Rugby union 2018/19

[DasNutNock]

We aren’t contenders. We’re top 8, at best. Jones has been found out again, he’s not good enough for England.

[The Old Man of Storr]

After spending the afternoon watching Wales take the Grand Slam I thought it a bit mean of me to hog the telly and watch another match so I relented and we watched Ricky Gervais' ' After Life ' instead then I watched West Ham vs Huddersfield - I only learned of the England - Scotland match 2 minutes ago , wow , just wow , that must have been one great match to watch whoever you were there to support .

Congratulations , Scotland on such a fine comeback .

[The Old Man of Storr]

I'd imagine Cardiff is not a place for an Englishman right now

I'm going to guess Shaun Edwards will be very welcome in Cardiff tonight , Slacking .

I know you had a bad experience at the hands of some Welsh thugs , mate sometimes shitty things happen to good people - just understand there are some nice folk there too - I've had some bad experiences at the hands of English thugs while living in England , I don't hold it against the whole of England and her peoples , we can all be unlucky , wrong place wrong time , there are stupid , mindless thugs in every country . My boy had a bad experience in Inverness a few years back , he refused to walk back by that route to our Daughter's flat - so I spent time with him walking the route at night and by day on several occasions for him to see that he'd just been unlucky and now he's very relaxed about walking round Inverness , day or night .

I'm sorry that you don't like the people of Cardiff and you have this hatred for all things associated with Welsh Rugby as a result of that encounter with some mindless thugs - hopefully one day you'll be able to forgive them and not tarnish us all with the same brush .

Take care , my friend .

[Loftyhammer]

Well that was a complete shitshow in the second half....couldn’t even celebrate the equaliser at the end. If we have any pretensions of doing anything of note in the WC we need to learn lessons from this 6N and learn them double quick. We have struggled defending anyone tha runs at us...could see the signs vs France once their younguns came on and started to throw it about. A missed tackle rate of 25% is unacceptable at any level never mind Test. I’ve noticed we have a tendency to fall off tackles far too easily. Then there’s the mentality....who was in charge for England in that second half? Even when you’re 30 points up, you need to earn the right to play the expansive game when you restart. The only way Scotland were getting back into that game was through running the ball...just don’t let them have it! Don’t give them the oxygen....somebody should have got them together and just said keep it tight for 5-10 mins, just play one out rugby....they would have had nowhere to go. Got to be questions asked of Farrell as captain...he doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes...rant over!

Oh and congratulations to Wales...those saying they are lucky slammers or not “true” slammers are talking out of their arse. Even if Ireland did throw it yesterday just to stop England having a chance at the title

[The Old Man of Storr]

That early try made all the difference , that and an inconsistent Ref - everything went Wales' way , nothing to do with Ireland throwing anything .

[Loftyhammer]

That early try made all the difference , that and an inconsistent Ref - everything went Wales' way , nothing to do with Ireland throwing anything .

I hoped the winking face would have given away that my tongue was firmly in my cheek...

Although I don’t think I’ve seen Ireland make as many errors or bad calls in a game for a very long time

[dave_l]

Well played Wales, by far the most consistent this year and deserved winners. That said Ireland were utterly dreadful in that game and the ref was random. AWJ is a superb captain (still find his ref whining to be over the top, notwithstanding others like Sexton and Farrell being no stranger to a whinge and a half.

I was at Twickenham yesterday, the first half performance was superb. Speed and accuracy of passing, great running lines and some cracking tries. The second half was the most mindless pile of useless I can remember in a long time at any level of rugby. No leadership on the pitch with aimless hoofing from both Youngs and Farrell straight to the Scottish back 3 that could do naff all but run well in broken field - so that's what we gave them. To top off the day I had a hyper aggressive sweary Scottish bloke a few rows behind in a corporate box. When challenged he just said "he was being passionate". Plank. Could I get away with that at Murrayfield? I doubt it....

Plan B needed for the World Cup or it'll be yet another chance wasted to do well. There is a serious amount of talent in that squad with Itoje, Lawes and M Vunipola to return and the ABs as proved by Ireland and England in the Autumn aren't as strong as they have been in a while. Oh and Farrell doesn't strike me as a captain at all.

[sendô]

Our players lack the brains to adapt to the situation.

The warning signs were there the other year when they were completely flummoxed by Italy not competing at the breakdown.

I'm not really sure what to say. Bonus points in all our wins, thrashed the much fancied Irish in Dublin, absolutely crushed the French and completely ripped the Scotch apart within half an hour, plus of course were 10-3 up in Cardiff at HT - so the talent and ability is clearly there. What's worrying is game management, decision making and a clear mental fragility.

Scotland looked dead and buried, 31-0 down and were all at sea. How did we thrown that away?

Meh, the Paddies surrendered a bit easy aswell didn't they? It was all "best team in the world" before the tournament. Thank f*** that *****'s out of the window now.

[Toulouse_Iron]

Well done Wales: They have the knack of making other teams play badly, which is a pretty handy knack to have. It is based on a cast iron defence, mental toughness and self belief.
You don't get any points for artistic impression and they haven't needed to. The least tries scored (apart from Italy) of any team in the tournament is quite a telling stat for grand slam winners.
You don't have to be good, just better than your opponents on the day!

England don't like it up 'em and a re too reliant on Farrel. He, and we have 6 months to mature, as there is some serious potential there and some hugely talented players.

My favourite thing about this 6 nations, though, has been Finn Russell playing brilliant rugby with a grin on his face. He looks like the only player in the whole tournament who is enjoying himself....

[Clacton-ammer]

Crazy game, but what a watch that was! Men against boys in both halves, I appreciate tackles were missed but both sides played some exhilarating rugby.

Wales much deserved, they are a strong outfit and as someone else pointed out, Wales make you play badly, but also have some very talented players. Saying all that, I would not swap our squad for theirs today, but we have a lot of learning to do.

Question for you rugby boys, excuse my poor rugby terminology - tackle made, ball & player on the floor shielding ball, defence/defender on feet hunched over trying to get a turnover, attackers come piling in to protect the ball, how the f*** does the defender not get a broken arm when they pile over???????? Is it through the skill of the attacker not hitting the lower arm and going higher??? Reason I ask, in the wales game, it looked like North is it? Had his wrist done in the above exact scenario.

[jacko]

Funny how George Ford showed the composure that Farrell lacked. he's had hardly any game time this year. He gets a lot of stick because people think Cipriani is better than him but I rate Ford. I don't think Jones has used his bench very well at all this year. Strange move to leave Big Joe out of the squad as he could have really made an impact coming on for the last 30. Some of the missed tackles in that second half are unreal. There were about 5 players trying to bring down Johnson for the try that gave them the lead and he didn't even have to do a lot to avoid them.

The defence was a joke. That needs sorting.

[Patito]

That early try made all the difference , that and an inconsistent Ref - everything went Wales' way , nothing to do with Ireland throwing anything .

We all knew it was going to be Wales' day once you went over for that early try. You didn't give Ireland a sniff, well done Wales, fully deserved. I just hope England's capitulation is a pre-World Cup wake up call.

[jacko]

If England had a leader like Alan Wyn Jones then I think we'd be unbeatable. All credit to Wales. They fully deserved it.

[DasNutNock]

Congrats to Saracens for bossing Europe again. Thought Leinster were going to do them, but when Sarries reeled them in at half time, then exploded into life in the second half was truly awesome.

[3times]

Congrats to Saracens for bossing Europe again. Thought Leinster were going to do them, but when Sarries reeled them in at half time, then exploded into life in the second half was truly awesome.

Thought it was a great game. So physical and yet not that many penalties. Best team won but like you I thought the micks were going to do it when they went 10 up but Sarries do what they do and just up their game.

[Rio]

Gripping and at times brutal game. Fantastic spirit shown by Sarries. Thought when Itoje got his yellow Leinster would turn the screw enough to seal the game. Some immense performances in there. I know Barrit was official man of the match but Kruis for me was the pick. Some amazing defensive work.

3 times European champions is an amazing achievement for my rugby team

[WestHamIFC]

I'm hoping my Chiefs get to meet Sarries again in the Prem Final and exact revenge for last year, but have to admit that performance v Leinster was just scary!
#COYC

[Eggchaser]

Congrats to Saracens for bossing Europe again. Thought Leinster were going to do them, but when Sarries reeled them in at half time, then exploded into life in the second half was truly awesome.

Excellent 2nd half, Leinster were never really in it other than one period early on when Sarries defended brilliantly.

[snooperpooper]

I went up to The Toon to watch this, Sarries were immense, I was sitting next to some Dub-Heads and they were panicking before the game, then when they started getting their nose in front they got all loud (in a nice way). f*** me didn't they go quiet when we got them back before half time.

Handshakes all round at the end, they recognised we were the best team but we did agree we'd see each other in Marseille next year at the final.

Great time in Newcastle as ever, great people and night out and I got to sit in level 7 of St James', fantastic stadium...enough said.

BTW - it's nice to support a team that dominates all before them and wins trophies!!!!!!

[Toulouse_Iron]

BTW - it's nice to support a team that dominates all before them and wins trophies!!!!!!

As a Toulouse supporter, I have to say it does make a change to win things! We are currently guaranteed to make the semis in the league with 3 games to spare. Top of the table, having lost only 3 league matches all season....
Yesterday was basically a nothing match for us against Bordeaux-Bègles and it showed in the first half: we were 36-7 down at the break.
Hooked 3 players at half time and came back to win 36-43.

We will be a force to be reckoned with next season in Europe. You have been warned, Sarries!