grahamc Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Didn't see much of the Scotland/Wales match unfortunately (stupid internet!) but saw enough of the final quarter to see that AGAIN Scotland were their own worst enemy! I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to be a Scot. 2 men down at the crucial juncture when you are leading by more than a try is suicide. France were impressive again, but I can't but feel they were flattered by a mistake-riddled Ireland side that had few ideas in attack. I keep wishing O'Gara will get dropped (in favour of Sexton) as Ronan is uninspiring, passive and generally clueless it seems in attack, and unconvincing and timid in defence (doesn't help that he's about 8 stone 3!). Irish look much better in attack with Sexton, and don't seem to lose much in tactical and goalkicking. Still not that impressed with Mr "I ate all the pies" Bastareaud. Felt bad for the Scottish fly-half when he was speaking to the presenter at the end, looked absolutely gutted!! Agree completely about O'Gara, hes got a good boot, but not much else, he got pushed out the way at one stage and just looked like he had no clue. I feel that the Irish were overrun by the French, which made them make all the mistakes.... Pure defensive (and offensive) pressure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I feel that the Irish were overrun by the French, which made them make all the mistakes.... Pure defensive (and offensive) pressure! Of course, there is a component of pressure that leads to mistakes - but in top flight rugby, you simply can't give the opposition easy ball... which happened too frequently with Irish dropping the restarts and giving away cheap possession (O'Gara's charged down chip comes to mind). And simple mistakes like professional fouls causing yellow cards are not acceptable, in my opinion - the points you "save" by fouling are usually lost and more during the time you're in the bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony tt Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 COME ON FRANCE!!! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Of course, there is a component of pressure that leads to mistakes - but in top flight rugby, you simply can't give the opposition easy ball... which happened too frequently with Irish dropping the restarts and giving away cheap possession (O'Gara's charged down chip comes to mind). And simple mistakes like professional fouls causing yellow cards are not acceptable, in my opinion - the points you "save" by fouling are usually lost and more during the time you're in the bin. completely agree... Scotland made the same mistake against Wales, a moment of stupidity = yellow card, Wales gets the moment and then another yellow card and game over for Scotland. That kick b O'Gara was silly... another silly mistake was the knock on from the mark by Evans(?) which resulted in a try by France. Its a slippery slope... sadly Irelands day just went from bad to worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 completely agree... Scotland made the same mistake against Wales, a moment of stupidity = yellow card, Wales gets the moment and then another yellow card and game over for Scotland. That kick b O'Gara was silly... another silly mistake was the knock on from the mark by Evans(?) which resulted in a try by France. Its a slippery slope... sadly Irelands day just went from bad to worse. Very true. I was also interested in the statistic that suggested that France would win this year's Six Nations purely because the Lions toured last year - essentially meaning the players in the best British Isles teams would be injured/fatigued/unfit, and therefore France would be strongest by default. (Apparently France have won every 6 Nations following a Lions tour) This is not to say that France DON'T have a good team, but Ireland and Wales are certainly on a hiding to nothing considering how many important members of their teams were injured in South Africe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Interesting stat What a poor game by England............... and life from Italy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Italy played well there, could have been a bit of a disaster for England (as if their poor performance wasn't bad enough). Roll on the Calcutta Cup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARTIN R Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 England WON thats all that matters:d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 England WON thats all that matters:d On paper yes, but we need to play possesion ball, cant score without ball in hand. HATE the kicking game:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted February 14, 2010 Author Share Posted February 14, 2010 On paper yes, but we need to play possesion ball, cant score without ball in hand. HATE the kicking game:( I agree. Kicking back and forth is an abysmal spectacle to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamc Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 I agree. Kicking back and forth is an abysmal spectacle to watch. cannot believe that the players do not understand the difference between good and bad kicking options. If they play that sort of game against the southern hemisphere teams, they will have their a$$e$ handed back to them, on plate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 cannot believe that the players do not understand the difference between good and bad kicking options. If they play that sort of game against the southern hemisphere teams, they will have their a$$e$ handed back to them, on plate! Yes. Yes they will What I'm struggling to understand is WHY, when you see Cueto and Monye and Flutey RUNNING and breaking tackles and creating space, do they think that kicking is a better option? Especially when they are rubbish at gaining an advantage from it?!? It was good to hear the commentary team banging on about it Italy looked great - much like Scotland, they are lacking the final finesse to finish their movements with tries but threatened numerous times out wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Well, not to flog a dead horse.. but England dead boring again. Unfortunately, evenly matched by Scotland's ineptitude in multiple phase retention. Ireland looked very fluid with some very well-worked moves (of course, BOD featured in each in a subtle yet technically important way) easily accounting for a hapless Wales team who seemingly have forgotten how to play rugby, or even believe that they can win against anyone. Bring on the World Cup, please.. I want some decent rugby to watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Some farcical refereeing there. How Cueto wasn't sin-binned I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTRickeh Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Scotland's ineptitude in multiple phase retention. Dan Parks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Some farcical refereeing there. How Cueto wasn't sin-binned I have no idea. To be fair, there should have been a few more sinbins from both sides. I too, along with the commentator, was getting frustrated with the front rows incorrect bindings and constant collapsing of the scrum. Dan Parks. Actually, mostly it was the rest of the backs that seemed to make bad decisions resulting in turnover ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 To be fair, there should have been a few more sinbins from both sides. I too, along with the commentator, was getting frustrated with the front rows incorrect bindings and constant collapsing of the scrum. Absolutely, but you can't say "next player to give a penalty gets sin-binned" and not follow through with it. It was weak refereeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTRickeh Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Actually, mostly it was the rest of the backs that seemed to make bad decisions resulting in turnover ball. Maybe, but it seems every time we get a bit of momentum Dan Parks decides to go for a drop goal or chip it over. I'm not saying those are bad things to do, but I don't agree with when or how often he does them. He's not a bad number 10 apart from that. There were some positive things to come away with (including a point!) from Scotland's performance today at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Absolutely, but you can't say "next player to give a penalty gets sin-binned" and not follow through with it. It was weak refereeing. Yeah, he wasn't my favourite ref, that's for sure. Perhaps a reason could be that he fell asleep during the game? Maybe, but it seems every time we get a bit of momentum Dan Parks decides to go for a drop goal or chip it over. I'm not saying those are bad things to do, but I don't agree with when or how often he does them. He's not a bad number 10 apart from that. There were some positive things to come away with (including a point!) from Scotland's performance today at least. Yeah, there were some pretty woeful dropgoal attempts. I think I could have done as well - and I can throw the ball further than I can kick it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTRickeh Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Not as bad as Sexton's conversion attempts though, he's not going to be happy with those! Just as well Ireland won anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdistc Posted March 13, 2010 Share Posted March 13, 2010 Yeah, Sexton was all over the shop. Still, I think Ireland look a million times more dangerous in attack (and more solid in defence, too) with him as flyhalf than O'Gara. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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