Ireland will have to refuse to lose!

 

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The rugby is about to get real this Saturday, with the arrival of 6 nations Championships Wales. Scotland was Scotland, but the rugby is now about to hit the fan. The Welsh have the equivalent of a panzer division in the back line - Alex Cuthbert 6' 6", 106 kg (16 st 9 lb), Jamie Roberts  6' 4"  110 kg (17 st 4 lb)  , and George North 6' 4" 108 kg (17 st 0 lb). And their pack is ok too. We at least have Paul O’Connell back, and D’Arcy restored at centre, not that Marshall didn’t play well, but when it works there’s still a bit of magic between O’Driscoll and D’Arcy, who must be finishing each other’s sentences at this stage.

It’s going to be a tough match. Never mind tactics, never mind size disparities, the only thing that’s going to win this match is attitude, to refuse to take any steps back, to refuse to lose basically, and attack at every opportunity. We can do it, we will do it!

Ireland Wales is really the match of the weekend. Scotland’s home advantage and their poor showing last weekend should be the kpick in the pants they needed to up their game. And which Scottish team isn’t  going to up their game for the English anyway? England, meanwhile, will be thoroughly peed off at having let the French match slip between their fingers, and will be aiming to take it out on the Scots. I expect it to be brutal and not particularly skilful, but a good game nonetheless, with England taking the points.

Finally, France entertains Italy, with a score to settle from last year.  Their loss to Italy in the opening 2013 set up a totally forgettable year for them, with a win over Scotland and a draw against Ireland all they had to show.  I imagine they’ll start like a house on fire, then lose interest and finish flat, but get the win.

RBS Six Nations
Saturday , February 8
Ireland vs Wales 14:30
Scotland vs England 17:00
Sunday , February 9
France vs Italy 15:00

Ireland winning the 6 Nations so far!

 

 (http://bit.ly/1fziRKn)

Wales got their championship off on the right foot with a win over Italy. They won’t be breaking out the champagne over their performance, there wasn’t ever any danger they were going to lose it, but they obviously found it difficult to get motivated for the match. Italy were pretty solid apart from a few schoolboy errors, but still don’t have much apart from a great pack, and may have profited from an obligatory forward pass. It wouldn’t be a proper test without a TMO controversy!

France England was the match of the weekend, in a match which seesawed back and forth. There’s a lot of raw talent out there for both sides, lots of passion, but not too much structure or precision. I really thought England would hang on for the win, they won the second half, and led up until France’s smash and grab try, but the French win sets up the tournament nicely.

Finally, Ireland racked up a comfortable win over a game Scotland. ‘Game’ is surely not enough for Scottish supporters at this stage, all Ireland had to do was be patient, and take their chances when they came. Ireland’s pack looks in top shape, even without Paul O’Connell, and 1-15, had a good days outing. They are going to have to play a lot better to beat Wales, but they can do that too. At the moment, we're winning the 6N on points! Few matches to go though.

RBS Six Nations
Wales 23 - 15 Italy 
France 26 - 24 England
Ireland 28 - 6 Scotland

Cheap and cheerful 6 Nations guide - with a surprise tip for Ireland!

 

Here’s my cheap and cheerful form guide for the 6N! WARNING! I wouldn’t put your house on my predictions

England
Second last year, they have a juggernaut pack, and a deadly place kicker.  Apart from that, the backline is a work in progress. I think they are still being baked in the kiln right now, I think they’ll finish 3rd

France
They came last year – last! They have the biggest money league in the world – so many good players they don’t know who to leave out, but they  don’t know who to pick either. I think they’ll do better this year, but finish fourth. And first up at home, they’ll beat England this weekend.

Italy
They came 4th last year, but diabolical performances from France and Ireland helped that a lot. Not much has changed, except they’re getting older, I’m backing them for 6th

Ireland
Joe Schmidt is out secret weapon. We have injury worries, but the right coach – there are a few old codgers like BOD, D’Arcy and POC that are retiring or one injury way from the end. They’ll want to go out on a bang, so I’m being bullish and going for  first place, on points difference. We’ll beat Scotland this weekend – I think they’ll catch the backlash of our loss to New Zealand.

Scotland
Third last year, but at the end of the day, they have only two teams to pick from – they are going to be game, but limited and finish 5th

Wales
Going for a triple crown of wins. But Welsh rugby is in bits – players are leaving, and the fans aren’t happy, players are staying, and the fans aren’t happy, everybody is blaming everybody else. They have awesome players, are bit suspect at 10 and also at 9 now, so I’m going second for them. They’ll comfortably beat Italy this weekend.

RBS Six Nations
Saturday , February 1
Wales vs Italy 14:30
France vs England 17:00
Sunday , February 2
Ireland vs Scotland 15:00

The Hounds chew up the Saxons!

 

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The Irish Wolfhounds picked up a decent little win against the English Saxons at Welford Rd on Saturday. Ireland had a lot more experience than their hosts, but at home, with the depth that English rugby has to offer, I was still expecting England to probably win.

The Saxons, however, looked flat – Freddie Burns had a match to forget, and they had no penetration, against a superbly well organised Irish defense. They were out muscled in the scrum, and all England had to show for their efforts was a lot of ball, a lot of territory, a penalty, and a gift of a try. Boss was totally in command of the game, and behind him Madigan ran a tidy game. Boss scored an embarrasingly easytry, and then Madigan, who’s lethal from 5m out, added his own – he could run through a steel door at that distance.

The only thing Madigan needs to work on is his territorial play – he should have kept Ireland down in the Saxons 25 with the wind behind him in the first half. Apart from that, him and Boss were a class above Keatley and Marmion, who in the last 2 minutes each gave the Saxons pressure free ball to gave the watertight Irish defense another frenzied workout.

The pack was as solid as a rock, the tight five effective and physical, and the loose trio cleaned up the Saxons at the break down. That pack could be the Ireland pack one day. I thought Henshaw really looked the part of an international, and Fergus Mc Fadden is just invaluable for his speed of decision and deftness of touch

For the Saxons, Joe Simpson was the standout player.

International Match
Saturday , January 25
England Saxons 8 - 14 Irish Wolfhounds

All you ever wanted to know about the Saxons v the Wolfhounds but were afraid to ask

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It’s an interesting and strong looking team that’s been picked for the Irish Wolfhounds match against the English Saxons. Rhys Ruddock captains, and it’s composed of fringe Irish players, up and comers, and a few old stalwarts for the experience.

Of the starters, I’d put Boss, Tuohy and McFadden in the old stalwarts section – good players but who don’t seem to be in Ireland’s immediate plans. Tuohy would be the most aggrieved that he’s not in the ‘big’ squad.  Of the up and comers, Rob Herring, TOD, Copeland, Marmion and Jordi are the ones I’m hoping get some good profile from the match.  I’d say that McGrath, Zebo and Jordi are on the bench because they may feature in the Ireland’s plans for next week.

England also have a strong looking team, and I’m looking forward to the match, they tend to be a bit less polished because the players don’t know each other as well, but none less exciting for that.

The match is at 5.00pm on Saturday at Kingsholme, and will be shown on Sky Sports.

Irish Wolfhounds: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Martin Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 David Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Simon Zebo.

England Saxons: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Dave Ewers, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Calum Clark (c), 5 George Kruis, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Tom Mercey, 2 Jamie George, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Sam Dickinson, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Rob Miller

Three out of four ain't bad...

 

 (http://bit.ly/1bbGBiG)

All the maths has been done, and all the quarter finalists sorted out for the HC and the AMC. Not by me, I was watching. And here they are, three Irish, three French and two English:

Ulster v Saracens
Clermont v Leicester
Toulon v Leinster
Munster v Toulouse
Semi-final Draw:
Ulster-Saracens v Clermont-Leicester
Toulon-Leinster v Munster-Toulouse

The Friday night matches were pretty poor, which is what you get with a 5 day turnaround. Leinster had an easy run in once Evans was red carded, but looked anything but sharp, except in patches. Luke Fitzgerald continues to impress, Healy was great, and with a best of rest and practice, they are going to give Toulon a good game.

I didn’t see the Connacht match, which is just as well as they got pretty comprehensively hammered by Saracens. Can’t take that away win over Toulouse from them though.

Ulster went to Welford Road looking for a win, played Leicester at their own grinding game, and got the result! The Tigers were shipping injuries all over the place, and Ulster seem to have more quality on the bench than they do these days.  They have a lot of injuries in the backs, but even their forwards don’t seem to have the physicality that the Tigers have always had. For Ulster, Chris Henry made his Ireland credentials clear, Rory Best is total performer, and Roger Wilson is an unsung hero. Meanwhile, Ruan Pienaar put in force 10.0 performance on the superlomometer, scoring all their points. One of the best players in Europe.

So on Sunday it was left to Munster to wrap things Ireland, which they did in style, with a hard edged performance that got them the bonus point, and a home quarter. Tommy O'Donnell is a workhorse who quietly puts in the hard yards, and should be getting higher recognition soon. Paul O’Connell was himself. Coughlan was industrious, and the stand out cameo was from Zebo, a man with time on ball. He needs to be parachuted back into the Irish team ASAP.

At one stage it was shaping up to be a Munster Leinster tie, but that all changed with Clermonts bonus point. Toulouse at home will be massive, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Munster yet.

Heineken Cup
Friday , January 17
Northampton 13 - 3 Castres 
Leinster 36 - 3 Ospreys 
Saturday , January 18
Saracens 64 - 6 Connacht 
Zebre 6 - 16 Toulouse 
Glasgow 8 - 15 Toulon 
Montpellier 24 - 6 Benetton Treviso 
Leicester 19 - 22 Ulster 
Cardiff Blues 13 - 19 Exeter 
Sunday , January 19
Perpignan 18 - 36 Gloucester 
Munster 38 - 6 Edinburgh 
Scarlets 20 - 22 Harlequins 
Clermont Auvergne 28 - 3 Racing Metro 92

Heineken Cup - enjoy it while you've got it!

 

 (picture  http://bit.ly/1j34ePP)

How quickly do the weeks roll around, it’s ALREADY time for the last round of the Heineken Cup matches, on frankly what could be the last Heineken Cup ever. Heineken may get fecked off with all the faffing about that’s going on about a tournament, so that when some agreement is finally all hammered out, first item will be a new sponsor. At the moment, the likelihood of a new European cup in 2014/2015 looks dimmer all the time. So enjoy it while you’ve got it!

Leinster’s group will get sorted out on Friday night. They’ve named a strong team, and have Ricardt Strauss on the bench which is great news. The Ospreys look like they have a strong pack, but are lot more inexperienced in their backs, still filled with talented players all the same. Leinster spent half of last week playing in ladyboy style, and half in ferocious attacking finishing mode. They are going to need to rediscover the inner man, get stuck in, and then finish in style. I can’t see them getting a better placing than 5th or 6th, and will win but without a bonus point.

Connacht have to go to Saracens for their last match. They tend to pull off big wins every year, but generally earlier in the season when they are still underrated and the opposition is in their comfort zone. Saracens are forewarned and forearmed, so hard to  see anything but a Saracens victory.

Ulster Leicester is a bit of a strange one. Both teams are qualified, so it’s position they are jockeying for. Ulster are the only unbeaten team in the tournament, but Welford Road is a huge challenge. However, this is
Ulster’s fourth qualification in a row, they have the experience now, and it’s a team they’d particularly like to beat. I see them digging very deep for this one, and getting it!

Munster are going to wrap things up for Ireland  with their match against Edinburgh on Sunday. They have no new injuries, Murray is playing really well, and I hope Zebo starts. I’m expecting a ruthless Munster to a) extract 5 points out of the hapless Scots b) get full revenge for their first round defeat.

Enjoy it all!

Heineken Cup
Friday , January 17
Leinster vs Ospreys 
Northampton vs Castres 
Saturday , January 18
Cardiff Blues vs Exeter 15:40
Glasgow vs Toulon 15:40
Zebre vs Toulouse 13:35
Saracens vs Connacht 13:35
Montpellier vs Benetton Treviso 18:00
Leicester vs Ulster 18:00
Sunday , January 19
Scarlets vs Harlequins 15:00
Clermont Auvergne vs Racing Metro 92 15:00
Munster vs Edinburgh 12:45
Perpignan vs Gloucester 12:45