Six Nations

[BoyBrumby]

I think Charlie may possibly offer more attacking-wise than Jonny, he has a better pass & side-step, but his kicking is just a liability at test level. Ollie Barkley kicks for Bath, so I think it's quixotic sticking with Hodgson for place kicks.

Sad to see more of our players go down with injuries, especially with The Lions squad due to be announced shortly. Gotta be honest & say The Lions XV won't be the England/Ireland carve up I predicted. On current form you'd have to have @ least six Taffs in there (Martyn Williams, Michael Owen, Dwayne Peel, Stephen Jones, Gavin Hairgel & Shane Williams) & arguable shouts for another couple too (Mefin Davies @ hooker & Brent ****bain @ lock).

 

[Scaly piscine]

I feel I should point out a phenomenon even more rare than Wales winning the Grand Slam, Thompson only threw the ball to the invisible man once today and according to the BBC England didn't lose a single line-out on their own throw. Amazing.

 

[superkingdave]

yes he was miles better today than i've seen him in a while, the lineout looked solid today

 

[Tim]

Is it a good thing for the Lions that Wales won the Grand slam?

 

[Piper]

Is it a good thing for the Lions that Wales won the Grand slam?

Maybe not a good thing for the All Blacks but a good thing for the Lions

 

[Tim]

You've seen what Wales play like in NZ, only England a few seasons ago have ever done any good in NZ..all the European teams here usually get thumped. I reckon we'll win comfortably.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Is it a good thing for the Lions that Wales won the Grand slam?

Nah!

Seriously tho, TBF the Welsh pushed you blokes pretty close in our autumn (losing by a point IIRC) so they've shown they can compete with the big boys too. I think a strong England woulda been better (we've had really rotten luck with injuries, Kay, Balshaw & Moody all went off today to add to the list) & I'm not saying that just as an Englishman! I honestly can't recall a British team who wasn't us beating you.

 

[marc71178]

I feel I should point out a phenomenon even more rare than Wales winning the Grand Slam, Thompson only threw the ball to the invisible man once today and according to the BBC England didn't lose a single line-out on their own throw. Amazing.

I noticed that as well, am shocked by it to be honest!

 

[marc71178]

I think a strong England woulda been better (we've had really rotten luck with injuries, Kay, Balshaw & Moody all went off today to add to the list) & I'm not saying that just as an Englishman! I honestly can't recall a British team who wasn't us beating you.

To be honest I think the talk of England's demise is a huge over-reaction.

3 losses by a combined total of 10 points (and the heaviest one owed a lot to the refereeing by all accounts) isn't as bad as some like to think.

 

[Tim]

Im not convinced though that if England toured NZ & Australia this season that it would only be a 10 point difference.

 

[BoyBrumby]

To be honest I think the talk of England's demise is a huge over-reaction.

3 losses by a combined total of 10 points (and the heaviest one owed a lot to the refereeing by all accounts) isn't as bad as some like to think.

No, I totally agree (& it's 9 points, BTW or 11 if you include our defeat by The Crims before the 6 Nations).

It's just frustrating to know if we'd have Sir Jonny or Sir Jonno in our team we'd probably have won all 4! What is annoying is that we've lost our aura of invincibilty we had only a couple of years ago. We played terribly on occasion & still won games thanks to Jonny's points or Jonno's bloody-minded force of will.

Trouble is I think we'd need both to win in the land of the long white cloud.

 

[Blaze]

Ironic how O'Gara was whining about/to the referee, bet he wasn't whining when the ref handed them a victory against England.

Not really.. most players will whine to a referee if they feel their team is getting unfairly treated.. and I am yet to seea player complain when their side are getting the rub of the green

 

[Smudge]

No, I totally agree (& it's 9 points, BTW or 11 if you include our defeat by The Crims before the 6 Nations).

It's just frustrating to know if we'd have Sir Jonny or Sir Jonno in our team we'd probably have won all 4! What is annoying is that we've lost our aura of invincibilty we had only a couple of years ago. We played terribly on occasion & still won games thanks to Jonny's points or Jonno's bloody-minded force of will.

Trouble is I think we'd need both to win in the land of the long white cloud.

You really think Wilkinson would have made the difference in those matches? That's stretching it at best.

 

[Scaly piscine]

You really think Wilkinson would have made the difference in those matches? That's stretching it at best.

It's not remotely stretching it, the margins were very small and there were plenty of kicks missed by England. That's without guessing at how many drop goals he might have scored as well.

 

[marc71178]

You really think Wilkinson would have made the difference in those matches? That's stretching it at best.

If he'd been there I dare say the Eng;and gameplan would've changed.

 

[Tim]

As a goal kicker, Wilkinson is the best in the world...as a play-maker, I think he's average at best.

Currently though, i'd consider him as the World best 5/8..but it won't be long before he's over-taken by Dan Carter & Matt Giteau IMO.

 

[Blaze]

Dan Carter and Matt Giteau are playmakers.. something Wilkonson is not very good at

They both are far better attacking players and their kicking will develop ( Carters is pretty good at the moment anyway )

By 2007 Wilkonson will be at least the 3rd if not 4th or 5th best fly half in the world

 

[Tim]

The thing about Carter & Giteau is that they're both outstanding goal-kickers already..Carter in particular..plus they are extremely good at running into gaps & also putting their team-mates into space.

Wilkinson is solid in that area, he's certainly not rubbish but I think there is a new breed of 5/8's coming through & I think he's going to be left behind.

 

[Somerset]

Dan Carter and Matt Giteau are playmakers.. something Wilkonson is not very good at

They both are far better attacking players and their kicking will develop ( Carters is pretty good at the moment anyway )

By 2007 Wilkonson will be at least the 3rd if not 4th or 5th best fly half in the world

That's if Wilkinson's still playing in 2007 of course. Carter and Giteau are more than likely to be around and heading to France but with the way Wilkinson's going injury-wise with his fragile state, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't make it TBH.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Thought I'd dig this up as the whole shebang is about to start again.

Personally I can't see past France this year, for me they're up there challenging SA for the title of second best team in the world just now (NZ clearly head & shoulders ahead of the pack) &, crucially, we have to go to gay Paris this year. From memory we've won once there (2000) in ten years.

Wales are going to struggle, they've had a bad trot with injuries & there was the slightest hint of the fluke about last year. Ireland look to have found some half-decent young backs & there seems to be even an air of optimism up in Sweatyland.

As for Albion, well I think we'll again assume our position of dominance over the Celts & will obviously beat the Argie/SA select XV that trade under "Italy", but I can't se our ten-man game (judging by our mooted centre pairing, Noon & Tindall, we've given up on the expansive game completely once again) being enough for a team with a pack that can go toe-to-toe with us (ie France).

My finishing positions:

France (Slam)
England
Ireland
Wales
Scotland
Italy