The Rugby Thread

[RichC]

Ireland have turned over the Kiwis. Fantastic performance by them tonight.

[badpiggy]

Brilliant match!

[Buzzo]

Another ****ing one point defeat against the Aussies.

We were brilliant today

Ahead the entire game until the last 5 minutes...

[Red_Polo]

Another ****ing one point defeat against the Aussies.

We were brilliant today

Ahead the entire game until the last 5 minutes...

Just seen that. Proper sickener

[Buzzo]

Just seen that. Proper sickener

They always seem to be awarded enough pens to keep them in touch.

Great atmosphere, great weather, great performance... It would just be nice to get the win from time to time. The big change with us though is we are genuinely competitive in these big games these days. Disappointed to lose, and scoring some great tries.

In the past we'd just be happy to be on the same pitch.

[Vermilion]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va9grfq1Mik"]Amazing try - YouTube[/ame]

[Buzzo]

I'll bet he got hit hard the next time he got the ball.

[ChesterDave]

Italians beat Saffers 20-18

[Buzzo]

This is great news. Should make for a cracking tournament.

The Six Nations has announced there will be a bonus-point system in the 2017 championship to "encourage and reward try scoring and attacking play".

Last season it was two points for a win, but that will change to four points - plus a bonus point for scoring four or more tries.

A losing team will pick up a bonus point if they score four or more tries or lose by fewer than seven points.

A team that wins the Grand Slam - all five games - gets three extra points.

Teams that draw will now get two points each with a similar bonus point available for high scoring.

The system - already used in the English Premiership, France and the National Rugby Championship in Australia - will also be trialled in the the Women's Six Nations and the Under 20s Six Nations championships.

The first game of this season's men's Six Nations is Scotland against Ireland at Murrayfield on 4 February, followed by holders England against France at Twickenham on the same day.

England won their first Grand Slam in 13 years in last season's competition.

John Feehan, chief executive of Six Nations said: "The drama and excitement of the last weekend of the Six Nations championship is unique and is, more often than not, driven by a number of teams on equal championship points all competing for first place on the table.

"It is important for us to ensure that any bonus point system which is implemented would not, in any way, take away from this unique dynamic.

"At the same time, we are also conscious that we must reward try scoring and an attacking style of play that will deliver more tries and greater rewards for fans and players alike."

[badpiggy]

Italians beat Saffers 20-18

Is. Conor O'Shea the Italian coach now? (again, I know I can Google this but...)

[Buzzo]

I've got tickets to all the Scotland home internationals this year.



We host Ireland on Sat. 2:25 kick off.

Should be a cracker. We've go the best Scotland XV in about 20 years unfortunately the Irish are also pretty handy just now.

Jonny Sexton out for the Irish though..!

[Cormack74]

I think this could be the best 6N's for years.

Leaving aside the Italians (and they will no doubt be much improved under O'Shea), I really think everyone has a decent chance of beating everyone else.

This w/e for example, even though England have gone 13 unbeaten the new French coach is picking the players that can play a system that traditionally served France well. BT's Rugby tonight yesterday gave a load of stats from the Autumn internationals which showed our Gallic friends were the best of the northern hemisphere sides in several key areas.

Likewise your mob Buzzo; even though Ireland had the stand out result against NZ, the way Glasgow have been going suggests that there is a pretty strong nucleus there if Cotter can fuse it with the guys from Edinburgh and elsewhere.

Factor in bonus points (which I'm not really a fan of due to the different number of home games played but hey ho,) and there's potential for this year to be an absolute belter.

[Buzzo]

Yeah it is well set for a good tournament.

The head says it will be between England and Ireland, the heart says it will be a really open competition.

I think there is the added incentive of ending Englands unbeaten run, which makes them the team everyone wants to beat (no change there).

I don't know what to expect from Scotland. We have been improving year on year over the last 3-4. We play a really attractive and open style of running Rugby, which can leave us a bit open at times. Glasgow have been immense this year, Edinburgh are picking up... A good result tomorrow would be huge.

Cant wait.

[RichC]

Pel has kindly started a league for the fantasy rugby.

http://fantasyrugby.espn.co.uk/CleverTV_espn/en/espn/fantasy/5/clienthome.do

Code is 1351594-47865

[Buzzo]

What a win for us today. Supreme first half performance backed up by solid second. Coming back when we looked to have lost the game was a true show of how far the team have progressed.

Best team we've had since the Hastings days.



It looks the most even 6 nations in a long time.