better attempts at a tackle than Cuthbert did but that try was on Halfpenny, he had to find touch there.

Ireland looked impressive but it's very hard to take anything from that game other than we're better when we play with intensity and Italy are awful. CJ Stander is like the thunderous hatechild of Jaap Stam and a rhinoceros.

Looking forward to tomorrows game. If both sides play as they have been doing recently, it should be a cracking game of rugby.
 
Zen said:
Everything is set up for England to tour New Zealand should they win back to back grand slams and break the record in Ireland.....but this run just has to have happened on the same year as a Lions tour didn't it. They don't even face them in the Autumns, so if Ireland don't stop the run and how nice would that be for them....stopping both World Record runs at 18. Argentina likely will, just because it'll be a depleted squad, and the pressure of keeping might be too much for the boys, so come back from the Lions tour to start again in the Autumns.
Click to expand...

Not beating New Zealand on this run so far has already hurt England I think. Shame the fixture won't happen will 2018. You'd assume Garland will use that to his advantage on Lions tour, be a lot of England players that'll want to prove themselves against the All Blacks. Be interesting how many England players he actually picks though. The coaching set up is the Welsh set up along with Farrell.

As much as I'm looking forward to Lions I can't wait for the Argentina tour. Be great to see lot of the good young talent England has like Genge, Sinkler, Ewell, Clifford, Robson, Lozowski, Slade, maybe Mallinder and the kid Underhill who's signing for Bath in summer.
 
I don't think it has hurt them really, it makes the first match between them such a mouthwatering prospect really, yeah they'll most likely have 18 Streaks and NZ would of beat everyone in theirs, and England everyone except NZ, but should they beat it....2xGrand Slams and 3-0 in Australia is hugely insane. It's perfectly timed to allow England to completely cement themselves as the number 2 team, had they just lost to New Zealand when on a 10 streak, the prospect wouldn't of meant much. Now it'll be massive regardless of how far past 18 the streak goes, if it even goes past it. Though I'd guess matching 18 is more or less a given.

A random loss in Argentina or the Autumns, but then extend the Six Nations streak to 3 Grand Slam's in a row would be ideal, Though entirely possible on paper, I think it'd be way too much to win out to New Zealand next summer, though it'd be insanity beyond belief. But I'd just expect New Zealand to pummel them on the first game as the pressure would be totally off them and on England.

All Hail Eddie though. What he would do for a fully fit squad, NZ have a higher talent, but England may actually be deeper....
 
A very good for and against boost plus bonus point victory for Ireland in Rome yesterday. I saw their first five tries and some of those tries were far too easy. It has left me wondering if Italy has really made adequate progress - this is their 17th tournament and to see them giving up 60+ points at home I think is worrying. From what I've seen in this year tournament, Italy appear incapable of constructing a try - instead they're feeding off scraps or hoping to get a penalty try from a scrum or maul going forward (the super rugby team I support was like that last season so I've seen it before).

Great game in Cardiff, Wales will wonder what might have been. England won again - can't escape the feeling they'll need to improve for when they play Ireland in 4-5 weeks time. They can soak up periods of pressure but I feel they'll need to find a better way of playing if they're to beat New Zealand next year. Wales didn't really do enough. They had good periods of pressure they could apply to England but really didn't make the most of that pressure on the scoreboard. Italy and Scotland to come for the pommies. Two games they'll win and should be able to win with try scoring but bonus points which will set them up nicely for a potential decider in Dublin.
 
The collective stupidity of that team is astonishing.
 
SqueakyWeasel said:
So many head injuries in the Fra v Sco game – this will be a BIG talking point!
Click to expand...

It's every match involving France. World Rugby need to start looking into why there are so many head clashes in every match with them.
 
diarm said:
It's every match involving France. World Rugby need to start looking into why there are so many head clashes in every match with them.
Click to expand...

Brain dead players trying to go through the opponents.
 
What do you guys think of bringing in relegation in to 6N or maybe the possibility of taking out Italy. Italy after 18 6N seasons, 3 or 4 cycle of players, been 7 years since 2 Italian teams added to pro 12 (both finished bottom every season since) and no improvement. You look at Argentina for example who have got better only from a couple of years in Rugby Championship. All this is tough on Georgia who are ahead of Italy in world rankings, won the European Nations Cup 6 years in a row and at the world cup showed improvement.

I don't like relegation in 6N but I do think something needs to be done.
 
Rooney1987 said:
What do you guys think of bringing in relegation in to 6N or maybe the possibility of taking out Italy. Italy after 18 6N seasons, 3 or 4 cycle of players, been 7 years since 2 Italian teams added to pro 12 (both finished bottom every season since) and no improvement. You look at Argentina for example who have got better only from a couple of years in Rugby Championship. All this is tough on Georgia who are ahead of Italy in world rankings, won the European Nations Cup 6 years in a row and at the world cup showed improvement.

I don't like relegation in 6N but I do think something needs to be done.
Click to expand...

I think questions need to be asked about Italy'a lack of progress. They've conceded 96 points so far which is a shitload more than any other team. Their two games have been decided by a combined total of 80 points - the four games not involving Italy have been decided by a combined total of 19 points. England, France and Scotland will put big margins on them in the coming weeks and i for one, won't watch their next three games - they'll end up being no contests. They're into their 18th Six Nations and they're well on course for a 12th wooden spoon - 2 every 3 seasons. Could Georgia do better? It might get to a stage where the question is could Georgia do any worse across 18 tournaments? Some of Ireland's tries were far too easy on Saturday. Sadly Italy make up the numbers.
 
Rooney1987 said:
What do you guys think of bringing in relegation in to 6N or maybe the possibility of taking out Italy. Italy after 18 6N seasons, 3 or 4 cycle of players, been 7 years since 2 Italian teams added to pro 12 (both finished bottom every season since) and no improvement. You look at Argentina for example who have got better only from a couple of years in Rugby Championship. All this is tough on Georgia who are ahead of Italy in world rankings, won the European Nations Cup 6 years in a row and at the world cup showed improvement.

I don't like relegation in 6N but I do think something needs to be done.
Click to expand...
I'm all for it. What are the argument's against it? I'm not a massive rugby fan so don't really understand the reason why some are so against it. Would make it more exciting surely to have the bottom team go down each time and the top team from the lower competition come up? Maybe being relatively uneducated about rugby union I am missing something!
 
lewwoo said:
I'm all for it. What are the argument's against it? I'm not a massive rugby fan so don't really understand the reason why some are so against it. Would make it more exciting surely to have the bottom team go down each time and the top team from the lower competition come up? Maybe being relatively uneducated about rugby union I am missing something!
Click to expand...

I suppose the fear might be that the game would die utterly there? I'm teaching a guy right now from Italy and he only watches the national team matches - he knows nothing about their club teams. He's into it very much during the six nations, but he knows feck all really about rugby and I could very easily imagine folks like himself disappearing if they weren't in it. The question is then how many of their fans are similar to that, and could the game be sustained without them.
 
unchanged_lineup said:
I suppose the fear might be that the game would die utterly there? I'm teaching a guy right now from Italy and he only watches the national team matches - he knows nothing about their club teams. He's into it very much during the six nations, but he knows feck all really about rugby and I could very easily imagine folks like himself disappearing if they weren't in it. The question is then how many of their fans are similar to that, and could the game be sustained without them.
Click to expand...
Ah ok that makes sense thank you. Seems a bit unfair though that fans of other countries are shut out because of a fear of the game dying in Italy.
 
Georgia did attract 50k for there most home game in Tbilisi last year against Romania. Public seem interested.

The argument against is, the tournament is in great health why change it. 71k average attendance, viewing figures better then ever, quality rugby and matches. Plus there is the risk of financial failure.

I like the idea of the 6th placed team in the 6N to play the European Champions, 2 legs or a neutral playoff.

I heard Austin Healy on BT talking about maybe adding the Saxons and Wolfhounds to the Rugby Europe Championship. It would be a good fixture for them and make their league more marketable. Pro12 and English clubs would not like it though.
 
Last edited:
Rooney1987 said:
Georgia did attract 50k for there most home game in Tbilisi last year against Romania. Public seem interested.

The argument against is, the tournament is in great health why change it. 71k average attendance, viewing figures better then ever, quality rugby and matches. Plus there is the risk of financial failure.

I like the idea of the 6th placed team in the 6N to play the European Champions, 2 legs or a neutral playoff.

I heard Austin Healy on BT talking about maybe adding the Saxons and Wolfhounds to the Rugby Europe Championship. It would be a good fixture for them and make their league more marketable. Pro12 and English clubs would not like it though.
Click to expand...

If Georgia were playing Wolfhounds for example, I think I'd watch that to see the Connacht players in it.
 
Rooney1987 said:
I like the idea of the 6th placed team in the 6N to play the European Champions, 2 legs or a neutral playoff.
Click to expand...
I agree
This should happen, if Italy (or at times Scotland) are better, they will remain in the competition, if they aren't, then deservedly Georgia will get their shot
 
I'm watching Ireland-Italy again in preparation for talking for an hour about it to my Italian student :D Someone's going to put a huge number on Italy unless they improve from this display. A few of their players just gave up completely, some shocking tackling. It must be a really depressing situation to be in, getting smashed all the time - as Conor O'Shea alluded to in the pre-match interview. They'll really need to find something within themselves to avoid getting utterly destroyed in the rest of the championship. Sad state of affairs, but perhaps they'll find a bit of pride somewhere.

Positives are the support seems great and the crowd are dying to get behind their team.

The worry for Ireland would be that two or three times Italy managed to get big overlaps out wide that were only stopped by some very desperate shooting out of the line. Surely better teams would finish some of those. I've just watched France-Scotland highlights too - what the hell was that kick in front of the posts? :D
 
Last edited:
unchanged_lineup said:
I'm watching Ireland-Italy again in preparation for talking for an hour about it to my Italian student :D Someone's going to put a huge number on Italy unless they improve from this display. A few of their players just gave up completely, some shocking tackling. It must be a really depressing situation to be in, getting smashed all the time - as Conor O'Shea alluded to in the pre-match interview. They'll really need to find something within themselves to avoid getting utterly destroyed in the rest of the championship. Sad state of affairs, but perhaps they'll find a bit of pride somewhere.

Positives are the support seems great and the crowd are dying to get behind their team.

The worry for Ireland would be that two or three times Italy managed to get big overlaps out wide that were only stopped by some very desperate shooting out of the line. Surely better teams would finish some of those. I've just watched France-Scotland highlights too - what the hell was that kick in front of the posts? :D
Click to expand...

I worry England will put 50+ on Italy if they'e in the mood. When a team that has been part of the tournament for nearly two decades being is used as a vehicle to get try scoring bonus points or for and against boosts, there have to be worries. I don't know much about Italy's coach, Conor O' Shea, so i'd like to see if he can get a tune out of Italy before making a decision on their future viability as a team taking part in the 6 nations tournament. Such a shame they're hopeless because the other games have been very good, competitive and well worth watching.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.