Great post Chaz I genuinely believe that England affectively lost two years under Lancaster. It's easy to say that now I know especially with the benefit of hindsight. I said two years ago that England had unearthed several young gems and that I expected England to grow and dominate the six nations. In many ways Ireland got a few handy championships. Lady Luck was definitely on our side. If Jones manages to develop a more expanses game with less ball handling errors I can see England going to the next level. All the ingredients are there. I still think it will take Jones a few years as the fitness levels required to play his high tempo style will take time
Only a few days to the next round of the Six Nations with an exciting round of fixtures ahead. A resurgent France face a tough away visit to Cardiff where I think they will become unstuck against this experienced Welsh side. France are notoriously poor travellers and it will be very interesting to see if Noves can add a bit of steel to this French squad. Had hoped that Gatland would unleash the kraken this year but Wales despite having a hugely talented back line are boringly predictable. Wales to win. Scotland travel to Rome looking to avoid this years wooden spoon. Italy have looked good in spurts but consistency over 80 minutes still eludes them. Scotland are making steady progress under Cotter and have unearthed some exciting young players. I think they'll cause a stir during the autumn internationals and possibly in next years six nations. Scotland to win in a tightly fought match. I'm very apprehensive about the England V Ireland match. With a full strength squad, I'd expect a tight match going right to the last kick. Ireland are decimated with injuries and the squad depth just isn't there. Ireland are a ruthlessly efficient team, reliant on a high pressure game with minimum ball handling errors. With our first choice players this has been executed brilliantly under Schmidt. Horrible to watch but ultra efficient. The loss to Argentina in the WC exposed the lack of depth in this squad and the shortcomings of our second string. Yet Irish organisation and pride still managed a draw against Wales and a marginal 1pt loss to France in Paris with what can only be described as an incompetent ref. Yet despite the ridiculous injuries (missing 9 of first choice 15) Irish players will not lie down easily on English soil. It will be very interesting to watch how this English team develops under Jones. The talent is there with a potentially devastating back line but how long will it be before England have the discipline and work rate he demands? That's what will take time. This match will be won and lost in two areas. Ireland have easily handled the English scrum in recent years but not this Saturday. Missing five of their front eight, Ireland will struggle to match the English scrum and I expect plenty of English penalties in this area. The second area of concern is Mike Browns counter attacking. Ireland will boringly kick away possession and if Brown has a good day, he will see plenty of the ball. Browns only weakness is that sometimes his adrenaline takes over and he counter attacks into places that leave him isolated. If he can address this he will nail down the full back position in the next lions tour. England by 7-10.
One thing I've picked up over the first two England matches is that the discipline has shown definite improvement. This has been the single most frustrating area for an england fan over the past four years. Every time we take a slender lead and look to consolidate, stupid mistakes open the door for our opponents time and time again. Against Italy and Scotland, we didn't do that anywhere near as much. If we can continue that against the Irish we should edge the game. for me that's the key. Our points advantage over the Italians means that margin of victry is, for engfland, less important than securing the win. The other key match this weekend is obviously Wales and France. With France having the only other 100% record but a far inferior points difference, a Wales victory or even a narrow French win would best suit England - unless we can hope for another tie? France really need to start clawing back some points after the narrow victories they have had against Italy and Ireland.
I don't think this years championship will be decided by points unlike the last two. I think the direct head to head games between England V Wales and England V France will decide who wins the championship. I think Wales only getting a draw in Dublin may look a poor result for them at the end of it all.
Even with their injuries, I expect Ireland to be a bit too canny for this inexperienced England side. Put that together with how hard Ireland will fight on English soil and I expect Ireland to take it by around 7 points.
Here we go, rugby weekend kicks off soon... Wales - France - a good game will be enough for me, but the Welsh should win and crush French confidence. Nuts is right, Ireland are a dull team with no strength in depth, and their recent wins were lucky as Lancaster undermined the mighty England. Ireland win by 7 points. Italy - Scotland - Forza Italia!
With the quality of players they have it's baffling that the Welsh have only a couple of title wins in the past seven years, is it their tactics? You always feel they are good enough to do a lot better and I just wonder if the French might have enough to surprise them tonight, they've had two uninspiring lucky squeaks so far but that might just give them the impetus to get something tonight and set up a title-decider against England on the final weekend... I'll go for France, England and Scotland this weekend...
The scrum in this game is horrible, not helped by the (English) ref taking about 20 minutes to get each one set up. France on the scorecard after the only decent passage of play in the match. Ref nearly missed the blatant penalty from 2 yards away. He really is poor.
The scrum should be a means of re- starting the game. Too many refs are too pedantic and slow down the engagement too much....... Yet another "Wayne Barnes Show"..........
Referee Barnes is having a nightmare!! Sooooooo ****ing tedious with the scrum. The French look pretty poor, although they are defending well. I'd expect Wales to pull away in the 2nd half.
Scrums are a mess, there must be more time lost at the scrums than any other part of the game, why don't they stop the clock until they are set and the ball ready to go in? France will be delighted to go in only 3 points down.......
