The Rugby Thread

[Cormack74]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47574452

Joe Schmidt has hinted Wales broke protocol in asking Six Nations bosses to close the Principality Stadium roof for the potential tournament decider.

Under Six Nations rules, both teams would have to agree on the issue.

Schmidt said Wales had asked for the measure because of the bad weather forecast for Saturday's game.

When it was put to Schmidt on Thursday that normally the visitors would be asked to decide on the roof, the Ireland coach replied: "Yes, normally."

"There's been a request from Wales that in the interest of the quality of the game and the very poor weather forecast that the roof be closed," said Schmidt.

"So they've said to the Six Nations directly, 'can it be closed?"'

Ireland still should receive the final say on the roof but Schmidt refused to be drawn, simply insisting his team would cope one way or another.

When asked what Ireland want, Schmidt continued: "We'll adapt, we'll adapt.

"At the moment I'm not sure about the roof."

Schmidt fears closing the roof could make precious little difference in any case, recalling how he believes Wales over-watered the pitch back in 2017, when the hosts prevailed 22-9.

"For us, last time we said 'look, we don't mind, you choose'," said Schmidt.

"And they chose closed, but made the field incredibly wet at the start of the game.

"So we will probably be happy enough if it's open anyway."

Wales boss Warren Gatland confirmed he was waiting on a final decision but expected Ireland to ask for the roof to be open.

"We have not heard definitively but we understand they want it open, which is not a concern for us," said Gatland.

"My only concern is that if it is pouring down with rain then we do have a responsibility to the game for a spectacle.

"Both teams have to agree to the roof being closed so that means basically the away team decides what happens in our stadium.

"I have made a number of comments in the past about that. It's our stadium and we should be able to do what we want with it."


Said the man whose team has scored the same number of tries as Italy

And his case is somewhat weak when reading JS comments about watering the pitch.

Of course he wants the roof shut to increase the atmosphere but why not just be honest about it.

[Buzzo]

They play this charade out every time.

Just this time there is something massive riding on it.

[Red_Polo]

Well let's be honest, the home team should be able to close the roof on their own stadium if they ****ing well want to. It's absolutely farcical the away team should have any say in the matter.

[Buzzo]

Roof open in Cardiff

Dreading the game at Twickenham, Eddie Jones is such a ****ing whopper. Literally antagonises everyone, though he may have lit a bit of a fire under the Scottish team. In general he is doing nothing to soften relations between the English and the other home nations.

I’m worried we are going to get trounced.

Kinghorn out for the season which is bad news for Edinburgh.

[Cormack74]

I'm so glad he's an Aussie. I dread to think how it would be if he was English coming out with the stuff he does

[Buzzo]

He’s unreal. I think an Englishman would have a better grasp on the history of rivalries. And being a brash shoots from the hip Aussie **** isn’t the way through every situation. This time last year England were half way through a run of 6 back to back defeats so to hear him crowing is particularly galling.

I couldn’t stand him when he was Aussie or Japan coach.

England are a scalp, and it will be interesting to see how he manages the pressures of being England coach at the World Cup.

[RichC]

Not a fan of Jones but let’s be honest the Scots would still feel the same way they always do when playing England.

[Red_Polo]

Roof open in Cardiff

Predictably so and for the exact same reason every away team wants this - worried about it enhancing the atmosphere.

[Buzzo]

Not a fan of Jones but let’s be honest the Scots would still feel the same way they always do when playing England.

Nah, he feels like an unwelcome guest to an already rowdy party. I don’t mind some of the old England players and commentators who respect the encounter and the history of the match.

He’s just a ******.

It’s always going to be a big game for us, and obviously the reason we celebrate wins heavily is because we’ve been on the wrong end of the result more often than not.

It’s a great rivalry to have.

[Cormack74]

Strong wind forecast for Twickenham but it's a big high bowl so not sure how much affect it will have? Back in the day I seem to recall Bill Mclaren referring to the "Twickenham swirl" but that may have been when it was made up of 4 corrugated metal boxes with gaps between them.

[Irishnev]

I am livid watching this, we’ve lost all the composure we wer famed for. Shocking decisions, forcing the play and butchering chances close to the Welsh line.

I’d say we’ve given away more penalties this half than the entire tournament so far! We need to wake the **** up.

[Cormack74]

Congrats to Wales.

If you're top then there's not much anyone can say other than well done for scoring the same number of tournament tries as Italy

Ireland really didn't show up - shame really that it wasn't more of a contest but in fairness to them they had the shortest turnaround which couldn't have helped.

[Irishnev]

Wales superb and in fairness they always seem to deliver when the stakes are high. Ireland were abject and compounded by a Sexton/Murray horror show.

The roof, all about the roof.......you know it rains in Wales also....not like they’ve never played in the rain before.

[Cormack74]

At half time in the first game v France I must admit I would have been very surprised if I'd been told Wales would win the grand slam.

[Cormack74]

Buzzo - whilst I clearly don't want England to lose I'm really not going to be that bothered if it happens today. I feel pretty anti-climatic after that game so I'll be happy just to watch an end to end frenzy of attacking rugby and however it turns out then so be it.