Rugby

[firehazard]

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Good luck everybody should be some good games this weekend, i am very nervous about Fiji!
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I think you'll be fine. England v SA is too hard to call, with a likely SA backlash after last Saturday.
Am wondering if I'm alone in thinking, looking at the teams, that a fired-up Scotland might just have a chance against the XV the All Blacks have put out...?

[Welshie]

Oooh Scotland beating the All Blacks would be great, but would also guarantee Wales will not win next week!
Cheers
Aled

[firehazard]

Oooh Scotland beating the All Blacks would be great, but would also guarantee Wales will not win next week!
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It would also do serious damage to my fantasy league team...

I just have a strange feeling that NZ may have underestimated a newly fired-up Scotland in picking a largely second string team, and they could just do something remarkable. Having said that, NZ's second string would probably be most other nations' first XV. And Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are virtually a team in themselves. So it's probably nonsense.

[firehazard]

When Laidlaw lined up a very kickable penalty at 16-17 with about 15(?) minutes to go, I thought there was a chance Scotland might do it, at last. Well done to them for running NZ close.

Hope your boy enjoyed his trip to the Wales match, Aled, but from the TV coverage it looked a pretty grim affair.

England remain deeply frustrating and nowhere near as good as they should be. Flattered by a 3-point loss.

If I were a betting man, I'd be putting money on Ireland for the 6 Nations.

[Welshie]

Well i enjoyed the Scotland game very much and yep that missed penalty was a turning point.
My son seemed to enjoy himself, but he's not a great lover of crowds or sport for that matter! Hey ho. not the best of gmaes to watch, although i de believe the ref made one wrong call!
England only seen highlights i'm afraid, so cant comment. Ireland beat Goergia, but France beat Australia!
Its all a bit topsy turvey. The only thing i'm sure about, we will get hammered on Saturday!
Cheers
Aled

[firehazard]

England not playing exactly badly, and in both of the last two home matches they've had a very good 10-15 minutes, but they can't seem to keep it up for anything like a whole 80 minutes. The pack's actually performing pretty well, but the backs (apart from Jonny May's try in the first few minutes against NZ) lack a creative edge, and Farrell at 10 shows no real sign of working at the moment.

I imagine there'll be a few changes for the Samoa game. Need to try something different.

[Welshie]

Yep lots to look forward to FH! Wales have brought back Johnathon Davies at centre which is a massive risk. He aint played much rugby recently!
Cheers
Aled

[Niall]

Ire land - Australia on Saturday. Hopefully we can get another win to end a wonderful year

[firehazard]

Ire land - Australia on Saturday. Hopefully we can get another win to end a wonderful year

Should be a cracker, and I reckon Ireland will get another win. They're looking in fine form with RWC less than a year away.

[Niall]

Just hope we are not hitting form too early

[firehazard]

Just hope we are not hitting form too early

Well, a year out from RWC and Ireland look to have the basis of a settled team, and appear to have found centres to fill BOD's boots. And the second string performed very well against Georgia, so there's a good squad.

If they win Pool D - which they probably should, unless France manage to get a team together and on form - then they'll almost certainly face Argentina in the QF. I'd be backing Ireland to get to the SF at least, possibly further. But they do need to win the group, to avoid facing NZ in the QF.

[Welshie]

Yep I too reckon Eire will beat Aus on Saturday. If Wales had a Johnny Sexton, i'd of fancied our chances!
Boy we could do with a quality OH! England, NZ (sadly), Scotland, to win as well.
Anyway enjoy it all, i'll be at the rugby club with a beer in my had by 5.05pm!
Cheers
Aled

[firehazard]

Scotland are looking surprisingly good at the moment - Vern Cotter seems to be doing a good job with them.

As is Jo Schmidt with Ireland. It's a real shame that NZ don't have a game in Dublin this autumn. That would be worth seeing.

Let's hope for a weekend of great rugby.

[firehazard]

Well, I thought Wales might just do it when the score was 16-15. Went to get a drink, and by the time I got back it was 16-29. All Blacks are awesome when they need to turn it on.

Another great result for Ireland, did well to hold on when Australia came back so strongly. Still wish Ireland had a match against NZ this autumn.

England had good moments but far too many mistakes. If they'd've been playing a Tier 1 nation they'd've lost again. But great moment of solidarity with the Samoan players after the game, showing the true spirit of rugby.

Didn't expect Argentina to beat France...

[Welshie]

Congratulations England a great win, and well done Wales, shows that on occasions we can win ugly and that victory is a massive monkey off our backs.
H Cup, local club rugby, Christmas dry January, and a 6 Nations!
Cheers
Aled