Ireland v Italy = √ - Awful game
England v Wales = x - AWJ trip yellow carded leave Wales a mountain to climb
Scotland v France = √ - France in almost total control
Wales v Scotland = √ - Scotland blew it with indiscipline in the last few minutes, 2 Yellow Cards
France v Ireland = √ - France overwhelm Ireland with another awesome display
Italy v England = √ - A poor quality England struggle against Italy
Wales v France = √ - A few early errors left Wales with a mountain to climb.
Italy v Scotland = x - Andy Robinson must be spitting feathers
England v Ireland = √ - From the moment O'Gara came on the result was never in doubt, pragmatic kicking gave the Irish the necessary field position
Ireland v Wales = √ - Just not good enough and another silly yellow, this time Lee Byrne
Scotland v England = x - a draw so near but it was dross v dross
France v Italy = √ - Italy duly disposed of
Wales v Italy = √ - Wales won a must win to maintain any credibility after a disappointing 6N
Ireland v Scotland = x - Magnificient performance from the Scots in what turned out to be the thriller of the tournament
France v England = √ - France offered little sparkle but did enough to win Le Grande Chelem
My prediction = France 5 wins; Ireland 4 wins; Wales 3 wins; Scotland 2 wins; England 1 win; Italy 0 wins.
The reality = France 5 wins 10 points; Ireland 3 wins 6 points; England 2 wins 1 draw 5 points; Wales 2 wins 4 points; Scotland 1 win 1 draw 3 points; Italy 1 win 2 points.
Following Cardiff RFC all over from sunny Bournemouth in Blue and Black
From what I've seen so far Italy seems about right!
Dreadfully disappointed, England didn't play that well and we imploded.
AWJ trip yellow carded gave England the lead which we never really looked like overturning
Gareth Cooper was disappointing, might have been better if Richie Rees had started
That was a very limited England side who only created anything against fourteen men. They lacked any penetration behind and I thought Flood and Armitage were very poor. We bossed the scrum but were a shambles in the lineout and missed Phillips (or Peel) very badly. As for AWJ that was really stupid, straight in front of the referee. Unlike Brian Moore I did not think Mr Rolland had a very good game, though this didn't influence the result.
Just a thought, I'm probalby wrong, but when England scored their first try from a ruck, from the overhead camera, didn't Lewis Moody (I think) enter from the side to assist the retention of the ball? Therefore a penalty for Wales, not a try and conversion for England. ATTR you'll probably be the best to answer that.
When watching, through my beer glass, I thought the same thing.
Hands OFF
Mmm, a very sober ref then, I would have thought at least a pair of beer glasses were needed to watch that match, unless of course you have a GIANT beer glass like certain people here
France still looking on target for a Grand Slam, can anyone stop the juggernaut hurtling towards a 2010 Grand Slam ?
The Scots are looking good, Andy Robinson has stiffened their defence, they will be looking for a result against England, they should deal with the Italian challenge OK.
So far there seems to be only one side playing rugby.
FRANCE.
Only a brainfart from them can stop it being LE GRANDE SLAM
I certainly didn't expect Italy to win but can anyone stop le juggernaut francais ?
They look beatable but they just seem to do enough to get the win.
I thought that whilst France defended really well, presumably after analysing our one dimensional approach to the game, they offered absolutely nothing in attack. I can't remember them coming close to our line. They will have to play better against the Saes because a few Parra penalties will not out trump Mr Wilko.
Gatland, Edwards and Howley need to ensure the players have a plan B when they go on the field because this year, just like last year, we have not had one.
On the plus side, well played Richie and Bradley.
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us Helpless, helpless, helpless
So only England left in the way of Le Grand Slam !
France very lucky to win the Grand Slam after that rather poor performance but Scotland finally delivered a good performance in what had to be the match of the championship.
Dates for the 2011 Six Nations will probably be announced about the 5th of April
Wales at home to England & Ireland next year.