The Rugby Thread

Dorset_Boy

johngti said:

Dorset_Boy said:

Good game. Not sure the better side won, but the Wales scored 4 tries to 3.
Hogg's slip, and the break at the end .....

A wins a win! Scotland have been one of two form teams (France is the other IMO). Wales played better on both weekends than they did in the autumn though.

Very true, and momentum is a really big factor in the 6 Nations.

Pross

Actually a very good game of rugby second half. You'd never have known Scotland were a man down for 20 minutes and I thought Wales had thrown it away with poor place kicking but rode their luck and, combined with much improve defence, hung on. Wales looked far better after changing half backs, Biggar looks out of sorts at the moment. Rees-Zamitt is class, him and Adams will be a lethal combination.

As it stands I can't see beyond France for the championship but let's see how they get on against Ireland tomorrow.

johngti

Rees-Zammit’s chip and chase was pure bliss

orraloon

See what it is to be Scottish? Business as usual, close but... 🙁

Pross

johngti said:

Rees-Zammit’s chip and chase was pure bliss

And the clearance kick, the confidence of a youngster playing well. Two tries, an assist and that kick possibly clinched the game.

blazing_saddles

Before the match I thought we had zero chance.
Wales campaign so far: If you can't be good, be lucky.
England continued to look off colour, today too.
2 weeks time should be interesting.

pblakeney

Dorset_Boy said:

Good game. Not sure the better side won, but the Wales scored 4 tries to 3.
Hogg's slip, and the break at the end .....

...due to kicking into marked space in the last 3 minutes, a man down, in the opposition half when all you are looking for is a drop goal...stupid.

Dorset_Boy

pblakeney said:

Dorset_Boy said:

Good game. Not sure the better side won, but the Wales scored 4 tries to 3.
Hogg's slip, and the break at the end .....

...due to kicking into marked space in the last 3 minutes, a man down, in the opposition half when all you are looking for is a drop goal...stupid.

Yes, kicking possession away with less than 3 minutes left when you need a score, any score, to win, is plain dumb.

ddraver

Pross said:

Probably an upshot of the size of players and being banned from going in hard with a shoulder. I used to hate being the one over a ball like that you are vulnerable to any contact. I don't see rolling someone being much different to just being smashed. In either situation if your foot stays in one place and your body doesn't you have a problem.

Appears it actually is being taught. At junior level too!!

Post worth a read...

http://benryan.co.uk/the-crocodile-roll-and-the-need-for-action/

womack

Question probably for Pross as he seems to know a bit about rugby. No offence meant to any other rugby officianados.

In the first half a Scottish player kicked the ball, it bounced a few times, the Welsh player, Williams I think, watched I'd bobble into touch and Scotland got the throw in.

In the last couple of minutes when Zammit booted it upfield and it bounced a couple of times into touch Scotland again got the throw in.

Why is that?

Sorry I should add my rugby knowledge is minimal, just confused me, don't really watch rugby but the wife, Scottish, insisted we should sit and watch it together, me being Welsh I think she was thinking (pre game) it would be one of the few times at rugby she would have the "gloating rights"

pblakeney

In the first example Scotland must have had a penalty, giving them the throw in.
Standard in-play for the Welsh example.

kingstongraham

Pross said:

johngti said:

Rees-Zammit’s chip and chase was pure bliss

And the clearance kick, the confidence of a youngster playing well. Two tries, an assist and that kick possibly clinched the game.

He also won a penalty at a ruck looking like a 7. Worthy man of the match.

Pross

Can't recall the instances but the only time you retain possession from a kick to touch is from a full penalty so assume the Scottish example was from a penalty kick but it's unusual for it to then not go directly into touch. The only other possibility would be if it had touched a Welsh player before crossing the line.

womack

Thanks all for explanations.

Dorset_Boy

Ireland & France spent the first 30 minutes playing kick tennis.
Then France with 14 burst into life to score a great team try.

Good to see Luke Pearce putting his french lessons to good use.

Pross

Only just switched on so haven't seen his performance in this match but I like Luke Pearce as a ref. I watch club rugby with his uncle so I've heard about him as he was coming through the ranks.

Dorset_Boy

Pross said:

Only just switched on so haven't seen his performance in this match but I like Luke Pearce as a ref. I watch club rugby with his uncle so I've heard about him as he was coming through the ranks.

He's been very good from the start of his career and will be the best ref in the world soon.

Pross

Agreed, he's another like Owens that communicates well so even when he gets things wrong or the players disagree they accept it and get on with things.

Dorset_Boy

Nasty clash of heads between Healey and Henderson. Can't see either coming back on.

mrb123

Pross said:

Agreed, he's another like Owens that communicates well so even when he gets things wrong or the players disagree they accept it and get on with things.

Multi lingual too.

blazing_saddles

Not a great game. Far too many errors and aimless kicking.
With that France score a second to leave Ireland staring at a salvage operation for the remaining matches.

blazing_saddles

A petit cadeau for Ireland and a lifeline

ddraver

What is it with teams kicking the ball away in the last 5 mins now??

(Mind you both times it's "worked" so...)

Pross

Shaun Edwards defence at its finest there. Ireland with phase after phase in the final play but end up losing ground before getting turned over.

Pross

Surprised Henderson passed his HIA after listening to his interview. He sounded a bit dazed and confused.

Dorset_Boy

Tense finale, but not a great game. I think both sides had hacked Eddie's kick, kick, kick playbook!

blazing_saddles

The cancellation of the France v Scotland game has left the tournament in a bit of a mess as they look unlikely to find a suitable date this side of the Summer.
Also it takes away France's headache and hands it to Scotland, who are likely to lose players due to club commitments.

kingstongraham

blazing_saddles said:

The cancellation of the France v Scotland game has left the tournament in a bit of a mess as they look unlikely to find a suitable date this side of the Summer.
Also it takes away France's headache and hands it to Scotland, who are likely to lose players due to club commitments.

Should just be declared a Scotland bonus point win.

Pross

kingstongraham said:

blazing_saddles said:

The cancellation of the France v Scotland game has left the tournament in a bit of a mess as they look unlikely to find a suitable date this side of the Summer.
Also it takes away France's headache and hands it to Scotland, who are likely to lose players due to club commitments.

Should just be declared a Scotland bonus point win.

Agree with this apart from the BP. There should have been a rule at the start that if you fail to field a team due to Covid you forfeit the win. There's no reason why the virus should get into the team if they operate within a biosecure bubble for the duration.

Dorset_Boy

Rumour is that it was Fabien Galthie who broke the bubble.

They could have looked to postpone by one week as it's a fallow weekend, and made that decision by Tuesday lunchtime.
Scotland could have then released their players back to the English clubs for this weekend on the proviso the English clubs then released them back again for the revised date.

Given that Scotland and Wales have players moving in and out of their bubbles, I think the French have been unlucky, but the tournament rules should have been crystal clear about what would happen in this situation, afterall they've only had 10 months to realise this was a possibility.