General Sports Thread

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tomw24 said:
You need to do a lot more than "put in a shift" to beat this Ireland side. From what I saw England were the better side for a lot of it. They didn't kick for territory which was joyous to see. Both sides went for it and I think the better team won on the day. Brilliant test match.
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I am a big Irish supporter, so I think you can be slightly forgiving for a bias. But I will agree that England were the better side.
 
Wales 0-11 Italy HT

Going forward, it’s hard to see how Wales can improve things in the short term. They have lost so many world class players in the last year or so, with no rising stars on the horizon. So far in this match, the only Wales player making any impact on the gain line is George North, and he retires after this game.
 
Wales score, a strange try where the player is successfully tackled short of the line but lifted and carries back over by the Italians.
 
Wales get a couple of tries and only lose by 21-24 but they have lost all 5 games for the first time since 2003.
 
Ireland beat Scotland 17-13 in a tense thriller and win the 6 Nations Championship as Zombie rings out in the Aviva Stadium.

England v France is now meaningless which might make it an entertaining game.
 
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Hell of a good second half, despite the score. England have looked so good when running the ball but not so good in defence although the last French try might not have happened if the England player hadn’t slipped up.
 
ChilcoSaint said:
Ford kicking the ball away once too often cost us the game.
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Start of second half we kept the ball in hand and looked like a “proper” team then once went ahead we seemed to revert to “old style England”, looking to kick for distance and giving the ball and momentum back to France.
Have to say that I have never been a fan of the kick offs, after a score, when the ball is effectively gifted to the team that has just scored, because (if I am correct) the ball has to be kicked at least 10 metres and puts the kicking team at a disadvantage.
Maybe the final kick off should have been kicked high enough to collect snow and give the England players time to get under it or force a knock on from a dropped catch.
Still enjoyed the game.
 
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San Tejón said:
Start of second half we kept the ball in hand and looked like a “proper” team then once went ahead we seemed to revert to “old style England”, looking to kick for distance and giving the ball and momentum back to France.
Have to say that I have never been a fan of the kick offs, after a score, when the ball is effectively gifted to the team that has just scored, because (if I am correct) the ball has to be kicked at least 10 metres and puts the kicking team at a disadvantage.
Maybe the final kick off should have been kicked high enough to collect snow and give the England players time to get under it or force a knock on from a dropped catch.
Still enjoyed the game.
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Having had a beer or two plus a glug of robust red pre match my neighbours had no doubt of my disagreement with the bootball tactic.
 
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San Tejón said:
Start of second half we kept the ball in hand and looked like a “proper” team then once went ahead we seemed to revert to “old style England”, looking to kick for distance and giving the ball and momentum back to France.
Have to say that I have never been a fan of the kick offs, after a score, when the ball is effectively gifted to the team that has just scored, because (if I am correct) the ball has to be kicked at least 10 metres and puts the kicking team at a disadvantage.
Maybe the final kick off should have been kicked high enough to collect snow and give the England players time to get under it or force a knock on from a dropped catch.
Still enjoyed the game.
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You take the lead with 5 minutes to go, keeping possession and going through the phases is the only sensible thing to do. Run the clock down, work your way slowly up the pitch until you get a penalty or maybe a drop goal opportunity.

Don’t, whatever you do, give up possession, but that’s exactly what Ford chose to do. Madness.
 
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ChilcoSaint said:
You take the lead with 5 minutes to go, keeping possession and going through the phases is the only sensible thing to do. Run the clock down, work your way slowly up the pitch until you get a penalty or maybe a drop goal opportunity.

Don’t, whatever you do, give up possession, but that’s exactly what Ford chose to do. Madness.
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Think you're being way too harsh. Ford was England's best player overall. The handling he showed for the go ahead try was outstanding and he nailed all his kicks. His game management was fine up until then. Even then, I don't think it was a horrendous call to make. He was backing England's defence which has generally been outstanding. From what I've heard it was a somewhat harsh penalty that won France the game. These things happen.
 
tomw24 said:
Think you're being way too harsh. Ford was England's best player overall. The handling he showed for the go ahead try was outstanding and he nailed all his kicks. His game management was fine up until then. Even then, I don't think it was a horrendous call to make. He was backing England's defence which has generally been outstanding. From what I've heard it was a somewhat harsh penalty that won France the game. These things happen.
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I agree entirely with your analysis of Ford’s contribution, and I am a huge fan of his. I championed his selection over Farrell for years, and don’t forget the last try wouldn’t have put England ahead unless he had nailed a very tricky conversion from the “wrong” side.

I just think there was a much greater chance of retaining possession and running down the clock by giving the ball to the forwards than by kicking the ball away. We’ll never know now, so it’s academic.
 
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